Author's Note: So here's my long story. This is only the introduction, so comment a bunch. I want to see how many people actually want me to continue. If not many people like this, I'll just quit. Personally, I think it will be really good cause I haven't seen a story like it yet. Maybe there are, but I don't know of 'em.

It's a RoyxEd with a dash of Edx---. Mwhahaha! My secret!

Disclaimer: I don't own.

Hail Mary

Introduction

"Come on, buddy. Pretend to look tall. The Field Marshal is coming." A blond male chattered frantically to the smaller black haired male. He hefted up the smaller man from under his shoulders and propped him up on unsteady legs. The blond continued his chattering as he wiped blood from the other man's cheek and then fixing the man's collar of his jacket. Blood soaked the once pristine azure jacket in patches that the both men donned.

"I'm good, Havoc." A carbon colored eye gazed steadily even with his unresponsive legs. He gave an irritable grunt as he heaved forward to stand firmly on his feet. He heels of his boots stood fixed in their place among the dirt and he straightened up, trying to shake off the lines of exhaustion. "How is Fuery holding?"

"Take a few days to regain the sight in both eyes, but the damage is only temporary. Besides, we only need one pirate here." Havoc gave him a good natured laugh until a small whistle sounded not too far away. Quickly, he took up his spot besides his commanding officer and gave a salute to the Field Marshal approaching.

"There you are, Mustang. I was wondering where you might have run off to, my little friend." The lean man sauntered over. His steel blue eyes shined sinisterly. Patches of light brown dotted the roots of his platinum blond. He had a very strong jaw with very fine, sharp points to his face. Almost six feet tall, the man was still very skinny and taunt.

"I've been cleaning this sector up of all chimeras, sir."

"Of course. Always the faithful one, aren't we, Mustang?" The man grinned broadly.

"Only following orders, Field Marshal Hildebrand." Roy tossed the man a stead salute before continuing, "If you don't have anything else to say, sir, I need to finish inspecting this sector."

Hildebrand could feel the uneasiness come off Mustang in waves which made the man give a feral grin. "Yes of course, Brigadier General Mustang. I will be seeing you back at camp." The man patted Roy's shoulder a little to firmly near a fresh cut and practically skipped through the debris and destruction.

Roy sighed and inwardly collapsed on himself. Signs of exhaustion took up the places where uneasiness once loomed. "Let's get moving, Havoc." He nimbly took a small path through a once large stone building that was now a silent hill of stones and wooden beams.

The military's alchemist force was again sent to another uprising town that refused to make their alchemist sign up in the new registration laws. Führer Hakuro had passed the Alchemist Registration Codes as soon as he obtained office. ARC required all performing alchemists to give all information about themselves to Central Archives. They were monitored, daily lives became headaches with snooping military personnel, and rights of personal business were stripped. The alchemists that had been dutifully 'signed, sold, and tagged' had to wear two small silver chains around their left wrist like that of a prisoner; one contained their name, and the other contained their identification number. Children even as young as five were tagged for performing even the most basic of alchemy, a simple folding of paper or the fixing of a tree. Many towns despised these new codes and refused to let their alchemists be punished this way for practicing their talents to help everyday life styles. Once the people refused to give up their alchemists, the military smoothly rolled in like a killing plague and took by force what was not rightfully theirs.

Roy carefully rolled his shoulders, looking over the devastation in his wake. So much destruction laid waste to another town. The people had been cattle herded into a nearby empty field and forced to stand there as the military alchemist moved in to surround and dominate the town's alchemists into surrendering or death. Absently, he rubbed the two delicate silver chains on his wrist, knowing the fate of those who surrendered. The military knowing every move he makes, every place he goes to, and every breath he took irked him to no end. His freedom was strangled with those two little chains. He had basically written his name in his own blood as he was forced by gun point to the ARC.

He idly looked over the scene before him, desperately taking a painstakingly small break from moving. He was on fire. Every muscle and tendon was sparking with agony. His blood roared with alchemy rebound. One more snap and everything would be blown right back into his face. Now that he was under ARC jurisdictions, he had been placed under Field Marshal Hildebrand's command. The man was a sick and twisted individual. He held neither remorse nor sympathy to any living thing. He purely lived purely for destruction and power. Hildebrand used Roy like a well-breed horse. Taking the reins of Roy's powers of flame and controlling him in the direction that pleased him most, not caring about the well being of Roy.

Roy gently rubbed his eye and tightened his eye patch. With a gruff growl, he launched himself down the rubble and into the alleys. The landscape reminded him so much of Ishbal. He wanted to scream and set flame to anything near him. He wouldn't mind letting his flames devour him hungrily. All in all, he was sick of this. Bloodshed and utter chaos based on something so basically illogical.

With a muffled grunt, he aimed his fingers to a nearby building that still stood among its fallen brethren. He crept to the side of a doorway. Just a few more buildings like this and this district would be done. A few long breaths and around the edge he flew, into the building. Quickly scanning the ruins of the store front, he looked for anything alive. That's when he saw the blue flash behind an overturned table. The building's walls gave a lurch and then buckled. It was a trap.

He skidded over broken glass and back out the front doorway. Running out of the debris field, the building imploded followed by the two closets buildings doing the same with more glowing blue lights. An array trap system was in play which meant any step could cause him his and anyone near their life. He back peddled a couple steps before he could sense the fire coming his way. A small trail of fire created a snaking pattern towards him, trying to go unnoticed. It flickered up towards a blackish-brown puddle before igniting into a spitting inferno. Roy instantly took hold of the flames, bending them to his will. His eyes locked into the direction they came from. Using the fire wall as cover, he darted towards the small hill it came from. Bursting from the fire, he readied himself to snap as soon as he laid eyes on his target, but he froze. Two small children lay shaking with fear behind the hill, ruffled and scared. A small boy lay protectively over his sister. Roy stood down, relaxing his pose. Bending down, he gently ran a hand over the boy's head. Two meek brown eyes looked up.

"It's alright." Roy soothed. Roy looked up to see a nearby forest on the outskirts of town. Commanding the flames to form a wall from city to forest, Roy gently pulled both children into his arms and stood. Checking to make sure the flames would not catch the woods on fire, he ambled his way over. Spotting a few towns people moving forward in the dense trees, spiked fear stammered his footsteps before continuing on. He gracefully gave the two small children to a woman in her mid-thirties, obviously their mother. "Get out of here quickly." He turned to the fire again, creating a long arching wall. "That will only stall them for awhile." He fumbled around, legs once more giving ready to collapse.

Many sets of eyes stared at him with disbelief and respect. "Are you the Flame Alchemist?" A voice spoke out.

Roy nodded. His calf muscles twitched from exhaustion. Scanning his eyes in the gloom from the canopy above, he could tell many of the citizens on the out most parts of town ran, taking refuge in the dense vegetation. "You should get out of here."

"You are our savior, sir. Thank you."

Roy smiled. Forcing one more burst of adrenaline through his system; he leaped back into the flames. Roy walked through the flames, forcing them to become part of his defensive shell. They spurted and sizzled all around him. He could hear shouts on the other side of wall and slowly started to dwindle away the flames. Like a phoenix reborn, the flames died around him. Nothing but charred ground stood in the way. "This district is clear." He looked up to enlisted soldiers approaching the freshly cleared land.

Roy slowly picked his path towards the familiar, dirty faces of Havoc and Hawkeye. Nodding, the two quietly followed him in the direction of the camp. He sighed and rolled his shoulders again. He still had a long ways to go before this day was over.

He gingerly sat on the small cot in his canvas tent. Paying close attention to the areas with blood, he pulled of his jacket, revealing his blood soaked white cotton shirt. Cuts grazed his skin. Havoc took a look out position while Hawkeye walked in after Mustang. "Sir, how do you feel?"

"I'm alive, aren't I?" He muttered more to himself than the lady in front of him. Calmly, he unbuttoned and shimmied off the shirt revealing layers upon layers of blood saddened bandages across his broad chest and abdomen.

Hawkeye nimbly started pulling off the bandages and running a cold, soaked wash rag over the wounds on his back. Long, narrow cuts dug into his firm back. He had been brutally whipped for insubordination towards Hildebrand. Hildebrand used him as a public display of discipline. The skin that had remained on his back was ragged and the edges of the wounds were thick. Once all the blood was washed away, the two set about putting on freshly retrieved bandages. After the bandages, a freshly cleaned cotton shirt and his sodden blue jacket were donned. He sighed out, knowing his legs would not support him long. Quickly replacing his bloody gloves, he leaned down and rubbed his calf muscles, feeling them scream. "Just a little more…"

With Hawkeye's help, he got to his feet. "We got company." Havoc's head popped in, motioning outside.

"Here we go." Roy schooled his face. Puffed out his chest and tipped his head back, he was once more defiant. Stepping into the sunlight outside, the Flame Alchemist stood tall yet beaten towards the lurking danger creeping forward.

His eye's scanned over the ruined town from on top of the hill he stood. The billows of smoke poured up to the sky would soon block the sun. Gray eyes scanned unforgivably among the dots of blue that moved around below in the maze of canvas tents. He looked over to his two companions. One sat on the ground, trembling silently, while the other stood tall and grim. With a sigh, he leaned down and gently picked his brother up by the shoulder, and placed a hand on the other man's shoulder. "We should move. We got here late."

Nodding silently, the two younger men moved down the hill in the opposite direction of the town. His gray eyes scanned down once more before he too turned and moved silently.

Cliff hanger!