One month later…

Today was the big push to reclaim West City from under Creta's command. They had only reclaimed half of it. Major Edward was leading a team included Private Alphonse, Master Sergeant Fuery, and about 18 other recruits. They had been assigned a sector to reclaim with relief from Havoc's team. For the past several days, they had shot cannons into the city to try to diminish the enemy's numbers. The sound of cannon fire became like background noise.

Edward lead his team from the forest down a hill that had a path that lead into the city. They lined up beside a building and were immediately under gun fire from the Cretean soldiers. 'Well there goes the element of surprise', Edward thought.

Edward looked around the corner and quickly dodged back to avoid gun fire. A new recruit, Private Strauss peaked around Edward. "There's a sniper to the top right!" he yelled and was immediately shot in the shoulder. He landed on his back, bleeding from his shoulder.

"Medic!" yelled Edward. The other soldiers dragged him back so that he could receive medical care. Edward yelled at them "Stay back until I say so!" Just then a grenade blew up next to Edward. The team ducked their heads to avoid any debris.

"Brother, you okay?" Al shouted.

"I'm fine! We need to take out their sniper," Edward yelled.

"I'll go!" Private Gardner said. He was quick on his feet so Edward agreed to cover him. Edward started shooting, and Gardner ran across to hide behind another building. Edward pulled back, waited, and gave a signal to Gardner. Edward started shooting to distract the sniper, and Gardner came out and shot the sniper. Gardner signaled to Edward that his mission was complete.

Further down, there was a gunner shooting from a shop window. Edward got a plan together with Sergeant Brosh. Gardner gave signals to indicate where the gunner was. Edward and Gardner started shooting and Brosh ran ahead, threw a grenade into the shop window, and rolled out of the way. The grenade blew and the gunner was silent.

With the main threats gone, Edward moved on to the next part of the plan. "Okay, we need to clear these buildings before we move on. Get with your partner and move out," Edward shouted to his team. Second Lieutenant Maria Ross and Private Scarlet, a new female recruit with long red hair, went as a team to the first building. They stopped at the door of the first building and Scarlet knocked down the door. Ross went in and the women began clearing the building of any enemy soldiers.

Master Sergeant Fuery had his radio on his back while he ran with his partner, Private Gray. They ran to a door of the second building. Fuery used his gun to break the window and Private Gray threw in a grenade. They waited until it blew before going in to clear their building.

Havoc and his team arrived to help with relief, and to help clear the many buildings in their assigned area. Havoc ran up behind Edward against the side of the building. "Damn good job, kid," Havoc told him.

"Don't call me kid! And it's not over yet," Edward yelled as they could hear shooting and shouting. They all finally got to the end of the road that had a warehouse. Jean shot at the windows on the second floor. They wanted to go in, but the doors had been heavily barricaded from the inside. Edward looked at his brother "Alphonse, you're up." Everyone cleared the way, and Alphonse used his alchemy to maneuver the ground into the shape of a fist and punched the doors down. They were met with heavy gunfire, but Al made a wall to help shield the teams.

Havoc threw a grenade to help clear most of the enemy soldiers. Edward and Havoc's teams fired upon the enemy until it grew quiet inside the building. The teams moved inside with Edward taking the rear. Just as he reached the doors, an enemy soldier ran from the side of the building with a knife. Edward held up his handgun and shot the enemy soldier in the face. His eyes widened while his pupils narrowed. His heart pounded in his chest. It was the first time he had shot someone so close.

Havoc heard the gun shot and saw Edward staring down at the dead man. "Why didn't he shoot you?"

Edward let out a breath he hadn't realized that he had been holding. "He was out of ammunition." Edward knelt down and searched the body for any rations or anything that his team could use.

The building was cleared by the team and they held positions near windows so they could observe the roads for any enemy reinforcements. Fuery used his radio to communicate their success in code to General Mustang and awaited further orders.

A few days later, West City had been officially reclaimed from Creta, and the soldiers celebrated their victory. This was a major step in the war in the right direction for Amestris. There was still so much more to do. West City was in ruins and would need help in recovering. And Creta still had control over the border.

Author's note: So this is the first major action scene that I have ever written. So I wanted to credit Band of Brothers because I watched it to write this scene.