The Second Battle in Italica

Date: December 23, 20XX

Location: Italica, New Imperial Regime Pro-Peace Capital

Mission: Defend Italica against the Imperial Army at all cost...at all cost...

Blood, blood is all I can see, the ground, the castle walls and even my gun is drenched with the blood of many both my allies, enemies and my own... It is said that in your final days you will see who you really are; a coward, a brave soldier a pacifist, a warmonger, an angel of peace or a omen of war but for us, the Philippine- America Expedition Force we are all and more. We have killed so so many, yet we saved so many as well... I look below the tower I'm stationed at...it was horrific...

The scene is straight out of a horror show, guts sliced from there stomachs, bodies dismembered and imperials shot to pieces... I saw it many times in my battles but its a view I'll never get used to... At our side I can see Princess Pina her face full of worry, full of fear but most of all full of determination her army of 5,000 demi humans proved valuable against the Imperial Army but in the end the accuracy in the bow of those elves, the inhuman strength of the drawves, the magnificent magic of the mages from the city of Rondels and skill and ferocity of the warrior bunnies wasn't enough to battle Zorzal and his troops. Our enemy is too many with the sheer number of 20,000 troops commanded that devil Zorzal... I can see that S.O.B laughing commenting his victory against us I care nothing of what he said next but I know I only need a bullet to end this...to end him... Checking my gun and bag dread contorted my face as I came to realize I have exhausted all my ammo at the start of my mission, my mission was to prevent an army disguised as merchants from conquering Italica the Pro-Peace capital of Princess Pina's new empire I have failed we all do...Our ammo, our determination and our hope gone.

I turned my radio on once again praying for help to come, hoping that they will rescue us and wishing they can make it. The messages, the voices they are full of pain..

"Mayday mayday wyvern riders struck my rotor with chain nets we are going down I repeat we are going down." I remembered that voice it was the air support our General promised that will save us...

"Mga tarandado! Mga gago!(You bastards! You FOOL!) Go to hell all of you!" I shook my radio at the sound of gunfire reach my ears...

"Eto ang Infantry division bigla kaming inatake ng kalaban aatras na kami over!(This is the Infantry division we are ambushed by the enemy we are withdrawing our forces over!)" I resist the urge to turn my phone but my will remained strong I listen for more hoping for a glimmer of hope yet not even a spark came to help us...

"This is tank division we are trap in large holes I repeat we are aborting the mission I repeat we are aborting the mission."

"Holy F**KING earth there are 2,000 bogey here requesting air support!"

"We have engaged the enemies there are 50 armored ogres here! I repeat we engaged the enemy!"

The voices are clear to me...Help will not come... We tried...no we failed... The war started with us winning with us blasting the Imperials with our superior weapons... Then it changed..

There are just way too many enemies to kill, in a way I'm amazed how can an tyrannical idiot such as Zorzal managed to gather such a strong force surely its the work of his mindful Pro-War senators and generals and not him...

About to be beaten by a primitive Army it was an embarrassing death indeed but here we are.. I hear Zorzal order his troops I can barely decipher his words but I know its trouble for us.. I can see as our Pro-Peace allies shout of fear as a large battering ram hit our reinforced city gate denting the steel plating but not enough to destroy it... I bite my lip the surge to panic rush to me with many of my allies already given in to fear... Another bash hit the gate soon our enemies will rush the gate and with us so few left, with us our ammo gone we are just counting before the Pro-War soldiers storm the city and kill us... I ponder sitting in the tower remembering all the crazy things that happened, memory flashed to my head like a beautiful movie screen... The Manila Massacre, The Battle at Alnus hill, The Bandit attack on Italica, The Princes Kidnapping, Alnus Midnight Raid, Sadera Castle Shootout, Zorzal' Coup, Haryo Spy Battle and now The Imperial Civil war which if might end in my final battle: The Second Battle in Italica... Those memories was so vivid, so clear, maybe they are right, the moment your about to die is the moment you see your true self... And I can say I make one heck of an observer... Closing my eyes I feel so relaxed like all my pain is being washed away, I could no longer feel my body in chaos rather I feel it became lighter...am I dying? Time seems to slow down for me but in my trance I saw what happen to me...to us... before all of this started... before all this went to hell.

I opened my eyes once again looking at the sky praying for a miracle...A miracle that will save my and my comrades, a miracle that will heal the land and most of all a miracle that will smite our enemies... With a flash of light the miracle came... God was listening and God sure made a big one.. The war is finally over...

I am Thomas E. Matapat, 23 years old a Filipino member of the famous Philippine-America Expedition Force my father a respected soldier trained me in the ways of military even before I drafted to the force... This is the story...the story of me, the story of us, the story of the PAEF and how we fought there...

*5 Months ago*

The Manila Medieval Massacre

Date: August 1, 20XX

Location: Manila, Capital of the Philippines

Mission: Find a F**King Job!

It was like any other day for me job hunting getting rejected from one interview after the other I'm beginning to think I have no talent in anything, anything except guns, my dad taught me everything I need to know about them from my teenage years to my adulthood guns is my passion, I mean dad even brought me to a jungle and we hunted down wild boars for lunch. Too bad thought that there are very rare gun shops here in Manila and fewer people who will take a person who only specialty is gun... Funny am I right? So you might be asking if I'm so good with guns why not be a policeman or maybe a soldier I will fit in perfectly right? Well the problem is that my Dad always wanted me to be a soldier like him a protector of our country, sadly my mom doesn't want me to and she have every reason to be so... Dad died at the war when I am 20 years old... he is one of the unlucky group of soldiers who died in an ambush. Now mom keeps reminding me how dangerous being a soldier is but to tell you the truth I big part of me wants to be like my old man.

With all things considered my only option now is the military and I have a feeling mom will be upset about this.. I walk towards the nearest bus station with haste hoping I can still make it home in time for diner. During that time I thought this day is like all the others... I was wrong.. I was dead wrong... There just a few more blocks to my destination I feel a shift from the air like something large has flew its like similar breeze when a airplane came blowing wind to you. Yet the feeling is different it not like a simple breeze or playful blow no it feels nothing I experience before it ...feels sinister... In my mind it was a warning for me to leave to run away and I did.. My legs swiftly rush to the nearest bus station but in my haste.

Till I heard, a bashing of a car to a object, a very big object... My breathing became erratic, almost stopping. With a turn of my head my eyes can see carnage... It was chaos it was hell and worse it's coming my way...

Muscle bound people with large metal armor slashing civilians like they are meat... Humans riding lizard like monster that flew above the streets... Arrows flew to the corners hitting the poor people who are unfortunate enough to be there... There are almost 60,000 men by my estimation maybe even more and they run towards me with speed as the armor not even weighing them down.

I run with greater speed than ever before making sure to make distance away from them... Just a few meters in front of me I saw a police officer with a pistol in one hand and a megaphone with another...

"Punta kayo sa pinakamalapit na mall doon kayo magiging ligtas poproteksyonan kayo ng securidad at ng mga polis! (Go to the nearest mall and there you will be safe the security and the police force with protect you!)" The policeman spoke.

"Thank you so much" I couldn't believe my own words as they came from my lips... Safety just a few more blocks away and it will be assured... I run pass the policeman as he calls for more civilians left behind. His voice being a calming stroke of security for us... I fear that if he doesn't run like we do he might be killed by those warmongers and my fear hit me like the arrow that shot him in the neck... Behind me I heard a disturbing noise only to be amplified by the very same megaphone the policeman his holding. His body crashing to the ground in a sickening motion... My mind told me to run to the mall like he told to do but my emotions, my heart, my soul told me otherwise, to run and help him... I followed my soul, rushing back I run to him but my suspicion was right all along... The policeman is now a lifeless corpse still holding the gun and megaphone till the very end. There I see a choice run back or fight or both again choices filled my mind both fear and anger influencing my thoughts... Dad always said to me to be like him and now I can... With a shout I grabbed the pistol and aimed it at the warmongers my own muscles remembered how to fire and it helped me greatly... Shot by shot my hands shakes lightly as I feel the recoil of the gun to my body the sound of their screams but it is futile as more came... Slowly...then they run back...

The bastards for some whatever reason run back... Many things rush in my mind why could they be doing... Are they retreating? Escaping? Or something far worse...

I soon run out of bullets and my hands instinctively reached for the belt of the dead policeman in front of me... I reload with speed surprising my even my own but as I aimed at the advancing small group I see something making me pause... The remaining enemy regrouped putting their shields up standing up I saw their archers behind them drawing their arrows ready to fire... and I know who are they aiming at...me. I flee once again this time with a gun and the will to survive this... Arrows filled the sky as I run luckily for me it is difficult to hit a moving target specially with a bow so primitive.. My regret that I could have saved more Filipinos who are caught in the chaos... But the harsh reality is I can not... I finally reached the mall there people are already inside shaking panicking, praying with the security guards and policemen trying their best to maintain order... I was a few men trying to get guns in the mall's gun shop but the cashier refused... Soon I heard from an officer talking to the radio the conversation was tense but I heard him say... "SWAT will arrive I'm 10 minutes" It is not fast enough to save us... With that given time the enemy will easily kill us... Unless we fight back... Once again those demented marching hit my ears the sound is like a terrible beat bringing dread to us... The sound came closer and closer then I heard a scream...

The medieval soldiers is within view there are 40,000 all their armor and clothes stained with blood of many... They are heading toward us with a none changing expression in their faces... Panic erupted in the mall many rushing towards the back entrance hoping to escape the bloodshed that will soon follow, many more civilians forcibly taking any objects they can get their hands maybe to fight back or just simply steal... I hid the pistol in the back of my pants knowing that someone might be desperate enough or foolish enough to take it...

BAM!

We all heard an ear deafening gunshot... The crowd of panicking civilians slowly grew stagnant many like knew it was fired from a police grade pistol.. I saw a police in the scene with a pistol in his hand aiming at the nothingness above... It was a sickening silent that soon follow... Fear does that even to the best of us... My eyes never leaving him with a flick of his other arm he grabbed a microphone checking if it is on... Luckily for everyone it is...

"Ako si PO3 Ricardo Dalisay at wala akong pakielam kung sino kayo pero eto ang alam ko! (My name is Police Officer Ricardo Dalisay and I don't care who the hell you are but this is what I know!)" His words was like that of a general almost everyone in the mall listen to him.

"Yung mga tarandado mga mamamatay tao na papuntasa atin ay hindi titigil hanggang maubos tayo pero hindi naman tayo susuko! Mga kapatid, mga Filipino, mga kailangan namin ang tulong ninyo para tapusin ang mga kalaban at ipaghigante ang ating mga mahal sa buhay! (Those fools, those killers that is marching towards us will stop at nothing until we are all dead but we will never give up! My bothers and sisters, fellow Filipinos we need your help to end the enemy and avenge our fallen love ones!)" The crowd that was panicking turned into an uproar an uproar chatting him... and his speech...

Motivated many Filipinos grabbed many tools from the hardware store making improvised melee weapons... I heard a disturbing sound of a laughter followed by a buzzing chainsaw... There I my eyes lay upon people gathering any guns and projectiles they can use and throw against the incoming enemy... Then at the elevator I can see a dozen of flammable gas tanks being carried by the elevator above... It's gonna be explosive...

In the front of the store the policemen with many of the armed volunteers taking position and loading their guns... I took position myself near the edge... There a policeman gave me a stern look then a riot shield made of a sturdy material... Turning my head left and right it is clear that all the gunmen in front is equipped with a shield improvised or otherwise and the gas canisters and propane tanks stationed at the top floor made an even clearer statement an explosive one...

The enemy marches in a slow pace almost slower than walking but they are coming closer... 90 yards...80...they are near... I saw one of my fellow gunman grew sweaty from the suspense I myself is itching to fire but we must be careful... 70... still marching... 50...

"Ngayon na! (NOW!)" All of our guns came blasting against the foe the one's who foolishly stepped in front of our rain of bullets almost instantly... Our bullets pierced their armor and shields like it was nothing... The enemy archers quickly positioned themselves in a lined up formation firing their arrows above... It did not reach us they were so far to even aim... Then many of then in horses came rushing in armed with lances they plan to skewer us... But we have other plans...

The gas cans was thrown from above landing in a explosion of metal bits and flame shocking our foes and scaring their horses... Our improvised explosives worked better than what we hoped... Those fools even cluster together all while putting their shields up still hoping that it will protect them from the explosions, flame and bullets... It didn't... It also made shooting a lot more easier... I begin to question what kind of enemy we are fighting... The Abu Sayaf? The Maute group? The New Peoples army? Or the ISIS? or what I feared another country up to conquer us... No... none of them would use weapons so primitive and attack us so foolishly like this... It got to be something else... Also how in the world thousands of heavily armored soldiers managed to get to manila so fast with no one 'witnessing' them in the first place...

I lost sight of what happened next all I did is aimed and fire against the enemy and it worked pretty good so far... Later I saw they numbers of the thousand became nothing more to a hundred... The fools run back to escaping to wherever they came from... Tired from all the crazy thing that happen I finally let exhaustion finally take a toll one me... Falling from the ground I close my eyes ignoring all the cheer my fellow Filipinos shout with happiness filling their voices... But for me all that matters is that we won and what matters next is up for tomorrow to decide...

With a smile I fell asleep but only after thanking God for guiding us...

MAD: Hello the name's MAD I would like to give a shout of for the great stories of fellow Fanfic writer Otako Prince and Francisco914 both are great authors of my favorite stories that inspired me to write my own and a give clap to my friend in Fimfiction Edhidna for being a bro and helping me with the story this is MAD sighing out... PEACE!