I. CHAPTER 15: MOLE

***Somewhere in the city of Dasmariñas…***

Not wishing to remain in Lemery before the curfew hours by 10 p.m., Marcel and Pauline left Batangas and crossed into Cavite by 7 p.m. However, continuing on to Manila would bring them back to the checkpoints at Bacoor, which was risky for them since it was already evening. So, the guardsman checked themselves into a motel to spend the night.

Pauline was still in shock. Unlike her earlier feisty self, she just willingly followed wherever Marcel led her. She won’t even touch food that he ordered for them. The guardsman, though a bit irritated, remained sympathetic; after all, those butchered were her parents.

“…” Marcel stared at his liege, uncertain of what to do next, or how to get her back to her usual self. All that he said was, “Your Imperial Majesty, I know this is callous of me, but it won’t be the only tragedy you will suffer. Now that you are an empress, everyone will ‘love’ you…and some will try to hurt people you love to get their way. Sometimes, you will have to take the difficult choice to save many, yet appear as if nothing happened.”

“I-I know, M-Marcel…” she muttered. A moment of silence, and she continued, “And…I understand why…that time, when you shot your corporal…”

“Even I will lay my life for you should the need arise,” the guardsman pointed. “Cruel world, but that’s my job, after all.”

“But…to die like that…M-Marcel, my…my parents may not be the perfect people, y-yet…they never deserved that!”

To that, Marcel had no answer. Even him, who had no personal relations with the Lord and Lady of Lemery, took pity at the mangled corpses. Just as when Pauline froze when she saw her parents, he took the burden of removing the bodies, and giving the nobles a bit of their dignity back by covering them. Then, he secretly alerted the police before they left the scene. And now, in light of their deaths, he thought of their available options. The empress’ hope for support from powerful people was gone in a flash…

“…”

…until the face of his friend, the Imperial Guard lieutenant Duke Kerwin Santos-Recto, flashed through his mind. At that moment, his phone rang.

“Ah, speaking of the devil!” was Marcel’s greeting to his fellow guardsman. “Milord, you don’t know how timely your call is today!”

In contrast to his relief, the duke of Batangas was somber. “Spitz, have you seen the news? The dela Ramos—”

“Yes, I’m the one who reported it to the police. Secretly, of course!” the guardsman lowered his voice, taking care not to let Pauline hear him. “Someone massacred the entire household of the dragon. Brutally, if you ask me. Have you heard of any hit orders against them in the intelligence?”

“I know of an order to keep an eye on the couple; nothing about the murder. But, Aguinaldo’s got a lot of dogs outside the official government apparatus to do his bidding. Are you using the encrypted phone I gave you?”

“Well, it’s obvious. We’ve come a long way, milord. I won’t make the mistake of giving our plans away to the Lord Aguinaldo’s thugs.”

“Just a question, though. Why do you know about it first-hand?”

“The dragon.”

There was a long pause on the other side of the line. Marcel had to check if the call dropped because the duke was completely silent. But, a few minutes later, the noble asked, “The dragon? What do you mean? Did you bring her there?”

“I had to,” the guardsman defended himself. “The dragon demanded. She didn’t like the idea of soliciting Cardinal Jose’s help.”

“Spitz, the reason I told you about the cardinal is that Axel is capable of things similar to what happened to the Lord dela Ramos.”

“Come on, milord! The cardinal is also unreliable! The only thing His Eminence yet to do is to grovel before the Lord Aguinaldo and kiss his ass!”

“I told you I have an ace to make him follow us. Why did you deviate from the plan?”

Now it was Marcel’s turn to be silent. The realization of their missed opportunity was stupidity on his part. He is the guard. The empress, no matter how high her rank is compared to him, has no complete idea of the dangers he’s supposed to keep away from her.

“Spitz, listen to me.” The duke’s irritated voice brought him back to reality. “Go to Cardinal Jose. He will link you up to the men of the 4th Regiment. They are the last in this goddamned military that remains faithful to our emperor!”

“Can you—”

The duke cut him. “Axel already butchered the dela Ramos! He also arrested half of the Imperial Guards, including the men from your first platoon. The rest of us? He confined to our barracks. I can only go around because I’m his peer; he’s risking other nobles opposing him if he laid a hand on me. However, I know I can’t rely on such ‘immunity.’ Once he fully consolidates his power, I will also end up like the Lord of Lemery. Me and my family! Why do you think they were murdered with such grisly method? It’s to serve as a warning to us, the nobles of the empire; that same thing will happen the moment we oppose him. Spitz, we don’t have much time! Get the dragon to the 4th Regiment! Raise the dragon’s banner there, in rebellion, against the regent!” Then, the line went dead.

Marcel’s eyes stared on his phone’s screen, even when it returned to normal. At the home page were a picture of children of different ages, and nuns. Among them was a kid flashing a big smile, while secretly giving the other children around him a ‘V’ sign to their heads…his younger self. At the background, a shabby house with the sign ‘Our Lady of Help Shelter of Joy and Hope.’ The guardsman’s heart sank as his thoughts filled with the images of the children suffering the same fate as the empress’ parents. Some of those kids were yet to experience independence…his only family, his step-siblings, the orphanage where he grew up. In his mind, only one thing remained: the regent must be removed.

If not, Marcel Spitz might as well prepare for the possibility he’ll come home to the same scenario…

“…”

Fuck! Like he will allow that!

-----

***The city of Pasig, 12 kilometers east of Manila…***

Once a highly-urbanized city within the National Capital Region of the old republic, the territory that comprised the city of Pasig was now a sprawling landscape of desolation. Ruins of old high-rise buildings from the pre-Imperial era dotted the scenery, along with barbed wires, machine-gun emplacements and sandbags, and rusting wrecks of various armored vehicles, some of which were from the first Ilocano-Oriental war.

Here, the 3rd Regiment of the Imperial Army watched the borders for any enemy movements. The threat came from another country, the so-called ‘Republic of Pasig’—another rump state that emerged in the aftermath of the assassination of the first Oriental emperor. This was their old capital until it was captured by the Empire during the rule of the third emperor, and they had to move their main city to Antipolo. A constant reminder of the Pasigueños’ military failures, they repeatedly tried to recapture this place, which was then made into a ‘frontline’ by the Empire to add insult to their injury.

And because of the events in the northern parts of the Empire, the soldiers of the 3rd Regiment were put on high alert. The Ilocanos and Pasigueños share a common enemy, after all.

“…”

An imperial sentry in one of the forward positions of the Orientals would occasionally glance at his watch, then peer back into the darkness before him. News of the northern counter-offensive in Palayan already reached them; it was impossible for the Pasigueños to learn of that attack without doing anything. For him and his fellow soldiers, it was only a matter of time before this sector erupt in a hail of fire and violence.

As a sentry, he can only wish for his watch to end…

From a distance, back in their lines, he saw the dim lights of a friendly tank—their reinforcements from the 5th Mechanized Regiment. It was only this afternoon that they learned of the alert, and he was relieved to see the vaunted 5th Regiment coming to their support. His friends were guiding the armored behemoth into a hidden position, something he wished he was doing instead of just standing guard across the ‘no man’s land’ of the city.

However, that wish soon dissipated when the tank suddenly exploded in a spectacular fiery ball of smoke and shrapnel. A shout soon echoed, “Enemy attack!”

The sentry immediately ran for cover, just as he felt bullets whizzing through his head. The night sky of Pasig lit up with searchlights scanning for drones, often accompanied by anti-air missiles and guns. Rocket barrages from both sides of the frontline accompanied the display, followed by explosions that illuminated the entire battlefield.

The sentry did not wait for his reliever. Peering through his night-vision, he saw a line of advancing ‘Sandatahanes’—Pasigueño infantry armed with big, heavy swords and augmented with powerful exoskeletons that doubled as mobile armor. Realizing that his post was indefensible, the sentry fired a couple of armor-piercing bullets at the Sandatahanes, before fleeing back to friendly lines amidst the explosions.

-----

In Malacañang, the Duke of Cavite was roused by the sounds of missiles exploding over Manila, as well as the sirens warning of an air attack. His guards rushed him to the bunker, joined by his chamberlain, and an aide. The lines of communication through the echelons of command were already open, though because of the attack, talking was difficult. The regent had to use an emergency phone connection to receive reports from his generals, and send orders to them.

“The Pasigueños opened the eastern front, milord,” the aide briefed him. “They opted for a frontal advance, coupled with massive air raids, all of which are being repelled by our soldiers.”

The regent remained poker-faced. “Did the 5th Regiment reinforce the defenses in Pasig?”

“Yes, milord, and in a timely moment, too. All is going well according to the plans of the Chief of Staff.”

“Okay then. Leave a tank battalion there, then pull back the rest of the 5th Regiment to Camp Aguinaldo.”

“S-Sir?” The aide couldn’t believe what he had just heard. “M-Milord, did you…just order a pull back?”

“You heard me. And keep them in Aguinaldo for now.”

The man hesitated for a moment, unsure if he should send the order to the generals. Anticipating his reaction, the Lord Axel explained his move.

“I doubt the Pasigueños will really attack from that direction,” he mused. “If anything, that is an obvious military movement. For years after capturing it from them, the Pasigueños tried to recapture Pasig from us, only to fail miserably. I don’t think they are that stupid to attempt another thrust in that front. The advance in Pasig is just a ruse to draw our reserves from Manila, leaving this city undefended. Have you ordered the mining of the river?”

“Yes, milord…made sure no enemy boat or submarine will go past the riverine borders without hitting one.”

“That’s enough. Now that the Pasigueños also took the bait, we will hold the line to the east, while continuing the offensive to the north,” the regent showed his plan on the virtual map. “Damn…such a good opportune time to attempt a coup d’etat, don’t you think?”

“Is this about the Imperial Guards, milord?”

The Lord Axel nodded. “I just need evidence to convince the Imperial Council to destroy that army of thugs.”

“Would you like to speak to the chief of intelligence, sir?”

“Yes. Get General Camacho on line; tell him to increase surveillance on the Duke of Batangas.”

-----

***The Santos-Recto estate, duchy of Batangas, a few hours earlier…***

Unable to control his emotions, the duke of Batangas threw his phone, just in time as his wife entered his study.

“Goodness!” the duchess stumbled back outside the room, and he rushed to her side to help. And then, awkward silence, as she had no idea what made her husband rage.

However, the duke quickly changed his face. “Don’t worry about it, love. Something came up; a lot of things are happening lately. The coup in Manila, the new empress, and well…now, uncle and aunt were murdered.”

“I see…I think you should take a break from those things for now. It’s really getting into you.”

“Well, yes…” he picked his phone again, and after checking it was still functioning, dropped it in his pocket. “Ah, don’t think about it too much. As long as you and the kids are fine, all is well.”

The duchess smiled and leaned near to his ear. “I dropped by to tell you that Ate Rosie has set the dinner table.”

“Right.” He glanced on a nearby clock. “What’s the food?”

“I got her to cook your favorite. Come, join us for dinner!”

“Great! Let’s go—” However, just as the duke was about to lock his study, his phone rang. Looking at the number on the screen, his world stopped.

“Kerwin? Are you okay? You look pale! Who’s calling?”

The duke gestured that he was fine, and dropped his phone back to his pocket. But, his wife was persistent.

“Aren’t you going to answer it?”

He thought for a few seconds, then said, “I’ll just follow you in a bit, love. Go ahead, and eat with the kids.” The duke tapped on her shoulder, before going back to his study and waving her goodbye. Once he made sure he was alone, he blurted out a curse, then answered.

“What’s with the delay on your side?” a gruff voice asked on the other side.

“My contact did not follow instructions, and went to Lemery instead,” the duke replied, keeping his tone down while making sure he locked the doors.

“I hope you’re not double-crossing us, Delta. Your duke of Cavite just launched an offensive against our defense lines this afternoon, and ambushed two columns trying to reinforce the front. The boss is demanding when that bastard will be deposed.”

“I-I’m doing my best,” he tried to keep composed. “Many of my contact’s men, as well as mine, were arrested before we can install the new empress. And I’m being limited right now because the regent is suspicious.”

“Delta, the boss’ patience is wearing thin. And so is our government. Once your forces threaten Dagupan, there will be a general mobilization of our army, and we will march straight to Manila. You and your contact knew the empire is unprepared for this war. Act now, or we can’t guarantee the safety of you and your family should the conflict escalates further.”

At that moment, the duke of Batangas said nothing. Cold sweat trickled from his forehead, yet he never seemed to notice. Only when a small familiar voice called out to him from the other side of his door did the noble’s consciousness returned.

“Papa? Are you there? Come, let’s eat now! Papa Jesus will be angry at you for wasting food…”

Author's Notes:

Pasig City - is a highly-urbanized city east of Manila.  It is on the eastern border of the National Capital Region, with the neighboring province of RIzal to further east.  The name came from the river that flowed through its territory, and into the capital itself.

The use of Pasig in this work is a nod to another Filipino work, Pasig by author taga-ilog.

Sandatahanes - (English:  'Armed Forces') is a term from the days of the First Philippine Republic and the Philippine Republican Army for its bolo-/bamboo spear-armed soldiers.  Even back then, the Philippine Republican forces suffered from the lack of firearms and ammunition that they had to rely of melee-armed men to bolster their numbers.