
Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/1698719.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Graphic_Depictions_Of_Violence, Major_Character_Death, Underage
  Category:
      Multi
  Fandom:
      Fullmetal_Alchemist:_Brotherhood_&_Manga, Fullmetal_Alchemist
  Relationship:
      Olivier_Mira_Armstrong/Riza_Hawkeye, Edward_Elric/Winry_Rockbell, Edward
      Elric/Roy_Mustang, Mei_Chang/Alphonse_Elric, Solf_J_Kimblee/Winry
      Rockbell
  Character:
      Edward_Elric, Alphonse_Elric, Roy_Mustang, Riza_Hawkeye, Ling_Yao, Scar_-
      Character, Winry_Rockbell, Fuhrer_King_Bradley, Olivier_Armstrong, Major
      Miles, Captain_Buccaneer, Tim_Marcoh
  Additional Tags:
      Alternate_Universe, Espionage, Sabotage, Revolution_&_Rebellion
  Series:
      Part 1 of The_Flamel_Rebellion
  Stats:
      Published: 2018-03-22 Chapters: 1/? Words: 1731
****** Fullmetal Alchemist: The Flamel Rebellion I: Unity ******
by 1nvictu5
Summary
     "Rebellion without truth is like spring in a bleak, arid desert."
     For years the malicious Fuhrer Emperor Bradley and the State Military
     have dominated the nation of Amestris and waged war on surrounding
     nations. While the Amestrian elite indulge in the spoils of war and
     leave its destitute populations in turmoil, far in the North, deep
     within the bowels of Fort Briggs, a revolt is brewing. The rebel
     group known as Flamel's Army has developed a plan: ruin the Fuhrer's
     reign from the inside.
     Newcomers Edward and Alphonse Elric join the revolt in the hopes of
     finding their parents, radical dissidents on the run from both the
     government and Flamel's Army.
     But their plan could fall short. For within the rebellion three
     powerful voices vie for control: the charismatic Viceroy Roy Mustang,
     the unassuming but sly Chief Master Sergeant Grumman, and the stern
     Major General Olivier Armstrong. All three military legends possess
     radically opposing philosophies on what it means to lead, and that
     could lead to the undoing of Flamel's Army.
It was nearing eleven o'clock at night and the sky was unleashing a surge of
water that could only be described as God taking a piss on Creation. Not
unjustly earned. Still, standing in the doorway of his house clutching a
lantern in heavy downpour was not how Edward Elric imagined his night would go.
He couldn't fathom why in the hell someone would be delivering mail in the dead
of night during rainfall.
“Is this the Elric residence?”
The courier on the other side of the doorway was much taller than Ed, broad
chin covered with stubble, flat nose turning red, black hair pulled into a
ponytail, eyes narrow and tired, like they hadn't closed in a long while; the
lone, wet bang clinging to the front of his face etched a slanted line through
his features.
“Yeah, this is it,” Ed growled, shrinking slightly back into the house when a
flash of lightning and a clap of thunder sounded overhead. “Who's askin'? You
wanna come in so I can shut the-"
"There's no time; I have to deliver the others-"
"What others? Whatever, you’re sopping wet! Come in or something it's pouring
out here!”
The man did not reply; he simply handed Ed a sealed envelope, pulled his ragged
gray hood over his head, and disappeared again into the storm.
===============================================================================
The motorcade barreled through the sludge like an out of control locomotive,
spraying mud against the sides of the tiny houses. The air was unnaturally
still, no stars shown in the sky, a solitary street lamp stood at the
intersection of two roads. Thunder continued to clap overhead even though the
rain had stopped.
Captain Riza Hawkeye sped up the swampy road towards that solitary light on her
motorcycle. Her blond locks clung to her face and neck, eyes squinted from the
winds lashings, black uniform drenched and heavy. She hadn’t expected it to
rain that day, but the task at hand was far too important to fret about her
personal comfort level.
The target had managed to evade her since Dublith City, but after almost five
days of scouring the entirety of southern Auster County, a radio message from
Bromfield confirmed that he had crossed over into the East Area and been
spotted heading toward Resembool in Venti County. It was a piece of information
that gave her both feelings of triumph and apprehension.
Many rebel groups almost always ended up dissolving one way or another. The
troublemakers often lacked the organization and stability to amass a large
enough resistance to make substantial change in the name of whichever ideals-
of-the-day happened to invigorate the masses. More often than not, their ends
came not because of Hawkeye and her men’s doings, but because of in-fighting
among members. Idealistic fools who couldn't see past their own egos to realize
that their goals were further away from reality than Earth was from the center
of the solar system could never adequately lead a revolution. At least not one
meant to last.
The most recent nuisances called themselves "couriers"; they were an elusive
bunch in service to a group dubbing themselves Flamel’s Army. They supposedly
sprang up in the weeks following the three-way standoff between Sacred Star of
Milos, the Sons of Leto, and the military police that had all but leveled the
city of Vectora in the North. With the level of proficiency they displayed, the
Upper House had to change how they pursued the FA since it seemed the group may
have existed longer than they’d originally predicted. Unlike the former rebel
groups, the FA was highly organized. During the initial investigation, they’d
learned that the FA utilized a complex network of back roads, safe houses, and
coded messages that allowed them to quickly disseminate information that would
have otherwise been censored by the Information Bureau; information about high
ranking military personnel, the locations of Laboratories, as well as
classified documents stolen from both. It also seemed that their reach stemmed
past the borders of Amestris and into her territories all the way to Northern
Creta. It was how the armies of Free Aerugo had been alerted to Amestris’s
attack on Bysantia two whole weeks before the operation was set to commence.
The team had followed several promising leads that could have allowed them to
severe some of those lines of communication, but each time they’d turned out to
be following decoys that lead to “dead ends” in abandoned towns, old factories,
or random fields in the middle of nowhere.
It was imperative to Central Command that they apprehend this courier and
question him to ensure that there would be no further compromises.
"Captain!"
Sergeant Lod Bromfield and Detective Heymans Breda hailed the captain
from underneath the lamp post. She halted in front of them, spattering mud on
their black boots.
"Where is he?
"We don't know precisely, but we're certain he's still here in Resembool."
Breda replied, handing the captain a towel.
“We've had all the roads out of town blocked,” Bromfield stated. “Patrols have
been sent throughout the town area and the nearby forest, civilians have been
instructed to report any suspicious persons, and all outgoing train traffic has
been halted. The only way he’s getting out of here is to go west, right past
headquarters.”
Hawkeye had to chuckle at his eagerness. It wasn’t often that anything of note
happened down in the boonies, and it was rare that anyone of real importance
ever came to the South-East, so this must’ve been quite an exciting moment for
Bromfield.
"You've done a very good job here, Sergeant, in spite of the considerable
downsizing of many of the facilities here in the South-East Area."
"I try not to let it stop me, sir."
Despite trying to sound chipper, Bromfield momentarily cast a malaise glance
down into the mud.
The South-East had primarily been an agricultural hub many years ago, but the
nations push towards automated industrial work put a great strain on local
farmers, and many others went out of business or were indebted to the companies
whose machines they used. Since many of the military personnel stationed in the
South-East were often locals themselves, it spoke to reason that they would
pack up and leave with their families for West Area or the more northern part
of East Area. As a result, funding was redirected to those areas and further
south into the conquered Aerugoan territories.
The man must have been bored out of his mind.
"Well, luckily for you, I've brought along a few good men of my own to help you
out."
“Um, officers?”
A little boy, no more than five or six, trotted up to the officers in his night
clothes.
“What do you need, kid?” Bromfield growled.
“There’s a man at my house! He has my Dad!”
===============================================================================
 "What do you think it says?"
"I dunno, Al, I haven't opened the darn thing yet."
Alphonse scrubbed away at the dishes as Ed stared at the envelope that had been
shoved at him last night and attempted to feed their baby sister Ilian, who had
to lean to catch some of the milk that he was letting drip onto the table. Kind
of like the way a small spot on the roof that Ed promised he'd fix before the
next rainfall was beginning to drip with the weight of the previous nights’
downpour.
"Well, you've been staring at it for almost a three minutes, don't you think
you should try and do that?"
"I can't! I'm feeding Sis right now!"
"Yes, she looks so fed."
Right on cue, Ilian's little nose and cheeks turned pink and she let out a
little whimper as Ed realized that her breakfast bottle was a good two feet
away from her face.
"Oh, sorry, kiddo. Here."
As the one-year old popped the bottle into her mouth Ed took a butter knife
from the table and ran it through the top of the immaculate envelope and pulled
out a tri-folded, handwritten letter addressed to "Messrs. Elric, Edward and
Alphonse" along with two train tickets to North City. The letter was stamped at
the top with a strange red ink seal, instead of the official gold dragon seal
normally used by a federal agency.
"Well that's different," Ed mused to himself.
"What does it say?"
Dear Messrs. Edward and Alphonse Elric,
 
If you are reading this letter then I must inform you that you have a limited
amount of time before you are visited by the secret police. I advise that you
get into the habit of quickly reading and memorizing information. Immediately
submerge this letter and the envelope in water once you have read this.
One of our agents will arrive to your home tomorrow morning her name is Sheska.
You are to travel with her to East City to take a train through Central up to
North City. If anyone asks, you are friends visiting a mutual in North City.
Bring along the infant.
Amestris is a great country poisoned by corrupt leaders. War has made
them greedy and paranoid - this is something your parents knew! Help us free
Amestris from its shackles.
+ FA
"What the hell?" Ed reclined in his chair. How he managed to be exhausted by a
letter less than five lines long was anyone's guess, but it happened. There was
so much to unpack.
"'Secret police'?" Al said.
"How did whoever this is know about Ilian?"
"Sheska?"
"How did this guy know us? Or our parents?"
Before either brother had time to process any of those thoughts, the hardest
knock ever sounded at the front door. Al snatched the letter and envelope from
the table and ran back to the sink.
Ed answered the door. He was greeted by a tall blonde woman with rather
noticeable bags under her eyes. More striking than that was the red lining of
her black uniform and the golden epaulets that replaced the typical insignia
found on the uniforms of the military police. The woman didn't wait for any
sort of invitation to enter and took Ed's seat next to Ilian. Ed removed the
toddler her from her high chair and took the seat opposite the woman while Al
continued to scrub away at the same plate as if nothing had changed.
"Gentlemen, my name is Captain Hawkeye. I have a few questions that I would
like to ask you."
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