55Summary: An assassination attempt on Prince Claudio sparks a war with Aerugo. This war, the State Alchemists are sent in first and along with them...the Fullmetal Alchemist.
AN: Because of the Second War AU on Tumblr, was started as a gift fic and reworked as a horrible AU for the FMA Fic Contest prompt #316 , Outside of Amestris. This is loosely based on the Wii games Prince of the Dawn and Daughter of the Dusk.
Disclaimer: I don't own FMA.
Battle Cry
Chapter 1
Cry 'Havoc', and Let Slip the Dogs of War
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Village of Prospettiva
Aerugo, 1914
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Ed tugged at his uniform collar in an attempt to convince himself that it was the clothing that was impeding his breathing and not the air that hung heavy with smoke and death. He walked down the alley alone towards the screams and explosions, his boots carrying him forward despite his heart racing and the tears that stung his eyes. He was alone, disobeying Mustang's direct order to stay back and hold the perimeter, but he couldn't ignore it much longer. They were at war and, as scared and alone as he felt, he now wore the uniform of a Major and the responsibility of the soldier that came with it.
War was upon Amestris once again, this time with its neighbor to the South. Prince Claudio of Aerugo visited Central a few months ago, under the guise of peace talks, and what followed was a terrorist attack, an assassination attempt and a call for war. Claudio disappeared before they could stop him and Colonel Mustang was blamed for the events. After the inquiry Lieutenant Hawkeye was saddled with the accusations that she had shot at the Prince in an attempt to take his life, not save it, and the attacks were simply retaliation. It was argued that the terrorists were simply taking advantage of an opportunity presented by the Prince's visit and the commotion that the peace talks caused. Ed could still remember the blank look on Mustang's face, the shock that he was being thrown to the wolves so the military could shutdown rumors that they fell for Claudio's plot to infiltrate Central. It was all above his head and as hard as he and Al tried to help, it felt like a unseen force was pushing back to keep them from discovering too much.
As Mustang and his team spent their days in Central Command answering for their actions, Ed found it impossible to leave Central. He was the only one free to investigate things and Al had made a new friend by the name of Elena. After the investigations division kicked in their door at the military dorms, they learned she was Claudio's sister. She was then placed under house arrest at the Armstrong estate for her own safety during the trials. When they received word that war was declared and the team was being sent to the front, Alphonse chose to stay with the Armstrongs to protect Elena. He also agreed to puppy-sit Black Hayate while Hawkeye was in jail and Fuery was in Aerugo. At least Al was safe and that was the only thing going right for him now.
Ed stopped to catch his breath, the air was very hard to breathe. He was trying so very hard to not look at the debris or bodies he was stepping over by occupying his mind with the activities of the last three months to try and find the answers he might have overlooked. It seemed to be how he spent his days now, looking back instead of forward, and the irony wasn't lost on him. Everything went to hell so fast, before he knew it he was on a train heading South after reassuring his little brother he would be fine.
Everything happened so fast. It seemed like he no sooner fell asleep on the train than he was suddenly on his way to the front. Sure it was over the course of a month, but when you're dreading something it seems to come on you so much faster. Even now, as he walked down the streets of an abandoned village as part of the State Alchemist unit, he struggled to move past denial as his mind replayed everything: Hawkeye's arrest, the probe into Mustang's handling of the tactical team and then the call for war. Mustang was cleared of any charges just in time to be ordered to the front: the Flame Alchemist and Hero of Ishval was being sent off to war again, this time he was going to take the newest State Alchemist with him.
That's where it seemed to slow down in his memory. Mustang towering over him and informing him of his orders. The argument that ensued, his own screams at the stoic man who just stood there and let him rant. By God, he wasn't going to kill anyone and nothing was going to change that! Mustang laid it out for him: disobeying an order of this caliber meant that he would face a court martial. There was nothing he could do for Al in jail and eventually Al's blood seal would fade and Al's soul along with it. He wanted to hit him, but instead just left to talk it over with his brother. Mustang was right, he had no choice. Well, save one, which was to not speak to that man again. Yet here he was, stumbling his way through the burning town trying to find the Colonel. If he could find him, he could maybe stop this destruction. Help someone. Stop the dying.
Ed tried so hard to avoid looking at the bodies and burnt houses, but finally couldn't avoid it any longer. This was his first battle and he was absolutely overwhelmed. He had been through so much in his life, yet nothing could even remotely prepare him for the horrors of war. He was terrified and mortified as he walked through this Aerugo village in the wake of both Mustang and Kimblee. The carnage was unrivaled. The General commanding, he forgot his name already, ordered in alchemists first: Human weapons. The words once were enough to turn his stomach and now he had so much more...so much more that made him want to scream at the top of his lungs that he was just a kid! He wanted to go home! Take the damned watch and title and just let me go home!
Ed closed his eyes and tried to calm himself. He had to think like an alchemist, he had to stop looking at the reality of what was in front of his eyes and start seeing the composition of it all in terms of science. He needed to start thinking and stop looking, he needed to stop seeing what had already been done and start thinking about what he could do. He had legs, he had to keep moving forward. He wasn't a coward and he wasn't a hypocrite, he had to keep moving forward.
Finally he pushed himself away from the building and started to advance again. He could feel the heat intensify and felt an explosion ahead. Mustang had to be close, he heard some screams and soldiers barking orders. Some gunfire and more screams. He pressed forward and wondered what he was doing. How was this going to fix anything now? It was too late, he was already in too deep. It might be his first battle, but there was no turning back and he couldn't blame anyone but himself for this. Before he knew it he stumbled and tripped on something and ended up face first in the blood soaked dirt road. He coughed and dirt stuck to his wet cheeks as he turned and looked at what he had tripped on.
His golden eyes grew wide as he looked at a charred corpse. The flesh was crisped and adipose tissue boiled underneath it, the body stank of burnt hair, fabric and overcooked meat. He had struggled to keep down the contents of his stomach this far, but there was no stopping it from coming up now. He vomited and tried to crawl away but the soldier's burned hand somehow stuck to the fabric of his uniform pants. He heaved again, tears streaking down his cheeks and panic beginning to wrack his body as his throat and mouth tasted the bile. He screamed out in attempt to get control of himself, trying to scream away everything that had him frozen in place crying like a little boy.
Mustang heard the cry, the pitiful wail of a scared soldier who just wanted something to 'get off him' and 'get away'. Then he turned and listened, focusing on the sound of the voice. He could hear Kimblee's blasts from here, at least it drowned out the maniacal cackling of the lunatic. His eyes darted to the sound of the voice and he knew who it was. "Fullmetal?"
Ed's eyes stung with tears and smoke as he wiped his mouth and tried to will himself to move again. Keep moving forward! He jumped, an involuntary reaction to someone touching him in the chaos. He looked up, terrified he would be looking at a burned body come back to life, but instead he saw a familiar face. "Colonel?"
"Dammit Ed, why the hell can't you follow orders?" Mustang looked at the body the kid had tripped over. Dammit, he was trying to spare him this!
"Get your hands off me!" Ed snapped and swatted the gloved hand away. He was unable to stop the flow of words from his mouth as he shook under the gaze of his commander. Just moments earlier he had laid the blame on his own shoulders for this, but when Mustang emerged out of the smoke he just wanted to hit him and blame him instead. He was just a damned kid, what the hell was he doing here? Why did this bastard recruit him for this? Mustang was an adult, he was a soldier...he knew this would happen. " Those damned hands that cause this!"
Roy cursed inwardly, he didn't have time for this. Especially since Ed was traveling down a path that he already had been down years earlier when his own idealism had been crushed by the tides of war. "Ed, listen to me..."
"No! I listened to you and look where it got me!" Ed started to sob as he tried to kick the sticky hand of the mutilated soldier off his leg. Of course it had to be his flesh leg that it touched. Of course. "I'm a dog of the military and it's all because of you! Why couldn't you have just left me alone, left me to think the most horrible thing I could ever see was that...thing I brought back when we did human transmutation. What you do...is so much worse."
Roy swallowed hard. It wasn't just the shattered innocence of a teenager, it was the disgust of an alchemist talking. Ed really felt that the taboo of human transmutation was the worst that alchemy could do and now he knew he was wrong. He must have written off Tucker as an exception, surely the man was just twisted and misapplied his knowledge. No, Ed was finally seeing that alchemists could do so much more damage and suddenly Ed's world was shaken. The shock of his first battle was compounded by the aftershocks of his core beliefs being mangled right before his eyes. Roy felt the wind blow and knew that the smoke would began to drift away from the area. Soon they would no longer be masked by the fires. "Dammit Ed, not now. We need to get you out of here."
Ed continued to stare at the hand on his leg, it wouldn't let go and the oozing flesh and fatty tissue began to seep into the polyester of his uniform pants. He was shaking now and his voice cracked, but he didn't want to move. As appalled as he was by Mustang's proximity and the evidence of his work, he felt relieved he was here. He hated being so conflicted and unsure of himself, but couldn't find it in him to let that anger rise to the surface and push past everything else he was feeling. "You're the one who made me come here. What the hell Mustang? You can't suddenly pretend to feel remorse now."
Roy wrapped his arm around the boy and tugged him away from the body. He could hear Kimblee practically singing for joy on the rooftop now and he didn't want to be exposed when the smoke lifted. He didn't need the headache when this ended up in Crimson's ever so detailed reports. Ed squirmed and tried to fight him as he dragged him into the alley. Then the kid just slumped to the ground where he dropped him and choked back tears and vomit. "Listen to me Ed, you can yell and scream and beat the hell out of me later but right now you need to listen."
"Fuck you." Ed spat. "What, are you going to melt my skin off if I don't listen?"
"None of us, save Kimblee, want to be here. This whole damned campaign is Bradley's doing, he is the one who had Prince Claudio shot at. He's the one who started this damned war with Aerugo and he's using it to tear down my team. Hawkeye's in Central facing a military tribunal for her part in the suspected assassination of Prince Claudio and unless I find the bastard and bring him back to prove he was planning to attack Central...she's going to be executed. Bradley's the one holding Claudio's sister hostage at the Armstrong Estate with Alphonse. Bradley's got us both in a damned corner and the last thing I wanted to do was have you here at war. Dammit Fullmetal, why the hell can't you follow orders and just stay on the perimeter like I told you? There is no chance of anyone pushing back into the plains with Kimblee and I destroying this town. You were supposed to stay put!"
Ed heard his brother mentioned and suddenly looked up at Mustang and saw him through his blurry eyes. The man's face was wracked with distress, his normally cool and arrogant demeanor nowhere to be found. He was unguarded, emotions written all over his face as he finally unloaded everything that had been on his shoulders since that incident in Central three months ago. Ed finally focused and said, "Why didn't you tell me?"
"So you could defect and attack Central? It took everything in my power to get you to shut up, put the uniform on and get on the train." Mustang shook his head and then looked over at the plaza. He didn't have time for this. "Look, I have to get back to work or Kimblee is going to report to Bradley that I'm not behaving myself. All you need to know right now is that both Al and Hawkeye are in very real danger back home. Their lives are on the line and we need to find this damned Prince and bring him back to grant their stay of execution. Do you understand Ed?"
Ed nodded and watched Mustang stand up.
"Good. Now go watch the perimeter. My hands are already stained with blood I can never wash off, there is no reason for you to get any on yours. I'm trying Ed, I am trying to keep you out of this but right now everything is against me. I need you to stop fighting me on this, I know damned well what I got you into and if you don't think it keeps me up at night..."
Ed blinked and watched him turn away before he could finish his sentence. A snap preceded an explosion that rocked the square and illuminated the Colonel's silhouette in the alley. Then the flames subsided and he disappeared into the smoke again. He rubbed his eyes and got up. It was time to be a good dog and obey the Master.
