Authour's Note: Okay so I don't know why I am writing so much for this. But I have just been thinking nonstop about it. So here is yet again another chapter. I believe this is my third one this week so I need to just step back for a little bit. But Please Review anyways! And thank you all for following! I will write the next chapter because I honestly can't stop thinking about it!

A Different Type of Soldier

Chapter 14

Join the Ranks

"See General Edison, this is how you fix a food shortage problem," General Grumman hummed tauntingly as he motioned to the jellied toast he was currently munching on. Roy rolled his eyes as he walked into the office with his brief tucked under his arm. Edison was glaring daggers at him however Grumman was stating something that was nonetheless true. Edward, who was now under Roy's command, did fix the problem Edison was charged with. The clone that Edison wanted to kill was proving quite handy in Gruman's eyes. Their disagreement along with the other Generals was spouting some high tension amongst the rebels. Grumman turned towards Roy, finishing the last bite of his morning toast. His eyes went from joyful to hardened in an instant as he was cracking down to business. What a chaotic man.

"You ran the tests on the clone what was the outcome?" Grumman asked him as he motioned for Roy to take a seat across his desk. Roy sat cautiously, not wanting to seem lax in the council's presence.

"We took blood and his cell count is perfectly normal for a human. I ran through his development procedure three times along with Lieutenant Hawkeye and have found nothing that would signal anything as to why he would heal so fast. It was… inconclusive," Roy admitted, much to the General's disappointment.

"How do you know he isn't lying? He could have just written the wrong plans down to fool us. There has to be a reason why he can heal so fast. If this is what clones can do now we are in out of our league! We need to know how to shut them down!" Edison argued, not wanting to accept the clone's word as true.

"He has nothing to gain from lying-" Roy started but even General Grumman lifted his finger to stop him for a moment.

"I don't want to be sceptical but rather a voice of reason. Lieutenant Hawkeye did mention that the Captain was rather reluctant to give his cloning information. Why?" the old man questioned him. Roy frowned as he thought back at it. Maybe the clone did have reason to deceive them. It was rather childish and was nothing for the empire's sake but rather his own fears.

"Captain ED-0001 is…. Worried that we might try to use his plans to start cloning. He doesn't want anyone to go through what he did because he said it was inhumane. I thought at first he was overreacting but reading through his development there are some procedures that hold excruciating amounts of pain and if not done right could kill the newly made clone. It is understandable now why he doesn't want to share them," he answered.

"And couldn't he have even made that up in his procedures?" Clemin argued. "I don't like having to just count on his word. We need proof-"

"None of us are able to decode these patterns ourselves. The clone is the only one-"

"But what if he were to decode a pattern we already know?" Grumman hummed as he scratched his beard lightly. All of the Generals looked at him quizically as they didn't know what he was getting at but Roy knew instantly. It had to do with his own Lieutenant.

"No. He is not doing that-" Roy started to argue, not wanting to think of how the Captain would have to get the plans off of her back.

"And yet we know the basics of the procedure, her more than the rest of us. If he can decode it correctly then we know we can have faith in his own," Grumman told him.

"But General-"

"For the sake of their peace of mind," Grumman said motioning to Edison in particular, "Just do it." roy felt his face heat up as he trie to choke down his frustration. He didn't want the imperial clone getting anywhere near his lieutenant, especially to get that information. He knew that Hawkeye would agree to the plan for the sole purpose that she would be ordered to, but Roy still didn't like it. However, in the face of the Generals, he choked own his frustration and nodded his head.

"Yess sir." Grumman gave him an understanding nod to his anger but made him continue on with his report. He sighed as he picked up his stack of papers and read them off again. All of the Generals woul be given a copy of the brief however he was presenting it so that they could better understand it. "WE ran a DNA analysis on the blood we collected, pulling the altered genes described in the clone's development plans it is an exact copy to Van Hohenheim's DNA that we have on file. ED-0001 is a clone of the jedi master-"

"But what about the Emperor-"

"As informed to us by the Captain as well as in his plans, you can't clone a clone. You need original source of DNA. It is physically impossible for him to have come from the Emperor," Roy explained, cutting Edison off of his rant. "We have extracted extra blood incase we need to run some more tests but as far as we can tell… that is it. He is Van Hohenheim's clone." The generals sat back in awe as they absorbed this information. They had been playing with the idea that the Jedi master was alive but it was never really considered a reality, simply a dream. But now with this new clone, there was hope that the Imperials had simply imprisoned their leader and was holding him. Where? They didn't have the slightest idea but maybe the clone would know. Grumman smiled and laced his fingers together, resting his chin easily on top of them. He had probably been thinking of a plan for the longest time and now he could execute it.

"Colonel Mustang I think it is about time you incorporate the clone fully into your troops. If we are going to find Hohenheim we will need him working with us and alongside us. Arrange him in his own barracks, allow him to eat in the cafeteria all under guard of course. Teach him about the history of the Alliance so he could become more acquainted with how we run things. He has shown so far that he could help us and if we keep wanting him to we are going to have to give him more livable conditions. I think he has stayed in the Rockbell's garage for long enough."

"Grumman you can't possibly think that the other men would accept this!" General Raven pointed out. "When they see him in his armor they will think they were under attack!"

"The guards aren't for our safety as much as they are for the Captain's, General," he retorted, his eyes cold and still locked on Edison. The man was frigid in anger and Roy knew that Edison had a lot more on his mind than he was letting on. Roy didn't like the air around the man but he had to agree with General Raven; the troops were not ready to accept a clone. He opened his mouth to retort but General Grumman clapped his hands together, ending the discussion there.

"Very well. I can say that this clone turned out to be more intriguing than I had first expected but that just lifts my hopes higher for the future. Until next time, Generals," the man said excitedly as they all stood up from their chairs. The higher ranking officers were still bickering underneath their breath to each other as they exited the office area. Roy didn't like their attitude but his wasn't much different. He did not want the Captain amongst his men. He didn't want them talking to him at all. The only person he knew that would be excited to see the clone was Fuery other than that, the Captain was in for a rude awakening. As he was in thought he felt a hand rest on his shoulder and he looked up to see the General looking down on him as if he had more to say.

"Colonel, I know it is going to be difficult, especially for you, but if we are going to make the clone work, we need to let him work amongst the men. We need to take it in strides," he said. "Don't make an enemy of yourself."

"No sir, I won't," Roy gritted.

…..

Edward shivered as the cold water of the shower hit his back. It was freezing yet he seemed to forget what a hot shower felt like. It had been a long time since he was on Resembool, nearly half a year, yet he still found himself missing the simple things he left behind. He felt his heart freeze to the temperature of the water he was under as he thought about all of the white helmets he had left behind; his entire company.

"Sir, are you almost done?" he heard Sergeant Brosh ask from the doorway. Edward was slapped back into reality as he heard the man's voice and he grumbled to himself. They couldn't even let him take a shower in privacy. 24/7 guard meant everywhere. If they were any more tight he would have expected them to be under the water with him. He sighed as he pulled the curtain back just enough to poke his head out.

"Give me a break I just got in," he growled at him. The Sergeant held up his hands defensively as he turned his back to him once more. Edward closed the curtain again and picked up his washcloth. It felt like sandpaper against his skin but it wasn't like they would spend money on a clone. The soap he used was obviously also last resort as it had sand still stuck to it probably from being stored at the bottom of a container. He gritted his teeth as he felt it rub his skin near raw. He thought he would have gotten used to it, living like this, but he didn't think he ever would. He felt another shudder wrack his body as his teeth started to chatter in the cold. This was absurd.

"Don't you have any bloody warm water here?" his shivering voice called out tauntingly though he knew what the answer would have been. But that wasn't what he heard in reply.

"Considering we are in a desert you should be grateful for having cold of anything," he heard the slimy voice of the Colonel come right behind him. He let out a yelp as he dropped the soap and pulled the curtain back to look at the guy standing in front of him.

"Get out of here you creepy pervert!" Edward shouted as he threw his washcloth at the man. It hit hit his face with a wet thwap and the man looked more annoyed than pissed off. He peeled it off his face and exchanged it for a towel of equivalent softness. Edward took it confused but Mustang was already elaborating on what he wanted.

"Get dressed, full armor, it is almost lunch time and you can't miss it-"

"Don't I get lunch here? Why do I need full armor?" Edward interrogated as he turned the water off and quickly wrapped the towel around his waist. The Colonel rolled his eyes as he turned back towards the door, trusting in full that the Captain would follow. Like a little puppy, he did.

"The Generals think it time that you get incorporated into the unit. You are going to get new quarters today and are going to be eating in the dining hall from now on-"

"So I get to get out of here?" Edward asked his hopes lifting ever so slightly but the Colonel's black eyes sent a cold and unrelenting glare over his shoulder which made him quickly shut up.

"You will still be kept under guard. There will be cameras everywhere. And aside from the dining hall and your quarters the only room you will see are the four walls of a study room. You are going to learn how to be a rebel, and trust me," the man breathed, "there is a lot you need to learn." Edward felt a grin etch its way across his face as he took the man's challenge full on.

"Who ever said I wasn't one?" he retorted making the Colonel smirk at his statement. They were facing off for a battle and neither one of them wanted to step down.

"We will see. Now get dressed. You got a lot to do."

….

Edward quickly braided his hair as he sat on the stool at one of Winry's work benches. He was fully armored aside from his golden striped helmet which rested on the table. All of his measly belongings were packed up for the move and he made sure to clean up behind him. The rickety cot he had been sleeping on for all of this time was packed up and stowed away where it belonged and he even swept the floor of the entire workshop. He had been keeping up on the janitorial work since he was there simply because it was the only thing he could do. With the long hours of nothing he needed to preoccupy his time with something and that something was a broom and dustpan. It also helped with his automail coordination at the beginning of his physical therapy so the Rockbells were happy to see him help out. Now, however, Winry was a little upset to see him go, more for his automail than his actual being.

"Once a week, check up on it. I want to make sure that the water doesn't rust it from your showers nor the sand if you go outside. Make sure to clean it every night with the kit I gave you. It fits well enough in your belt?" she asked worried. She had given him a small automail cleaning kit that fit in the medical kit attached to his utility belt on his armor. He was glad it was small enough for that because he knew that even if it was any larger the woman would still want to see him carry it around everywhere.

"Yes," he sighed as he pulled up his braid and slid his helmet on over his head. He caught her eyes widen slightly as he was yet again in full armor and she looked away. He knew even his guards couldn't accept the transition when he put his armor on but it never changed who wore it. His attention darted to the floor, slightly ashamed.

"Captain, we should be going," Lieutenant Ross said along with a nod from the Sergeant. "If the Colonel's subordinates don't eat he doesn't either. That's a rule he lives by. But I don't think he will be light on you if you make him starve."

"That's a rule every commander should live by," Edward commented as he stood up from the bench and walked towards the door. "Yet you still find soldiers going hungry while officers are full." With a wave to the Rockbells and another thanks for his arm. The lieutenant lead him out into the base with the Sergeant pulling the end. Edward had a nerve of excitement go through him. He really couldn't wait to see the rest of the base. He wanted to get out of that darn garage for the longest time. He needed fresh air. Yet, there was still an air of anxiety that fluttered through him. He didn't know what to expect in the new parts of the base but if the soldiers had any similar views on clones that the Colonel did, he was not ready for it. They wound their way farther into the center of the base. Heads of soldiers turned to watch him pass without a word. Death stares were not in shortage but Edward found himself trying to stand a little taller to battle them off. Unfortunately that did nothing to make him feel more and more like an ugly duckling in a crowd of wild geese.

They turned a corner and they entered a large room filled with tables and chairs. Edward could hear the large amounts of chatter from the hallway and was not surprised at the amount of people inside. They were all seated at their own tables, talking to fellow soldiers or co workers like they had known each other for the longest time. It reminded Edward of the mess hall at his old outpost only except for blazing white armor and familiar faces all he saw were strangers in blue. He faltered only a little bit in the door way as they all caught sight of him. The conversations hushed down as heads turned to see the clone trooper walk in. The death stared bloomed there too. Edward tried to swallow the lump in his throat as the Sergeant gave him and encouraging shove forwards towards the line where the food was being served. He stumbled forward but as whispers started to pick up again he found his footing and followed, trying to look tall like before but feeling like he was failing. Lieutenant Ross handed him a tray and he looked up to see a large scowl glaring down at him. He felt the lump in his throat become a rock.

"Tray," the man ordered. Edward shakily handed it to him and he felt it ripped out of his hands. As the Lieutenant was pleasantly asking for the food he want it looked like he didn't have a choice. The man dug the scoop into a plot off peas and came up with it. He overturned it just short of his tray and the peas dropped back into the container, not even touching his plate. Edward frowned as he saw the man pass it onto the next server. "There you go, a nice serving of vegetables. All the vitamins and minderals a clone needs."

"Th-thanks," Edward whispered, his eyes lingering on the forgotten vegetables. All of his will urged him to argue with the man but he didn't have the energy. With all of the eyes on him he doubted that it would end very well in his favor anyways. The next server repeated the process with the fruits and the next one with the grains. Only when his tray came to the entrancing smell of pulled pork did he even get a greeting.

"Hey, would you like pulled pork or the pasta?" he heard the large red headed man ask him. His red hair reminded him of RD-9999 for a moment and a small smile fluttered to his face before he shook it off. Red was dead along with everyone else. This was yet another stranger he didn't know.

"Nothing if you are just going to leave the tray empty," Edward muttered as he rubbed the back of his neck. The man smirked at his answer and started the process of serving him.

"In that case I will just put both," he told him and for once Edward heard the satisfying plop of food on his tray. He looked up shocked to see the man actually serve him. It wasn't just one serving though the man graciously made sure the scoops were a little larger than what the lieutenant or the sergeant got to make up for his lack of everything else. He handed him the tray and Edward delicately took it as if he was afraid that he would drop what little he got.

"Second Lieutenant Heymann's Breda," the man introduced himself. "We are both under the Colonel. Sergeant Fuery told me all about you."

"He did?" he questioned him, quite frankly surprised. He hadn't seen the Sergeant since his first day in the workshop. They hadn't talked since but he remembered how much he enjoyed the little man's company.

"Yeah. I don't know what the Colonel is going to have you do but tell him that I am sick of being put on kitchen patrol. I have work to do elsewhere than to worry about pulled pork."

"I am kind of glad you are here though," Edward joked lightly as he motioned to his tray. The man barked a laugh as he started to serve the next person. His attention was guided elsewhere and Ross started to pull him across the way to get to some open seats. There was an empty table in the rear of the mess hall. He was kind of glad that the Lieutenant was trying to get to a table to sit by themselves. He didn't think he would have liked to attempt to sit next to one of the soldiers who were glaring at him. He didn't think he would be able to make it out of there alive. They squeezed between the rows of tables and chairs to get to the one that Ross had picked out. As they were weaving their way through Edward saw a familiar face amongst the crowd of people eating. The young sergeant with black hair and glasses looked up at him and Edward gave a slight wave. Fuery returned it before he was questioned by a blond man who was sitting next to him. They lost contact after that. Suddenly, when they were weaving through a rather tight row of chairs Edward felt a swift kick to the back of the legs as someone swept them out from underneath him. He quickly went upside and his back crashed to the floor, his tray of food scattering everywhere like mushy confetti. Howls of laughter picked up as he tried to gain his bearings. Sitting up, he wiped food off of the vision of his helmet. Ross quickly was reprimanding the lower ranking soldier and trying to push the others back as Brosh got his hands under him and lifted him up off of the ground.

"Here," he said quickly as he handed him the now empty tray of food. The only thing he had left was his canteen of water on his hip that he filled up before they even left. The sergeant quickly shoved his way through the crowd and nearly dragged Edward over to where he was supposed to be seated. The Lieutenant followed when the coast was clear and sat down on the right of Edward.

"Are you alright?" she asked him. Edward looked down at his armor to see it splattered with food that he now couldn't eat and bit his lip angrily.

"Yes," he growled after choking down a hot breath of air. He shouldn't have let them get the better of him. He should have been looking out. With everyone staring at him like he was vermin he should have known that they would have tried something. "I… guess this is going to make your job a little more interesting," he mumbled as he reached up and pulled his helmet off. Instead of minding the little food that was left on his tray after the incident, he decided to instead try and clean himself up a bit. He wouldn't let his pride be damaged too much by walking around like a food processor all day.

"I will see if I can't get you anything more from the line," Brosh offered as he got up and jogged his way back across the mess hall. Edward watched as he left, his eyes falling on a still laughing group of soldiers who were amongst the ones who tripped him. He glared at them and when they looked in his general direction he covered up a rather inappropriate gesture with cleaning his helmet. Though not very obvious, they seemed to have gotten the idea and stopped their laughter, taking on a more angry tone. He felt a slap on the shoulder as Ross must have seen it as well.

"That's not helping," she scolded him.

"It's not like I punched the guy," Edward grumbled in defeat as he set his helmet back on the table.

"Yes, but it still isn't helping your case. They aren't used to seeing a clone, let alone that armor walking around here. They aren't going to be the most friendly bunch for a while. If you show them it doesn't get to you they might become bored. After all, they are going to be seeing you on a regular basis."

"But it does get to me," Edward cried. "It is hard enough handling the Colonel Bastard but now a hundred others?"

"Soon you will come to see that the Colonel is far from the worse person out there. There are people who don't like clones more than he does and who will actually act on their distaste," she warned.

"Great, that makes me feel better," he muttered however he felt a hand rest on his shoulder lightly and he looked up to see her concerned eyes on him.

"Don't worry. Our jobs aren't just to protect the other soldiers from you-"

"Gee thanks-"

"-but to protect you from other soldiers. You're our charge. And as much as the Colonel hates to admit it you are also now one of his 're going to be safe." Suddenly the Sergeant returned a little red in the face and angry, making a few glares back at the service line.

"I can't believe them. They wouldn't give me another plate. They said that everyone only gets one serving-"

"Which is true-" Ross told him.

"But the Captain didn't even eat his and they know it. The Lieutenant was only able to get me a few slices of bread," the man said, offering them over to Edward. He took them and quickly thanked the sergeant who still seemed rather angry at their lack of service. "Lemme tell you, if they knew that you were the one who fixed our grain problem they would be giving you a whole loaf of bread."

"I don't think that would count as a well rounded meal," Edward chuckled, trying to make just a little light of the situation. Brosh smiled a bit and picked up his own fork to begin his meal.

"I guess you are right about that."

…..

"You smell like a garbage truck," Roy stated as he smelled the clone walk into the empty study room. He could picture the clone glaring at him beneath his helmet and he smirked. "I suppose lunch went well?" he asked, knowing the answer. Hawkeye had told him what happened in the mess hall.

"5 star meal, couldn't have asked for better," Edward retorted dryly.

"I always thought it was sub par myself," Roy commented as the Captain took a seat across from him at the metal table. He pulled out a couple texts that the Alliance had scrounged together in their library from various planets across the galaxy. The Empire wasn't too keen on saving rebel knowledge and so along with saving lives the Alliance had to also save history and culture itself. Whenever they visited a planet they would retrieve texts and scriptures to safe hold so that the empire couldn't burn it. Scribes at the bases would sometimes do their own research project and compile their own book of information. His own scribe, VF-34 also known as Vato Falman, was a droid that loved history. He had made a few books that Roy was going to use to teach the new clone about the history of the rebel alliance. Hopefully he wasn't getting too far in over their head with that.

"I could lecture you all I want but I simply do not have time for that," Roy said. "Read these and then we will see just how much you know." The captain picked up the first one curiously and flipped it open, thumbing through the pages.

"Sending me back to school?" he joked dryly but there seemed to be a longing in his voice hidden beneath his sarcasm. Roy frowned at it but shook his concern off.

"Just read. When dinner comes then you can stop. I have work I need to do so don't bother me. If you have questions ask one of them," he snapped, waving his hand towards the two guards. Roy pulled out his own work and started to complete his own tasks for the day. He was running through the clone's plans yet another time to try and find some inconsistency within them. He was trying everything he could to avoid having to subject Hawkeye to being read by the clone. Yet Grumman was persistent. Not wanting to think about it, Roy quickly dove into his own work of trying to figure out the patterns himself. The room drew quiet as the two most unlikely people sat and studied in the same room together. Time drove on an Roy thought that it was going to be a peaceful afternoon until he heard a sudden loud thud come from across the table. He looked up, startled to see the clone's helmet resting on the table as he laid unmoving on top of his book. For a second he thought it was the Captain just being annoyed of having to sit there and study but then he heard a light snore erupt from the clone's mouth.

"Edward," he growled, his aggravation blooming. "Edward!" he repeated yet the clone didn't wake up. The Colonel furiously stood up from his chair and roughly pried the book out from underneath the clone's heavy head. The jerky motion startled the clone awake and he made a little yelp as he fell out of his own chair.

"What the heck was that for?" ED-0001 yelled at him as he found his feet again.

"You only got through five chapters?!" Roy exclaimed as he saw where the clone had bookmarked himself last. "It has been only a couple hours and you're falling asleep!'

"Hey! Don't cheat me! I finished it!" the clone tried to deny him however Roy just held the book up to him and pointed towards the page he was at. He was barely a quarter way through it. The Clone pulled his helmet off as if to see better but was still yet again surprised that the Colonel was right. He took it in his hand curiously and thumbed through it again. "I swear to god I read about this," he said pointing somewhere in the back of the book.

"You were asleep-"

"I know but… I don't know Colonel!" Roy ripped the book back out of his hands and flipped it open towards the back where the clone obviously didn't read.

"When was the Ishvalan massacre?"

"Year 1900 following the rise of the Empire. 1.04 million people were killed 16,000 of which were soldiers."

"When was the Northern Peace treaty made?"

"1902 when the Empire attacked planet Briggs and was defeated. The Northern planets under the control of the Briggians joined the alliance and were rarely encountered since."

"Who is their leader?"

"Major General Olivier Armstrong."

"The Xerxe's massacre?"

"The emperor created the clone troops and incorporated them into the Xerxian military. During the winter of 1899 he lead them along with other soldiers into the capital city and took it over. The completely destroyed the Jedi council and killed nearly half of the civilians. The ones who managed to escape the planet were the only ones who survived. From then the Empire started to form and the Alliance branched off under the lead of Van Hohenheim who was only later captured in the take over of Central," the clone said fact for fact. Roy's eyes narrowed as he looked down at the book in his hand and snapped it shut. He looked back up at the guards who appeared just as confused.

"Did you see him finish the book?" he asked quietly. The two of them looked at each other but then shook their heads.

"He only got that far and then…. Fell asleep near instantly."

"Never finished it," Ross elaborated. Roy turned his attention back towards the clone who looked completely shocked at their revelation.

"I… I swear I-"

"So, now along with trance healing you can just fall asleep and gain knowledge instantly," Roy stated flatly, not tearing his eyes off of the captain. It looked like he wanted to retort but didn't have any words. "Has this been a frequent occurrence or are you just turning into a freak now for my amusement?"

"I.. I used to study with my brother when I was in training but… I would never finish the books. I would just read the basics and then fall asleep. I don't understand why-"

"Would your…. Brother…. Do this?" Roy gritted, not liking how sour that word tasted in his mouth in reference to the clone.

"No but… he was of a different series than me. He was always better at the more physical lessons than I was," Edward explained just as confused as anyone in the room. Roy studied him for a little bit but groaned as he massaged his brow lightly. He hated how often that clone could surprise him. It was getting tiring.

"I don't accept this, but start reading the other book and then we will see where this gets you. I am warning you that I am very hard to convince," he snapped.

"Like I didn't know that already," he heard Edward huff under his breath but after another vicious glare the clone was sent back to reading. Roy sat down and looked at the book he held in his hands and flipped through the pages, scanning them hesitantly. It was physically impossible to learn that fast especially when you didn't even read the entire book. Something was wrong with his clone and he needed to get to the bottom of it. His sleep habits always brought strange coincidences that Roy didn't like. He didn't even bother asking the clone if it was because of his series that he was able to do this, it wasn't. He had read his plans over and over a million times and it mentioned nothing about his unexplained healing or learning. The kid had stated before that he learned the process of cloning just by learning the basics, yet that was not enough to design your own experiment. Did he fall asleep to learn that too? Roy had to get to the bottom of this once and for all in order to understand exactly who Grumman had working under him. If there was a power out there he didn't know about, the rebels might be in for a rude awakening. As Roy pondered the clone not a few hours later he heard another thunk on the table as the clone passed out yet again. He sighed as he looked up to see the Captain snoring again. This was not what he had signed up for.

…...