Fullmetal Alchemist: The Drachman Rebellion

Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, just this story and my oc's.

Chapter 1: Protect at all costs

Gunfire echoed through the snow covered forests of Drachma as a small group of men ran for their lives. Behind them the tell tale flashes of rifles told them that their pursuers were getting closer and closer. Bullets flew past them and into the fog ahead, hissing as they passed within inches of their bodies. "Gaaah!" one of them cried out as a bullet found his leg, collapsing into the snow covered ground. Crawling to a nearby fallen tree-trunk the soldier ripped the tail end of his uniform and wrapped it around his leg.

The others were nearby taking cover in the trees. "Ivan! How bad is it?" the nearest one shouted to him. Ivan called back "I'm fine it grazed me, go get them out of here!" The other three soldiers looked at each other before two of them nodded to the third. "Nikolai get the king and his daughter out of here, we'll help Ivan." The first told him and then motioned to the second.

"Dimitri move up, I'll cover you, and give your dog tags to Nikolai, I'll be damned if those bastards will make us disappear." he ordered. "Nikolai catch!" Ivan shouted tossing me his dogtags. Deftly catching them I quickly put them in my breast pocket. Dimitri tossed me his, soon after.

Catching Dimitri's dogtags, I quickly retracted my arm back into cover as a bullet whizzed by a split second later. "Get them out of here Nikolai, we'll buy as much time as we can." Orov ordered. Moving to the furthest tree, the king was huddled against it as much as possible keeping his little girl safe from the hail of gunfire. Crouching down beside him I waited until he had caught his breath, nodding to me and picking up his daughter the king sprinted through the forest as bullets flew around us.

Trees became less common and soon we had reached the mountains near the southern edge of Drachman soil, in other words we were almost to Amestris. The only thing in our way was the impassable Fort Briggs.

(Back with Dimitri, Orov and Ivan)

Bullets flew back and forth between both parties, chipping the bark off of trees and burying themselves in the ground. In actuality the exchange was slightly one-sided. Ivan was behind the same tree he had taken cover behind, Dimitri was close by using a fallen trunk to cover his position, Orov was behind them sniping the opposing party from relative safety.

The Drachman Army, however, was all over the place, some were even standing out in the open shooting in their general direction. They were the first to get cut down by the accurate fire from the three soldiers opposing them. Despite their superior numbers the Drachman Regular Army was outmatched, in both training and in skills. Unfortunately the ones that were gunned down were quickly replaced by others, who were also quickly gunned down by the pinpoint shooting.

But Dimitri and Ivan knew that they could only do so much, and when they ran out of ammo the only thing left was hand-to-hand combat. Their chances at taking shots were beginning to dwindle, and the enemy numbers' were getting larger by the second.

And then the hail of bullets stopped. Exchanging worried glances Dimitri and Ivan looked past their respective positions. A little bit past the tree-line they could see the silhouettes of the soldiers, rifles at the ready, smoke still rising from the barrels. Neither side made a move, each one gaiging the other, waiting for a slip of some sort.

All of a sudden a red flare shot out from behind the enemy line, flying high in the sky before plummeting back to the earth. For a few moments nothing happened,
then Ivan heard a soft 'thud' to his right. Looking to his right and down, adrenaline coursed through his entire body as he shouted "Grena...", "BOOOOOOMM!".
The force of the explosion sent Ivan flying back and into a tree. Dazed, his vision blurring, Ivan coughed and tasted metal in his mouth. Turning his head he spit and blood spread across the snow.

Crunching snow drew his attention to the nearby fog. His eyes widened as the figure drew closer and closer. The figure drew his pistol, stopped, and raised it to Ivan's head. "Why?" was all Ivan said before the gun went off, echoing into the fog.

(Nikolai, the king and Sara)

Nikolai looked back at the forest as an explosion rang through the valley. Smoke rose from the distant snow covered trees. Time was growing short and from the looks of it the king was slowing down. The snow was falling slowly, the storm was beginning to calm, which meant their advantage was beginning to vanish into thin air.

"Sir" he said as he brought the king over to a small rock outcropping, "we need to move faster if we want to make it to Amestris sooner.". Putting Sara down the king turned to Nikolai and grabbed him by the shoulders. This time he didn't speak in Drachman, he spoke in perfect Amestrian.

"Nikolai, speak Amestrian for this conversation please. I cannot make it with you." Silencing his bodyguard's protest the king continued. "Take Sara with you, stay in Amestris until she is ready to change Drachma." he said his voice steadily growing weaker the more he talked. Realization hit Nikolai like a bullet, hard and fast. "Ivan wasn't the only one hit earlier was he?" he asked.

"Da, and I would prefer to die like the soldier I once was, not bleeding out like a dog in the wilds." he said and letting go of Nikolai's shoulders, saluted him, eyes beaming with pride. Nikolai saluted in return and slinging his rifle over his shoulder nodded to his daughter as he stepped away. "You should at least tell her goodbye, may Triglav watch over you sir." he said mournfully.

Nodding the king turned to his daughter and kneeled down grabbing her arms lightly. "Sara I know you have questions, your answers will come, not immediately, but if you are patient they will show themselves." Hugging her, tears on the verge of falling from his eyes he let her go and removed a necklace from his coat pocket. "Take this, and remember that your mother and I love you with all of our hearts, and that Lelya is watching over you." With that the king said his final words to her and took cover against the rock outcropping, handgun at the ready.

Grabbing the small girl, Nikolai ran with all the speed he could muster. A quiet "Sajnalom."*, reached her ears. Tears ran down her cheeks as she cried out "PAPA!, PAPA!". Snowflakes crashed against his face as his breath streamed forth in clouds. The crunching snow seemed to grow louder and louder, the snow blurred into nothingness. Soon an enormous shadow loomed over them. Coming to a halt, his breathing slightly ragged, Nikolai stared at the structure slightly awed by its size.

Shaking himself from his stupor Nikolai put Sara down, she had stopped crying but tears were still running down her cheeks. Taking her hand he brought her to his side and stepped to the massive wall. Using his free hand he pounded on the massive door with all his might, the sound reverberating through the giant metal frame. Taking a deep breath he shouted in Amestrian, "Open up! I know you can hear me! I've got a child with me! If you don't she'll be killed by her own kin! Are cold-hearted enough to let that happen?!".

Several minutes went by, and when nothing happened he pounded on the door again and shouted "So you Amestrians are the cold-hearted bastards we've been lead to believe you are after all!" he said and kicked the door in anger. After that he looked down at the small girl next to him, she was looking up at him in fear, eyes wide, a gloved hand clenching the necklace around her neck. Kneeling down he grabbed her shoulder lightly. "Sara, stay behind me okay?" he said in Drachman bringing her behind him as he crouched and faced the direction of Drachma.

At least he was until he heard Sara scream and felt something hard hit his head. A group of soldiers in white winter gear stepped out of the still fog, and signaled to an unseen figure in the gigantic fortress. The door slowly opened as they grabbed the unconcious Drachman and brought the young girl into the maw of the steel giant. It closed once more when they had vanished into its black abyss.

(Sajnalom= I'm sorry)

(her name is pronounced shara but spelled sara)