The morning sun rose over Baler, casting golden light over half-finished fortifications and training yards where new recruits drilled under barked commands. Yet beneath the surface of this growing stronghold, something rotted. Whispers slithered like smoke through the ranks, and Elijah Vega felt the shift before he could name it.
Isa returned from a mission to Nueva Ecija with a grim expression.
"We have a problem," she said without preamble, unbuckling her weapons belt. "A faction calling themselves Mga Lihim na Tagapagligtas—'The Secret Saviors'—is rising. They claim Luna and Aguinaldo are corrupt, that we've traded one tyranny for another."
Elijah frowned. "Where are they getting support?"
"From within our own ranks. Mostly disenfranchised fighters from the provinces—those who lost family at Baler and feel they've been sidelined. Some were among the men Luna threatened. Others just want vengeance."
Fractured Loyalties
The situation deteriorated quickly. Days later, a warehouse filled with recovered weapons exploded in the dead of night. Three guards were found strangled, their tongues cut out. Pinned to the wall was a crude banner made from a torn revolutionary flag, splashed with red paint:
"Freedom for the people—not for tyrants."
The council was thrown into chaos. Luna demanded immediate crackdowns. Aguinaldo hesitated, fearing a return to the brutal methods of the Spanish regime. Elijah proposed infiltration.
"Let me find their leader," he said. "If we can talk to them, if we can offer representation—"
"We don't negotiate with traitors," Luna snapped. "We eliminate them."
"You've already made martyrs out of your enemies, Antonio," Isa said sharply. "How many more before we have a civil war?"
Into the Shadows
Elijah went undercover, adopting the guise of a disillusioned messenger. Through contacts made during his time rebuilding the Luzon communications network, he traced rumors of the Secret Saviors to the outskirts of Cabanatuan.
There, in an abandoned convent, he met the leader: Romulo Laxa, a former schoolteacher turned guerrilla who had fought bravely at Baler—until his entire unit was wiped out in a delayed support maneuver. He blamed Luna. He blamed the council.
"You talk of unity," Romulo spat. "But all I see are the same men giving orders, wearing different uniforms. Luna executes his critics. Aguinaldo delays justice. And you—you come with smooth words and promises, but where was your revolution when my brothers died in that trench?"
Elijah didn't flinch. "I was in that trench too. I buried friends there. But if you fracture the movement now, we lose everything."
Romulo studied him for a long time. Then: "We'll see what the people decide."
The Breaking Point
The rebellion exploded a week later.
On the eve of a ceremony to commemorate the Battle of Baler, Secret Savior agents assassinated a council member from Mindoro. At the same time, cells across Luzon sabotaged supply routes, burned armories, and assassinated local commanders loyal to Luna.
Baler itself was attacked from within.
Elijah and Isa fought through burning streets, leading a counterforce to repel the insurgents. The attackers were disciplined, angry, and frighteningly well-armed. For every rebel captured, another two melted into the jungle.
Aguinaldo called an emergency council. Luna arrived bloodied, face grim.
"This is war," he said. "They want a revolution within the revolution."
"And if we fight them the way Raines fought us," Elijah asked, "what do we become?"
No one answered.
A Line in the Sand
The council agreed to new emergency powers, but only temporarily. A tribunal would be formed to investigate Luna's methods. Elijah and Isa were given command of a new reconciliation corps—tasked with rooting out Secret Savior cells not just with force, but with diplomacy and truth.
But as Elijah stared into the flames of another burned village, he knew the task would not be so simple. Trust was harder to rebuild than cities. And some wounds ran too deep for words.
In the shadows beyond the trees, Romulo Laxa watched the smoke rise.
"This is just the beginning," he murmured. "Elijah Vega will see that one man cannot hold together a broken dream."