Chapter Six ~ Military Mishaps

Ed grabbed the gun and aimed like the other eighteen teenagers. A young lady in her mid- to late twenties with a blonde ponytail lowered her arm.

Everyone shot their twelve bullets. Ed blinked as he lowered his guns. He had made all the points he needed to. Only four other people had managed to make it close to his score. He smiled to himself. He was the youngest in the room, even if it wasn't by much. There were two seventeen year olds in front of him, and the one behind him was twenty-something.

The girl walked in front of all the targets. "Great job, men. Those of you who made nine vital shots need to head into the next room."

Edward smiled as he put his gun on the table and walked to the next room with the other four men. He watched the girl out of the corner of his eyes. She cleared her throat and pulled out her pistol, shooting without looking. She hit each vital point exactly. She started scolding the guys who didn't make it.

Ed sat down on a steel chair, next to the other examinees. A man with a cigarette and brown hair eyed everyone. "Well, it turns out that the Colonel is running late. I'll continue from here, I suppose." He handed out papers to each examinee. "I'm Lieutenant Havoc." He tossed blue pens to each person. "Answer truthfully and we'll continue from there."

Ed frowned as he stared at the stack of paper in front of him. Lots of personal information was wanted. He thought everything out as he answered the questions.

My name is Edward Elric.

I am fifteen years old.

I'm a male examinee who scored eleven points on the shooting test.

I have a younger brother and father and a missing mother.

My old home resides in Resembool.

He answered the rest of the questions in a breeze and finished second. Havoc only had to wait a few more minutes before taking all the papers. "Well done. These will be looked at. You can head out to the cafeteria for a break and a nice lunch."

Ed sighed as he left with the other men. He was indifferent as he saw the loads of soldiers sitting at tables. He tried to avoid eye contact, but managed to get a good look at the area. He grabbed a tray (hamburgers, yay?) and sat down alone. He managed to open his water bottle and move it to his mouth before someone sat in front of him.

The soldier in front of him had short-ish black hair and a friendly demeanor. He showed Ed a grin and a peace sign. "Welcome to the military!"

"I haven't been accepted?" Ed's voice was unsure and sounded like a question.

The soldier kept up a smile. "You've made it in here. Waiting is just to let you calm down. The name is Lieutenant Colonel Hughes, by the way." He held his hand out.

"Wow. Nice title, Hughes." Ed shook his hand with a matching grin. "The name's Edward. Edward Elric. You can call me Ed though."

"Well, Ed, I hope you're ready to serve the country." His voice was serious, before turning into a joking one. "And have fun with us guys between service!"

Before Ed knew it, a couple of other soldiers had surrounded him. They each introduced themselves.

"Second Lieutenant Breda."

"Sergeant Major Fuery."

"Warrant Officer Falman."

"Second Lieutenant Havoc." Ed recognized the test-giver.

Ed eyed each of them before giving a smile. "If you're all friends, do you all work under Hughes?"

Fuery adjusted his glasses. "We work under Roy Mustang, a good friend of Hughes."

Ed gave an 'ah' while nodding. Hughes smiled. "Lucky Roy. I don't have much of a staff." He chuckled a little before noticing the silence in the cafeteria. Instinctively, he turned to the entrance of the room and noticed Roy Mustang. "Speak of the devil," he whispered to Edward.

Edward watched the man closely. Power radiated from him. "Whoa..." he whispered to himself in awe.

Roy walked to the other door, nonchalantly eying all the new people. He noticed Hughes and interrupted his path to talk to him. "How's it going Hu-" He noticed Edward and turned to him. "Who is this?"

"You can ask me directly, you know." Ed moved his water bottle a little closer to himself. "I'm the new guy, Edward Elric." He gave a slight smile, unsure of how to act while in the presence of someone with lots of power.

Roy narrowed his eyes before straightening up. "Very well." He walked to the door and left without another word. Hughes leaned into Ed when he determined it safe.

"I think he likes you," he half-joked.

"Very funny," Edward mused. He then leaned in himself. "He's kind of scary."

Breda sat down next to Hughes. "He seems like that at first, but he's a cool guy."

Fuery sat down on the other side of Hughes. "Or a hot guy, if you think about it."

Ed gaped as he thought Fuery was coming onto his superior officer. Havoc and Hughes noticed his face and laughed. Havoc was the first to catch his breath. "Fuery meant to say Roy is a flame alchemist." After pausing to hear the explanation, Hughes began laughing again.

Ed looked at the two soldiers like they were crazy. "What's so funny?"

Hughes tried to stifle his laughing. "You looked at Fuery like," he paused to laugh a bit again. "He was complimenting Roy's appearance!"

Fuery blushed with embarrassment. "I would never!"

Breda started laughing. "Now I get it. Good one Ed!"

Ed put his hands up in defense. "Fuery said it, not me. Blame him."

Fuery gaped humorously, making all the guys laugh together. After catching their breath, they started to relax. "You're alright, Elric."

Hughes mused with a smile. "Would you like to come over to my place tonight?"

Ed smiled. "I would like that, Hughes. I haven't been around Central, so it would be nice to explore."

Hughes didn't hide the surprise from his face. "You aren't from here?"

"Nope, I'm from Resembool." The other soldiers ah'd at that, nodding at eachother like they'd heard of it before.

"That's that small village by the railroad towards the West, right?" Hughes' eyes revealed he had heard of it recently.

"Yep!" Ed smiled and jabbed the diced peaches on his tray with a fork. After a few bites and a swallow, he was in awe. "The food here is awesome!"

Havoc chuckled. "Glad you like it." Havoc twitched his cigarette in his mouth for a few moments before speaking again. "You know, you're pretty young for a soldier."

Ed sighed. "I know I am, but..." his voice trailed off as he thought of Mom.

Hughes stared at Ed for a few moments before realizing Ed wouldn't elaborate. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah...Just family issues."

"Oh, those must suck," Hughes took a sip of his coffee. "I'm sorry you've got 'em."

"You don't have any?"

"Nah. Well...Nah. I do want a daughter, but I can't have one with my to-be wife."

Ed nodded with understanding. "My mom wasn't able to have kids after my younger brother. No one knows why. It's a shame, though. I wanted a sister." Ed laughed weakly before spearing another couple of diced peaches.

"I wish I had a younger sister," Fuery pouted.

"Warrant Officer Falman! There's a call for you!" A young lady in a blue outfit called.

Frowning, he walked over and put it up to his ear. After some 'yup's and 'sure's, he hung up the phone. He walked over to the table. "Fuery, Breda, Havoc, we're being summoned."

"Aww, man. Now Hughes is going to have all fun," Havoc complained. He stumbled through the entrance with the others.

Hughes yawned and took a sip of his coffee. "I guess Roy's summoning them."

"All at the same time?"

"Yep. I bet he's going to tell them to keep an eye on you."

"Why?" Ed's confusion was obvious.

"I don't know. Could be that he wants you as part of his staff. Or he thinks you're going to be a 'dirty' one."

"Dirty one?"

"The alchemist that killed Armstrong used to serve in the military. He went against the military and tried to disrupt Central. In the process, he killed Armstrong. He's considered a dirty one."

"I've heard of Armstrong before..."

Hughes nodded. "You know what kind of man he was?"

Ed straightened his posture as he gained new interest in the conversation. "No, what kind of man was he?"

"Armstrong was a great man who died serving his country and protecting these people."