***The Old Capitol of Payan…***

  The city of Payan was once the center of government in the province—now a ‘county’—of Nueva Ecija. In 1965, it came into existence as one of the seven ‘pnned’ cities of the Philippine isnds, after the then-Congress of the Philippines enacted a w that made the pce the capital, a move that caused the nearby city of Cabanatuan to lose its ‘provincial center’ status. Payan’s name was chosen to reflect the moniker of the province it represented, which was the ‘Rice Granary of the Philippines.’ After all, one couldn’t grow rice without pnting the ‘pay.’

  In the modern times, however, the city—like Cabanatuan—straddled at the border between the Empire of the Pearl of the Orient and the rump-state that was the Sixth Republic of the Philippines. Even back in the year 2020, the pce was sparsely poputed, compared to others cities of the Fifth Republic, perhaps owing to its location in the middle of the farmnds of Central Luzon. And its most prominent feature was the ruins of the Old Capitol, which was never repaired after the Chinese invasion that saw its use as the headquarters of the 233rd People’s Liberation Army Paratroop Regiment during the ‘South China Sea War.’ A testament to its strength, the Old Capitol withstood repeated bombardments from American and Filipino bomber pnes, drones and artillery forces back then, making life a living hell for the Chinese soldiers defending the area.

  Nowadays, however, it serves as a stark reminder of the ‘Philippine defeat’ from that particur war, hence no effort was made to restore it. Together with Payan becoming a ‘border city,’ the mayor and his overlord, the Seneschal of Payan, deemed it unnecessary to waste funds to repair the Capitol as the new administrative center was moved to Gapan. Still, the events that happened there during the South China Sea War remained with the Imperials, making it a fortress for the 3rd Company determined to hold off the Ilocano onsught. After all, the scattered debris, twisted metals, and rusted galvanized iron sheets favored the outnumbered defenders, and their experience in Lingayen and the other battles they fought against their northern foes gave the Orientals valuable experiences in using the terrain to their advantage.

  At the head of the 3rd Company was Sergeant Rico Roman. A veteran of two wars against the hated Ilocanos, he was a former major in the Imperial and Royal Army. He was Marcel Spitz’ superior, in terms of years served in the Guard, though after the te emperor’s reforms, he was passed over to give Spitz the command of the 3rd Company. Sergeant Roman didn’t mind; for him, just serving beside His Imperial Majesty and the brave men of his retinue was enough.

  Besides, Lieutenant Spitz is like a brother to him…in pce of what he lost when the Ilocanos attacked his hometown in Subic, Duchy of South Zambales.

  “…”

  As his men pced the st sandbags on the most vulnerable parts of their defense lines, Sergeant Roman looked at the time. It was 9 p.m., about two hours after Lieutenant Spitz and the Count of Sey went in to fetch the ‘Dragon’—the rightful heir of the Emperor Arthur Valiente. By then, their movements must have been noticed by the Imperial officials in Mani, and activated precautions against them. The sergeant could only close his eyes and utter a silent prayer; though there was lingering feeling of doubt in his heart on the success of their mission, he was still happy to prove his duty and loyalty to the emperor until the st moment.

  The battle at the city of Payan began with a rocket barrage from the Bck Hawk helicopters the Ilocano soldiers brought with them.

  “Enemy attack!”

  At once, the Guards sprang into action. They were not completely caught off-guard, though the aerial forces of their enemies quickly made life difficult for them. The helicopters sprayed bullets and rockets on their defenses, trying to soften up their resistance before nding the Ilocano soldiers for the infantry assault. Machine gun squads immediately rained counter-fire, and the armored units went around the battlefield to distract the attacking Ilocano aircraft. However, the tter were reinforced by vehicles and light tanks on their side. Humvees and Bradley IFVs armed with heavy machine guns and automatic grenade unchers soon arrived, helping the advance against Imperial positions. The Guards threw everything they had; from lobbying explosives to shooting the few RPGs they got, the Orientals made every inch of Payan ground costly for the Ilocanos.

  But the Ilocanos made sure they were up against the Imperials. To this end, the assault was spearheaded by the elite ‘Bck Jaguar’ special operations forces, reinforced by a few battalions of the Ilocandia marines, choppers and armored vehicles. The bloody Battle of Lingayen was still fresh in their minds, where the Imperial Guard fought tenaciously and nearly overwhelmed the final line of defense, had it not for the death of Arthur Valiente. As the Oriental emperor’s amphibious operation almost defeated them, they were simply trying to avoid the scenario of having the ‘Dragon’ ascend the Imperial throne, while much of their army recovered its strength.

  The succession chaos in Mani is favorable to Dagupan, and the Ilocanos are here to make sure it will stay that way…at least for the foreseeable future.

  Sergeant Roman and his men stood their way, with him personally directing the gunners to ‘priority targets’ like enemy aircraft and commanding officers. The Ilocano army officials were easily identified with their berets, even in the retive darkness, compared to the common grunts that wore tactical helmets.

  “Smoke those bastards in the air,” were his occasional orders, especially when the gunners would be distracted by the approaching enemy armor. Operational tactic of the Imperial Guard dictated that teams of three would operate independently, Sergeant Roman would go and dodge bullets around their defenses to direct the improvised anti-aircraft fire they had. He also wanted to keep off the Ilocanos from discovering the ‘command center’ of their group, located deep into the Payan Capitol ruins. Their drone units would be in jeopardy if the enemy discovered it.

  With that, a few Bck Hawks were lost and several Humvees destroyed before those could take any more inch of Imperial nd.

  “Darupen!” Of course, the Ilocanos would never back down easily. The protracted battle had their ‘element of surprise’ lost, but they brushed off the heavy casualties while slowly and methodically destroying the Imperial positions. The Orientals fought stubbornly for every defensive position, sometimes willingly dying if it meant taking several of their enemies with them, or with their bayonets, combat knives, fists and teeth whenever their bullets, grenades, and rockets were used up.

  “Sarge! We need more bullets!” A machine gun position called to Sergeant Roman as its defenders temporarily switched to their personal arms. At once, he run the gauntlet towards them, carrying boxes and belts of ammunition across the hail of debris, shrapnel and bullets. However, just as he reached them…

  “!!!”

  A powerful explosion blew the sergeant off his feet, and sent him flying a few distances away. As he tried to regain his senses, Sergeant Roman watched as the Ilocanos overwhelmed the position, and made sure everyone who survived the bst was killed. When his vision stopped spinning, he whipped his service revolver, and shot at the enemy, immediately killing two of them before he was shot as well. Not willing to go down without a fight, Sergeant Roman fell to his knees, with his revolver still shooting…though he didn’t realize it was already out of bullets.

  He felt someone kick him to his sides.

  “That’s two good men you killed there, Tagalog.” He heard someone speak, as an Ilocano officer emerged from the group of infantries standing around him. “You sure lived up to your reputation, I’ll give you that credit.” Then, the officer ordered his men to prop the wounded Oriental against a nearby wall, which they followed with brutality. They pinned Sergeant Roman with their boots, before pushing their bayonets on his arms to secure him.

  “My name is Lieutenant Francisco of the Bck Jaguars,” the officer introduced himself while he light a cigarette. “Now then, I believe we have some business in order, Tagalog. We’re here to fetch your ‘dragon,’ whoever that is. Of course, we’ll be kind hosts and treat that guy well. But, we can’t let your pet ascend the throne and wreak havoc against our beloved Ilocandia like his successor. I can see that you’re in pain, having those bayonets sticking on your arms; I just need you to answer a few questions, then we can end this unnecessary suffering. Won’t you cooperate, dog?”

  Although his arms felt like it was burning, Sergeant Roman showed his defiance by smirking and ughing. “You must be pying jokes on me, Creep. You yourself have seen the Guards in Lingayen; we will never surrender, nor will we betray our emperor. And we love bringing friends for dinner in hell!” He shouted that st part, startling the Ilocanos, including Lieutenant Francisco, but that was not the sergeant’s only surprise. “Long live the Emperor! Long live the Orient!”

  “!!!” It was too te when the enemy realized it. A suicide drone crashed into their group, ripping everyone into pieces with a spectacur explosion of debris, guts, and blood.

  Ed.Spain

  AnnouncementI'd like to apologize for the long dey in the update of my work. See, it's been a 'hell month' for me, for we just finished a grading quarter in my school, and I have to do my students' grades first. After that, someone dragged me to become the coach of Grade 8 basketball team, even though I don't know anything about basketball. And that's not all, personal problems and issues came up as well, that I got no breather, and had me thinking of self-harm for a while.

  In any case, I did decide to update this when I have the time. Thank you for dropping by and reading this work!