The Waters of Lethe
Disclaimer: I don't own FMA, just like to play around in its world and torture Ed for a while.
Warning: bad language, violence and death; may be sex.
Beta: Took-baggins
Chapter 72: Pause (Verharren)
"At ease!"
Grupenfuhrer August Xavier Franz Bauer relaxed his body slightlly, legs apart and hands behind his back. His chin remained up, his hawk-like grey eyes staring straight ahead at a point on the wall just above Dietlinde Eckart's head. A foot behind him and a few inches to either side, his adjutants, Otto Remigius von Augsburg and Hans Christian Jungbeck stood in the same positions. They stared straight ahead at the birds flitting outside the window of East Headquarters and waited. There was no nervous shuffling or coughing from anyone in the room.
"Do you have your report prepared, Grupenfuhrer?"
Bauer flicked his gaze to Dietlinde's, their eyes caught and held. He didn't look away. How he loathed this woman, and he knew she knew it. Her opinion of hm was equally as low, but he didn't care. No emotion showed on his face nor in his body language, he was too well trained for that. It was his personal opnion women should stay in their proper spere: kirche,kiche,kinder(House,church,children). Women should not be interfering in the business of men. Those who stepped outside their God-ordained roles were unnatural creatures and real men should avoid them at all costs.
Except - Hitler put her in command and I must obey.
"This is NOT Shambala, Fraulein Eckart. If this were Shambala, war would be unknown, the people gentle and loving, helpless to defend themselves." He took a deep breath. "Within a quarter of an hour I knew we were facing battled-hardened troops. They were not afraid to fight and they did it very well."
Dietlinde laced her fingers together and propped her chin on the intertwined hands. She cocked her head as her lips curved into a poisonous smile. "But we still overwhelmed them, Grupenfuhrer, didn't we?"
"But not without casualties, Fraulein. Even without air defenses, even though their tanks were no match for ours, they still managed to draw blood."
"Ah, yes," Dietlinde pretended to show interest in the fingernails of her right hand. "My sympathies on the loss of General Kihrmeijer, that must have quite a shock."
Bauer gritted his teeth and fought the urge to pull his service pistol and shoot her. He'd served under General Kihrmeijer in the Great War when he was just a raw seventeen year old recruit in 1912 till the Armistice of 1919. The General was to have retired after the Conquest of Shambala to his Bavarian estate where he bred and raised parrots, but now he'd return in a pine box. Bauer bit the inside of his cheek to keep the tears at bay, death in battle was always a given, but this was so unexpected. One minute they had the enemy on the run, the next, General Kirhmeijer was reeling back into Bauer's arms. He'd died instantly by the bullet of an enemy sniper, a neat little red hole drilled dead center into his forehead.
"We lost a quarter of our forces, Fraulein, most dead but some were captured. Add the number of wounded to that and we will need fresh reinforcements from Germay if we are to continue advancing. I understand our Fuhrer has his own goals in Europe for which he needs a certain troop strength."
Dietlinde didn't seem to like that as her face went instantly hard. After orienting themselves in Lior, the Thule Army quickly spread out to take more territory in the strategy known as blitzkrieg, or' lightning war'. Attack quickly and hard, never let the enemy have a chance to catch its breath, keep moving forward, keep them on the defensive with no time to make a stand. But it had it's limitattions in the alchemic world, the resistance of the enemy was stiffening and they'd nearly stopped the Thulists in East City.
"Fuhrer Hitler has promised us two whole SS battalions to replace the wounded, who will be evacuated back to Germany. As well as more rocket planes, plus tanks and heavy artillery. The attack on Central will proceed as scheduled, so you may return to your troops and tell them the good news. We have your written report to discuss, so you are dismissed."
This time, a dangerous light did leap into Bauer's eyes. He struggled mightily to contain a thick sludge of anger that boiled in his veins, and only his scarred left cheek twitched. His right arm snapped up into the Nazi salute as three pairs of boot heels clicked. "Heil Hitler!" came strongly from three throats and were answered by Eckart and the others with her. Bauer and his two adjutants moved as one to pivot neatly in a half circle, the latter briefly hung back until their leader was exactly two strides in front.
The great wooden doors were opened by the soldiers guarding them. Bauer made a hard left turn in the hall and his adjutants followed like metal filings behind a magnet. Once the trio was out of earshot, Bauer muttered in a low voice, "How did that British poem go? Ah, yes. 'Ours is not to question why, ours is but to do or die.' I truly fear the latter will be our fate in this world."
Von Augsburg and Jungbeck both silently agreed, as loyal German soldiers, they would follow their Grupenfuhrer to Hell and back. And yet, the consensus between the two was this could very well become a strictly one-way trip.