The journey to Baler began in silence.
Elijah rode at the head of a lean company of fifteen, each handpicked for their stealth, loyalty, and experience in long-range guerrilla operations. Among them were Isa, Adrian, Luna, and an experienced tracker named Nardo who had once served in the Spanish Army but defected during the revolution.
They moved at night and rested during the day, traveling narrow trails through dense forests, across rivers swollen by early monsoon rains, and over jagged mountains where the clouds sat low and heavy. Every step toward Baler felt like a step deeper into the unknown—toward a place haunted by history and, now, distorted by the future.
It took three days before they even approached the coastal province of Aurora. The closer they drew to Baler, the stranger the signs became.
On the fifth night, Nardo returned from a solo scouting run, pale and tight-lipped.
"There are guard posts along the ridges," he whispered to Elijah. "But not Filipino, and not American—not entirely. The uniforms are wrong. Strange weapons. They wear goggles. And they don't speak Spanish or English. I heard… code words."
"Code words?" Adrian leaned in. "What kind?"
Nardo looked between them. "One of them said 'Protocol C-17. Sweep perimeter and burn traces.' That's not army talk. That's…"
"Black ops," Adrian finished grimly. "That's Raines."
Elijah felt a cold certainty settle in his chest. "Then he's here. And he's preparing something."
The Town in the Mist
They arrived at the outskirts of Baler under a veil of fog. From a high ridge, they looked down into the town nestled against the sea, still ringed by the same crumbling stone church where the infamous Siege of Baler had once unfolded.
But this was no ordinary settlement anymore.
Adrian passed Elijah a pair of binoculars—modern ones, salvaged from the raid weeks before.
"See those?" Adrian pointed. "Turrets. Motion sensors. Drones on recharging racks near the docks. He's militarized the whole town. Looks like he's building a base of operations."
"And he's using it as a prototype for something bigger," Elijah muttered.
They set up camp in the high forest that night, hiding behind overgrown terraces once used for rice. Under a canvas tarp, Adrian spread out a map and sketches he had drawn from memory.
"There's a central command node," Adrian explained. "It'll be hidden—underground or within a shielded structure. He'll use it to coordinate whatever he's planning."
"We can't storm it," Isa said. "Not without heavy losses. We're too few."
"We don't storm it," Elijah said. "We infiltrate. Quietly. We find him. We stop him."
Luna, ever skeptical, leaned in. "And what if he's expecting you? He knows you're alive. He might even be looking for you."
Elijah exhaled slowly. "Then let him find me. But not before I find out what he's building here."
The Infiltration Begins
At midnight, three of them descended toward the town under the cover of darkness—Elijah, Adrian, and Nardo. Luna and Isa remained behind to hold the fallback position.
They slipped through rice fields and irrigation ditches, bypassing sensor drones by jamming their frequencies with tech Adrian had fashioned from salvaged parts. The town was silent, eerily so. Even the dogs didn't bark.
Baler was not asleep. It was watching.
They made it to the outskirts, ducking between stone houses and creeping along narrow alleys. Soldiers—no, operatives—patrolled in pairs, their faces covered, their movements robotic.
"This isn't a garrison," Adrian whispered. "It's a lab. He's testing behavior protocols. Discipline programs. Maybe even neural manipulation."
"You're saying he's brainwashing them?"
"I'm saying they're more machine than men now. Enhanced. Controlled."
They reached the base of the church and found a hidden stairwell beneath a side altar, just like Adrian remembered from his maps. He opened a trapdoor.
Cold air rushed out.
They descended into darkness.
What Lies Below
The underground complex beneath Baler Church was unlike anything built in the 19th century. It had steel walls, humming generators, artificial lighting, and a command room filled with monitors and displays.
At the center was a large display screen with coordinates.
Elijah stepped forward and read aloud.
"Operation Vanguard. Stage Two: Tactical Indoctrination Complete. Stage Three: Expansion into Central Luzon. Target Date: August 1st, 1898."
Adrian swore. "He's not just here to win a war. He's here to conquer the whole country. This isn't about America or the Philippines. It's about empire. His empire."
Footsteps.
Elijah raised his rifle.
The door to the chamber hissed open.
A tall figure stepped in, flanked by two enhanced soldiers in black armor. His face was weathered, stern, but unmistakable.
"Hello, Vega," said Captain Marcus Raines. "I see time hasn't dulled your suicidal tendencies."
Elijah lowered his gun slowly.
"Raines."
Raines smirked. "I warned you the future was broken. Now I'm fixing it. One province at a time."
"By rewriting history with machines and tyranny?"
"By removing chaos," Raines said. "By establishing order. The Americans don't care who leads, as long as the trains run on time. I plan to lead—and build a better future."
Elijah clenched his fists. "Over my dead body."
"That can be arranged."
He snapped his fingers.
The enhanced soldiers lunged.
Adrian tossed a flash charge. Light exploded.
They ran.
Bullets screamed past them as they climbed out of the tunnel, chased by synthetic soldiers who moved faster than any man had a right to. But the rebels knew the terrain. They vanished into the jungle before Raines' reinforcements could surround them.
Back at Camp
At dawn, bruised and breathless, they reached Isa's position.
"He's here," Elijah said, falling to his knees. "He's building a new empire—with American permission. He calls it Operation Vanguard."
Isa's face hardened. "Then we destroy it. Brick by brick."
Adrian knelt beside Elijah, eyes dark. "We need allies. We need Aguinaldo. Whether you like it or not, we need a united front. Because the war we thought we were fighting—it's just the beginning."
Elijah nodded.
"The Revolution has entered a new age. And so must we."