Back again! Sooner than I expected! Here's the next chapter for you!
INFO ON CHAPTER: Bradley's position, function and the rumors centering around him within the State Military, first mentioning's of Selim too!
ANSWERS TO REVIEWS:
Pfeh: (blush) Aw thank you! I aim to please! ;)
Lily: (sweat drop) Sorry Lil', Gracia will come in the next chapter! Since I thought she wouldn't really fit into the scene right now, especially with the ending this chapter took! O.o
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AuthorBugsy: T_T (cries happy tears) Ohh thank you SO MUCH! :33 It makes me really happy and motivated to know my readers enjoy my stories! Really, thank you for your review it motivated me to write the next chapter! :) I'm glad the story isn't a drop (yet) ^^"
The Devil within our ranks
Riza's grip on the phone tightened, her gaze sharp and her voice serious and commanding, "Are you sure?"
"We received a telegram yesterday that General Armstrong has gotten injured on the battlefield. Drachma may have deployed more troops to Fort Briggs than we have originally anticipated after their last ambush at our main and secondary base," Roy's voice traveled through the phone into Riza's ear, filing the information for later.
"How injured is she?" it was difficult for her to believe a woman of her caliber to allow to call for medical assistance and be injured so severely.
"...The telegram hadn't specified the extent of her condition, but if she would sent out a telegram it must be severe," Roy's voice was serious underlined with barely concealed fury, Riza understood. She always did.
"Understood, sir. Should we send for reinforcements?" Riza had a hunch the troops at the secondary base were all assembled however Roy must have sent Kimblee or Miles out to help at Fort Briggs, that left the secondary base occupied by Mustang's Unit alone.
There was a brief pause where Mustang quickly made up various scenarios, like Drachma executing a surprise attack again in a few days or the situation at Fort Briggs being a lot more severe than they have anticipated, he made his decision when he answered, "I'd need two units, just in case. I've sent you a list of casualties and the current situation. I've sent Kimblee and Ling for Fort Briggs, my team stays here at the secondary base while I'll head over to the main base and see what Edward has gotten planned,"
Riza nodded to herself, absorbing the information, "How is he fairing?" she referred to Ed, after the mechanic and the doctor that had taken a look at him a few weeks ago, he had been deemed fit enough to join the battlefront after a few more days of bed rest. He should be in good condition now.
"Hm, ever the little annoying brat I've come closer to strangling each and every day. He seems physically fit, however..." Riza sensed Roy paused for dramatic effect and she sighed, "Colonel..."
"Ah, ah, ahhh! It's General now Lieutenant!" Roy's teasing and confident voice brought a smirk to Riza's lips.
"And it's Lieutenant General to you, sir," Riza couldn't help but smile and shake her head, in the privacy within her office walls and pulled down blinds.
Roy seemed amused, his chuckle proof of that, before he answered her concern, "At times, he seems distracted and I think I know who the culprit is," there was a long silence stretched between them before Riza smirked.
"I have the letter he had written to Winry-"
"Perfect! Come on Lieutenant give me some blackmail material!" Roy's overly excited voice forced a unprofessional, light laugh from Riza, who shook her head at her husband's antics.
"Roy...don't you have work?" she tilted her head, unbeknownst to him eyeing the now cleared stack of paperwork thanks to her meticulous and thorough working at late hours in the office. She reluctantly relented at his drawn out whine, reminding her of Black Hayate when he would be begging for more food.
"One word," she warned playfully, "Sexy," she could already hear the gears shifting in her husband's head, various forms of inappropriate thoughts invading his mind as to what little, inexperienced, loudmouth Fullmetal could have possibly written that needed that particular word.
"Excuse me? I think the line has an error, for a minute I've thought you said-"
"Sexy," Riza repeated with no small amount of amusement.
Roy exploded, "WHAT?! I'LL BURN THAT BOY ALIVE WITH BLACKMAIL MATERIAL! JUST HOW FAR ALONG ARE THOSE TWO WITH THAT PARCEL RELATIONSHIP?!" to Riza, it seemed like he was shouting and pacing at the same time, a large, terrifying grin stretching his face, "It seems like my day has just brightened for that little information! Oh and of course for hearing your lovely voice," Riza rolled her eyes at the lame attempt at flirting from her ever sly husband.
"Of course sir," she sighed in mild exasperation, "Just be sure to keep an eye on things, I'll send for reinforcements and make sure everything is dealt with on our side,"
"Good. There's one more thing though," Riza perked up at the suddenly different atmosphere, sensing what Roy was about to tell her to be important.
"Yes?" all amusement fled from her voice and being the minute she heard Roy's tone shift from playful to serious in a matter of seconds.
"...Fullmetal updated me on the enemy's attacking pattern. It seems like all their attacks until now circle around Central," Riza quickly grabbed a pen and paper, drawing Central in the middle of the paper with a square symbol and the attacks from Drachma as little black dots, creating a circle around the square piece.
"What could they possibly gain by attacking us directly? They should be aware that the military's strength is highest at Central, it would have made more sense for them to attack the East or West," Riza couldn't help but feel highly suspicious.
She didn't hold them for a fool, not one bit. Drachma's military might was every bit as powerful as their own was, their leader a calculating man gifted in the arts of war. Drachma's economy however has experienced a large boost, which meant imports with weapons as their cargo, export statistics have grown as well. Riza frowned in concern.
"I don't know, but be sure to meet up with the Madam, perhaps she can give you some intel on the matter," of course, if anyone would know anything of this nature, it would be her.
"Understood, sir," Riza paused before quickly bringing the phone back to her ear, "Sir!"
"Yes?" Roy seemed surprised to sense the sudden, uncharacteristic urgency in Riza's voice.
"...Be careful," her voice was soft as she spoke, conveying some of her feelings she usually avoided as best as she could showing during work hours.
Roy didn't even need a second to answer, "Only if you will be," Riza smiled, shaking her head at his stubborn attitude.
"If it means keeping you out of trouble, then of course," she could almost hear the smile in his voice.
"Understood...Riza," he didn't often use her name while using the military's line services but this time, she was glad he did.
Riza smiled and hung up, her gaze shifted to the drawing she had made of the current attack positions of Drachma and the position of Central in the middle.
"What could they possibly be hoping to achieve?" she bit her lip, her hand reaching for her phone to search out the one contact she needed to talk to privately as soon as possible.
"Hello?" came a gruff, female voice.
"Madame Christmas? It's-" she was interrupted by the woman herself.
"Aye, I know who you are Mrs. Mustang. I was there at your wedding remember?" there was amusement present in her voice, before she turned serious, "Anyway, what's the occasion? Last time you called, Roy has gotten into a bit of trouble, what has he done now?" Riza couldn't help but be amused by the relationship between her husband and the woman, his aunt, that has adopted him when his parents died and raised him.
"It's not directly about Roy this time, he is fine. But do you have time around noon?" she sincerely hoped she did.
"Meet me at the bar after your work hours. I've got something to share with you too," Riza's brow arched in surprise.
"Have you? What kind of information is it?" she was eager to know, fearing it would be something connected to Drachma.
"I know about your safe communication lines of the State Military, but not even they can be trusted. We'll discuss everything at the bar," the call ended and Riza was left to wonder what she could possibly mean.
"Hi Winry,
Hawkeye? Nice? Yeah she is, well if she isn't in a bad mood or holding a gun to your head but yeah, she's nice.
Anyway, how comes you wrote me so late? Did you have to work so late? Even I'm sleeping at that time, well mostly anyway. So, how are you doing? I actually wanted to write sooner, but I got a bit injured when we ran into Drachma so I had to lay down and rest, nothing serious though."
Winry giggled, shaking her head at the comment about Riza, glad the woman herself didn't read it to get offended by it. But then she read the last sentence again, double checking to make sure she didn't misread it.
To her mortification, her suspicions were confirmed. Ed had gotten injured! Worry filled her at the thought, while she didn't know him that well, she did feel concerned for him, after all he was a good friend of her circle of friends and she had found out he may not be such a bad guy through the letters.
Biting her bottom lip, she continued on reading.
"Right, so, you said you knew Mei? Of course I know her, the little bubbly pipsqueak full of energy, how can I not know her? I met her once, when she went to see Al off before we departed for Drachma but that's all. You like...my eyes? Uh, thanks. Yeah, I have the same gold eyes like Alphonse. What? So you like my eyes huh? I admit, I'm damn sexy with my eyes, you know gold eyes and all, attracts the ladies! ;) By the way, what eye color do you have?"
WHAT?! Mei never told her she met him personally! That little-!
"I can't believe it!" Den barked at his owner's sudden, distressed outburst, tail swinging wildly in alarm and ears perked up at attention. Winry sighed, rubbing her forehead.
She felt heat flooding her cheeks, then she snorted, "Sexy? Yeah, right," she rolled her eyes, men. Hm...was he some type of womanizer like Mustang had been? A disturbing feeling brewed up inside her at the horrifying thought, an image of a gold eyed, gold haired man with a wicked, perverted glint in his eyes chasing after miniskirts appeared in her mind's eye and she shivered in apprehension. Oh god...please don't let him be like Mustang of all people!
Then again...he was his superior...
"Oh, what soldiers do, yeah we do something like that. Before every battle we prepare ourselves what may expect us there and gather everyone fighting up, to go over the rules again and all. I'm leading the team when Mustang's absent or dealing with other stuff so I coordinate the groups and we make a plan on where the enemy is and where the "safe zones" are for us to move around without being in immediate danger. Al is the head medic and always comes along in case we have injured, he jokes that I guard him like a watchdog when we're out on the battlefield."
A fair eyebrow rose up in curiosity, Winry tilted her head, eyes alight with the thirst to know more about how the situation was like there for him. Yeah, she heard about Alphonse being a medic there but she never heard he had a brother that was also in the military and fighting on the front lines too.
Was he aggressive? Violent? Could it be he enrolled in the military for the thrill of it? She had a hunch sweet Alphonse wouldn't just join the military like that, so it must have been because of Edward. But why did he enroll in the first place? She continued on reading, questions filling her mind.
"There is something you should know, I'm not actually the rank of a captain. My men call me captain or Fullmetal but I'm not really a captain by rank. By official rank, I'm Lieutenant General and Mustang is above me, he is a General. As for the guys in my team...well, there is my brother Alphonse, who is the head medic there. There are the two brothers, Ling and Greed. Ling is a little weird and a bit hit in the head but he's a nice and funny guy, he's good with bombs and grenades oh and he has cool ninja moves ;). Greed is his twin, but he looks more...dangerous? Insane? Something like that. Ling is a cinnamon roll but Greed is the opposite, let's say it like that. Greed's a rank below me, Major General, and he's really greedy, pun intended. I think you know his girlfriend, Lena right? If you know Mei and Hawkeye, Lan Fan too I think, then you gotta know Lena. Sometimes I seriously wonder how such a nice woman got to be stuck with such an ass."
There was a moment of silence before she burst out laughing, clutching at her stomach to miserably try and fail to quench her laughter and giggles.
Winry smiled, resting her chin against her palm. Hmm...so he wondered how Lena could be stuck with "such an ass" like Greed? Faintly, she wondered how good friends Lena and Ed were and why she never mentioned anything to her. She shook her head, maybe she was just reading too much into this.
Winry had met Greed and Ling of course, but they hadn't hung out much. Greed had creeped her out a bit, maybe it had been his intimidating aura he had about himself, maybe it had been the flash of sharper-looking-than-normal teeth when he grinned toothily, maybe it had been the way his strange violet eyes had flashed when Lena had gotten hit on by some drunk once at the local bar where they all had a drink.
She remembered Ling being a jokester and an odd one too, for one, he rarely ever used doors to enter people's houses. She remembered one time where the girls slept over at her place and Ling had scared the crap out of all of them when he had literally fallen into her house through the window! What had unnerved her even more was that Greed had climbed in after him too, muttering things about pesky "piss ants" and "weird door phobia".
"Anyway, there is Mustang's Unit too but they are directly under his control, not mine so yeah. It's the same unit Hawkeye was a part of, with Fuery, Breda, Havoc and Falman. Not to mention Kimblee, but he keeps more to himself, he's a well known seasoned veteran. He's especially skilled with explosives, not to mention, rumors say he was forced into a mental institution because he "loved hearing things explode". Only met him a handful of times, but I wouldn't cross him if you want to stay alive."
Winry shivered, ah...Kimblee. She had met him once, before he had been sent to the border a few years back. It had been when she had visited Riza to see how she was coping with Roy being sent to war without her for the first time there and she had met the terrifying man.
At first, he had seemed like the perfect gentleman. His appearance was well-groomed and sharp, but his eyes were what had caused her to be cautious of him. Those cold, icy blue eyes. His words were eloquent and soft spoken, yet she highly doubted that was all he was capable of. Call her crazy, but she had a feeling like he was dangerous or at least, bad enough to not be near him when he was angered.
The rumors she had heard about him had only fueled her wild imagination to create the most ridiculous of fantasies picturing Kimblee laughing maniacally as he slaughtered hundreds of soldiers and made them explode, with blood smeared on his face and a crazed look in his eyes.
Little did she know her fantasies were closer to reality than she initially thought, with Edward's words confirming her fears.
"You mentioned gossip? And Robert Windmill? Oh come on, that guy's been getting on my nerves since I finished elementary! Yeah, I'm not surprised someone finally knocked some sense into him and I'm glad it was literally with a wrench too! Thanks for doing that, you should get a medal for it! I'm sure if Al would be a girl he would hit on him too! Tch, stupid ass. I'm glad he finally got what he deserved though."
Winry shook her head and giggled, thinking of, in a bizarre way, Robert probably would hit on him if Alphonse were a girl. It seemed, to no great surprise, that Edward wasn't fond of Robert at all.
"I'll keep safe don't worry, but you do too alright? Tell me how's it going on your side? How's your job and how are the girls doing? Be sure to greet them from me alright? BTW: Salute to Hawkeye or she will send my balls back to me by mail if I don't salute her, even through letters. Reading you soon!
-Edward 'Fullmetal' Elric
She smiled softly and grabbed a pen and a fresh piece of paper and began writing her reply.
The tall figure clad in uniform strolled through the crowded halls of the State Military building, the moment onlookers had noticed his presence, the previously crowded hallway had parted like a sea before him, granting him undisturbed access to wherever he wished to go.
He observed the terrified expressions and reactions with amusement, hidden intentions perfectly obscured by a façade of overwhelming kindness and joy on his face.
Whispers and hushed conversations died down at the seemingly happy aura about their superior, all whom he passed had respectfully saluted and greeted him and he returned it with a greeting and nod of approval of his own.
The moment he had approached his office and had closed and locked the door behind him, his visible eye flashed dangerously, the malice and deep fury that had been previously hidden from sight finally rearing its ugly head.
Bradley observed the map he had pinned to the wall, eyes zeroing in on the position of Central.
He approached the large map, tracing invisible patterns with his eyes, where he had heard Drachma had attacked his troops.
"They think they can usurp me is it..." he whispered, his regular cheery tone melting into a low, dangerous rumble unheard of by many, all but the most unfortunate ones that had at one point or another suffered his wrath.
But even then, in those moments of supposed "fury" he had been in control. He was always in control. If not, there would be no telling what would of happened by now.
"Judging by their advantage in numbers, they just may," a new yet familiar voice brought Bradley out of his thoughts, his visible eye widening in slight surprise.
Had he been so deep in thought to not notice the powerful presence in the room with him?
When he turned to regard the new speaker, he had faced the corner laced with complete darkness and when he looked at it a little longer, already knowing the secret the darkness withheld from him, did pearly white teeth and purple eyes appear.
"Hello, father," sharp-looking teeth flashed into a malicious grin as his son stepped forth from the shadows.
Well, that's all for now! Please tell me if/how you liked it! Anything to change or maybe include?