Chapter Four

Before even climbing out of bed, Roy Mustang knew it was going to be a horrendous day. His head was already aching and the sunlight that streamed through the thick curtains of his room were far to powerful and bright to be from the dawn. Was he late? Passing a weary hand over his eyes, he stared at the clock that ticked away across the room. Yes. In fact, he was over an hour late. Why in the world hadn't anyone come and woken him? Usually Hawkeye would be at his door if it was ten minutes past eight o'clock, when he was supposed to be in. It was nearing nine thirty now.

He threw himself out of bed and quickly donned his uniform, forgoing a shower and hastily running his hands through his hair after splashing water on his face. Within ten minutes he was tugging on his boots and smoothing out the wrinkles on his uniform before stepping out the door.

Only to freeze when the uproar in the streets finally hit him like a battering ram. There were shouts and people were rushing all over the place, questioning and answering and panicking. Roy reached out and snagged the collar of a passing police officer.

'What in the hell is going on?' the General demanded with a growl.

The young officer stared at him, eyes catching on the stars on Mustang's shoulders before swallowing tightly, 'We're not sure, General, sir. Something about the Briggs Wall being decimated and reported kidnappings all over Central. I'm not sure if that's true, it's just the rumor...'

Mustang's chest filled with ice. He knew that wall was coming down. He knew it. Why hadn't Grumman listened to him?

'What kidnappings? Who was taken?'

'I'm honestly not sure, sir. You'd have to go to Central Command to find out the details.'

Without another word, Mustang turned on his heel and visibly forced himself not to sprint as he headed toward the looming building just a few blocks away. As he marched along confidently, he watched the civilians that passed him by, reminded of the Promised Day once again for the hundredth time in the past few days. Their panic and confusion was visceral, a thing that clouded the air like a fog and spread to coat everyone's veins with unease and worked their tongues with suspicion. Words drifted to his ears, questioning if this was another military action disguised as blame against another country.

With all that had happened, Roy thought ruefully, he couldn't blame them.

But this was definitely not the Amestrian military, this time. They had made strides so large in the past two years that they surpassed all the growth since the beginning of this country. For once, Amestris was concerned only with its own people. That's all they could care about in the years following Bradley, or else this country would have fallen apart instantly. All the corruption of before had caused its own citizens to be wary and distrustful of its government, and the military was doing all that was possible to right the wrongs.

Trust, honesty, openness. It had all been integrated into regular Amestrian society in the form of constant news bulletins put out by the military itself, and regular interviews between the Fuhrer and the press. Roy, himself, had been in dozens and dozens of reports with the media in just this past year alone. He had been the figure to bite the bullet and come out to Amestrians about the unrest between their country and Drachma.

If something truly horrible happened, and Amestrians solidified their doubts of the military, his head would be the first on the cutting block.

Already he could see the blame and hostility in the stares that followed him, but he was safe from physical judgment. For now. He needed to get this situation under control and find out what the hell was going on.

The fleeting thought of going to the University to gather Ed was like a needle among the blades in the haystack of his mind. He wanted to have the blonde by his side in this, but right now there was just no time to pause and change direction. War was having the upper hand. If they'd already lost that, then a quick reaction was the only thing that could save them. Hopefully the other idiot generals at Central Command had already rallied up a response team to whatever situation was upon them- he could only pray that they had made the right first steps before taking over command of the forces.

If the streets of Central City were panicked, Central Headquarters was in pieces as military personnel of all types sprinted through the halls to and fro, creating an uproarious racket that echoed through the corridors.

Roy Mustang could only stand there a moment, surveying the chaos with critical eyes before stepping forward,

'ENOUGH!' the entrance hall of the command center froze and fell silent, hundreds of pairs of eyes snapping to the General now striding to the middle of the room, 'Everyone calm down and make your way to your designated offices quietly! There is no excuse for such hysteria in the center of our nation! You are the representations of our country- you will remain calm while we see our way through this hurdle. Do I make myself clear, soldiers?'

A chorus of, 'Yes, Sir!' followed as he marched away, heading for his own offices. When he arrived, a similar frantic aura hit him and he scowled at his men as they paced around the office, digging through papers and talking heatedly over headsets.

'The city of Monmort and Datepus have both been confirmed as over-run! Elxomir is asking for soldiers as well!' Fuery shouted out, hand covering the mic on his headset.

'Damn it!' Havoc threw down his own headset and raked a hand through his hair, 'We've lost contact with Pefesy in the north-east and North City will not send its reserved troops outside the city walls until more soldiers are provided to them. We're losing ground fast!'

Hawkeye was standing in the middle of this, calmly commanding Mustang's men to get back on the radios and try to keep up with the events. She turned just in time to see Mustang closing the door to the office behind himself.

'Lieutenant. What the hell is going on out there?' Mustang demanded immediately.

Hawkeye's frazzled appearance did little to comfort him and the relieved smile she gave just made his heart darken with further worry.

'General, it's good to see you. We thought you had been taken as well. The northern Wall of Briggs has been destroyed. General Armstrong's soldiers attempted to fight off invading Drachman forces but were forced to retreat. The Drachmans have been steadily stealing the north for the past six hours now- it looks like they have an army of over two thousand men right now. Reports aren't completely accurate, though, so we're not completely sure.'

Roy's chest felt suddenly hollow and cold. Two thousand men? Surely Amestrian soldiers should have beaten back these forces by now? Facts first.

'How much aide has been dispatched to the north?'

Hawkeye grimaced, 'Lieutenant General Nelson just sent five hundred soldiers to North City to set up a command center. He's one of the few Generals that are still here in Central so he wants to take command.'

Mustang cursed quietly under his breath before narrowing his eyes at his loyal subordinate, 'You said you'd thought I'd been taken. And there should have been at least two Generals of higher rank than Nelson here right now.'

'General Hakuro and General Mann have been reported missing since early this morning, sir,' Hawkeye responded carefully, her chocolate eyes studying the minuscule twitches of the General's facade, 'a Major General, a Colonel, and Lieutenant Colonel are missing as well, sir. A few state alchemists have also not reported for duty.'

Roy found the nearest chair and sunk into it, steepling his gently quaking hands under his chin as he absorbed this. What in the holy hell was going on? How was it possible that the Drachmans had abducted several leading military officials without anyone noticing until everything descended into rubble? It was obvious what these terrorists were doing- trying to collapse their country under their feet by taking away the prime officials and attacking simultaneously. They were expecting this panic, the abundant caution.

Within moments Mustang knew what had to be done.

Fiery dark eyes snapped back up to Hawkeye, who was giving another command out to Havoc and sending Falman out the door with a detailed report of their current circumstances.

'Falman, wait,' when the man paused, Mustang got back to his feet, straightening his uniform and meeting the eyes of each of his men, 'the Fuhrer is safe, correct?' Hawkeye nodded briskly. 'Good. I must speak with him.'

'What are we going to do, General?' Havoc asked.

Mustang read the lines in the young man's features, the solidity of stress-ridden shoulders, the circles beneath eyes that had only just woken up to this new world a few hours ago. The General gave a small smile of confidence, 'The only way we're going to beat these bastards without losing any more ground to them is send most of our forces to the north immediately. I want at least five thousand men in the north by this evening, so we're going to have to call a state of emergency,' at his men's' shocked guffaws, Roy simply glared them into silence and once again turned to the only female present in the room, 'Hawkeye, get Havoc in touch with East Headquarters and Fuery with the West Command. You contact South HQ. Tell them it is commanded by Fuhrer Grumman that we get these forces to the north, yesterday. Any questions will be directed to me, after all this is over. We need to act now. Understood?'

'Yes, sir.'

'Good,' Mustang hesitated before shaking his head with a quickly exhaled breath, 'Lieutenant... get someone to pick up Fullmetal from the University. Have him transported here, and notify me once he has arrived. If I'm not with the Fuhrer at that time, you'll find me at Intelligence. Get to work, men.'

Without waiting for the flood of further questions to be voiced, the state alchemist turned on his heel and exited, intent on getting to the Fuhrer's office and resolutely ignoring all the little voices shouting and fighting in his mind. Worry would not help their country right now- action would. There was no time to lose in this already failing struggle. Roy Mustang would not stand by and allow their country to be defeated so easily.

His face smoothed out into a frozen mask as he strode past the panic and stress of Central Headquarters.

He would not be defeated so easily.