Fullmetal Alchemist:

Return to Chaos

Prologue: After the Invasion

A month had passed as cleanup continued in the wake of Eckhart's invasion of Central.

Roy Mustang smiled as he entered the familiar office. It was the same office he had resided in before his voluntary demotion in which he had transferred to a remote northern outpost to try and forget the events from years past. The inside was filled with boxes, as Jean Havoc glanced over to see him.

"Welcome back to Central, General Mustang." He said, grinning as he emphasized Roy's rank.

A day after the invasion, Roy had requested to be returned to Central. The leader of the assembly, Director Johnson, was pleased to learn of Roy's request and personally granted his transfer. In the week preceding his return, Roy was promoted to a full General. He was also notified that his old team would be regrouped and placed back under his command, intended to be a gesture of good faith from the assembly.

Kain Fuery, Vato Falman and Heymans Breda all nodded in agreement as they began unpacking their belongings.

"It's good to be back, Lieutenant Havoc." Roy replied, smiling.

Riza Hawkeye approached with a file in hand, holding it out to him. Black Hayate sat obediently beside her. "I think you requested this, sir. I've been holding it for you ever since they ordered it removed."

Roy nodded as he took the file and went over to a safe, locking it away. "All right, we've got a lot of work to do. I want you all stop unpacking and go help with the cleanup."

"Yes sir!" The others said, jumping at his order and running out the door quickly.

Black Hayate followed his master quickly with cheerful barks.

Roy sniggered as he went to the window to watch them leave headquarters. "It really is good to be back…" He left the office shortly afterwards, knowing Riza would give him hell if he didn't join them.

After the events in Central, Sciezka decided to seek refuge in Risembool with the Rockbells for a time.

Winry Rockbell sighed as she cleaned up her work station, while Sciezka read one of the medical books she had laying around in her room.

"I must admit, I wish you had more books here. Playing with the local children is fun, but my heart really does lie in books…"

Winry snickered as Sciezka closed the book. "Sorry, Sciezka, but you know we're not ones for reading around here."

Den's muffled barking could be heard outside as Winry checked to see what he was barking at.

"Silly dog…" She said. She smiled in amusement as Sciezka joined her out of curiosity. "He's just chasing a rabbit, don't worry about it."

Sciezka sighed as she stared out the window. "Are you sure it's fine for me to stay here? I can find somewhere else if you want me to leave."

Winry looked at her in surprise. "Why would you think we'd want you to leave? It's fun having you here! You can stay for as long as you like!"

Sciezka smiled happily at Winry. "Thanks for that reassurance, Winry. It's just that there are times when you and Pinako seem so distant that it feels like I'm not wanted."

Winry's expression grew sad as she shook her head. "It's not you, don't worry."

From her expression, Sciezka quickly realized why they were acting the way they were. She was about to apologise before Pinako Rockbell's voice rang out.

"Girls, dinner's ready! Come on down before it gets cold!"

Winry cheered happily as she quickly recovered. "Come on, let's go!" She said, grabbing Sciezka's wrist and dragging her downstairs to eat, ignoring the other woman's protests.

Liore, still recovering from the Philosopher's Stone incident, now had more to clean up after the experimental invasion by Germany.

The people of Liore were thankful that another member of the military was placed in charge of the cleanup.

Major Alex Louis Armstrong was asked not to join in by his superiors, after complaints were filed against him for his 'unique style' when it came to repairing the city.

Rose Thomas sighed as she watched the crews work. She looked over at the food and drink bar where she had first encountered the Elric brothers.

The gaudy golden statue of Major Armstrong gleamed in the sun, forcing her to shade her eyes. The glare tricked her eyes into thinking she could see the Elrics walking towards her.

Hope welled up inside of her until her eyes adjusted. Disappointment threatened to overwhelm her as she realized it was only a couple of workers hired to help with the cleanup effort. Tears began to form at the corners of her eyes until she felt a small hand grab hers, causing her to look down at her son.

"Mommy, can you come play with us?" Her son asked, looking up at her worriedly.

She smiled and nodded. "Of course I will. Lead the way."

Ed's words echoed in her mind as she remembered when he told her to stand on her own.

She willed herself to know the Elrics were never coming back. She knew that she had to move past them for her sake, and for the sake of her son. She laughed as her son pulled her along.

Several kids joined them as they ran, making sure to stay clear of the ruined center of town.

The assembly had already been kept busy after Roy Mustang's coup d'etat. However; they had been forced into overdrive after the invasion of Germany.

The official story laid out by the assembly, and agreed on by everyone involved in the coup, was that Bradley had been paid off by one of the other nations to aggravate the neighbouring states. His betrayal also included the weakening of Amestris' army and its people, in order to allow for invasion by this unnamed state.

Bradley's secretary was an agent of the state in question sent to keep an eye on Bradley while he carried out his operation, but her true name was never revealed.

Brigadier General Maes Hughes had discovered the plot, and was killed before he could alert anyone to what was happening. Roy Mustang, Edward Elric, and others implicated by Bradley as traitors had also discovered the plot and were working to stop him. The assembly branded them as heroes, allowing Roy and the others to return to active duty without fear of persecution.

General Hakuro, after a two year leave of absence, finally resigned and left the military one General short. It was presumed he had ducked beneath the grid to avoid the scrutiny he was facing from an investigation. The investigation had been initiated against several top ranking officials of the military, in regards to their activities under Fuhrer Bradley. So; when Roy requested to be returned to Central Headquarters, they immediately bumped his rank up from Brigadier General to a full General.

They left him in charge of running the reconstruction effort, while they focused on issues that still continued to be of concern to them, including helping the Ishbalans recover from the damage inflicted under Fuhrer Bradley's rule.

They offered some representative positions on the assembly for the Ishbalans, in order to help try and restore the trust that Bradley had destroyed. Unfortunately, none of the Ishbalans had come forward to take the positions so far. However; the Ishbalan leaders told the assembly that, if they continued the good faith they had begun, then Ishbal and its people would forgive the military for following a man like Bradley so blindly.

With the return of the assembly, they promised that war would become a foreign concept. They only hoped that the aggravation Bradley caused to the neighbouring states wouldn't boil over. For the first time in years; Amestris had finally discovered true peace within itself.

Edward Elric carefully set the uranium bomb in a cloth bag, warily watching the unconscious forms of the guards to make sure none of them woke up.

"Don't worry, brother. I doubt they'll be waking up any time soon. Noah hits really hard." Alphonse Elric said, smiling nervously at the woman who was this world's equivalent of Rose.

Noah held a thick stick she had acquired outside, which was now spattered with blood from the impacts to the guards' heads.

"That's true… Come on; let's get out of here before they do wake up," Ed said as he pulled the strings tight on the bag.

It had been easy to discover the location of the bomb once Adolph Hitler had been arrested. It had been confiscated with his personal effects and was taken to a secure warehouse location once the German government realized that it was a bomb.

Noah nodded as she threw the stick into a fire that was set up in the corner of the room to keep the guards warm.

"In two different worlds, you've cause us a lot of trouble." Ed growled in irritation at the bomb as they ran out of the warehouse and found a safe place to hide.

"So; what are we going to do with it, brother?" Al asked, warily glancing at the bag that Ed was gingerly holding.

"I don't know. Maybe we could drop it in the ocean and let the pressure deal with it. Or we could deconst-" He froze as he realized what he had begun to say. Ed shook his head. "There I go, thinking we're still back home…"

Noah shook her head. "We'll figure it out later; we should put some distance between us and the warehouse in case they start fanning out and searching for us."

Al nodded in agreement. "If worse comes to worse, we can find some place that's uninhabited and bury it so that nobody can find it."

Ed and Noah agreed as they ran out from their hiding spot. Ed pulled out a gun he had been carrying, just in case they ran into any trouble.

Germany was far worse off than Amestris, and he knew it had become a kill or be killed society, especially with how desperate Germany's people had become…