CHAPTER 7: ASSAULT ON THE DEVIL'S LAIR

North Sea – July, 1943

Edward Elric yawned tiredly as he hiked up the stairs to the boat's deck; he opened the door to the outside only to be blasted in the face with a gust of chilly and salty sea-air. The sky was dark as it was still the middle of the night; they were close to their destination, expecting to arrive with enough time to do their job before the sun arose from its slumber.

Alphonse had decided to attempt to get a few more winks before they landed. Ed himself was visibly exhausted but the apprehension kept him awake and thus decided to get some fresh air. Ed draped himself over the railings on one side of the boat and tried to relax, letting the wind blow into his face and through his hair. It was summer but the sea was already cool. Ed enjoyed the peaceful moment until someone walked up and leaned on the railings next to him.

"Hope you're not getting sea-sick." It was Gabriel. "It's too nice a night for that."

"No, I don't get to see the ocean much." Ed recalled that there was no significantly large body of water in Amestris. "Not where I come from."

"Really?" The Colonel sounded surprised. "Tell me about your home Edward."

"Not much to talk about. This is our home now." Then Ed tried to change the subject. "Do you actually believe in all this alchemy stuff Colonel?" He heard Gabriel chuckle a little.

"I'm just a soldier who follows orders, even if sometimes they don't make sense to me." Gabriel tapped on Ed's automail arm with a finger. "I wouldn't have believed this sort of technology existed until I saw it." He shrugged. "But it's real and its right here, so what's not to believe."

"Nice speech." Ed didn't make too much of an effort to hide the sarcasm.

"Thanks." Gabriel turned so that he could lean back on the railing. "But changing the topic of conversation is rude." Ed frowned. "Well if you won't tell me about your world, than tell me about this Winry." Ed looked horrified for a moment.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Gabriel grinned tauntingly.

"I keep hearing you mention that name in your sleep." Gabriel leaned closer to Ed. "Is this Winry a pretty girl?" He whispered. Ed backed away although his face was red from blushing and not from anger.

"She's nobody!" Gabriel continued to grin at him, obviously having fun. Ed looked at him for a few seconds before relenting. "She's my automail mechanic; I've known her since as long as I can remember."

"Girlfriend?"

"No!" Ed again looked horrified, but it quickly dissolved to one of sadness. "No." He whispered quietly this time, he turned back to face the ocean. "When we were kids, she, Al and I were always together. She always looked after us, no matter what." Ed raised his automail hand to his face and stared at it. "Even after I was gone, she built this for me… and it was a perfect fit. She made it perfectly for me…" His eyes widened as if something just dawned on him. "Just for me…" Gabriel listened and looked at him depressingly.

"Yea that sounds like her." Gabriel muttered under his breath.

"Huh?" Ed perked an eyebrow at the Colonel.

"Ah nothing." Gabriel replied, scratching his head.

"By the way Colonel." Ed started."How old are you anyway? I'm guessing between thirty-two and thirty-five." Gabriel's face immediately darkened.

"Twenty-three…" The Colonel replied unhappily, causing Ed to laugh.

"You're joking! You look way older then that." Gabriel however was not amused.

"I may look old, but at least I'm tall enough for people to see me." Gabriel mocked. Ed's laughing face quickly changed to a very angry one.

"Yea, it's a small price to pay for looking younger then your age gramps." The two continued to exchange verbal insults until a voice from the front of the boat interrupted them.

"Land ho!" Both stopped and blinked for a second, and then backed off. Gabriel sighed and padded Ed on the shoulder.

"Well shorty." Ed frowned again. "Time to get ready, we're about to descend into hell."

Nazi Base, Outside of Lillehammer – July, 1943

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing Colonel?" Stanley asked without taking the binoculars off his eyes.

"I don't know." Gabriel replied hesitantly, lying on his belly next to the Lieutenant also peering out his own set of binoculars. They were on a small ridge, and in front of them was a fairly open field dotted by pine trees. Further was the Nazi base which was a single very large and flat, grey structure.

"Are they talking?" Stanley asked again. They were watching what looked like three watch dogs that had been patrolling the field between them and the base. The dogs had walked in a uniform pattern, before regrouping into a huddle where they are seemingly carrying out a conversation. "That can't be right."

"Chimera." Stanley and Gabriel turned to Ed, who was also lying on his belly besides the two soldiers. Al was next to Ed, and the rest of the assault team waited patiently behind them.

"Huh?" Stanley didn't know what he was talking about.

"Chimera, a creature composed from multiple living beings through alchemy." Ed explained and then gestured at the dogs they are observing. "Those things are probably a mix of animals and humans, hence why they look like that but can talk."

"Are you serious?" Stanley was in disbelief. "Now I've seen everything."

"We still have to get by those things." Gabriel turned back to his Lieutenant. "I don't like this; I don't see any guards, no watch towers, nothing. It's almost as if their security is dependent on talking dogs."

"It is supposed to be a secret base; they probably want to look as inconspicuous as possible." Stanley offered his explanation which seemed plausible.

"These chimeras, they're vulnerable right?" Gabriel asked the Elrics.

"Ah yes, they have the strength and weaknesses of the creatures they were composed from." Al said. "But they can be killed." Just like Nina. Al looked away. Gabriel didn't seem to notice, he looked at the cloudy night sky which was blocking much of the moon, meaning that the night was particularly dark.

"George and Heath should be able to hit them from here sir." Stanley suggested and Gabriel nodded in approval. The Lieutenant retreated to retrieve them.

"Brother?" Al tugged at Ed's military fatigues lightly to get his attention.

"What Al?"

"Can you feel it?" The younger Elric asked. Although the question was rather vague, Ed knew what his little brother was talking about.

"Yea just barely." Ed said, looking at Al and dropping to a whisper so only they could hear. "It's faint but ever since we got here, it's like that time you became the Stone… it feels the same." Al nodded, but their conversation was cut short by the arrival of the two snipers, whom promptly dispatched the chimera guards.

"You two remember the plan?" Gabriel asked the two brothers.

"We're not stupid." Ed replied; sounding irritated which caused Gabriel to grin.

"Good, let's move out." The Colonel turned and motioned at his team to proceed; he stood up and gave the Elrics one last look. "Good luck." Gabriel jumped down the small ridge, followed by everyone else. The entire group sprinted full out towards the facility until they were several hundred feet from it and splintered off into two separate groups. Stanley led the smaller one, with O'Reilly, Bannerman, Franklin and the Elrics, while the Colonel led the rest on a diversionary attack similar to the strategy they used to rescue Ed and Al.

The infiltration team waited patiently on the other side of the base for several minutes, when the rattling of gunfire signalled the beginning of the Colonel's attack. They charged up to the building where they found a metal door that was locked. Franklin attached some explosives quickly and blew it open and the four soldiers entered first followed by the Elrics.

The British soldiers disposed of several guards and continued through some hallways before encountering a flight of stairs that went deeper into the depths of the base, and they slowed to descend them carefully. The stairs deposited them into another hallway with double doors at the other end, with two large alcoves on both sides.

"Okay, let's go but stay alert." Stanley instructed. The intelligence they had received indicated that most of the research labs were located in the basements. They walked down the hall and proceeded through the doors carefully, which opened up into another long corridor with prison cells lining both sides, and another set of double-doors on the far end.

"What the…" Bannerman muttered. The entire place was brightly lit with numerous lights, showing that most of the cells were occupied.

"The hell is this?" Franklin finished, but no one knew the answer as everyone looked around in disbelief.

"Stop sight-seeing, we have to keep moving." Stanley reminded them all and started walking. However some shouting behind them caught their attention; and they turned in time to see a number of German soldiers running down the stairs towards them.

"Get down!" Someone yelled. Stanley instinctively pulled Ed and Al with him into one of the alcoves, while Franklin and Bannerman jumped into the other to avoid the first volley of shots. O'Reilly was not so fast, and took several bullets before crumbling to the floor in a heap.

"Man down!" Bannerman tried to reach the fallen soldier but Franklin held him back. Stanley leaned out to return fire with his Sten.

"Brother!" Al yelled loudly, Ed turned and saw Al pointing to the other end of the hall. The double-doors there burst open to reveal more heavily-armed German guards. Ed informed Stanley of the deteriorating situation.

"They've got us pinned down." The Lieutenant muttered angrily. "This isn't good." Ed and Al ducked to avoid the gunfire as the British soldiers shot back, but the Germans were also under cover making them difficult targets. The use of grenades was also out of the question in such close quarters. "We're trapped here!"

"I'm going to try something Al." Ed gritted his teeth in concentration, and Al knew immediately what he meant.

"I guess we don't have a choice." Al agreed.

"It's worth a try." Both knew that feeling from before had gotten stronger since they entered the base and now was as good a time as any to test their theory. Al nodded, and Ed clapped his hands together, then touched the wall with both and focused. Blue sparks appeared around them, which travelled along the wall a short distance in the direction of the stairs. Suddenly, the concrete wall itself extended across the hall between them and the guards, sealing it completely. The British soldiers looked at them in amazement.

"How the bloody hell did you just do that?" Stanley asked, clearly flabbergasted. Ed however was sweating lightly and looked tired. That took a lot more effort then it used to, something's definitely wrong here if I can perform transmutations.

"That's alchemy." Al answered for Ed, he too noticed that the act had taken a lot out of him, more then it should. But they weren't out of danger yet, the other group of guards at the other end of the prison hall were still shooting at them, and the prisoners were getting very rowdy at the commotion which gave the Elrics an idea. They grinned wickedly at each other and nodded.

"You ready Al?"

"Let's do it." Both clapped their hands in unison and touched the floor. The entire hallway was consumed in blue sparks and light as the metal bars of the cells seemingly melted into the floor leaving no barrier to hold back the excited inmates, who all rushed out and mobbed the German guards.

"Nice trick." Stanley was impressed. Bannerman took the opportunity to check O'Reilly's vital signs, only to shake his head.

"We don't have time to dwell on it, grab his ammo and go, we'll have to leave the body." Franklin helped the other soldier strip the equipment off the corpse and the group started jogging down the hall. The prisoners were all too busy beating on the German guards and paid them no heed. As they continued past the empty prison cells, Ed's sixth sense lighted up, causing him to pause suddenly in front of one of the open cells.

"Brother?" Al turned back and asked when he noticed the older Elric had stopped. "What's wrong?" He inquired further when he didn't get a response; Ed was staring into the cell.

"Hey, what did I say about sight-seeing?" Stanley said in annoyance.

"Wait." Ed cut everyone off without shifting his eyes. Inside, hidden in the shadows was a figure sitting on a bunk. Ed couldn't see the person's face but something seemed familiar.

"Ed?" The person spoke in a soft voice that his brain immediately recognized, but he refused to believe his ears. The figure slowly stood up, and stepped into the light causing Ed's eyes to widen and his jaw to drop in total shock.

"Winry…"

To Be Continued...