Chapter One.
The prison was silent as the only source of sound were the low mutters that escaped the metal bars of the cells and the stationed guards who passed the time sharing stories. Echoing lowly down D-Block was the sound of boots hitting against the cement floor and the sound of chains clashing against eachther with every step. Making their way down the barely occupied prison block were four Amestris Military Police soldiers who were armed with rifles and sidearms, their eyes watching their prisoner carefully as they had been warned about his skills.
Their prisoner was a recently captured Aerugo officer, a Colonel to be exact and along with him the Southern Amestris forces had captured nine others. The group of soldiers had been identified as members of the 2nd Royal Infantry Regiment and the Colonel was their leader. Only two days ago, the group of ten were conducting a mission of infiltrating the Amestris Southern border with a small platoon, but during their mission they were compromised. Out of the thirty soldiers that were sent in the only ones they could take alive was the Colonel and a small squad of soldiers. It was said the Colonel only allowed himself to be captured when Amestris soldiers were forced to threaten and execute his remaining men if he didn't stop resisting capture.
Colonel Roth Steyr, commanding officer of the 2nd Royal Infantry Regiment. Steyr was young for his rank and while many of his superiors admired him for that, he felt that he was making rank at a slower rank then he would like. Steyr had short jet black hair that was neatly kept and a well trimmed goatee, his eyes were a icy blue that seemed as if they were glaring right through you. He wore the standard uniform for an Aerugo officer which consisted of black combat boots, tan field trousers which were bloused at the bottom, he wore a white button up shirt with a black tie underneath his dark gray battle blouse, and a black all-weather officer's trench coat. For a man who had just been captured during a combat mission his uniform looked as if it had just came back from the cleaners.
"Welcome to C-Block where you'll be staying while on your little vacation," One of the soldiers snickered lowly as it was obvious that months upon months working within the prison walls as a guard had made him bored and teasing the prisoners was his only sense of joy.
The soldier to Steyr's right cleared his throat loudly before speaking up, "C-Block is reserved for special prisoner. We mostly have POW's here and deserters, besides you and your men there are only a few others located within this block."
Steyr took note that all prisoners in the block were all soldiers as he examined every cell he passed by, his eyes glaring at the sorrowful faces of Amestris soldiers who had deserted, and several soldiers from Creta who displayed no emotion on their faces. Steyr wasn't a fan of Amestris soldiers due to all the fighting his country had with them, but he disliked how Creta soldiers carried themselves even more. Creat soldiers didn't follow one country, but served under a federal state where soldiers served their own nation that had been united under a union and were constantly being babysat by their central government. Steyr saw most Creta soldiers as simple mercenaries fighting for their own nation's desires and not the central government's overall idea.
"What cells are my men in?" Steyr stated coldly as he turned his attention towards the hall before him realizing they only had a few more cells left before reaching the end of the block where it split off into two directions, one leading to D-Block and the other leading towards a bridge that went over the eastern prison yard.
"They're coming up," One of the soldiers stated as he motioned with his rifle at a cell on their left.
Steyr's eyes fell upon the faces of two uniformed Aerugo soldiers who occupied the cell, one was a young man who looked just about old enough too legally drink on the bottom bunk and the other was a female who looked slightly younger than the soldier below her. The both wore a similar uniform like Steyr did, but ones that weren't as flashy due to their ranks as enlisted soldiers. They wore wore black combat boots with tan field trousers, they wore blackish gray undershirts with gray battle blouses like Steyr did, on their shoulders were black and red rank insignias, and they wore brownish gray utility belts with overalls. The female soldier's uniform hugged her body a bit more than the male's uniform as it was formed for her feminine body, her brown eyes glared at the guard's weapons as she twirled the end of her silky smooth black hair. The man's uniform had the sleeves rolled back halfway up his forearm, his hair was a light brown which was cut short on the sides while it spiked up in the front, and his eyes were a grayish green tint.
Corporal Ryker Enfield, a young squad leader who was quite handy with a rifle and explosives.
Lance Corporal Mia Madsen, Enfield's second-in-command for his squad and pretty talented with a radio.
"You're looking cheerful Colonel," Enfield stated with a sly grin.
"You gonna get us out anytime soon... Sir?" Madsen added on as she hopped off the top bunk and joined Enfield on ground level.
Steyr gave them a simple nod as he tried his best to hide his smile at his overly ambitious soldiers, "Standby you and behave yourselves in that cell."
Walking past two more cells he was greeted by two more familiar faces, one was the face of a young man and the other was a man who was nearing retirement age. The younger man wore a uniform similar to Steyr's but the collar of his white button up shirt was undone and his tie was worn loosely around his neck, his blonde hair was kept neat, and his hazel green eyes watched the guards anrgily. The older soldier wore the same enlisted uniform as Enfield and Madsen, but unlike the two of them his rank insignia was more filled out than them. The older soldier looked much older than what he truly was, his hair hidden by a patrol cap but his gray beard revealed what he was attempting to hide under it, his appearance resembled a bulldog of some sort.
First Lieutenant Fiat Revelli, a hotheaded officer who is quick both on his feet and with a gun all while ranking top in his graduating class.
Sergeant Major Lewis Browning, an elderly soldier who was near retirement age but knew how to teach the younger soldiers a few tricks.
"A prison cell is no place for an officer," Revelli spat annoyingly as he shot the four guards a death stare.
"How you holding up, Roth?" Browning chirped out in his rough voice as he was the few that could refer to the Colonel by his first name.
"Holding up pretty well considering the circumstances Bulldog and Lieutenant don't you worry you'll be sipping tea in the officer's clubhouse soon enough," Steyr stated low with a light chuckle as two of the guards gave Browning a good look upon hearing his nickname and then quickly shivered at the sudden realization that he actually did resemble a bulldog.
"Keep talking about escaping," One of the guards laughed lowly as he roughly shoved Steyr to the final cell which stood at the end of C-Block. The cell was made for more dangerous prisoners as it had two sections too it. The outside was guarded by one uniformed prison guard who wore olive green garments and carried a riot pole. The inner section of the cell had metal bars with a small room which had a iron door which held the true holding area.
"Where are the other five of my men?" Steyr demanded too know as he was guided into the holding area by two of the guards while the other two held their rifles close by incase he attempted anything.
The two guards who were carefully placing shackles around his wrist which kept him chained to the floor gave him a baffled look, "There's only five of you."
Silence filled the cell.
"I killed plenty of your comrades within my career," Steyr started off as his icy blues eyes glared at the two soldier who gulped lowly as it wasn't his words that struck fear into them but his eyes, "Lie too me one more time and you shall share the same fate as your comrades."
"D-don't l-le-let him scare you," One of the soldiers with the rifles stated as the only reason who could say that with a straight face was because he had his rifle aimed at Steyr ready to fire.
"We have no idea what you're talking about. The soldiers that arrived here with you said there were only five and the field report stated that out of the platoon only five were taken alive," One of the soldiers stated nervously as they finished locking up Steyr's shackles and slowly backed up to the doorway where the two rifleman still had their rifles plastered to the chained up Aerugo soldier. The other soldier roughly shoved Steyr's meal tray towards him with his foot before retreating back to the entrance.
"First you wipe out the platoon I was with, then you have the nerve to put me in chains, and now you lie about the five other men I came here with?" Steyr growled angrily as he knew that there were nine other soldiers that were captured along with him. Not including the four who were being held down the hall there were five others who shared the same fate, upon reaching Central HQ they were all separated for questioning and since then this was the first time he saw any fellow Aerugo soldiers.
"What is he talking about?" One of the soldiers said as he slowly began to close the door, Steyr's usually calm eyes now filled with panic. Known for being cool under nearly every combat situation Steyr was rarely known to panic in situations like these, but this was one he had never faced before. Being in charge of a regiment he had a platoon assigned to him for special missions, but now they all had been killed before him on their last mission. Only himself and nine others survived and now they were deep within enemy lines with five of his remaining men unaccounted for.
"Just close the door he just lost his whole platoon and probably lost the little sanity he had,"A voice muttered lowly as the sound of the door locking closed filled the air and the only source of light was from the torso sized windows that had metal bars too prevent prisoners from grabbing guards.
Steyr sat in the cell in silence for a few minutes until he finally unleashed a heavy sigh. Using his mouth he carefully unhooked the Aerugo national officer pin which was located on his collar and holding the pointed pin between his teeth he did his best to relax his body. Bringing his head low towards his hands he took in a deep breath and then proceeded to jam the pin into his hand. Groaning lowly in pain he began to slowly carve a circle within the back of his hand, his eyes filled with rage and determination as he watched the blood slowly drip onto the floor.
It wasn't like Colonel Steyr or his soldiers too sit around while their comrades were missing.