“Sir, yes sir!”

Two days from now, troops will be disseminated to the most perturbed towns in Mindanao. Armed forces are getting ready for a combat over the rebels—a bloody war for sure.

“Getting ready First Lieutenant?” Captain Arvin Vasquez asked his younger brother James who is in the process of cleaning his M16A2 rifle with a piece of cloth.

He gave a fleeting smile to his older brother and continued wiping his service firearm. “Yes captain, ‘tis for peace, our families, and for our country.”

Arvin sat beside James on his bunk and tapped the latter’s shoulder. “I am very proud of you, James.”

James just shrugged and continued his errand. “Captain, you know that this is really what I wanted from the start; to be an instrument of national peace and protect the welfare of the people.” James told his brother proudly.

Arvin just smiled and added, “…and to make father proud, don’t you?”

Their father General Antonio Vasquez has been known to be one of the bravest soldiers the country ever had. He saved a lot of citizens from wars in Basilan and Sulu, and brought stillness to some secluded places in Mindanao which were ruled with insurgents. But he lost his life five years ago in a bomb explosion over the army’s main quarters among hundreds of soldiers who were injured.

James mind wandered off somewhere. “I want to be like General Vasquez. I promised him that I would protect you and mother by all means.”

“Wherever he is now, I know father is very proud of you, first lieutenant.” Arvin gave James a tap at the back and returned to his quarters.

The militia already got off their armored vehicles and dispersed to different points securing the whole area. Others were already helping the civilians vacate the village while some waited for instructions and signs of probable adversary.

Soldiers hid behind the bushes and at the back of trees when a loud blast reverberated. The troopers aimed at points were rebels came out and fired. An exchange of gunshots agitated the seemingly peaceful community.