"Sir," a gentle voice called across the alchemists dreams. "Roy, you are being summoned. You need to get up."
Grumbling at the awakening, State Alchemist Roy Mustang snapped his eyes open. The sun had not even crossed the desert skyline, but the beginning tinges of pink in the sky showed that it was somewhere near five am. The sun rose much faster in Ishval than his home country of Amestris and being sent to the war zone had thrown off his natural clock. Looking around through fuzzy vision Roy pinpointed the source of the voice. Next to his bunk was a camouflaged young woman with a massive rifle. Her hand was resting on his bare shoulder which explained the single patch of warmth.
"Roy, the Photon Alchemist has gone missing," the woman whispered. "The Furher himself has sent orders."
Quickly realizing that this was not to be a social call the Flame Alchemist snapped to alertness. If the leader of Amestris had sent orders that meant that the situation was serious. His orders were normally given by a Colonel or occasionally a General. Grabbing his uniform jacket from the side table he swung his feet out of bed and into the waiting boots. He trusted that Riza had shaken them to remove any scorpions and it seems she had. With a cursory swipe at his messy hair, Roy followed his now silent companion out of the small one person officers tent. The woman was almost impossible to make out against the dark shifting sands but he knew what to look for. Riza Hawkeye had been a childhood friend and recognizable anywhere with his trained eyes.
As the two strode across the cold desert path Roy buttoned his jacket and tried to smooth the wrinkles. After the mission yesterday he had been too tired to fold the blue jacket with its saddle skirt and had instead thrown it over the table in his quarters. Though the endeavour was clearly not going to come to fruition the alchemist continued to try. The Furher, leader of the country, was not someone you showed up to with a messy outfit.
"Head on in, I will wait outside," Riza whispered as she vanished into the sand around the disguised command tent.
A small black dot was the only sign that someone was in the dune, but you could not even see the end of the rifle unless you knew exactly what you were looking for. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Roy strode into the tent with the most confident and serious look he could muster. If he was being sent on secret mission it was undoubtedly for a body, or deserter, to be destroyed.
"Riza where are they," Roy called over the gunfire as he carefully balanced the broken body of a small male alchemist over his knees. "We are taking heavy fire!"
Had this been a normal day Roy would have simply blasted the damned Ishvalans with a snap. Though his control was near perfect and as such he rarely hurt himself there were now others to think of. Somewhere in the crumbling floor above was Riza, sniping individual targets. A surrounding blast was out of the question for that choice. The alchemist laying on his lap whose uniform was shredded and red was also taking a hand to steady. If he attempted a lancing blast from his one free hand there was a chance the edge of it would hit the critically injured male. The alchemist was knocking on deaths door as it was and even a small burn could finish the man off. That left only one option. He needed to wait until they were packed up and let out a single concentrated blast.
"They are three meters out," Riza finally called from somewhere distant. "Packing up. Now is your chance!"
Cursing at the close range Roy knew he did not have a choice. If he did not act now there was a chance that Amestris would lose all three of them to enemy hands. With a swift movement, the Captain curled himself around the unconscious male and let out a stone boosted snap.
"Ah, glad you could make it this early Captain," a jovial voice said from the desk at the other end of the tent. "Please come in!"
With a crisp salute Roy strode confidently into the command tent. It was quite full for being so early in the morning, with no less than four high ranking alchemists waiting. He knew they were alchemists from working with them during the last six months. Solf Kimblee was sitting on some boxes, tattooed hands kept to his sides as he stared at the Furher. Alex Louis Armstrong and Basque Grand were holding a hushed conversation in the corner while Tim Marcoh was standing nervously next to them.
"Now that you have all been assembled I have a mission for you," Fuhrer King Bradley said as his tone changed to serious. "Late last night one of our alchemists was kidnapped during an investigation. Somewhere in Ishvalan hands is the Photon Alchemist. He has far too much information to be left in their hands and he or his body need to be recovered."
"If it is a rescue job why did you summon Mustang and I," Kimblee interrupted as he adjusted his white fedora. "I can understand Grand and Armstrong but we are destruction based. An Marcoh never leaves HQ. Who is this Photon alchemist anyways?"
As if summoned in an arcane symbol an aide darted in through the tent flap doors. He did not stop to gawk at the gathered might in the room but instead slammed some papers on the Furher's desk. With a crisp salute the aide about-faced and ran back outside. Grabbing the papers Bradley pulled five from the top of the stack and held them out.
"This is the Photon Alchemist," Bradley stated as each person in the room grabbed an offered paper. "I summoned all of you due to your identifying looks. If he is still loyal he will aid you in returning home. If he has defected then you are all in a position to kill him."
Looking at the offered paper Roy realized that he recognized the person. The small dossier stated that the Photon Alchemist was actually named Leo Sunwright. His grey hair and blue eyes were identifiable anywhere. This was the investigator that had stood at Mayes Hughes side many times when he and Roy had met in the last few months.
"His greatest ability is being able to turn invisible to human eyes," Bradley continued after everyone had a few moments to read the paper. "He is one of the only alchemists assigned to Investigations. With his near eidetic memory he is a great asset. Captured, he is a dangerous liability. If you find him still loyal get him home. If not, kill him. Either way, kill all nearby and make Ishval regret kidnapping one of ours."
With a cold feeling in his stomach growing Roy understood why this particular team had been assembled. They, as a group, had the strongest firepower of the Amestrian Military. This was not going to be just a rescue, but a genocide. Looking around the room Roy could see that both Kimblee and grand looked excited. Kimblee was actually laughing while Grand was staring at Marcoh as if he knew exactly why he was there. When the Flame Alchemist met Armstrong's eyes though he saw sadness. The large man was a military officer but like Roy he saw being an alchemist as a burden. He felt no joy in slaughter or genocide and only fought to protect his own family.
"Last word was that he was being held in one of the mountain outposts," Bradley said as he rose to his feet. "Take whomever you need and get the Photon alchemist home. Marcoh, give them the watches."
"Captain," a voice called from somewhere beyond the rubble that trapped Mustang. "Captain can you hear me? Roy, please answer!"
Coughing from the large amount of dust that choked the limited air, Roy realized that he could not respond. That blast had been much stronger than he had anticipated. Marcoh's enhanced watches seemed to work far too well. He had only meant to take down the gathered group but his explosion had levelled the building that he and Hawkeye had been hiding in.
"Captain Mustang," a familiar voice boomed. "Try not to move too much. Grand and I are going to lift the rocks pinning yourself and the photon alchemist!"
A jolt of surprise ran through Mustang as he recognized the voice. That was Armstrong. But how was he and Grand here? They had been nowhere near each other having been separated when the group had approached the massive city. How was he here, Roy wondered foggily.
As his eyes adjusted to the darkness Roy realized that he was not still in the building. There had been a small subterranean cavern under the house and, during the explosion, the ground must had given way. He was lying at an odd angle and the lack of pain from the twenty foot fall seemed to indicate shock. The small streams of light coming through the blocked entryway was enough for Roy to look around his tiny prison. The area was, if he were to guess, ten feet long and seven wide. As he glanced around the cavern without moving his head Roy stopped on a small form huddled in the far corner. Though he could not clearly make out the features he knew without a doubt that it was the Photon Alchemist, and that he was dead. Though Roy had miraculously landed on stalagmite that had shattered under his weight Leon had not been so lucky. A thin but sturdy one skewered his chest while a large stalactite had dropped from the ceiling and penetrated through his hip to the ground.
The blood beneath the body had already solidified, which meant that Roy had been in here quite awhile. As that thought hit he began to shiver. It had definitely been shock and possibly a concussion, as normally the Flame Alchemist would have realized the moment his Pyrotex gloves had gotten wet. He had apparently been lucky enough to land in a small flowing river, the water and a single shrub cushioning the otherwise deadly fall.
"Captain, if you can hear us respond," Colonel Grand's voice roared over the sound of shifting rocks. "Do you have the Photon Alchemist?"
Realizing that he would have to stand and yell for his voice to be heard the Flame Alchemist attempted to rise. The moment he shifted his lower spine though was the moment that Roy realized he was much more injured than he had thought. The sudden searing pain caused him to cry out, and in an effort to relieve the pain Roy let his upper body drop back to the shoreline of the slow river.
His scream of agony must have been heard Roy thought as he heard the sound of shifting rocks become swifter. It seemed that no matter how many they shifted the rescue was not getting any closer to freeing him though. The distant voices above argued for a moment, and then a large flash of red light nearly blinded Roy. Shutting his eyes against the pain he heard a loud groan of earth and bright light flooded into the cavern.
"Captain," a scared voice yelled much louder than before. "Captain don't move! Stay still."
Biting back a snarky comment about how he wishes he could, Roy let his gaze drift back to the photon alchemist. Now, with bright light streaming through the perfectly cylindrical hole, he could see the other man clearly. Leon looked worst than he had at first glance. It was clear though that he would have died even without the stalagmite running through his chest. Hundreds of small burns and deep cuts ran though the alchemists body turning the once beautiful Amestris blue uniform into tatters. It was clear that torture had been used in an attempt to get information. One of the grey eyes was missing, the lid now open showing just an empty socket while his open jaw showed many cracked or missing teeth. It was a horrible death for such a kind man who had once given Roy his jacket in the winter due to the Flame Alchemists own burning during training.
Leon in general had been too kind of a soul for the military though he wore the uniform with pride. He had used every pay to obtain uniforms and schoolbooks for children of deceased soldiers. He also bought their surviving parents food if they were struggling. Those whom lost both parents lived in his ancestral manor on the outside of the city. The familial money as well as his alchemic invention patents went to his high school sweetheart wife. If he remembered from Hughes talks they had been expecting a little boy in a few months.
"I didn't break." The last words Roy had ever heard his classmate speak ran through his head as if on repeat. "I swear I didn't break."
"Roy, slow your breathing," a gentle voice whispered from next to his head. "Marcoh is coming down."
The voice snapped Roy from the memories of his old classmate. Blinking rapidly he tried to focus on the face above him. A few stray strands of blonde hair drifted into his face and as he tried to shake his head to remove them he realized he couldn't. Two hands were keeping his head firmly in one position though it was quite uncomfortable. Blinking a few more times to clear the dust he realized whom he was staring at. Riza's tear streaked face was focused on his. The normally unshakeable sniper's eyes were red and a few stray tears still dropped onto his forehead.
" He has a few burst disk, broken spine, fractured leg and cranial haemorrhage," a male voice also said rather quietly. "Good job on stabilizing his head. Lieutenant please stand back so I can work. He will be allright."
With a quiet sniff Riza disappeared from Roy's vision. She was replaced by a black haired man with silver streaks who had a very serious look on his face. In his hands was a glowing red stone that pulsed and flowed like a trapped liquid. Without any delay Marcoh placed the stone on Roy's chest, beneath cupped palms and activated his alchemy. The pain of bones shifting back into place forced Roy into the welcoming darkness. He knew now that he was safe and would be debriefed later. As he sunk into unconsciousness Roy subconsciously tightened his left hand over a broken silver watch with a LS carved into the dragon.