Title: The Heart of Everything: The Song of the Forge Volume 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.
Summary: When whispers of a Rebellion sweeps across Amestris and a failed assassination reveals a terrifying plot against the State, Brigadier-General Edward Elric and Colonel Alphonse Elric are dispatched with orders to stop the rebels at all costs. The only problem is that the rebels have traveled twelve years into the past.
Chapter 9
Eastern Headquarters and Central City suddenly woke up one day to find the time travelers were gone. For Central City, the change had been gradual, a few soldiers a day over a period of time. But for Eastern City, the only warning that the time travelers were leaving came in the form of the barrier that hid a patch of empty wall in Colonel Roy Mustang's outer office and Major Edward Elric, who studied a small leather bound book which his older self had passed to him in the hall just outside of said office.
"Don't let anyone know you have this," the Brigadier General had murmured, "I don't know if the advance squad will return, but if we don't, remember what I told you about self control, and when Winry insists on going to Rush Valley, I suggest you send Al with her and you stay in Central for a week or so and watch the phone booth outside of Headquarters. Hughes might survive the bullet, several weeks unconscious took more out of him than a lifetime in the military. Not only that, we were missing crucial information that only Hughes would have picked up on." Tawny eyes hardened, "Whatever happens, Edward, remember; though this may just be the ending of the life we hold so dear. If you don't make it, some one else will. Stand your ground."
It would be the last anyone would see of the time travelers for a while.
~*~
"By the infernal Gate, as if we didn't have enough problems!" Edward sighed as he closed the file with gentle and deliberate movements.
Mustang studied the group of soldiers, the five officers, himself, Hughes, Armstrong, Edward, and Alphonse, all seated while their respective staffs stood behind their commanding officers.
"It's not as though it was unexpected," the Strong Arm Alchemist said mournfully. "There was the concern that Creta would take advantage of the chaos that the country is in to attack."
"Well," Hughes said with false cheer, "At least Fuhrer Armstrong is trying to end this quickly by sending out the heavy hitters first instead of waiting."
"It's a good strategy," Edward agreed, "This way, the conflict won't drag on longer than it has to, and it won't be too much of a burden on an already strained treasury. But really, Drachma has only just ended…"
"Four years of peace is simply not long enough," Alphonse agreed.
"We can't do anything about it," Mustang's face and voice was devoid of all emotion, "the Fuhrer wants us out south, so it's out south with us. Fullmetal…"
"Yeah, yeah, I got it," Edward shook his head, "I'll have my people start packing. We'll go out and see if I can talk the people out of outright rebellion, just like last time. But the PPP and the PA…"
"Don't worry about it," Hughes said, "Al will be taking over the investigations for the time being. Besides, it's almost as if we've been looking in the wrong time all along."
"There's always the possibility," Alphonse agreed, brown eyes troubled.
Edward looked ill, but he nodded his agreement anyway. "Yeah, in which case, how much has changed without our knowing?"
"Let's not think about that," Mustang said suddenly. "Fullmetal, do what you do best and try to win the people back over to us. Al, try to find out how far forward or back the PPP and the PA have gone. Hughes, as always, keep us posted on whatever the hell is important. Alex, keep dealing with what's left of the PPP and PA. The rest of us will start on our way down to Creta, and Fullmetal, if you can't convince them by the second round, don't keep trying. Just go South. You're more useful as a combat alchemist than a diplomat trying to get a treaty out of a brick wall."
"Yes sir," Edward nodded. He might not like it, but Mustang had a point after all.
~*~
One month later, the Gate flared to life in Colonel Roy Mustang's outer office again, but this time, it closed behind Colonel Alphonse Elric and his forty man team. It was a grim atmosphere that settled over the office when Colonel Elric informed them that the future Amestris was at war with Creta, and that the Fullmetal was on internal diplomatic detail and was due to be transferred to the frontlines once again. Colonel Alphonse Elric, on the other hand, was tasked with finding out where and when the rebels had transferred their forces since the invasion of the sewer systems of Eastern City.
It was in the month that Colonel Alphonse Elric was present without Edward or other versions of the future present that people began realizing the differences between the young Al and the war hardened Colonel. Major Elric made plans to send his brother to stay with their teacher in Dublith, and Colonel Mustang and Lieutenant Colonel Hughes and their respective staffs began making plans to protect Ed and Al when the Drachman Campaigns inevitably started.
In the meantime, Ed abandoned research into the Philosopher's Stone in favor of something few had ever attempted, transmuting the air and light and drawing water directly from the atmosphere. Unbeknownst to others, however, he set about gathering open minded allies from within and without the military. Not that it was hard, the foundation had already been laid by the older Edward, though unintentionally as officers, seeing the type of soldier that the Fullmetal would grow into, were impressed, and desired to help mold him into such, while the allegiance of the civilians, already awed by the rumors of the Fullmetal, a National Alchemist who worked for the people, were easy enough to gain.
It was two months after Colonel Elric's return to the past that during one of the bi-weekly staff meetings that Major Elric, who usually ignored the meeting in favor of scribbling some theory or other in his notebook, paused in the organizing of his plans in said notebook; that he came to a startling conclusion. His consumption of his research budget had gone down drastically over the course of the five months in which the future had invaded the past, and not only that, he'd started putting what he did not consume of his paycheck into savings. He'd even started eating the mess hall's slop rather than eating out, and that he'd started going with the least troublesome route in his missions, and therefore had fewer problems with his automail, which in turn meant that he was not constantly returning to Risembool for repairs, and rather than going to some random mechanic for tune-ups did it himself, all of which cut down his spending. He was growing up and maturing, but not only that, he was becoming very much like the image that his older self had often projected, an image of immaculate calm with a plan for every possible contingency. He had contacts in a budding information network to gather his information, he had an ever-growing network of allies to call in if needed, his bank account was growing and with it, a source for bribes and if needed, a supplement for his research budget, and he was beginning to develop some very heavy political clout. He was becoming an efficient officer of the military, and his reputation as a good, reliable dog was growing in the ranks of the upper echelons of the Amestrian military.
He was becoming a reasonable person, much like Mustang was. And Major Edward Elric was finding that with military tangles easier to navigate, he rather liked this new lifestyle of his.
~*~
TBC…