The Truth Within the Truth: A Fullmetal Alchemist RP

[Redryhno]

And if it was a freelance alchemist they wouldn't have been able to get any of the needed components easily, we would have heard something if someone had stolen the needed components...right?"

"As much as some like to think we hold the keys to paradise and all that can be used in Alchemy, most of our resources are simple things, carbon,sulfur, even gems are easy enough to come by. The few that are rare are not as well guarded as they could be and any Alchemist that no longer wishes to be a part of the military can simply say they used the components in one of their last experiments before resigning their commission, and taking said components with them."

"Leave him to me. I'll let him know of the situation."

He looked around, everyone was worn in one way or another, either from lack of sleep or the fights from the night before. They could take care of themselves, he was going to Dublith, two confirmations was enough for him, the brother wasn't going to wake up for a while yet, so the few days he had, he was going to spend looking for the group. He was not going to spend it sitting around doing nothing when he could be helping figure out what happened.

Kallu stood up, more accurately, he got off the chair, and nodded to everyone before leaving without saying a word. He stopped at his barracks room and took a quick shower and put a change of clothes into a bag(an extra vest and a pair of pants) which he then slung over a shoulder.

He left the barracks and headed for the bank, where he took out a decent sum of money from his account. On the way to the train station, his nose caught a whiff of the coffee shop he'd sat at the night before, and his stomach grumbled. A part of the front facing was destroyed, and was covered by a canvas tarp, the remains of the wall still being carted away. He bought some food and coffee, making sure to add in a bit extra on purpose for the trouble, and ate. When he finished, Kallu put his gauntlets on and transmuted the stone to fit back together, though was only able to do about half the broken wall, law of Equivalent Exchange and all that.

He arrived, bought a train ticket and was told that the next train wouldn't be leaving for a few hours, during which he had nothing to do so he simply sat down and made sure he still had Dr. Marcoh's papers in his pocket, which he did. Another secret to be kept for the good of the team and Amestris. At least until he could find someone he could trust that understood the rules of Alchemy.

 

[Jedoro]

Human chimera

Philosopher's Stone

He'd heard rumors, but anything more than that might as well have been a foreign language to the infantryman. Elias' confusion showed in his eyebrows for a moment, but as an enlisted man he could dismiss the Philosopher's Stone. All he needed to know was that it made those homunculi impossible to kill.

For now.

"Two questions," he began. "Well, three. What's a chimera? Facts, not rumors I already heard. Are they as tough to kill as those homunculi? And how many more are there?" As a Sergeant he'd had wars to fight and soldiers to send home, preferably not in coffins, so his natural train of thought went to how to defeat the enemy, not its peculiarities.

 

[JdaS]

Two questions, well, three. What's a chimera? Facts, not rumors I already heard. Are they as tough to kill as those homunculi? And how many more are there?

"Worry not Sergeant. As a fellow blockhead I can't tell you about their origins, but I can tell you that if you shoot/slash/maim them where it counts, they die. That said I'm off. I have a patient to visit and a head of state to appease." Anton waved as he left the room. "Bye bye~!"

Now that that's over with, I think I'll check on Steel Web. Off everyone here he appeared to have gotten the worst of it. Who knows? Could be fun.

With a mischievous smile Anton made his way to the room where Isaac was making his recovery. Frieda had just finished telling the other two occupants her plan when the Lieutenant knocked on the door and entered.

"Hello, hello! How are we doing here then, Ma--... eh?" Anton stopped when he noticed two people in the room. One of them was a strangely dressed young man with foreign looking features while the other was a woman, Amestrian. Anton took his time looking at her, but after a while came to the conclusion that her face didn't ring any bells.

"Oh, my apologies, Mr. Steel Web! I had no idea that you had company, how rude of me!"

Anton made his way to the bed where Rai was sitting and extended one of his arms.

"Lieutenant Anton Wilson, aide to the Führer. Pleased to meet you Mr..."

Let's see what this is all about then, shall we?

 

[CrazyBlaze]

human chimera? Either it is acting on its own or someone, most likely its creator. And something like a human chimera merits some major alchemy skill so that narrows it down. Unless Victor is right about the Philospher's stone, which given what we encountered could be true. Whatever powers those two had broke most laws of the alchemy. Something doesn't seem right here. James contemplated about what had been revealed.

"Two questions," he began. "Well, three. What's a chimera? Facts, not rumors I already heard. Are they as tough to kill as those homunculi? And how many more are there?"

"A chimera is a combination of two animals or more into one. Think of it like mixing water into dirt to make mud. Two different pieces mixed to make one. That is a chimera. They are extremely strong with the same dangerous attributes as the animals it came from had. So you could mix a lion and a snake and it would be twice as dangerous. They shouldn't be as hard to kill as the homunculi were. They normally aren't invincible but you never know. As for how many there are, we don't know. There could be one, there could be a hundred. The army has places were alchemists create them but those are the only ones I know about. To be honest I am very concerned of we are facing a human chimera. To my knowledge one has never been made but that area is not my expertise," James answered Elias's question and turned to face everyone else.

" Right so Dublith it is. Everyone should make their way on their own. Travel in pairs or by yourself as Anton has suggested. No more than three if you have to. Space yourselves out between trains. Large groups draw attention. We will find each other in Dublin and make our way to a modest bar or inn to draw as little attention to ourselves. Our enemy is crafty and sure to be on the lookout for State Alchemist in uniform so go in civies. It may or may not work but we shouldn't draw undue attention to ourselves," James told everyone who was still there before he left the room.

James wandered the streets until he came upon a small clothing store. Entering he proceeded to exchange his military uniform for simple black pants, a gray shirt and a long brown over coat with many pockets in the inside to conceal his weapons and anything else he need to hide. He had wanted to buy a cowboy hat but thought that might make him stand out too much so he opted for no hat.

James borrowed a passerby's ligher and burned his military uniform in a nearby alley way. By the time he was done the passerby had left thinking that James had stolen his lighter. Pocketing the lighter James walked to the train station to make his way to Dublith. He opted for a route that went south first and then to the west so that he would enter the city from a direction that their mysterious attackers would not be thinking to look for, at least he hoped they wouldn't be. It may take him a few more days but he hoped it would make up for it in safety.

 

[Fragrance of Mtn Dew]

Marlin had never been so happy in his life to breath in fresh air as he and Banagher emerged from those horrible tunnels. He paused a moment to catch his breath and wonder just what on earth had happened down there. "That was.... Definitely not the chimera we were pursuing... An ally perhaps?" He pondered aloud, knowing that Banagher wouldn't know any more than he did about what went on down there. They were lucky to escape with their lives and if he hadn't had the sense to send Mira and Lila out another way, things could have ended up much worse.

That reminds me... I should make sure Lila is safe. But.... Amon being dead is quite the serious situation. After thinking it through for a moment, Marlin decided that delivering word of Amon's death would be top priority. Someone who had it out for State Alchemists was still at large and was extremely dangerous judging by how mutilated the corpse was.

"Let's head back to headquarters Lieutenant. Even though we don't know much about what happened down there, we'll need to report Spice's death to the Fuhrer and hopefully find out where the rest of the squad is while we're there." Marlin said to Banagher and began making his way to Military HQ.

 

[Jedoro]

"To my knowledge one has never been made but that area is not my expertise."

"Two animals mixed together, or a human with animal parts or qualities. Don't know how many, but they should die like anything else. Got it, thank you, sir." Elias waited until James had finished speaking and left the room before he followed suit. Before heading to the train station, he stopped by the telephones and began a call.

"Elias Automail, what can we build for you today?" a young woman answered.

"Kim? It's me."

"Brandon! MOM!" Elias cringed as his sister forgot to move the phone from her mouth before screaming. "HE'S NOT DEAD YET! We heard State Alchemists were being sent to Ishval. What's it like to see alchemy? Where are you calling from?"

"I can't talk about work over the phone, but I'll be coming by soon to visit. Can you-"

"MOM! HE'S COMING TO VISIT!"

"STOP YELLING INTO THE PHONE!" A loud noise nearby told him that he startled the soldier at a nearby desk.

"...sorry. Can we what?"

"Can you ask Mom and Dad to get my mid-mail ready?"

"Do it yourself, loser. Mom just got in. Here, Mom."

"Brandon?"

"Hey, Mom, how's it going?"

"Oh, nice and steady. We've got plenty of work, but nothing too stressful. How are you, dear? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, 'okay' would describe it. I can't go into detail over the phone, though. So, I'll be passing through the area, and I was wondering if you and Dad could get my mid-mail ready for me."

"Nothing happened to your hev-mail, did it? Are you alright?"

"No, no, I'm fine. I just find myself needing to be quicker these days."

"I see. Well, our contracts can wait, then. We'll get right on it, and have it ready when you get here. Kim, go tell your dad to prep Brandon's mid-mail. Anything else, dear?"

"Just that you'll know more when I get there. But I gotta go, I want to get on the next train out. Love you, Mom."

"I love you, too, Brandon. See you soon." Elias hung up the phone, then turned his head to the private at the desk nearby. Her glance quickly shot back to her papers, but she knew she'd been caught eavesdropping.

"Private, if a soldier doesn't still love his mother, he's got no soul."

 

[Pappytech]

Isaac was deep in thought, eyeing the map and materials that Frieda has spread out before him. He had to admit, his curiosity was piqued by whatever information Octivar had deemed worth protecting; there was no doubt in his mind that the deceased alchemist had been a master of his craft, and any research that could be dug up would be enlightening, to say the least. Who knows, they might even be able to figure out how Octivar had performed that clapping transmutation. Possessing a skill like that would be an invaluable asset.

"Alright, I say we go for it. But there's no way we're going to just rush on in there; we need to get some intel on this guy and his hideout. And to do that, we're going to need"

"Hello, hello! How are we doing here then, Ma--... eh?"

Damn, not him...

Isaac froze as Anton suddenly waltzed into the room, the man's eerie grin sending shivers down his spine. He had had little to do with the automailed soldier, and would have preferred to keep it that way; Lieutenant Wilson had one of those faces that Isaac could never read, a perpetual smile that never faltered regardless of circumstances. Isaac trusted Anton about as far as he could throw him, and those arms of his looked heavy as hell...

Remaining silent, Isaac watched as Anton introduced himself to Frieda and Rai, hoping against hope that he wouldn't recognize the recently escaped prisoner. Luck seemed to be smiling on him that day, and Frieda seemed to escape his notice; Isaac repressed a relieved sigh as Anton continued to speak.

"Lieutenant Anton Wilson, aide to the Führer. Pleased to meet you Mr..."

"Anton," Isaac suddenly blurted out, failing to disguise the small note of hostility in his voice, "what brings you here? Shouldn't you be out there, trying to round the terrorists and their ilk?"

He could only hope that Rai and Frieda would be able to produce believable backstories; he did not like the way Lieutenant Wilson was eyeing them.

 

[CJ1145]

A whistle blew in the East City train station. Kallu looked up, suddenly paying attention as the train prepared boarders to head for Dublith. He stood from his seat, attempting to make his way through the crowd and get to his train. That attempt went poorly, though, and he crashed headlong into someone who was paying as little attention as he was. The both of them went tumbling over into the ground, making grunts and groans as they fell.

"Oh, my head... sorry about that."

Kallu opened his eyes, nursing a new and splitting headache, and saw a man wobbling as he tried to stand back up. Stone extended a hand to reach back to the one offered by the stranger a moment prior, and was lifted back up to his feet. Standing a foot or two above him was a very odd-looking man in a brown coat. His jaw was square, and framed by a blond beard, and he looked to be in his mid-40s, but if not for that he looked almost boyish behind his spectacles. The man shook Kallu's hand with a strong, firm grip, while using his other hand to rub the back of his head in an embarrassed expression.

"I really need to start watching where I'm walking in such crowded places. Er, tell me, were you heading to Dublith?"

Kallu nodded.

"I think we'd better board then; the train is about to leave."

The pair set foot onto the train, and not a moment later it started to pull out of the station. The man in the brown coat nodded politely to Kallu before heading for the back of the train, with as little fanfare as possible.

[hr]

Though he saw nothing of Kallu and his slapstick misfortune, James wound up on the same train as him; his seat was at the car furthest back, and Projecting was nearly passed out in his seat when a voice gently roused him.

"I'm sorry, sir, but the rest of these seats are taken. Do you mind if I rest here a moment?"

James opened an eye and saw a strange man in a brown coat with a blond--was it even blond? A gold ponytail, he supposed.

[hr]

"Please! Please, I wanna see Mister Lightning!"

"Urk! Um, sorry sir!" a soldier shouted as the little boy from the other day, Richard, came scurrying towards the Lightning Alchemist. "We tried to stop him, but..."

"You were so awesome!" the little boy shouted, jumping up and down in an energetic nightmare of motion. "The lady was all gonna shoot us, but you were, like, ZAP ZAP! I heard you were in the hospital so I got wanted to come and visit you!"

He suddenly looked very guilty, and bowed his head to the floor. The guard at the door was watching in utter bafflement.

"...sorry I couldn't afford a get-well card, Mister Lightning..."

[hr]

The doors to the Military HQ burst open, and Banagher marched in flanked by the Deep Blue Alchemist. The young officer manning the front desk recoiled in surprise as the burly Lieutenant smacked his fists onto the flat surface. "I need... to know... where the rest of Unit 0706-Red are located, ASAP."

The young man at the desk tugged his collar, a bit of sweat forming on his brow. "I-I'm sorry sir, but no such unit exists..."

Banagher sighed and smacked his forehead before growling out, "Procedural Override code, Alpha-Sixer Drachman Waltz!"

Apparently, that was the secret code, as the desk jockey immediately produced a small manila folder, handing it to Banagher and telling him quietly, "They're all at the East City hospital; recovering from last night."

Banagher nodded, thanking the man and turning back to Marlin. "All right, we've got the location of your buddies; if they're at the hospital, the night might have gone a little worse than we'd thought. You wanna lead?"

[hr]

"Shouldn't you be out there, trying to round the terrorists and their ilk?"

Before the good Lieutenant could answer Isaac's admittedly hostile question, an empty used bowl was shoved straight into Anton's face by the Xingese man sitting next to him, who currently sported a scowl. "What he SHOULD be doing, is fetching me another bowl! It's been ten minutes, and nobody's come by to check on me yet! What if I had starved, hm?"

Frieda shook her head and pinched her brow. This was going to get stupid, and fast. Luckily, she was prepared for inquisitive military types. She reached into her pocket, pulling out a well-forged ID placing her as a recently-transferred security detail from West City. Making sure it was in prominent view, she approached the Lieutenant and saluted him.

"Sir, I was told to avert any visitors for the rest of the day; The Steel Web Alchemist is still recovering from injuries sustained in last night's skirmish. Would it be all right if you came back later?"

 

[JdaS]

Anton, what brings you here? Shouldn't you be out there, trying to round the terrorists and their ilk?

While still hunched to shake Rai's hand, Anton simply turned his head towards Isaac.

"Ah, yes you se--"

Anton didn't get very far before having a bowl shoved under his nose.

What he SHOULD be doing, is fetching me another bowl! It's been ten minutes, and nobody's come by to check on me yet! What if I had starved, hm?

Anton turned to look at the young man as he contemplated the bowl and his orders. He just stared at him and smiled. Then, the woman approched the Lieutenant baring a military ID.

Sir, I was told to avert any visitors for the rest of the day; The Steel Web Alchemist is still recovering from injuries sustained in last night's skirmish. Would it be all right if you came back later?

"Melissa Friedrech"? Fake. A well done fake but a fake all the same. What are you up to in here Steel Web.

Anton couldn't hide his mischievous smile, giving the trio in the room a feeling that maybe their jig was up. He stayed mum about it, though. It appeared they were safe.

"In that case I'll just do my job and leave the good Major to his rest then."
Snapping a salute, the fox-faced man continued.
"Sir, our next assignment is to make our way to Dublith and eliminate any remaining members of the terrorist group responsible for the attacks on the night of the festival. When you're feeling better, please do so."

Anton then turned and made his way towards the door. They were finally getting rid of him. He must've been less than 2 meters from the door when, suddenly, he stopped.

"Ah! One more thing!"
Anton exclaimed and turned to Rai with a jovial smile that only managed to make him creepier.
"Please make sure to get your papers in order, sir. If I were to catch you again without proper documentation, why, I'm afraid I might have to arrest you. You know, since you ARE from Xing and all..."

The atmosphere in the room was suddenly very heavy. Rai had been made. For the trio, what were only minutes, seemed like an hour. Anton's smile widened by an inch. Then he turned towards the door.

"Just kidding. Don't get into too much trouble now Major. Bye bye~!"

Closing the door, Anton began to make his way towards HQ.

That Steel Web is quite the character. What will you do, I wonder? In any case, time to go get scolded by the old man again.

 

[Jedoro]

Elias had a feeling that he'd miss the very next train to leave, so he decided there wasn't any rush to get to the train station. The outside of the hospital looked much different than it did last night, as most of the wounded were gone and most of the blood had been rinsed away. He began to head for the train station, but stopped when he began to get a bad feeling. An ambulance slowly pulled up to the hospital, and the medics took their time getting a body out, which meant the poor sap was already dead.

"DOA?" a nurse from the hospital asked as he came out to help.

"Yeah, found him this morning. Gunshot, stab wound, not pretty," a medic replied.

"ID?"

"Get this: soldier with discharge papers from Ishval. Guy survives that hellhole just to get mugged when he gets home. Last I heard before we left, nothing at the scene pointed to a suspect." Elias' mind raced to that paper he took from Mason's pockets, and he found his hand slowly digging around his pockets. Once he thought he had it, he pulled it out to see the blood stains still on it. He wanted to read it, but part of him said to wait until he was on the train.

 

[Pappytech]

Isaac found himself awash with conflicting emotions. Relief that Anton had left, trepidation that the discomforting man would inform the Fuhrer of his new companions, impressed awe at Frieda's ability to deal with the comprising situation, and a smoldering pile of rage and ire directed solely at Rai.

Barely resisting the urge to strangle the Xingese soldier (Who had somehow managed to produce another bowl of noodles), Isaac allowed himself a few deep breaths, clearing his thoughts and formulating a plan.

"Right, Rai, it's probably best if you avoided this place for a bit; Wilson's got his eyes on you, and I have no idea what he's planning to do, but odds are it can't be good."

Before Rai had a chance to protest, Isaac continued, reaching for a scrap of paper and a pen on a bedside table, "Besides, it looks like I'm going to need some supplies for the immediate future: Ingredients, clothes, that sort of thing. And I get the feeling that you'd be more happy running around outside then staying cooped up in here reading books all day."

Finishing his scribbles, Isaac handed two slips of paper to Rai: One was a rather lengthy list, the other a few numbers connected by hyphens. Pointing to his bloodied, torn up uniform, the alchemist finished his instructions. "Take that account number and my pocket-watch to the bank; it'll let you get as much money as you need. And don't be cheap either; I want some high-quality stuff, got it?"

Though Rai still looked somewhat miffed about being demoted to errand-boy, the thought of having access to all that cash seemed to cheer him up; Isaac suspected that the assassin would pick up a few toys for himself as well. "Sure, sure, no problem Mr. Steel-Web; I'll take care of all the hard stuff. You just stay here and get all better."

Adding another empty bowl to his stack of cutlery, Rai quickly fished Isaac's watch out of his coat, before swaggering over to the window. Wrenching the aperture open, the assassin prepared to leap outside, but couldn't resist a parting jab, "What I wouldn't give to be stuck in bed all day, a beautiful woman slowly nursing me back to health, you lucky dog you."

With Rai's egress, the room suddenly grew a lot quieter. Isaac sunk back into his pillows, relieved that one potential danger was hopefully taken care of. "So, judging by my physical state, it looks like I'll be in here for a while. What's the plan?"

 

[CJ1145]

As the conference room slowly emptied, and the team spread out to accomplish their tasks, Victor remained in the room with Tasha for a little while. Only a few members remained when he looked over and stammered out, "Um... would it--er, would it be all right if... oh jeez." he said, rubbing his head and desperately trying to find a way to word this that WASN'T awkward.

"Uh... do you think you might ride on the train with me?"

Put simply, he failed.


His face turned red as he realized just how poorly that came out. "Uh, n-not like, for anything weird or... or anything!" he insisted with a few waves of his hand to accentuate just how platonic this invitation was. "I just, uh, had a few more questions about automail that I was hoping to ask! A-and I thought, since it'd be a long time that was... well, kinda boring otherw-wise I thought it'd, uh, be a good use of the time, pleasedon'thurtme!"

By the time he was finished, the Vampire Alchemist had nearly fallen out of his seat from the rib-shaking laughter he was suffering. By the time he finally finished, his face was redder than Victor's. "--ahahaha... oh, my word, that was perfect!" he let out another guffaw, and died down again. With a hoisting swing he pushed himself up and gave a little bow to his companions. "Well, you two can go ahead and sort that out, but I'm going to be moving on. See you all the next town over!"

With that, Vlad left, leaving Victor nervously twiddling his fingers and hoping his dread foe miscommunication had not bested him again.

[hr]

"Dublith, eh?"

Fuhrer Bradley sat at his desk, conversing with Lieutenant Anton Wilson. He had just been briefed on all of his agent's experiences since leaving HQ. "An interesting turn of events; we've always heard rumors of... dissidents living in that area, but never anything concrete enough to move on. It seems my little initiative," he said with an entirely unfitting smile. "is proving quite useful."

He stood up, tucking the dossier containing Anton's reports under his arm. "Dismissed, Lieutenant, you have your orders. Find the terrorists and eliminate them, as per your orders by your CO. Also, take note of any suspicious activity, relating to your mission or otherwise, and report back to me ASAP."

With nothing else to say, Fuhrer Bradley left in a brisk walk, leaving his spy to wonder where he had to be in such a hurry. But as he reached the door, he stopped and looked back. "Oh, yes. And do keep a special eye on Steel Web."

[hr]

As the train chugged along, Leo looked outside at the sun. It was low in the sky, now, and would be setting in a couple hours. Come night, they'd all be off to sleep, and wake up in Dublith.

Or, at least, he hoped so.

The little compartment he was in had walls and a glass door separating the Indigo party from the rest of the train's inhabitants. They were all sitting around a circular table, the quartet of hired muscle with playing cards clutched to their chests. Each was eyeing the other with suspicion, save the gullible little short one. At the moment, their vicious-looking leader held the lion's share of loot, including such gems as a golden pocket watch taken off a rival's corpse, and a revolver with an ivory handle and polished-white metal.

They weren't a talkative bunch in the normal sense, preferring all sorts of witty banter between them liberally sprinkled with curses and various vulgar phrases used in ever-more creative ways. Mr. Indigo was silent, leaning back in his seat and watching the proceedings with half-interest.

Leo either needed to bring up a topic, or be in for the long haul with these knuckleheads.

[hr]

"I'm sorry, sir, but the rest of these seats are taken. Do you mind if I rest here a moment?"

"Uh, no, that's fine." James said, and watched the strange man sit down. He was actually quite large, like a lumberjack's build now that he thought about it. He couldn't help but wonder who this man was.

Their ride went on for about ten minutes, until the Lieutenant Colonel noticed that the strange man had not moved his eyes away from the window once. Curious, James leaned over to see out with him, and find out what was so entrancing.


Before him stretched some of what must have been the lushest hills he'd ever laid eyes on. The train almost seemed to go silent as he drank in the image of the gently-sloping hills stretching on and off into the distance, only a few farm houses dotting the horizon. Smoke rose gently from their tops, silhouetted against the orange glow of the night and the setting sun.

Shadows fell across the land, gentle ones that seemed to only increase the calmness of it all. He smiled, getting such a beautiful glance at his country; this was what he fought to protect every day.

"It's nothing in particular," the man told him, seeming to see that James questioned what he was looking at. "I'm just thinking of home, is all."

"Home, eh...?" James asked, leaning back into his seat. "Where is your home, exactly?"

The man looked at him with a gleam in his eye and a deep warmth in his smile as he leaned back into his seat. He almost sounded wistful as he said, "It's a little village called Resembool..."

[hr]

"So, judging by my physical state, it looks like I'll be in here for a while. What's the plan?"

"Simple." Frieda replied, looking rather proud of her plan as she explained it. "As a State Alchemists, your requests carry weight; so you can easily request the chief of medicine for a transfer to Central, to better conduct your research. It's not even a lie, when you think about it. Once you're there, it's be easy for me to dig up some 'long-lost relatives' to check you out and get you on the prowl."

She sat down, and tucked away her false ID. "Only problem is, Rai and I will be a few days catching up to you, since we'll probably have to avoid most public transit around East City. I AM an AWOL soldier, after all."

She pulled a cup of coffee from out of sight, likely one she'd been sipping when Isaac first woke up. "Think you'll do all right by yourself for a couple days?"

 

[JdaS]

Dublith, eh?

Anton stood in the Führer's office. He had told the "old man" everything he had gathered on the team while in the hospital. The fact that Steel Web had a Xingese visitor, however, had... "slipped his mind".

That fella needs some more investigating before I share that information with anyone... Xing...

Bradley stood up and gave Anton his standing orders while briskly making his way towards the door. He was apparently in a hurry.

Oh, yes. And do keep a special eye on Steel Web.

As the door closed, the Lieutenant let Bradley's last words set in for a moment before his smile widened into a disconcerting grin.

"Oh I will... Heheheh..."


Some hours later, a certain "fox-faced" man in military uniform was seen boarding the night train to Dublith. Before going in he turned towards the city.

Might be a while before I see this place again. You take care now, King Bradley...

Anton made his way to his seat. In front of him sat an elderly woman.

"Oh, good evening Mr. Soldier. Where are you off to at this time of night?"

Anton offered the old lady his patented empty smile and said.

"Just business as usual. You know how it is... When your boss calls..."

 

[TheIronRuler]

Inventory had to be taken. Leo hadn't met most of the team earlier that day and he haven't heard a word from the landscaping alchemist. The man begrudgingly helped him against Archer, yet he went off soon after that and made himself disappear. Archer ? Leo suddenly remembered that man and began frantically searching his jacket's inside pockets for the piece of paper he drew the circle on. He placed the paper on the table where the others were playing and stared at the thing for a few minutes.

The others continued playing their poker game but each snuck a peak once in a while to look at what the alchemist was staring at. At some point the tall one sitting next to Leo, Darrel he recalled was his name, leaned to the side and looked behind Leo's shoulder to catch a proper look of what the alchemist was staring at. "What's dat?", he asked Leo curiously.

"Hey, hey, eyes on the cards, Cass", the larger brute sitting on the other side of the table remarked as he tried to eye Caspers' cards. Leo returned to reality and realized the others were speaking to him. "This here is a souvenir from the Archer, the alchemist I killed yesterday? I had to draw it, it's an extraordinary piece of work. The man could make anything into a projectile, converting half of the matter into kinetic energy to push the thing forward, it's really an achievement how someone could manipulate Einstein's formula-", Leo stopped blabbering when he sensed a tense feeling in the air. He looked up from the page and saw the other four trying their hardest to not laugh in his face. Whatever Leo had said, it all sounded like Gibberish to them.

The embarrassed Leo put the piece of paper back on the table and smiled an awkward smile at the others, as if he allowed them to laugh at his expense. He could see Mr. Indigo eyeing five of his men in a disappointed gaze, but Leo didn't mind. He had to spend his day with these men, at least he should enjoy their company. "Hey, guys, do you remember that other alchemist guy, landscaping, that can to help? Did you see what happened to him later?", Leo asked the crew a question, and it seemed like the light mood in the air dissipated.

 

[CJ1145]

"Ain't seen a goddamn thing of 'em." Slim Abel told Leo, peering over at Zeke. "I'm callin' yer bluff."

"Aw, shucks." the little fella said, throwing his bunk hand on the table and tossing Slim his latest prize -- a trio of gold teeth ripped straight out of a crime lord's skull, and very strange object--an olive green tooth. That one actually caught the crime boss' attention, and Mr. Indigo leaned forward.

"Da hell is dat thing?"

"We call it a 'demolar'." Abel said with a snarling grin. He placed the little prize between two of his fingers and twirled it around as he explained what it did. "Tricky little thing Zeke here cooked up. Looks like a tooth, so you put it inside some lunk's head after you knock 'em out. Wakes up a little sore, just thinkin' you clocked him harder'n he remembers. He goes back to some big joint, maybe even his boss' lair, right? So you trail him back, and when he gets a little too close, you flip a little switch, ya followin'?"

He smacked his fist into the wall, sending a massive CRACK noise through the train. Abel could barely contain his psychotic laughter saying "HA--and--and when ya flip it, the goof blows up like a birthday balloon, takes the whole goddamn building with 'em!"

His cronies Casper and Zeke went into a fit of raucous laughter with him as they imagined all sorts of poor fools getting popped like bloody bubble wrap. Darrel, on the other hand, just shook his head at his fellows' vulgarity. He turned back to Leo and said,

"As our boss was explaining before he went off on his tangent, no, we haven't seen your guy. Disappeared right when you did, and we didn't see a hair off his damned head. For all we know, he's dead."

"Dead or othawise, all dat matters is we've got our big guns here." Indigo chimed in, smacking a hand on Leo's shoulder. "We find dese chumps, and with this fella's help we're gonna get us some real fuckin' big guns, am I right boys!"

"HEAR HEAR!" went the troop, throwing their fists in the air in agreement. Even as night started to fall, their noise rang on unstopped.

 

[sage42]

Alone or in pars huh? Can't say I approve, from the reports we're being targeted. But nothing I can do about it. Orders are orders She thought with a sigh. She downed the rest of her coffee wishing the caffeine would work a little faster. She glanced at Victor as he tried to speak. It was a little sad really, he tried his hardest and yet his foot wouldn't let him. She chuckled and and smiled. "Easy Corporal, easy. Don't worry you have to do a lot harder than that to offend me. Yes we can go to Dublith together. And I'd be happy to discuss auto-mail on the way. It's a big decision, and plenty of options to go through." She chuckled again glancing towards he no empty cup.

She glanced towards the clock on the wall. "We have sometime before the next train, so go get changed into civvies now, grab anything else you'll need. A gun might be handy, smaller model, one that's easy to hide. In the mean time, I'm gonna grab myself another cup of coffee and get changed myself." She stood and walked towards the door. She turned and smiled at Victor again. "And try to go easy on your self Corporal, stressing yourself out isn't good for you."

 

[Redryhno]

Kallu sat in a compartment alone as the train pulled away from the station, but was unfortunately joined about an hour into the ride by two sharply dressed men and a woman hanging onto as ostentatious a display of auto-mail as he had ever seen.

"Theo, don't you think it a bit odd that a commoner has purloined our car?" The taller of the two men with the woman on his arm said.

"Why yes, Lord Straddlestep. I will deal with him shortly,"The stockier of the two replied, who then flexed his auto-mail limbs and turned to "deal" with Kallu,"Hey, circus freak, get out of the lord's and lady's car before I throw you off this train."

Kallu had been enjoying the quiet, the whizzing by of the scenery and the general calmness in the air. He was traveling, and then these three had to go and ruin it. He pulled out his Alchemist's watch to see Theo's eyes widen and look back at his boss for instruction.

"It's obviously a fake, any Alchemist would have circles somewhere and this vagabond has simply defiled his skin with primitive markings more akin to a Cretan or however you pronounce what those animals are."

"Yes, yes. They are vile beings, it's so fortunate that our great Amestrian state has brought peace and prosperity to their once pitiful lives,"The woman said,"Frederick darling, why haven't you gotten rid of this...thing yet?"

"Because,"The lord replied,"Theo has yet to proceed with his assignment, Daphne dear." He looked at his man-servant, or bodyguard, or whatever and Theo regained his composure and nodded.

"As I said, freak, get out before I throw you off."

Kallu sighed, tired that he couldn't enjoy the ride in peace any longer,"I'm a State Alchemist on his way to Dublith. Now, we can either sit together in this car, or you can leave, your choice."

Theo responded by throwing a punch with his left, which Kallu dodged by sliding out of his seat onto the ground, where he then struck out a left of his own, at the base of the man's spine,causing him to lose control of his legs and topple to the ground, where Kallu then trapped his arms by standing on them and punching Theo in the face once, breaking his nose.

"Now, I ask again, can we just sit quietly? Or will you continue to ruin the train ride?"

Frederick and Daphne both visibly swallowed and nodded before sitting across from the man who had just dispatched their butler so handily. Kallu grabbed a rag out from his satchel and ripped it into two separate pieces before shoving them up both nostrils and tugging him up to sit on the seat.

"There, now just leave me alone. Stone Alchemist."

 

[Fragrance of Mtn Dew]

"All right, we've got the location of your buddies; if they're at the hospital, the night might have gone a little worse than we'd thought. You wanna lead?"

Marlin merely nodded in response. If what they had heard was true than there was no more time for words. Marlin and Banagher quickly made their way to the hospital.

Once they had arrived, Marlin made his way to the front desk. Getting a hold of someone who could answer his question wasn't easy in the wake of the attacks as the hospital was incredibly busy, but eventually Marlin got to talk to a nurse. "Excuse me, I need to find a group of my fellow soldiers who I heard were here. Could you tell me where they are?"

"Oh, you mean the ones who were using the conference room? Some of them left, but I think there are still a few in there...."

Marlin thanked the nurse and hurried straight for the conference room she had mentioned. He opened the door to find Tasha, who was just on her way out it seemed, and Victor still inside. They seemed to be OK at least and Marlin let out a sigh of relief. "Ah, Tasha.... Victor... I'm glad I finally met up with someone from the squad...." He began, catching his breath from having rushed to the hospital so quickly.

"...I have some important things to report..." He continued. "But first... Where are the others? How are they doing? When I heard you were all here after last night... It had me a bit worried."

 

[Pappytech]

"Think you'll do all right by yourself for a couple days?"

"What? Did my performance last night not convince you I can take care of myself?" Isaac's halfhearted chuckles quickly faded away, as he again looked at the swathes of bandages around his body.

Shaking his head, the alchemist continued, a smile still on his face, "Eh, I'll be fine. I'm a soldier first and an alchemist second; unless somebody sends another super-assassin after my head, I should be able to deal with any threat that might be thrown my way. Besides, I've spent some time in Central. I know my way around that place pretty damn well.

"But, if you don't mind me asking, how do you plan on getting yourself and the bottomless pit there? You have some contacts in the railways or something?"

 

[CJ1145]

Victor gave a little smile as Tasha started to walk out of the room. That was right, he told himself. He needed to calm down. Take it easy. Of course, all the stress he felt he might rid himself of came back with a vengeance as Marlin of all people burst in the door.

"But first... Where are the others? How are they doing? When I heard you were all here after last night... It had me a bit worried."

Victor spoke up, explaining all of what had transpired to them that night. From the first explosions up through the interrogations of the bomber brothers, and what they had divulged. "...so now we're all heading for Dublith, to try and track down whoever is in charge of these attacks."

[hr]

"But, if you don't mind me asking, how do you plan on getting yourself and the bottomless pit there? You have some contacts in the railways or something?"

"Er, no." Frieda admitted, appearing a little flustered. "Chances are, I'd be spotted and arrested on a train. Especially if it's a guarded one. So Rai and I will be hitching a ride with a carriage out to Central; that's why it'll take us longer. But, it'll guarantee we're not caught, so I'd say it's a safe bet."