There orders were to secure the bunker first then they could follow the attackers.

The Drachmans waited for the dust to settle after they blew the barrier Al had created to get to the underground bunker. It was the last mistake they would make. As they prepared to go through they were met by a hungry, savage force that tore them apart before anyone had a chance to fire or even see what killed them…


"Don't look at me!"

"Where am I?"

"So scared..."

"So cold…"

"So hungry..."

The Amestrian Captain froze. His senses alert, ready for the attack. Only thing was... he didn't know where it would come from. The voices were everywhere. They echoed through the forest. It was in front of him, to his left, to his right... behind him. He spun and saw it and nearly screamed in horror. Then he heard the cries of his men being attacked.

"Stop the pain." The ghostly, pale, naked thing said as it came at him.

Instinctively he fired off several shots and the thing exploded in a red gust of flesh and blood. He was a soldier of Briggs, one of the best, prepared to face anything… anything but this…

"Don't hurt me."

It came from behind. He turned. Another one. It moved fast. A white blur rushing blindly for him. He didn't have time to wonder how it saw him without… wait… it did have eyes… they were shut. But he didn't have time to dwell on it as he raised his gun in time to fire at the second one that was coming for him. It stumbled but was still intent on getting to him. Then he felt a sharp pain on his neck. It felt like teeth. He shot the second one again then pointed his gun at whatever was biting him. He fired. The pain stopped but such a small victory was nothing to cheer about when he saw the bullet entry wounds close up miraculously on the one in front of him.

He didn't stick around to see if any of his men were still alive. He didn't feel like a coward running away. He needed to warn everyone. He had to get back to the tunnel where there was a radio, where there was support, where there were explosives to close the tunnel opening behind them...


"So how do we destroy an indestructible army?" Edward asked sarcastically as he leaned against the side of the jeep.

Richard had just climbed onto the back seat of the jeep with Elysia. Both were very interested in the conversation and surprised it was actually being discussed in front of them.

Even Mustang was surprised and clearly disapproved. He was used to working behind closed doors with just his top Generals included. "Why don't we have Elysia and Richard escorted back to Briggs. I'm sure they'd be more comfortable there." He hoped he sounded casual about the recommendation; that he was more concerned with their comfort than trying to get rid of them.

Edward snorted disgustedly and glared at Mustang. "After what they've been through do you think whatever we say can shock them? Besides, they deserve to know what we're going to do about the homunculi. You're too used to hiding things."

"Perhaps they can tell us something," Lin interrupted, not wanting Edward getting upset and losing focus. "They may have seen or heard something."

"Richard said all they heard were the sounds of the people being sacrificed to create the stones," Al said.

"How long did this go on for?" Mustang asked looking to Richard and Elysia.

"Three, maybe four days." Elysia answered then shuddered. She wished she could forget but it was like she could still hear the echoes even though she was miles away from it. "It was hard to tell what time of day it was or how much time had passed. We were kept in a dark cell underground."

"Did you overhear anything on the way to Drachma?" Edward asked.

Elysia and Richard shook their head sadly both feeling useless since they had no other information to give. "We only saw Russell use his brother to bring Kimbley back," Elysia said. "Then he was turned into a homunculi and that was it."

She wasn't ready to go into details how the homunculus Envy had recounted her father's death... or his obvious enjoyment of killing someone. That was something she would deal with later. It had nothing to do with destroying them but it could be added motivation... no, she knew they had enough motivation already so bit her tongue. Besides, she knew Mustang and Edward well enough, especially Edward. He was always susceptible to guilt and wasn't likely to take too kindly having Envy still roaming around. He had always felt he was indirectly responsible for her father's murder. But why was Envy still alive in the first place when Edward said they were destroyed? She wondered. She was going to bite a hole in her tongue keeping herself quiet. But there was something she thought should be brought up.

"What about Fletcher? Al said he could be brought back."

There was no mistaking the angry stare Edward shot at his brother.

Lin and Mustang were startled by this revelation. The Elric brothers no strangers to the Gate and it's awful power and were very adamant that human transmutation never be brought up in their presence. Why was Al – whose body had spent several years slowly deteriorating within the Gate – so willing to enter that domain again?

"Yeah," Richard chimed in suddenly. "Can't you just use Russell as a trade, just like he did to bring that Kimbley back with his brother? He would deserve it after what he did and they way he tried to turn me against you," he added vehemently looking up at Edward.

That stopped Edward cold. "What did that bastard say?"

Richard shrunk back as if realizing this was not the best time to bring up that subject. Elysia groaned and elbowed him in the stomach and shook here head slightly to indicate that in fact, it was a subject best left a secret. She wished she had warned him not to say anything in the first place.

"Okay, we need to focus on the real issue," Al interrupted ignoring another angry glare from Edward. "We should think about how many people may have been sacrificed and how many stones that could be produced and how many homunculi could be animated with those stones. The circle needed for a Philosopher's Stone has eight points... but they could put any number of people on those points..." He was urging Edward to start thinking instead of reacting. It was working. He could almost see the wheels beginning to spin as his brother caught on and started to run the numbers through his head.

"If we just say one person per point for now," Edward picked up on the train of thought reluctantly, ignoring the disturbing feeling of referring to real, live human beings as just points of a circle – and the fact that Russell had been filling his son's head with lies. "It would make a descent stone. With that in mind a normal transmutation only takes several seconds but with something that complicated and considering the skill of the alchemist, maybe longer..."

"Say ten to fifteen at the most," Mustang added. "Then count the time it takes to bring people in and place them... then maybe two stones an hour."

"Shit," Edward said suddenly. "Elysia said they were there three to four days…A hundred and ninety two to two hundred and forty stones..."

"Or more," Mustang said. "They could have started before Elysia and Richard were brought there."

"They've been planning this for years," Al said feeling sick to his stomach. "How can anyone do that to another person… to just gather them like cattle to sacrifice…?" He needed to think about something else before he lost what rations he managed to choke down after they met up with Mustang. "Maybe we can go back and destroy what's there before the army's been activated." He added hopefully.

"I don't think we'll be so lucky," Havoc piped up, crushing Al's hopes. "Russell just let Elysia go and ran back into the bunker. I didn't think much of it at the time..."

"And he's hosting Greed," Edward added.

"Which means if Greed took over he'll want the army all to himself," Lin finished knowing the homunculus better than anyone else. "It's safe to assume they'll be attacking."

"I can only think of wearing out their stones," Edward said tiredly as he crossed his arms. "There has to be a better way. I have the stamina for it still but not the patience anymore... or the desire to be using alchemy over and over again. Just the three of us can only do so much before we're worn out," he said indicating himself, Al and Mustang. "We shouldn't pull the alchemists from Briggs since they may be needed there. We can fight with support troops but it could lead to hand to hand I want to avoid that as much as possible... we wouldn't last long and even with a large troop we'd just loose too many men; men we could avoid losing if we can think of something else."

Al watched Edward thoughtfully as he went through their options. He was usually an internal thinker but there were times he needed to say what he was thinking out loud to organize his thoughts. It was a little surprising what Edward had running through his head at times. But this was quite different for Al. He had always known his brother had a lot of responsibility as a General. He just never fully understood it until now. Even the small glimpses he had where he thought he understood what it was like to be Edward were nothing compared to what he was hearing now.

"We need to get them all in one place," Al said, refocusing on the situation. "Round them up and keep them contained in one area for just a few minutes..."

"And what?" Havoc asked a little more heatedly than he intended. He was picking up more about alchemy than he wanted to know recently and was beginning to understand what it was going to take to destroy a homunculi army. "Just continually shoot them up until the stones wear out? Who knows how long that could take? We won't be able to keep them pinned down all at once…"

"No," Edward said catching on to Al's plan. "We break down their composition."

"Like I originally intended," Al added with a slight nod of his head.

"But what about the bunker in Drachma?" Lin asked worriedly. "If we destroy this first wave they still have the ability to create more."

"I'll go and destroy it," Mustang said simply.

"You can't!" Al exclaimed shocked by the very idea of the Fuhrer risking his life when the country needed him. He was even more stunned when nobody else voiced any opposition along with him. Both Havoc and Edward seemed fine with this. "You're the Fuhrer, Amestris needs..."

"Olivier is prepared to step into my position if something were to happen to me."

To Al there was more to this than just the leader of their country putting himself into harm's way. "After everything you went through to become Fuhrer," Al said through gritted teeth his voice rising in anger. "… After everything you put my brother through to get where you are…"

"Al, let him go," Edward said in an unusually cold voice. "He started this mess; the least he can do is help clean it up too."

"Edward!" Elysia cried out her eyes wide with shock as she stared at her husband. "How can you be so cold about it?" She had remained silent to let the professionals figure things out. But Edward's lack of concern for the Fuhrer was too much for her to ignore. She'd heard plenty of rants from Edward regarding Mustang but she knew hidden beneath all that Edward did respect him.

"What?" Edward asked as if he hadn't said anything offensive at all. "This is nothing compared to what he's done. He's the one that kept Envy alive knowing he killed your father."

Elysia felt like she'd been slapped in the face. Hot tears stung her eyes. She felt hurt and betrayed. She didn't care how harsh Edward was revealing the one question that was never answered since she saw the sign of the Ouroboros on Russell's hand. It was the one thing she always wanted from him… the truth no matter how disturbing it was. What really disturbed her were all those years Mustang made a grand show of making sure she and her mother were well cared for… and the whole time he had allowed her father's murderer to continue living…

"It's true," Mustang said without a hint of emotion as he broke the silence that everyone was too afraid to break. "Anyways," he continued smoothly, as if there had been no awkwardness caused by Edward's less than gentle news breaking. "Al, you and Ed will have your hands already as you try to destroy the homunculi army," he said looking at the younger Elric brother. "It's best this be done as simultaneously as possible…"

"Fuhrer, sir. It's urgent!" Miles interrupted, literally dragging the Sergeant with the communications pack and anxiously handed Mustang the receiver.

"This is the Fuhrer..."

"Sir, I don't know what they are but they just keep coming," a gasping, frightened voice interrupted on the other end, "they won't go down! We're pulling back into the tunnel now and ready to blow..."

There was a scream and the sounds of gunfire. Then the line went dead.