Fullmetal Alchemist
EUROPA WAR II
Chapter 8
CLASH IN KLODEN
Opening Theme: Melissa (Fullmetal Alchemist)
Vine leaned up against a tree trunk, looking up at what little sky he could see through the forest canopy above him.
"Man, I hate the forest. Can we hurry this up?" he moaned.
"We're waiting for orders from the regular army," Alicia replied, "with a little luck, maybe we won't have to do anything."
"Yeah right, and maybe I'll spontaneously combust, but I doubt it," Vine replied.
"Oh, you need to have a little more faith," Alicia scolded as she noticed Welkin kneeling next to a bush. "What're you doing, Welkin?"
"Oh, Alicia, hold these for me, will you?" Welkin asked as he handed her a handful of small, round objects.
"Oh, sure," Alicia replied, "uhh, what are they?"
"Uck, let me put it this way, be glad you've got your gloves on," Vine replied glancing over Alicia's shoulder.
"Why, are they some kind of berry?" Alicia asked.
"Uhhh... well..." Vine replied hesitantly.
"Oh, those're goat droppings," Welkin replied.
"Goat... Droppings?" Alicia stuttered in disgust. "EEWWW!" she shouted as she threw the droppings onto the ground, "what is wrong with you, Welkin!? You just made me hold poo!"
"Alicia," Vine hissed suddenly, "shhh." He was glaring at a nearby bush. Alicia was about to ask what was wrong, but the bush suddenly began to shake before she had to.
"What is it?" she whispered.
"Could be an enemy scout," Vine replied, "or it could be a wild animal looking for lunch. One way to find out, go take a look, Licia."
"Me!? Why don't you look!?" Alicia squealed.
"If I look, who'll watch your back?" Vine replied.
"I outrank you, right? Then can I order you to look?" she begged.
"I guess you can," Vine replied as he transmuted a combat knife from the ground and began to inch towards the bush. When he was only a couple of feet away, he charged and dove into the bush. A few minutes later, he emerged, holding up a tiny winged piglet by the back of its neck.
"What's that?" Alicia asked.
"A wild animal looking for its next meal," Vine replied in annoyance.
"It's a Porcavian Piglet," Welkin realized.
"You say Porcavian, I say breakfast," Vine replied as the piglet began to squeal wildly
"Vine! That's horrible!" Alicia shrieked.
"Huh? Ahh, come on, it was a joke... Sort of," Vine replied.
"Vine, come on," Alicia pleaded, "I bet the poor little guys mother is really worried about him."
"Uhh, that's the problem," Vine replied, surprising Alicia by suddenly becoming very serious. "Looks like the regulars and the imps had a skirmish near here. Looks like the mom got caught in the crossfire."
"That's terrible," Welkin exclaimed, "the poor thing."
"So... what do we do with it?" Vine asked, "the 'poor thing' won't last long on it's own. It'll be something else's pork by tomorrow morning."
"Doesn't mean he has to become your pork now!" Alicia protested.
"I'll take that," Isara declared as she rescued the still frantic piglet from Vine. As soon as it was in Is' arms the piglet calmed down and cuddled into Is' shawl.
"Ahh, he likes you, I," Alicia said smiling.
"Or it likes your shawl, I'm not sure which," Vine replied.
"Porcavians do like soft things, so I'll bet he likes your shawl, Is," Welkin declared.
"Either way, he's so cute," Alicia said happily.
"Yeah, yeah. Is gets a new pet... and I have to find a new breakfast," Vine grumbled.
"Oh stop whining, you weren't gonna eat the pig anyway," Alicia declared.
"Try me," Vine declared, "first rule of forest survival, if it won't poison you, it's lunch. In fact, some things that will poison you are lunch. Rattlesnake for example, tastes a lot like chicken."
"That's... disgusting," Alicia replied.
"Hey!" Largo shouted, "we just got word from the regulars. They weren't able to get to the supply base. Now it's our turn to try."
"Didn't see that coming," Vine sighed sarcastically.
"That was good timing," Welkin declared, "check this out. I found an old animal trail through the woods. If I'm not wrong, it should lead around the other side of the lake and go around the side of the supply base."
"Good call, Welks," Vine declared, "if we send some of the squad down the trail, we can hit them in a pincer and break their lines."
"Glad you think so, Vine, because I'm putting you in charge of the team who'll mount the surprise attack from the trail," Welkin declared.
"Aaand... ya ruined it," Vine replied, "why me?"
"Because I need you to use your alchemy to deal with two Sniper towers positioned at the corners of the supply base. With them around, our infantry will never get close to the base," Welkin revealed.
"But the tree cover over over the trail will allow me to get close enough to destroy both towers with blast alchemy," Vine realized, "alright, I'll need a few shocktroopers, at least on scout and one field medic, and a sniper couldn't hurt."
"Got it. Oscar, Emille, Nadine, Alicia, Edy, Aisha, and Rosie can go with you.
"Whoa, you want me to go with the Dark Hair? Yeah, that's not happening," Rosie declared firmly.
"But Rosie, you're our best Shocktrooper," Welkin replied, "and we need our best attacking from the side route."
"So Nelson and Neumann are your second choices? Not yer best call, Boss-man," Largo declared.
"I'm actually inclined to agree with Stark on this one," Vine declared.
"You are? Why's that?" Rosie demanded.
"Simple," Vine replied, "if you went, you'd only get in my way."
"Why you little... fine. Boss, you want me with the Dark Hair, I'll go with the Dark Hair. We'll see who gets in the way," Rosie replied.
"Alright, it's settled then. When your team takes out the Sniper Towers, the rest of us will mount the frontal attack from our side and we'll secure the Imperial supply base," Welkin revealed.
"Alright then," Vine replied, "let's get this done."
...
Moving along the game trail wasn't as easy as Vine had thought it would be. The same rough terrain and overgrowth that was allowing them to remain unseen was also making the trail difficult to navigate. Vine hopped onto a large tree trunk and began to scan the horizon, hoping to be able to see the towers as he waited for the others to catch up. Unfortunately, he could only just see the tops of the roofs of the towers.
"I need to get over these trees, or I can't get a clear shot," he cursed as the others began to catch up. Rosie, who was the only one not breathing hard other then Vine, quickly climbed up the trunk while the others leaned against it to rest.
"We're getting close," Vine revealed as he pointed to the tower roofs, "if only these trees were a little shorter.
"Can't you just blast through them?" Rosie demanded.
"Doubtful," Vine replied, "if I had a clear shot, we'd be about at the edge of my range. With that many obstacles, I'd have to sacrifice some range in order to give it enough power to break through. We'd give away our position and we'd likely miss our target. Need to get just a bit closer."
"Then let's go, kids. The others are still waitin' on us," Rosie declared as she jumped down off of the log.
"Who put... her in charge?" Edy gasped.
"This is a pretty rough trail," Emile groaned, "it's not easy."
"Come on, let me help you over this log and you can rest here until I destroy the towers," Vine declared, "Oscar, give me a hand," he ordered as he reached down and grabbed Alicia's hand.
...
Oscar was the last person Vine pulled over the log before he hopped down, failing to notice as a small branch snagged his glove, creating a small tear that broke his right hands transmutation circle.
"Alright, wait here. This won't be long," he ordered as he ran after Rosie.
"I'm okay, I'll come to," Alicia declared.
"Alright."
...
Rosie was kneeling next to another downed tree when Vine and Alicia caught her.
"It's about time," she hissed, "come on, you have a clear shot from here." Vine ran to where she was and saw she was right.
"Alright, stay low. I'm gonna need to take them both down simultaneously or the survivor will be able to see us pretty easily," he declared as he pointed each hand at a tower. Rosie was surprised when he lowered his hand and began to inspect his right glove.
"Shoot, when did that happen?" he cursed as he sat down next to Rosie and Alicia and reached into his cloak and removed his right glove.
"What're you doing!?" Rosie hissed as Vine pulled out his combat knife.
"My transmutation circle was broken. Must've snagged it on something in the forest. I don't have a spare and if I try to repair it, they'll see the transmutation and start shooting. Gonna have to improvise," Vine replied as he began to carve a circle into the back of his hand.
"What're you doing?" Alicia gasped.
"Improvising, there, that should do it," he declared as he rose and once again pointed his hands t the towers. Two blasts fired from his hands and simultaneously struck the towers, causing them to tumble to the ground. Within moments, a tank shell from the Edelweiss exploded into the base.
"Let's go," Vine ordered as he repaired his right glove with a quick transmutation and pulled it back on.
"Right."
...
Squad 7s sudden attack had surprised the Imperial soldiers guarding the camp and they were quickly being overwhelmed. In the camp's command center the camp commander was beginning to panic.
"We lost our snipers and the Gallians are driving us back... If we don't do something, they're going to wipe us out!"
"Captain," a voice called over his radio.
"Commander Jaeger!?" the captain exclaimed in surprise.
"Relax, Captain, it's time to abandon the base. We can't hold up against the Gallians so there's no point in losing any more of our men. Order the retreat. My men and I will hold them off while you retreat."
"Y... yes sir," the captain replied.
...
Inside the Edelweiss, Welkin and Isara were both surprised as an unfamiliar Imperial Tank rolled up to confront the Sevens.
"Alright, let's keep this tank at bay," General Radi Jaeger ordered from inside his tank, the Lupus.
Ending Theme: Heart of Sword (Rurouni Kenshin)
