The Blade Alchemist: Father Returns
Research
Drake POV
The next day, we sat at the desk glued to the computer, trying to get some sort of lead as of where to go. Mom, my sister, wife and the kids were all getting know each other in the back room. "Hey Drake." Ed started. "Yeah?" He turned to the computer. "Something doesn't add up. We know they are trying to start a war. And they are going to use nuclear weapons to commit the mass murders. But where are they going to make the array?" I walked over to him. "What do you mean?" He turned to me. "If he plans to use those weapons for the murders, where is he going to use them? You said those weapons kill by the thousands and will destroy an entire country, right?" I nodded. "Well, why use them to make the array if by the time that it's ready, no one is left alive? It's counter productive."
I thought on that for a minuet. "Good point. If one country launches a single missile against another, the other country would send enough back to annihilate the said country. It makes no sense." We both thought about it for a minuet. "Drake, how do those things fly to where they need to?" Ed asked. "They're guided mid flight by satellite to the target by specific coordinates. Why?" He turned to me. Could they hit multiple targets at the same time with that accuracy?" I turned to him and it clicked. "They plan to get them launched and change the coordinates mid flight! By doing so, he can use the ten he needs and crash the rest into the ocean!"
Ed turned back to the computer. "Well now we know, how he plans to do it. But can he do that easily? Change where they go?" I thought about it a minuet. "He can, but it would be hard, even for him. Once they are launched, their coordinates are locked in. Only the country leader can change where they go after they are launched. And it would normally be into the ocean to abort an attack. But now that we know that Envy is here, he can pose as a country leader. But they would have to be quick about it." Ed turned back to me. "Why's that?" I sat down next to him. "The country's government officials take this stuff very, very seriously. If they think the leader is not acting like himself, or is not acting according to how he should, they will normally remove him from office immediately, and the next guy takes charge. Kinda like another fail safe."
"They have so much working against them. Just how are they going to pull this off?" Ed asked and I lowered my head in thought. "None of this is adding up. If they somehow manage to make only ten warheads hit, and no more, it could work. But there are just to many things that would mess up their plans for that. As I said, if one country launches their missiles, the other will as well. Both countries would be destroyed. So what would be the point?" We both sat in silence for a minuet. "Blade." I turned around to Roy. "Yeah?" He sat with his chin in hand. "What if he uses the warheads….against their owners?" I quickly looked at the map, then to him. "You mean a country launches, then they send them right back!?" He turned to me and nodded.
"If they did that, no one would return fire, because no one was ever attacked." I ran the thought through my head over and over. "That's it! He's going to make one of the countries fire their missiles and send them right back at the designated locations! He gets the array, and no one fires back!" Ed slammed his fist down. "Damn it! So now we know exactly how he's going to do it! But 'where' is he going to do it!?" I looked at the map, and sighed. "I know where." They both looked to me and I pointed on the map. "Europe and Asia. One large super continent...with well over three billion people." They both gasped. "Three….billion!?" Roy asked and I nodded.
"Yes. With that, he won't need the sacrifices like he did last time. Three billion would be far more than enough. He'll claim the powers of 'God', and use the gate to destroy both worlds." We all lowered our heads. "So what do we do about it?" I looked up and saw Jess standing there with her arms crossed. I thought about it for a second. "Well, we have some time before he tries this plan. He still needs the circle. And we're talking about a land mass that's at least fifty times bigger than the last. Even if he started the day he got here, that's still quite a long time before he's done with it. But even if he did have it finished, how is he going to get the country to fire the missiles in the first place?"
"Drake." I turned to Ed. "Those plane things you talked about, can they carry one of these warheads?" I nodded. "What if they used one the this countries weapons against them, forcing them to fire back?" I thought for a minuet and nodded. "That would work. But they would have to act quickly. Any and every plane with a nuclear warhead mounted are very closely monitored. And they would have to get one fitted, and that takes an order from the country leader to do so. Either way, we still need to figure out where they are now. We know they are here in this country somewhere. They can't leave without a passport to enter another country. And it takes a background check by the government to get one. They would be discovered."
"Where was the last bombing?" Roy asked. "Iowa. About a fourteen hour drive. Why?" I asked and he thought it over. "We'll wait until the next one, then go after them where they attack. We know for a fact that it is 'Father' that is causing the explosions with his alchemy. And they are using Envy as they fall guy in disguise. We go to the explosions, we find them." he stated. "So that's the plan?" Jess asked and he nodded. "We need to be ready to leave at a moments notice. We'll have someone at the computer at all times, watching for any moves they make. When we find something, we leave that minuet." We all nodded and Roy stood up.
"We may have some time on our hands before the array is ready, but we need to hit them where ever we can and stop them. We can use this place as our base until we find somewhere more suitable." I stood up and nodded. "Right. Lets track these bastards down." Ed turned to me. "We have another problem though." We all turned to him. "If he brought back Envy, then he definitely brought the others back as well." I thought for a minuet. "True, but I don't think they will be much trouble. They are powered by Philosophers Stones, right? There have not been any reports of mass killings or murders for a long time from what I read. Even if he did bring them all back, their stones wouldn't have much energy in them."
"So what are you saying Drake?" Jess asked. "If their stones don't have much energy to them, we may be able to kill them easily. After all, 'Father' is not going to give all of his stones energy for them, is he?" Ed thought about that. "Good point. But then it also brings up another question. Where did he get the souls for his first one?" It instantly clicked and I face palmed. "The random bombings. He's using them to cause the war and get the souls for the stone. I can bet you he takes the lives of the victims first, then blows the buildings up. And if that's the case, then the homunculi will be worse than I thought." We all moaned.
"Well, we might as well get ready. I'll go tell the kids hon." Jess stated and left the room. "So, we just sit here and wait?" Ed asked and Roy nodded. "We'll wait till they show up again, then go to them." I turned to him. "But we will have to be fast. I guarantee that they wont sit around for long. And we also have to think about another matter." They both looked at me. "Local law enforcement. The first time we duke it out with these guys, our faces will end up on wanted posters everywhere. Most especially if it includes a government building. And trust me guys. If they want you bad enough here, they WILL find you. You cannot hind anywhere in this world, not with the technology they have."
"What do you mean Blade?" Roy asked and I pointed up. "They have large cameras in space called satellites. They can see you anywhere in the world, from anywhere in the world. You can avoid the police, but you can't avoid the eyes in the sky." Roy moaned. "Great! Just great! So now we have to avoid being seen by the locals." I shook my head. "Not only them. You forget about Envy. Remember the 'Ross incident'? Envy will pull the same stunt here, only with us. As soon as he knows we're here, he'll find a way to pin everything on us. Probably even mark us as Russian terrorists., killing two birds with one stone."
"So what do we do about that?" Ed asked. "There's nothing we can do. But that's not the only problem. If they see Jess or the kids, they will take them and use them as lab testing subjects. Even us if we use alchemy. Basically, to put it all simple. Once we make our move, that's when everything hits the fan, and stays that way." Ed sighed. "This is one very dangerous world here Drake. Is there any way to help our situation on this matter?" I thought about it for a minuet. "Well, if we get into the good views of the public, it could help us. But in this world, no one can ever agree on anything. But it's worth a shot. So whatever you do, we cannot have ANY innocent people hurt or killed because of us. Watch what you do around people, and help them any way you can."
They both nodded and then mom walked in. "Hello boys. Hungry?" We all smiled and nodded. "Okay, I just need to light the oven. If I can find the matches." she stated as she walked to the stove. "Allow me Susan." He walked over, snapped his finger, and lit the oven. "How did you do that!?" she asked shocked and I chuckled. "It's called alchemy mom. Watch." I walked over and grabbed a metal spoon. I used my bracer array and reformed the spoon into a small knife. She was still shocked, but smiled. "That's amazing dear!" She grabbed my right hand and held it. But she looked at it confused.
"What the.." She pulled off my glove and lifted my sleeve, exposing my automail forearm. "What is this!? What's wrong with your arm!?" I sighed and scratched my head. "Long story mom. But...I lost my right forearm….and both my legs." She gasped and placed her hands over her mouth, eyes wide with shock. I then lifted both my pants legs, exposing my automail legs. "What happened to you Drake!?" she spoke through tears. "I lost them mom. These are metal prosthetic limbs to replace my lost ones. It's called automail. Unlike normal prosthetics, these are installed by surgery, and are permanent."
She knelt down and slowly touched my legs. "What...did this to you Drake?" I sighed. "I can't explain it mom. But it's okay. It sucks that my real limbs are gone, but these are better than nothing." I then moaned. "But they hurt like hell having them reconnected." Ed moaned as well. "Yeah, they sure do." he added. "Who...did the surgery?" I smiled. "Eds wife, Winry. She's an automail mechanic. A very good one too. She made these for me, as well as my arm. But Liz is my mechanic now." She stood up and looked at me shocked. "Liz!? Your daughter Liz!?" I smiled and nodded. She then took my metal hand.
"When...when you go back...you tell Winry I said thank you. Thank you for giving my son his limbs back." I smiled and gave her a hug. "I sure will mom. I really wish you could meet her." Then I twitched. "But….not her wrench." Ed twitched too. "That damn wrench!" he growled and mom was confused. "What about her wrench?" Me and Ed twitched again. "Trust us, you don't want to know." we spoke in unison.