Disclaimer: I do not own "Full Metal Alchemist" or any of its characters portrayed in my story. I do, on the other hand, own "General Hadaka," and "General Evans." I am making no money from this story.
Author's Note: In this chapter, Roy and Riza, as well as the others have arrived at Western Headquarters. Things are heating up, and will quickly turn into a blaze. It seems I've gotten my creativity back, since this chapter was a bit longer than the rest, and much quicker. I hope to get at least one more chapter up today. I might not make it, but I hope to. Enjoy reading.
Western headquarters was nowhere near as marvelous as Central was. Roy saw it though, and when they arrived, he slowly got out of the car. He walked up the steps, along with his companions. When they reached the top, two men walked out.
"Hello Fuhrer. We've been expecting you. Please, follow us." One of the two men said.
Roy and company slowly followed the men. When they finally stopped, they were at the door of an office Roy believed belonged to the general stationed here. The second man knocked on the door three times, before someone said "Come in."
Roy was right. General Hadaka was stationed here, as the leader of Western Headquarters. When Roy walked in, followed by Riza, Jean, Vato, Hymans, and Kain, Hadaka welcomed them all. He offered each one a seat, so they could talk about strategy.
Roy came right out and told Hadaka that there was to be a defensive battle. They were to station all the men at the bridge, and walk no further. The layout of Creta was very hard to navigate, and if Creta wanted to fight, they'd have to bring the fight to Amestris.
Roy pulled out a map, and unrolled it. It was a map of the Western sector of Amestris. It showed a river about two hundred feet wide stretching all the way down Amestris. There were two bridges located on this river. Roy showed General Hadaka how taking control of the two bridges, and the river stretch of five hundred feet between to two bridges could ensure an easy victory, while keeping casualties down.
Roy showed that if State Alchemists held the bridge, in the second lines, with soldiers in front, armed with guns on each bridge, and then if soldiers held the five hundred foot gap, that alchemists could attack Creta's soldiers, and so could Amertris' soldiers. It would give Amestris a huge advantage, because the distance wasn't that far, and Creta's soldiers would have a long mountainous hike in the first place.
Hadaka liked this strategy, and wondered why Roy was only ranked Colonel in the first place. Since general's strategies are typically the only ones looked at by the Fuhrer, and Roy knew what he was talking about, he should have been at least Brigadier General. Also, he had shown fierce loyalty to the state, it would have made sense to make him a general.
With five thousand soldiers, and two hundred State Alchemists, one hundred alchemists could be put to each bridge and about one thousand soldiers to each bridge as well, while the other three thousand soldiers held the land between the two bridges. This was enough to put a wall, two soldiers thick, to the land between the two bridges, and two walls of two hundred-fifty soldiers in front, and behind the one hundred State Alchemists to each bridge.
Amestris was superior in number of soldiers, as well as being the only country with State Alchemists. It would be hard for them to lose this war. Roy had this whole battle planned out, ever since he became Fuhrer. The only thing left to do was order the march of the men. Roy needed a days worth of sleep, before he was fully ready. His men did, too.
That day, all of them relaxed, and ate their fill, and prepared for the next day. The night came quickly, as all of them had spent their day having fun. Even Roy and Riza had fun. Roy took Riza to an arcade, and they played games. Fury went to go read about strategy in Western Headquarters library for State Alchemists. Falman and Havoc went out, looking for girls to talk to, while Breda just stayed at headquarters, and ate.
That night, Roy and Riza slept in the same bed, while Roy was holding tightly to Riza. He didn't know what he'd do if he lost her in battle. He didn't think he would. Riza did, after all, take care of herself during the Ishbal Massacre. So did Roy. He wasn't too worried about what was going to happen, but more worried about what could happen.
The next morning came quite slowly. Roy had fallen asleep about midnight, when he had climbed into bed with Riza around 9:30. Riza had fallen asleep quite quickly, tired from the day's events. Breda, Falman, Havoc, and Fury all had slept in the same room and Breda's snoring kept the others from falling asleep for a while.
But, it didn't quite matter for the four of them. They weren't going to be on the front lines. They were to hand back a bit, with Roy and Riza, as bodyguards, and strategists. Roy was to give the orders to the generals, who passed them onto the officers, who passed them on to the soldiers.
Unless Roy had decided to charge into battle, they'd be safe. After all, he was a State Alchemist, and Creta didn't even know what alchemy was. They might have seen a bit, from Amestris civilians, who had traveled to Creta, from time to time. That was rare though, because the mountains made it hard to actually get in and out of Creta. Creta was going to have a fun time coming to Amestris for the war they declared.
A few scouts had been sent out, in the late night, or early morning. They were to see how far Creta's soldiers had gotten into the mountains, and report back with an approximate time for their arrival. They had done just that. According to the reports, Creta's soldiers should be arriving around 2:00 pm, if they didn't have any delays.
Roy ordered that all men were to be in position by 12:30, and were to wait for Creta's army to arrive. As soon as the saw Creta's soldiers, they were to take aim, but not fire until word was given. If a single soldier shot, or an Alchemist had attacked before word was given, the punishment was severe. The commanders of each army were to send someone who held a ranking title to meet in the middle of the battlefield. They were to tell each other the status of their army, and give a chance to retreat. If the opposing army had not decided to retreat, then terms were setup for how to win, and how to lose, the battle.
The time came, and Roy was to send a ranking officer to the middle of the battlefield, as was Creta. Roy had sent out Armstrong, and Creta had send out some general who went by the name General Evans. Both sides had decided they were not going to forfeit this battle, and the war was to be fought.
Armstrong told them that, in order to win, they must see three flags of Amestris being waved by three different men. Armstrong showed him the pictures of Havoc, Breda, and Falman. If all three of them were seen waving the Amestris flag, that meant Amestris had retreated. Another term that was set, if Fuhrer Mustang died, and so did Riza Hawkeye, then Amestris had lost, but until one of those terms were met, Amestris was still fighting. If Havoc, Falman, or Breda were killed by the opposing army, then Creta forfeit the battle.
On the other hand, Havoc, Falman, and Breda were not allowed to wield weapons, unless they were shot at. This battle was decided by those terms, and the wars terms were set as well.
If Amestris soldiers were able to capture Creta's headquarters, then Amestris won the war. If Creta's soldiers were able to capture Central Headquarters, they had not won, unless they were able to capture Western, Southern, Northern, and Eastern headquarters as well.
For Creta, this was an uphill war. Not only would it be hard to send reinforcements to backup Creta's soldiers, but it would be easy for Amestris. Soldiers were still at all headquarters, but there were no more Alchemists at Southern or Eastern. Western Headquarters, as well as Northern, and Central still had Alchemists.
If Amestris needed backup, all State Alchemists of Western were to join the fray. The only area which couldn't afford to give up Alchemists was Northern Headquarters. Their constant battle with Drachma, to the North was hard, and it took a lot to win the battles. Drachma had many soldiers, and the Alchemists were having a hard time defeating them. Also, Drachma was easy to navigate.
Other than Northern Headquarters, both Central and Western Headquarters could send their Alchemists to join the battle. Since all areas, save Western, still had their soldiers, only Western would be completely unprotected if they had to send their soldiers. On the other hand, the battle was in the West, so Western Headquarters had a lot of protection, at the same time.
General Hadaka had come to the battle, and was anticipating the win for Amestris. He was scared that Western Headquarters would be taken over if the first battle was not won here. His reasons for being scared were justified, as pretty much everyone feared a loss here. Though a loss seemed impossible, it was far from it.
The first battle, and possibly the most memorable, was about to begin. Who would win? Who would lose? These things were all to be decided.
Author's Note: How was that? It was longer, and it didn't have too much conversation. There's a good plot set, now isn't there? I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and will enjoy all chapters to come. - Zack