Reporting to the General

A day had passed since Captain Enrique Villamor met with Thomas Estaris, and now he was back on the road—this time not as a scout, but as the bearer of grave news. Three military trucks kicked up dust along the cracked asphalt road that led toward the fortified military base in Bataan. His recon team rode in silence, weighed down by exhaustion, uncertainty, and the heaviness of failure.

As they neared the outer checkpoint, armed soldiers stepped forward, rifles low but ready. One of them recognized Villamor and quickly raised a hand.

"Captain Villamor?" the guard called out.

"Yeah. It's us," Villamor replied from the front passenger seat. "Let us through."

The guard waved them in. The gate opened with a mechanical creak, and the trucks rolled inside.

The base was nestled between a ridge and the coast.