"Falman, you two take the west entrance. Havoc, Fuery, you take the southern one." The building was nondescript, gray siding and shabby, unwashed glass set in windows that hovered ten or so feet above the ground. Not much, really, which was probably why the perpetrator had chosen the spot. Who would suspect that inside illegal alchemical experiments were being preformed?

Roy pulled a scrap of white from his pants pocket, drew the gloves onto his hand and tested them, sending a tiny spark into the crisp fall air. It flared up briefly, stinging his subordinates' eyes for an instant and died away just as quickly, leaving them a bit muddled and blinking at the sudden lack of brightness.

"Right. All set then." He glanced around at the party, gave them a nod, and then turned to Hawkeye. "You'll come with me around the front."

She nodded once, her gun sliding from her holster with a snap of a button and barely a whisper of metal on leather. A single click sounded in the empty alley outside the building as she cocked her gun and her eyes narrowed with concentration as she focused on the mission.

Raid, restrain, retrieve. Kill no one, document all evidence. Keep it as quiet as possible.

Well, of course they would want to keep it quiet. This was, after all, a residential area. It wouldn't reflect well on the military if they were to go about disturbing the peace on a regular basis and would look even worse if such a situation were to be leaked out to the press. Nasty things would be said about the system's competence. It would be much like the Barry situation, where the government was mocked because the murders took place in their own backyard. These things were best done silently, efficiently, soldiers becoming silent stalkers, moving in like shadows and retreating before prying eyes ever knew they'd been in the first place.

They moved into position, Roy counting out three minutes to give the other two parties time to move into position. That had been the pre-allotted spell they'd set before the four men had slipped quietly around the corner of the building. Roy knew they'd be counting too, boots struggling move both hastily and inaudibly over the gravel in order to be ready to kick open the doors at the same instant that Roy did.

What they would find inside, none of them could guess; but it certainly couldn't be anything too pleasant. The quicker they got this over with and cleaned up whatever mess lay in store for them, the better. Roy flinched imperceptibly as he thought of all the paperwork this assignment would entail later in the week.

"Ten seconds, Sir." Hawkeye's voice was low and steady beside him and he nodded curtly.

9, 8, 7…

Breda panted a bit as he reached the decrepit brown door placed on the western side of the building. It had been difficult to keep up with Falman, who was both better at and more used to physical activity than Breda was. He leaned over, caught his breath, and straightened back up, giving the more seasoned officer a steady look. "Ready," he confirmed with a whisper.

6, 5, 4…

"Shit." Havoc hissed as his foot slid on the unsure surface beneath his feet. He flailed his arms for balance and managed to catch himself before he fell. Fuery used the time to catch up and waited for a signal from the blonde to continue. He could see the door on the south end of the building, not ten yards off from where they stood. It would take them only a few seconds to reach it, which was good, because they only had a few seconds left before they needed to be reaming their way through that door and invade the space inside.

"3, 2, 1…"

A boot, sturdy and black with big strong feet commanding it, slammed into the flimsy door. Roy could tell, from the way it splintered beneath his force, that it was made cheaply and poorly, and he was not complaining about the lack of quality. It only made his job easier.

With an audible crack, the door ripped away and slammed open, bouncing off the opposite wall. By the time it crashed back into its frame, albeit crookedly, Roy and Riza had already rushed inside, pausing inside the frame for only an instant. They had no time to let their eyes adjust to the darkness that rushed from within to greet them, lest an enemy take them by surprise while they waited to be able to see through the gloom. With one deft motion, Roy raised his right hand and snapped his fingers, a flare of light soaring up to hover in the great empty space below the ceiling.

With the brief supply of light, the Colonel quickly scanned the room. Ahah….there!

He aimed somewhere off to his right where he'd spotted a table, rotting and dry, unused, sitting in the corner. The furniture erupted into flames that were large enough to light half of the expansive room and cast the rest of it into flickering shadows.

"See anything?"

"No, Sir." Hawkeye's aim was steady as it swept the room, her amber eyes taking in the unfamiliar surroundings. She ignored the inanimate objects, eyes trained to seek out any motion, no matter how minute.

There was filth everywhere, the floors covered with dirt and grime and what looked to be feces. Here and there, Roy spotted disturbing clots of something unidentifiable. He bent down, nudging one such heap with his boot and it clouded up into the air, hovering for a few seconds before slowly settling back down, less concentrated and more spread out than before.

"Fur," he concluded, unsure of what to make of the discovery.

Hawkeye spared her commanding officer a brief glance before a motion over to the left caught and diverted her attention. She swung her gun around to face the flutter of activity, her aim sure and deadly to anyone that dared disobey the orders she barked out at them. "Stop right there!"

"Whoa! It's just me!" Havoc stepped further into the light where she could better see him. He looked a bit distraught, but then, anyone who worked in the same office as Riza knew they could never be too careful when she had a 45-caliber-guaranteed-trip-to-the-hospital aimed directly between their eyes. It was not a matter to be taken lightly.

She relaxed, a bit, when she discovered her adversary was, in fact, a comrade and her shoulders dropped an inch or so, as relaxed as she could get in an area that had yet to be deemed secure. Fuery soon followed behind Havoc, joining Roy and Riza.

"Report," the dark-haired man snapped at the lesser officer. It was harsh and demanding, business-like, exactly the type of tone a mission called for. He had no time for formalities; they were a thing best left behind in the office and saved for after hours.

"Nothing, Sir," Havoc retorted, firing off a salute. "All clear from the south."

Roy nodded and moved toward the other end of the room, others in tow. There were a few moments in which they discovered a desk filled with research notes and several file-folders with thoroughly documented experiment reports along with a disturbingly excessive amount of aborted fur dispersed upon the floor. What kind of animal could be shedding this much fur, or rather, how many animals was the man ("or woman," Hawkeye firmly reminded him) keeping in this filthy, rank area?

Even more disturbing, perhaps, was the fact that, aside from themselves, there was not one living thing in sight, no creatures at all to give cause to the material that lay, matted like some psychotic carpet, on top of the concrete.

He did not take the time to look at the research or experiments, but turned quickly to move onwards, eager to see what more there was to be discovered.

"Fuery, document these papers and gather them up. We'll need them as evidence." Roy looked at the shorter man, and he saluted, accepting the job.

"Sir!" The youngest of the men turned towards the desk, fingers trembling ever so slightly as they reached for the first of what he knew to be many papers that would need to be recorded and stacked.