I.


    "Fire on the west side! We need to hold them off until the cargo is loaded onto the boats! We have to wait for Pedro''s signal!" I ordered my men as we rushed towards the enemy, charging with bolos drawn.


    I signaled my men to disperse and find cover wherever they can find it. The Guardia Civil is now alerted to our presence...again! What is it with Pedro and his aversion to following directions?! I told him to take out the guards quietly at the harbor. His job is so simple. Silencing the guards at the harbor would be very easy since we are attacking at the dead of night, and yet he still manages to ruin it all!


    This diversion is supposed to be a last resort and yet twenty minutes into the plan and he somehow fucks it all up! We were just situating ourselves to stand by in our position when one of that bastard''s men fired a shot when I expressly instructed him and his men not to.


    "Father, I see reinforcements! Left side of the school!" Tano announced as he fired his rifle in succession. And indeed, I see seven men converging with their allies, who have entrenched their fighting positions near the walls of the shops. As I tracked these men with my sights behind cover, I noticed that these men seemed to be carrying a large wooden crate. What in the hell are those men carrying? Ammunition? Explosives? Rifles?


    In any case, the crate seemed important, and so I immediately directed my men to shift their fire.


    "Focus on the men with the crates! They must not reach their comrades!" I ordered them as I fired.


    "Focus on the men with the crates!" echoed Tano to his comrades, who is busy reloading his rifle.


    Two of my men have already fallen in the skirmish, with two more wounded. We''re now down to sixteen men including myself, and the signal doesn''t seem to have any chance of appearing anytime soon. To make matters worse, the men holding the crate reached their comrades unscathed, and whatever''s inside that box...they''re unloading it now.


    I swear, if those crates has a Gatling gun ammunition inside it-


    "The enemy''s deploying a Gatling gun! The crew''s emerging from the northeast! They are loading it now!" Tano announced as he rose from cover, returning fire as he did so.


    "Goddamn it! Retreat to Calle Cabildo! Now!" I roared as my men and I fired back in quick succession to cover our retreat.


    II.


    From the distance, a fierce battle can be heard as Telesforo and his men defend their position near Calle Victoria. Sure enough, the harbor will be crawling with Civil Guards soon. The shots fired by Pedro definitely caught the attention of the soldiers. But it seemed to be a matter of no consequence, for they were able to secure the weapon crates stashed inside one of the warehouses near the port. Pedro snickers, for Peralta wasn''t lying about the weapons after all. He thinks to himself, ''After all these years...Peralta may still have his uses.''


    "Pedro, we''ve loaded the boats and we''re ready to go. We only need to fire the signal for Telesforo''s group so they can retreat." one of Pedro''s men reported, handing the rocket to him.


    "What signal? We''re not going to fire this damn signal! Let Telesforo''s group sort their situation out." Pedro sneered as he threw the firecracker into the water. His underling was utterly shocked and disgusted at this act, to say the least - for Pedro is obviously sabotaging the operation - first, by intentionally firing his gun to alert the soldiers after the harbor guards have been taken out...and now this!


    "Curses, Pedro! Just what in damnation did you just do?!" the man protested as he pushed Pedro, tipping off his balance for a bit. Pedro then, shockingly, immediately retaliated with a right jab, hitting the man square in the face and causing him to stagger. Seeing an opening in his opponent''s defenses, Pedro followed up the attack with a punch kick, putting his opponent to the ground. And like a berserk feral hound, Pedro pounced at the defenseless man and began throwing punch after punch upon the man, battering his face with every strike. This continued on for several seconds, until four of Pedro''s men stood in to break the fight - the three pulling Pedro away from the defeated man, and the other one helping the battered man up on his feet. It took about a full minute before the three men were able to calm Pedro down.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    "You try that again, and I''ll kill you for good, you fuck!" cursed Pedro as he slowly retreated to the boats.


    "Let''s go! We''re done here!" he ordered the men. "And get that fucker out of my sight!"


    III.


    The retreat to Calle Cabildo proved to be not an easy thing, as the Civil Guards got us in a tight spot, with the machine gun at their arsenal. I tried to get a bead at the man operating the cursed weapon, but the relentless gunfire made it almost impossible to get out of cover. I can see Tano dragging one of our wounded comrades to safety, for the man is shot in the chest and his right hip is bleeding. I can see the other soldiers slowly advancing towards our location, and with a handful of them flanking us to the right - they must''ve overheard our retreat.


    Goddamn it. Why does it have to be our fellow Filipinos...


    ...and why is Pedro taking so damn long to get all of the crates out of the harbor?!


    But I have greater concerns than that at the moment. The street behind us is greatly barren of obstacles we can hide behind, so if we retreat now, we''re as good as dead - with that machine gun always on the prowl for anybody who would do as much as a peek out in the open. These soldiers are surprisingly well-trained, and are just as excellently equipped.


    "We cannot hold out like this for much longer, Telesforo! That gun is killing us!" shouted one of my men.


    "Tulisanes!" shouted a Spanish soldier hiding behind a wall section of the school, who, judging by his attire, is an officer of this band of soldiers. "Surrender now, and your lives will be spared!"


    "I''d rather die here than surrender to you, Spanish dogs!" I taunted in Spanish as I fired at his direction, chipping off a small chunk of his cover. I can hear a faint ''mierda'' coming from behind his hiding spot.


    "Kill them! Kill them all!" the officer ordered.


    But in a surprising turn of events, out of nowhere, a small canister flew into the middle of the battlefield, and before my eyes could even blink to absorb what just happened, the canister blew up into a thick cloud of smoke. In just a matter of seconds, the street was covered in musty-smelling fog, and firing ceased from both sides. Not long after the first bomb, two more canisters flew out of nowhere and into the street, thickening the cover of smoke that has already enshrouded the battlefield in obscurity.


    "Go now, Tales!" shouted a familiar voice. "The Gatling gun is short of bullets! Go now while it reloads!"


    Upon this mysterious ally''s instruction, I rallied my comrades to fall back. "To Calle Cabildo! Now!" I shouted, aiding my wounded comrades as we withdrew.


    Behind the curtain of smoke, I can hear the Spanish officer frantically shouting to his men, ordering them to shoot blindly into the misty cover the bombs have created earlier. Gunfire came at us at all possible directions, but only a few barely glanced us as we made our run into the dark street, Calle Cabildo.


    IV.


    Tirso and I was only a few feet away from the harbor when I spied upon some rogue lamp lights going in and out of one of the warehouses. I immediately pulled my companion behind the cover of a stack of boxes to avoid attracting the attention of these bandits, for we cannot take them on at this state - considering how outnumbered we are at the moment. There''s more than a dozen armed men loading crates onto two medium-sized fishing boats, and interestingly, on the far left of the warehouse, I can see two of the bandits fighting each other with their fists.


    "What do you suppose they''re loading onto their boats, Marcelo?" Tirso whispered.


    "I don''t know, Tirso. But I''m sure, whatever those scoundrels are plundering from that warehouse must be valuable." I answered.


    "I think we should call for reinforcements...right now." Tirso suggested.


    "There''s no time to wait for the others. We''re it!" I countered.


    "Are you crazy?! We can''t take on fifteen armed men! Let''s wait it out!" my companion argued.


    "If we don''t act now, they''ll get away! Time is of the essence! We can''t sit idl-"


    I was interrupted in my speech when a sudden CRASH on the far end of the harbor caught the tulisanes'' attention. One of them motioned a number of tulisanes to inspect the noise and dispatched three to inspect it.


    ....this gives me an idea.


    "I got it! Tirso, I know how we can thwart this heist...and I need your help!"


    "I hope this is not one of your crazy ideas again." Tirso sighed.


    "No! None of the sort!" I assured him. "You see these heavy wooden boxes scattered across the harbor?"


    "Yes...and what about them?" Tirso asked, his face telling me he hasn''t the slightest idea.


    "I want you to go from stack to stack and make some noise."


    "But that will lead them to my dir...."


    Upon realizing the point of my plan, Tirso''s eyes started to brighten.


    "Yes. Exactly, my friend." I answered with a grin. Tirso nodded in agreement.


    "Divide and conquer, eh?" he replied, his tone reeking of excitement. "Just like when we were kids, huh?"


    "Are you ready to play hide-and-seek, Tirso?" I asked.


    "Always, my friend." he replied. "Always!"


    "Then, let''s get to work!"