Full Metal Alchemist: War Torn Lands

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BKWM0190

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Ishval is a region of South Eastern Amestris, on the border of the eastern desert. Located where it is, it's environs consist of little more than rocks and sand, with no significant cultural resources, and very little farming land. The houses are made of brick, or stone, to protect them from the desert winds. It is a harsh life, but the Ishvalans are made hardier for it, and they take pride in their strength and adaptability as a people. Ishvalans and the other citizens of Amestris have never seen eye to eye on a lot of issues, mostly concerning politics and religion, but despite this the two regions have managed to maintain a certain level of peace in recent times - despite all of the conflicts in their past. If one were to walk the streets of Ishval now, they would find it calm and peaceful, a normal country save for the occasional groups of Amestrian soldiers who maintain law and stability in the region. The people themselves happily go about their business, showing little tension with their overpowering neighbors.

However, the Amestrian government has a very different story about what is going on, at least to their soldiers, and a small group of State Alchemists. They claim there has been talk of rebellion in Ishval. Nothing world shattering, but enough of an issue that the Fuhrer believes that an increased military presence in the region might be for the best, to quash these thoughts of rebellion before they could fully form. The word was sent out, and soldiers from all over Amestris began their march to Ishval, some from every one of the government's main branches. And along with the message to march, went special couriers directly from the Fuhrer. Each courier had a letter, and each letter was to be handed to a very particular state alchemist. They read...


On behalf of the office of Fuhrer and the Amestrian Parliment,

You have served your country well, the research and development of many new alchemical techniques has brought about incredible changes in our world. While the Parliment members and I appreciate all that you have done for Amestris so far, we believe that it is time that we take your service to a whole new revolutionary level. Not long ago during the conflict in Aerugo, we saw evidence of the incredible power that alchemy can produce when used in combat. We've also heard reports from commanders all over Amestris that many young alchemists are developing new ways to use their abilities to better serve the military.

No doubt you have heard by now of the tensions rising in Ishval. Should the tide turn for the worse, we would like to include a small contingency of State Alchemists among our other soldiers, to see just how useful and practical your Alchemy related combat abilities can be. That being said, you are hereby transferred from your current station to Ishval, where you will be placed under the direct command of Military Officer and fellow State Alchemist, Colonel Antonio Russo - who is already stationed in Ishval. You will report to him there, and await my arrival with further orders.

Have a pleasant trip.

Your Fuhrer, King Bradley


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The Trip to Ishval is a long one, encompassing many long hours and involving lots of swirling dust as one gets closer to their destination. Your arrival would find the streets already teeming with Amestrian soldiers, many gathered in large groups around the outskirts of the region, but even more have already pressed in among the citizens, trying to dig out the roots of the rebellion. Any number of those soldiers would be able to point you in the direction of Colonel Russo's office, which would thankfully take you away from most of the crowds for the time being. The only group of soldiers anywhere near the office is a large group around the corner, who are arguing with an even larger group of Ishvalan citizens of various ages, apparently having accused one or more of them of participating in the questionable rebellion.

Just beyond the arguing group, the street opens up into the commercial center for this district, and standing a bit taller than the other buildings is the central command of the occupied force of Amestris. It was made of the same stone as many of the surrounding buildings, and it had probably once been a mayoral or embassy building for the Ishvalans before the Amestrian occupation. Now, it was designed to house the commanding officers and the occupying force that usually inhabited Ishval. There was nowhere near enough room for all of the new soldiers poring into the region, which probably explained the soldiers setting up camp on the region border, and helped contribute to the general irritation of the soldiers.

Inside, the newly arrived Alchemists would find a decently furnished room with stairs leading up to the second floor on either side of a large reception desk. Waiting at the desk was a polite young woman with sandy blond hair, dressed in a standard issue military uniform. She politely welcomes each of them as they arrive, takes their name, and then requests that they go upstairs, and into the door directly above her desk on the second floor, where they would find the meeting room - as well as informing them that Colonel Russo and his assistant would be there to meet with them shortly.

The room was similar to most meeting rooms one would find in central, save for the walls made of stone instead of marble or plaster. In the center was a simple rectangular wooden table, and around that table were some simple wooden chairs, equipped with arm rests and comfortable cushions. There were also three very large windows which looked out over the buildings behind the headquarters, and overlooked the little back alley that ran behind the building.
 
"gah, what does the purpose behind all this dust.. Orders or not, there is Nothing more annoying and downgrading than to find dust where the sun don't shine."
The greenblast alchemist hauled a large hardshell backpack with him full of supplies. unlike most other alchemists. his specialty involved the combination of prepared ingredients and alchemy. his heavy articulated gauntlets and Metallic greaves covered in various alchemy circles clanked as he went up the stairs. There wasn't much Andre talked about, but his visage was that of a humourous scholar more than a hardened Soldier. He had no sidearm on him, but what looked like a strange sword hung on his hip in a plain leather sheath.

Andre entered the meetign room and set his pack down in the corner, stretching his back as it cracked pleasantly. "gah, there we go." he sighed, slumpign down against the wall, lettgin his long outercoat flap around him and unbuttoning his uniform shirt down tot eh middle of his chest.

Andre pulled out a small crumpled box from his pocket and shook out some pieces of taffy, popping four of them in his mouth and chewing gently. "mmm no dust in my taffy though..."
 
A hand zoomed out and snatched a handful of the taffy before recedeing. "Gripe gripe gripe, is that all you do Andre?" The hand, or rather the owner of the hand turned a chair around, an armless one, and sat in it, laying his head on the top as he popped a taffy into his mouth.

"Seriously," Reven said, chewing the chewy candy, his lighter in his hand ready for another round of 'annoy the hell out of the others by constantly flicking the case open and shut', "You need to lighten up. Its like a day at the beach, without the water." Reven had a kind of smile on his face that never faded. Yep, warning warning, this kid is hyper.

When a certian female squad mate walked by in her oh so short mini-skirt, Reven's hand lashed out, making the skirt fly up for a bit. He smiled and mimiced a radio personality who often did jokes about military personel. "Ma'am. Are those regulation?"
 
"I only siad what you were already thinking...doubt me, besides i only complain when theres somethgin to complain ABOUT." Andre got a childish look on his face and flicked a piece of taffy from his hand, adn it stuck right between Revens eyes.

"I'll be thankful for a bath and some real food once this meting is over...where IS everybody." He leaned forweard a bit and yawned.

" I wonder jus' how many state alchemists they brought in..." he added as a side not, watching a pigeon fly through the alleyway.
 
On her way into the room, Reven's hand flicked at her skirt, sending it flying upwards. She shrieked at her brother angrily. "Lavi, you childish... quit it!" A blush as red as the flash of her panties had set itself across Eilonwy's face as she shoved her skirt back into place. She just about restrained the urge to hit him, instead stalking across the room to Andre's side, leaning against the wall.

"You need to stop doing that one of these days," She frowned at Reven, crossing her arms. "How would you like it if I started randomly pulling your pants down in front of people?" Their companion flicked another piece of taffy at her brother. Eilonwy sighed and rolled her eyes, chosing to ignore the action, commenting instead on his remark.
"I'll second the motion for a bath and food. Journey was way too long."

She giggled as another thought stuck her, speaking up with a slight lilt in her voice. "I lost Tk somewhere on the way here, I was a bit keen to get out of the heat and ran off ahead of him. Hopefully he'll be here soon. That makes at least one more State Alchemist that I know of. There's probably more too..." Reven at least would know who she was talking about; outside of work hours Tk had always been her first choice of friend to hang around. She'd traveled out with him up to a point, trying to both keep herself occupied and avoid the hyper ball of Alchemist that was her brother.
 

Following along behind the group, Lene was in the same clothing as the men as opposed to the skirt worn by the other woman of the group. The loud chattering of all of them elicited a sigh from Lene's lips, the edges of her mouth quirking into a small smile at their antics before she suppressed it. She pressed her back to one of the walls as she entered the room, looking at the others in silence for a moment.

As per the usual, Andre was complaining loudly. It detracted attention away from other things, though, and he was a useful distraction for more than his alchemy. Turning her eyes to the man next to him, she noted Reven. He was hyperactive and usually impish in his humor, as evidenced by his flicking of the other girl's skirt. He was decently charming, she supposed. When he put his mind to it. Finally, the girl. A skeptical eye caught her short skirt and she staved off another sigh only barely. A distraction, too, in her own right. Rumor had it that she liked to play with water and ice, but Lene was a little curious how much damage she intended to do in the scalding desert whose air felt like sand in the throat should one spend too long in it. Even the air seemed to protest the lack of water here.

"Anyone that saw you guys wouldn't mistake you by a long shot for respected state alchemists..." Lene told them, punctuating her words only with a softening smile to the two men, noting what sounded to be the beginnings of a crush for one of the other alchemists from the girl. She couldn't be bothered to remember many names and as it was likely a nickname, TK was not ringing any bells to her anyway.

"I trust your venture here was as despicably hot and sandy as mine, then? I find that I'm picking bits of sand from my hair, despite my best attempts to keep my hair away from the sand at all costs."
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Tk was walking throughout the streets of Ishval in a rather sluggish pace. His mind was preoccupied with other things, mainly the fact that he would rather be at home tinkering with metal and technology than being in this lackluster environment full of dirt and mud. He knew that he needed to get to the main building but was trying to procrastinate as much as possible. The rather large mechanized cart behind him carried around most of the things he brought, a lot of it being mostly metal parts. Once he looked down at his wrist and saw that it was getting to be around the time of the meeting he deemed it time to head on over.

As Tk got on top of the cart and sat on a crudely made seat he used his feet to transmutate a steering wheel. Once that was done he drove his mechanized cart to the designated meeting zone. The thing was definitely not a machine of silence as the sounds of gears grinding and the pops of the motor filled the air outside the meeting hall. Tk shut down the machine and made sure that everything in it was locked away tightly before heading inside. The only thing he brought inside with him was his usual traveling equipment. Once he was inside the building he could feel the difference in temperature from outside, it was about ten or twenty degrees cooler inside. He talked with the receptionist for a short while before following the directions up to the meeting room. When Tk entered the room he saw that four other alchemists were already there making his late entrance slightly more noticeable, not that he cared at all. He saw the two paradoxical twins who wielded fire and ice yet looked nothing alike, then there was an alchemist chewing on the disgusting taffy stuff that Tk despised, and then there was the second female whom he almost mistook for a man due to their choice in attire. Tk shrugged his shoulders and quickly stripped out of his military jacket and put it on a coat rack revealing a black T-shirt with the words "Welcome To Paradise" written on it.

"So. What's up? I didn't make any of ya wait too long now did i? I had some last minute shopping to do and i figured you guys could use the time to get acquainted, that and i doubt the commander of this op will be here for a while."
 
Eilonwy smiled broadly as Tk appeared in the door, giving him barely enough time to finish speaking before she was at his side and only a few short seconds more before her arms were clasped round him in a tight hug. Not particularly professional behaviour but she hardly cared. She rarely seemed to when it came to a choice between that and him. She could almost imagine Reven's eyebrow twitching behind her back. She was his twin after all, and he tended to be iffy about things like this.

"Hey there Tk. I didn't think you had quite that much to do or I'd have hung back with ya. Then again it's kinda nice to be earlier than you somewhere for once..." She plucked at his t-shirt, smirking at the words emblazoned across it before actually letting him go once more, though she hovered very near him now rather than hanging near Andre. She was instantly more comfortable near her friend; she'd felt almost as though she were being judged when she was awkwardly floating around near the only other female in the room.
 
After a slightly longer wait the door opened and the colonel entered the room. The tall man had on a pair of sunglasses, his white hair tied back in a short braid, looking very much like an Ishvalan. He turns to look at each of them, holding a sandbag and a grouping of files in his hands. "Sit" he says coolly his voice carrying the authority of his rank. He has on a set of strange gloves, each lightly armored and appearing rather thick. "My name is Colonel Antonio Russo, and from what I have seen it appears I will be babysitting a group of children." He looked over the group with a frown "Flicking candy at fellows, toying with the skirts of female officers, the only one of you who seems to have any discipline is the sister of a psychopath." He says turning to Lene "and your brother is a psychopath there is no denying that Silver Blaze alchemist." He turned back to the group his hands folded behind his back "I will say again since all of you did not seem to understand it in the letter. My name is Colonel Antonio Russo, this is my office and each of you are under my command and yet you act like this in MY office, I begin to wonder if your experimentation has taken a toll on most of your brains." He lets the insults sink in for a moment before saying "I am not here to babysit you, but that seems like that is what will happen. Each of you is a good alchemist or so I have heard but you are no longer researchers while here, you are solders, and you will be disciplined as such."

He waited a moment before continuing "Each of you may think this is a vacation I know you seem to" he says gesturing to TK "Shirt to pick up girls is it? You will find no kindness from most of these people. You are in Ishval, land of Ishvala, the god of the earth. To these people your arts are blasphemy to god, and frankly a few of yours are even to me, arts to kill given to kids who have never taken a life. "He rested his gloved hand on the bag of sand rubbing it absentmindedly "Can you live with yourself, can any of you live with yourselves when your art is used to make people scream? Andre Lorenzo Fabrico, The Greenblast Alchemist correct? You are stated as saying 'you enjoy blowing things up' can you do that when people are crying for their parents? When men who have lost their legs to your 'art' are yelling for their mothers as they crawl along covered in gore? This land stands on the razors edge between rebellion and peace, each of you are here to keep the peace not play games." He smacked the bag of sand causing blue lightening to form the sand inside into crystal, a quartz knife appearing in his hand with a razor sharp edge and shaped to a wicked point.

"Each of you has an art that can kill, each of you will probably be forced to kill before your lives are over, ordered to do so like the dogs of the military are, but that will NOT happen here. Each of you will follow orders and be discipline here, is that clear? I will have my hands full keeping the reinforcements in line, keeping them from breaking everything I have worked to achieve in the three years that I have been here, I will not have any of you ruining it either. You respect me and my order and I will not treat you like the children you appear to be, you fail to do that and I will have you shipped to the ice queen of Briggs until your tour is over. The desert sands breed strong people here in Ishval, they should have your respect even more so than me. I do not care if you fear me, hate me, or loathe me - but remember that your actions: be they in jest, childish, or just plain stupid… can start a war here"

He let the sentiment sink in "I do not want any of you to get blood on your hands, no matter how ready you think you are for that. You are not. And you should never wish for it." His face softened as he removed the sunglasses. "With that, welcome to Ishval, enjoy your stay"
 
Before anyone had a chance to properly respond to the Colonel, the noise from outside suddenly grew louder and more frenzied, the sounds of stomping feet and screaming Amestrian and Ishvalan voices drowned out anything that any of them tried to say. From inside it was impossible to tell what they were arguing about, but it had obviously just reached it's climax, and it was likely that the two groups were about to come to blows with one another. The sounds no doubt drew everyone in the meeting room to the windows, trying to see down the alleyway to where they had passed the arguing crowd on the way in, to see if they would need to go outside and offer some assistance.

Then two noises rose up above the shouting, cutting through it like the Colonel's newly made knife through paper. First was the unmistakable sound of an Amestrian rifle firing, something that all of the Alchemists in the meeting room had heard many times, mostly from training soldiers - and a few from times of war in the past. This sound was followed almost immediately by a heart wrenching scream that could only belong to an Ishvalan woman. This came so loud, and shrill, and desperate, that it overpowered all of the yelling, and brought about a stop even more abrupt than the uprising of the noise no more than a minute ago. The silence lasted for a few eerily long moments. The alchemists inside had no way of knowing that Amestrians and Ishvalan's alike, and one soldier in particular, were looking at the prone and bloody form of the child that had just been shot - his mother cradling his lifeless body in her arms as his lifeblood pooled out beneath him.

Then the onslaught of sound rose up anew, shouts and screams and challenges alike rose from the Ishvalans as they rushed forward, attacking the soldiers and trying to find the one responsible for the death of one of their children. The soldiers fought back, pushing and shoving with their rifles, trying to keep the new born rebels at bay. Only Captain Portnov, removed from the group at conflict as he was, saw one soldier slip away from the mass and take off down the back alley behind the Amestrian command center. The rather plain looking soldier vaulted a wooden fence halfway down the alley, and there where he thought himself well hidden, his body changed. Red lightning passed over the soldier, crackling and changing his form into that of an adolescent and gender ambiguous young person. This lasted for a few drawn out moments before another wave of red lightning passed, and this time the adolescent was replaced by an average looking Ishvalan man, and proceeded to start walking away, unaware of the room full of people watching from the second story window above him...

Unknown to all of them was young Elizabeth Rivers, who had run to the window at the first sound of shouting and gunfire, pulling her leather and steel-fiber gloves down over her fingers. From inside, she was one of the few people who saw the soldier fleeing the scene, and instantly knew that he must be responsible. Initially intending to reprimand, and possibly court martial him, she ran around to another window to see where he was fleeing too. She was the only one on the first story to see the transformation, and the quickest to react. She had put her gloves on the moment she heard the gunshots, worried that she might have to jump outside. Now she activated them, the complex symbol on the back crackling with power as it forcing her body to pump out adrenaline, her metabolism to speed up, and her mind to bypass her natural limiters - increasing her strength and reflexes. She launches herself out through the window, the shattering of glass barely heard over the noise of the crowd as she tucks herself in and rolls, some bits of glass cutting her standard issue military uniform. Those from upstairs who hadn't already jumped into action would see her too, the slender looking girl with shoulder length blond hair who was chasing after the mysterious shooter.

The fleeing killer stopped at the sound, turning just long enough to see the charging soldier and utter a curse. The red lightning crackled over his hands again as they turned into jagged looking claws and he charged back down the alley towards her, hoping to kill the witness quickly and make good his escape.
 
"Stay here!" Antonio hisses walking to the door at first before he sees the man transform out of the corner of his eye. In a flash he grabs the bag of sand swinging it in an arc as the blue lightening crackles, the sand turning into large crystal shards and shattering the window and the wall, falling with their own dense weight and thudding into the ground as they rained down on the assailant. Soon after the Colonel follow them down to the dusty ground. He lands with a huff, standing to his full height and touching the ground, more crystal appearing at either end of the ally to block the paths of escape. "Well my friend you are in a load of trouble" he says gritting his teeth and touching the ground again, pulling out a crystal sword and taking a fighters stance "restrain him Elizabeth, we are taking this one in for questioning" he says coolly "If he resists take off his legs so he cannot run" he says his eyes hollow and dead inside, knowing what this shape shifter this…freak had just caused. What he had just caused cut him to his very soul and even more so than the blades on that things arms it scared the hell out of him.

"There will be war for this monster…the sons and daughters of Ishval will call for your blood, our blood, the blood of every Amestrain…this will lead to the destruction of a proud people do you have any comprehension of what you have done?" he says in a rage, gritting his teeth as he waited for his companion to act.
 
Reven was about to tell Lene to lighten up when TK walked in, as well as his sister going to the man's side. Oh, how his eye got to twitching when that happened, when his sister went to this rival-for-his-sister's-affection's side. The shirt... Hmmmm. "Fun Fact TK. The dye used in making that shade of black is very flamable even after a few washings. Care to test it out?" I let out my 'sincere yet discontenting' grin at him, just to try to get to him.

Of course, then the commander, correction: Colonel, entered the room and stated the obvious. They knew their art wasn't a clean one, though Reven's tended to produce a lot less bodies to deal with, just dust. And then the Colonel went paradoxical the instant before everything went to hell in a lighter.

He looked backwards via bending his back and neck so that the world was upside down. When that didn't work he got up and moved over to one of the large windows that overlooked the area. He missed much of what had actually happened, except for the fateful moment, the second, the instant in which many many fates were decided.

His reaction was summed up in two words. "Oh shit."

He watched the crowd go violent before he saw the running solider. "Why ar-" His eyes opened wide when he saw the man shapeshift into someone else, barely getting out of the way for the Colonel to bust through the window, going down to fight the man with another person, a woman by the look of it.

"Anyone catch his orders? No? Ok then. Sis, if you would be so kind as to make us a way down." His butane lighter found his way into his hand, the top flicked open before the traditional hand clap lit the alchemy circles on it. "I'll hem him in." He pointed the lighter at an alley way, flicking it and sending a jet of fire, catching anything on fire, though it wouldn't last long. "If only there was a car or something..."

At best, he hoped it would last long enough for him to hit all the other escape routes. At worst... He hoped he could burn the legs off of that bastard.
 
Eilonwy's face was covered with a look that pretty much screamed "are-you-shitting-me?" as she caught sight of the shapeshifter out of the window. Her brother, typically, was the first to his feet after the colonel, flicking at his lighter like the trigger-happy kid he still was inside. She hesitated as he spoke to her, wanting to right the wrong that had occured, but uncertain whether she should disobey a direct order. She bit down hard on her lip and made the choice.

"Fine, but I want it shown on whatever record that this was your idea. Don't get your ass kicked, and for the love of god, don't blow too much up." She bounced to the windowsill, her hands clapping and then rushing to brace on the windowsill. The little moisture in the air solidified, freezing into a crude and rather steep downwards slope; she figured it was the quickest way of getting down aside from flinging yourself out like the colonel had done. She sprang onto the slope herself, testing it before her brother could. She'd doubtless need to watch his back anyway. She slid down fast, landing easily on her feet and sidestepping smartly out of the way.

It seemed strong enough to hold. She gestured up at Reven, basically just the equivalent of "get your ass down here". Hardly one of the universally recognised signals, but effective all the same. She'd melt the ice back down to form a weapon - one that she was more comfortable with at any rate - when any participating parties were down, but for now she armed herself with her handgun and trained her aim onto the thing. She reluctantly squeezed the trigger and the sound of the shot ricocheted off the walls.
 

Though she had been seemingly strict when it had come to the others - she was well aware that they likely wouldn't have been fond of her anyway, Lene was unprepared for the colonel. He came in with little else but criticisms with him and while she others gained his flak for their behavior, he noted that she'd been being disciplined... and then he brought up her brother. The comment about her brother's nature had caught Lene off guard, she had been trying to escape him and his sphere of influence, after all. Her cheeks turned flushed red and she seemed to shrink into herself with he asserted his claim - no one could argue that her brother was perhaps a little more casual about human life than most. Before she could find the words to retort, however, he had moved on.

Before any more scathing remarks could their way come, gunshots had sounded and the scene was transformed into a flurry of activity. The brother and sister pair were already finding their way out the window, despite orders against it. Shrugging her shoulders and wondering what the worst that could happen was, having already made up her mind that being trapped in Ishval was essentially the worst that could happen and she wasn't even being punished, Lene made her way toward the window as well.

It seemed dirty to use another alchemist's work without their permission, Lene elected to vault from the window, much as the colonel had done. She landed gracefully, though she felt the twinge of soreness in her leg at the jump. Wincing away from the others, she saw that they were down now and hurrying too. The girl had a handgun and fired it, though Lene could not be bothered to follow the bullet's path.

Lene scanned the area for a shadow of some kind to blend against, her hands resting in the pockets of her pants until she needed to transmute something. The creature had shaken away the bullet and with the colonel and what appeared to be another officer nearby, Lene was hesitant to blow up anything else in the radius. The last thing she needed was to be locked away for being the cause of a colonel's accidental death. In a tight spot, Lene glanced around for anything that she could use.

Some pottery that was lying shattered on the ground gave Lene hope and she scooped the shards into her eyes, eyeing the creature warily. Tossing the pieces into the air, Lene had just a second to clap her hands together and then use the instability to push the pieces toward the creature.
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Tk had been almost instantaneously hugged by his friend Eilonwy. He could only imagine that her brother had been causing her trouble mere moments ago since it was usually the only time she clung to him. Tk couldn't help but chuckle at the antics that the two usually had and tried to shove it aside as nothing but horseplay. He was in a pretty decent mood until the colonel came in. The man instantly began to pick apart at the alchemists in the room even going so low as to pick on someone for what their brothers actions had caused. He didn't mind the snarky remark about his t-shirt but he sure as hell hated how he talked down to all of them. Just as he was about to make a retort though there was a loud sound of gunfire and silence. A terrifying shriek came after the gunshot and chaos erupted.

The colonel had apparently seen something out of the ordinary and told all of them to stay put, like hell Tk was going to listen to that ass, but before he could do anything Eilonwy and Reven were already out of the window and taking action. Tk stood up and pulled his jacket on as well as his backpack before turning to the other woman who seemed to be in thought. Once Tk came upon the window that the others had jumped out of, now including the girl he had been looking at, he took the time to check on the unrest in front. Tons of citizens and soldiers were fighting each other tooth and nail it seemed. Tk sighed heavily knowing full well that all hell was going to break loose.

"Y'know. I knew this was going to suck... but it hasn't even been a day yet and we are already being pulled into action. What a freaking pain. Oh well, it's my job so i guess i shouldn't complain."

He wasn't really talking to anyone since most of the people were already outside and fighting. He placed his hands together and then held them against the frames of the window. Most of it was rock and dirt but what little amounts of metal he found he used to make a very crude ladder down. He quickly slid down the rails of the crude ladder and found cover instantly before peeking out to estimate the circumstances. It seemed that it was far too crowded for them to fight as it was in the alleyway. There were already way too many people in the alley making it cramped. Instead Tk took a tactical approach and scaled the opposite building and ran over to the edge almost directly above the strange person they were chasing. He quickly pulled out his rifle and lined up a shot, as he squeezed the trigger the bullet flew from the barrel and towards the hideous monster, although he only aimed to disable it by shooting its leg.
 
Andre pulled open his backpack case with a flourish, lining the inside pockets of his coat with several glass vials, a few already made clay items, and lastly, pullign out his multi-tool. he put one cuncussion grenade in his right hand and leaped out of the window. he let out a wicked laugh as his eyes glazed over for battle, his swordlike multitool glowing a moment as the alchemy symbols on hsi metal gauntlet touching it activated on a whim. the sword plunged into the opposite wall, and the grenade activated with a green spark of energy, he tossed the grenade at the beast, the blast would shatter the air around the blast within a four foot radius... maybe he shoudl have used a bigger grenade...

Beign assaulted by a group of state alchemists was nothing to laugh at, now was it?
 
The hideous beast in question, still in the guise of an Ishvalan male, save for the jagged looking claws on it's hands - quickly saw that it's chances of dealing with a quick problem here and escaping were beyond what it was capable of achieving. It's initial charge forward saved it from a blast of fire from above, though now his primary route of escape was blocked off. It didn't even need to move to avoid the bullet hastily fired by the woman who had come down on an ice ramp, since it sailed over his shoulder and ricocheted off of one of the nearby walls.

A more immediate problem proved to be the large green explosive looking device sailing through the air towards it. It's way now blocked between a wall of fire, and a rather imposing looking man and a less imposing looking woman who had just broken down a wall, it didn't have many options to avoid the imminent threat of death, or at least dismemberment. Thinking quickly, and moving with the quickened reflexes that nothing human could normally achieve, it vaulted up and backwards. This took it out of the path of the incoming explosive, and the smaller incoming explosive ceramic shards that it hadn't noticed. The grenade landed where the Ishvalan would have ran, had it continued on it's original path, and the pottery shards flew into the fire where they also exploded, this clever move also threw him out of the way of the incoming rifle fire from above. More red lightning passed along it's body as it passed quickly through the stream of flame still coming from the newly smashed window, but it didn't appear that any lasting damage was done. The clawed Ishvalan latched onto the side of the Amestrian occupation building and began scurrying upwards like an animal, knowing that it's only option at this point was to escape.

Elizabeth was in the process of charging forward and following her Colonel's orders when many things happened at once, the now Ishvalan man launched himself up over the fire, latching onto the wall far out of her reach. No sooner did she have a chance to register this than many things came flying from behind her, one an explosive that she recognized from the official report on Major Lorenzo Fabrico, she just barely had enough time to try turning around before the explosion sent her flying backwards, past the Colonel, and possibly colliding with one or more of the young state alchemists who had clustered in the alleyway behind him.

Moving with an inhuman quickness, the Ishvalan man was scaling the building faster than most could even keep up with, and the chances of it making good it's escape were now very very likely, even if it did have to leave behind a small group of witnesses. The initial objective had been achieved, and war was now almost guaranteed.
 
ANdre watched the thing scurry away with that look of utter confusion and a fari share fo horror. he was emmediately aware of hsi sword slowly slipping out of the crack it had made in the wall. The barrage of hostility towards the ishvalan 'changeling' had failed miserably.


"Oh cra- AAAA!GH*thud*" ANdre fell on hsi soft parts and lay there rubbign his shoulder. 'Alright, ladies and gentlman... uhm.. i think im done.. WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT THIIIIIING!" he held up his fist, steam wellgin up inside him with rage. " I mean... what are the odds. what are the damn odds of what just happened happening?!" he stood up, feeling a sharp pain in his shoudlerblade. He'd felt that pain before. he had dislocated his shoulderblade again.
 
The first thing that registered in Eilonwy's mind after the explosion was the creature scuttling up the wall in a fashion far too spider-like for a human to emulate. She attempted to line up for a second shot, reacting a few instants too late. It disappeared over the wall. A look of frustration flitted across her face, one that died off in instants as Andre spoke up, apparently taking the creature badly. She slid her gun back into its holster, mentally berating herself for the shoddy aim. A product of rushing and one that she needed to right immediately.

"No idea. All kinds of screwed up is all that comes to mind. Some sort of experiment gone bad maybe?" She screwed up her nose, then collapsed the ice ramp. It was pretty useless by this point, she reflected. Good for going down, not so much for up.
 

Pushing away from the wall where she had been bracing her back, Lene stood straight up and watched as the others moved about. The creature had gone and the others were talking about him, while Lene listened and watched. She had no deep-seated desire to return to where they had come from since the odds were that they were about to be given a punishment for their actions. Sighing, Lene moved her fingers to her temples to massage there gently.

"It's alarming, really, how human it looked... in my opinion, at least. I feel uneasy that something like that is moving freely among us. We should get back, however, to the office." Lene shot a glance to the area around them and to where the inciter had disappeared toward. The others seemed intent on blustering but Lene started ambling back toward the office window. As it was, there was enough hesitance for her family name in the state alchemy ranks and she was a little reluctant to bring any more whispering to them. Her brother, as it was, was stationed nearby and they were both very prone to suffering for the other's misdeeds, as evidenced by the discourse earlier.

Standing just below the window, Lene craned her neck back a little to see the window. A long sigh later, Lene wound her way back around the building and entered through the door as she'd first arrived. The day was not off to a good start at all and she was not looking forward to seeing what the rest of the day had to give.
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