MISSION: Attack on Two Sides

Sashura watched as Murazar took his leave and headed towards his objective, and he simply nodded slightly atthe suggestion. He too had a plan for the rebels, and quickly contacted the Drachman artillery forces radio, commanding them to open fire. Luckily for Sashura, he was second in command of the Drachman military, so the artillery unit listened without hesitation, opening fire on the Briggs Walls with simple shells that exploded upon contact of the ice. He simply smirked as he suddenly contacted a dispatch force which he ordered to retreat. Four units retreated into the mountains, the fog covering them in the distance as they moved towards their next objective. Sashura was one with this type of climate and terrain, and he'd use it to his advantage. Sashura then noticed a woman using alchemy to start the attack on the Drachman army. He rushed forward on his horse, making sure to stay out of range fo the bullets, and observed closely. He sighed, not wanting to go to such measures, but had no choice. He ordered for three artillery units to commence fire on the weaponry... and the woman. Sashura, on the other hand, was already prepared for everything. He soke on the communicator to the rebel forces, and spoke loudly and clearly for them to hear him on the communicator.

"Send the first wave in. I want that entire wall destroyed, i have a plan, i just need you to work with me... Open fire!! Kill the girl and the guards on the walls!! Spare noone!!"

Sashura's worry for the girl was slowly dissapating. Hopefully, her alchemic abilities would save her, as he aimed only to destroy her weaponry and artillery, along with the walls. He moved without hesitation towards the front lie, creating a shield of carbon-steel, struck his sword in the air. His commander was hesitating, but it was time Sashura led this attack to victory. He would not charge his forces so foolishly, however, he would prepare himself for the next wave of fire. His command to open fire on the woman was a success as his soldiers all began shooting at the woman and the soldiers on the walls. He then pulled back to the rear forces, and had them commence fire on the woman aswell, and then he quickly pulled back into the fog, heading the opposite direction that Murazar had gone. He too was heading for the mountainous terrain, but what were his intentions?

Xanthus smiled when the Xingese man accepted his offer, than he looked at the walls and cursed. He saw Ilona pointing a sniper rifle in his direction. He tensed himself to jump out of the way if her finger even twitched, but then she went back to sniping normal people. Xan took a deep breath and relaxed.

It looked like he wouldn’t have to dodge bullets quite yet. His relaxation was cut short when he heard artillery rounds being fired. Looking further to the back of the Rebel force, he saw three Basilisk artillery armor vehicles and a man with rods sticking out of his back leading a strange looking unit. 'Hmm…those must be the Drakkars. Filthy brutes those guys are. And apparently, the rumors about them betraying Amestris were true. I'll have to do something about that, now won't I? Just not quite yet...'

Looking back towards the wall, Xanthus noticed that Ilona had left a mass of weapons where she herself had just been and that she had disappeared, presumably to pester the Drachman forces.

Then a thought struck Xan...Sashura said not to kill her, but he also said that she needed to be apprehended, did he not? The Ishvallan had a plan. With a grin, Xan looked back towards the Xingese man.

Come on! We can get into the Fortress if we advance under the cover of the artillery!

Then, noticing that Wrath was not being fast enough in giving the order, Xan shouted out a few more words, this time to the Rebel Army in general.

Unless you all want to sit here and get gunned down, OPEN FIRE!

The men did not know who shouted out that command, but they were already filled with bloodlust anyway so they did not care. The artillery began to fire, first destroying Ilona's abandoned mass of weapons, then firing in at the top of the wall.

Underneath his mask, Xanthus grinned. It felt good to be back in command, if only for an extremely little while. The Ishvallan tapped the Xingese man on the shoulder and began to run towards Briggs. He needed to get something from the kitchen, and something he had left behind in his old room in Briggs and apparently, he needed to find Ilona. Ultimately however, his goal was to find Reila...

Reila heard Jay's voice in a static hiss over her radio. He was late...as usual, which only added to her surge of anger. She pressed a button and answered him as calmly as she could without revealing anything. "Jay, assist Ilona. Now." She shut off his channel and collapsed in her jeep, running her hands through her hair to calm herself down. It took all of her mental strength not to act recklessly and run out onto the battlefield in a mad rage. Why now of all days...?! She just hoped Briggs could take being hammered on both sides. No, she didn't hope, she had to make it happen. She shut her eyes, her mind running quicker than ever, brushing over every detail of her plans and tactics. Before she realized it, she had drifted off slightly from exhaustion.

Reila jumped awake after a couple seconds, feeling oddly refreshed. Faintly, she heard the sound of a jeep engine approaching. She killed her own and jumped out, jogging over to Houka's driver's side. As the redhead got out, Reila smiled, though it barely held it's normal radiance. "Good plan: you lead well." She commented at Houka's orders to destroy the enemy's artillery and then continued after the girl finished speaking. "Yes, we're going with that strategy. Leave the jeeps here and follow me." She didn't wait for an answer, which was very unlike her and turned to run to the door that led to the roof. Reila kicked the heavy metal thing open and began sprinting up the long flight of steps, Houka behind her. That was when she heard Mura's voice in a stream over her radio. His tone sent shivers down her back. She bit her lip instead...hard. Mura...and a sunrise? Bullshit. She pressed her talk button and pulled the speaker closer to her mouth. "How much are they paying you, the Drachman's I mean?" She froze over the steps for a moment, leaning against the shadowed wall in a huff. She shot Houka a severe glance and clenched her receiver tightly. "I'll triple it." Again, she didn't wait for an answer and headed straight for the entrance to the roof. Ilona's signal reached her as she went up two steps at a time. Reila then responded swiftly between pants, "Got your back; just watch the sky." Swiping her card over the slot with light speed, she broke out onto the roof, catching her breath. She was now standing tall over the two forces on either side. Reila turned and looked directly at Houka with a vicious smirk. She pointed at the Drachmans and in a booming voice, commanded the attack. "Now." She pulled the radio as close as she could, switching it to the entire Briggs Brigade. "FIRE AT WILL!"

She prepared herself, scanning both sides of the battlefield, but stopped in shock at what she saw on the Drakkar side. That matrix-looking outfit... only one man would wear that. It was Xan. It had to be Xan. Fear struck her, and for the briefest of moments she second-guessed herself. Looking quickly away from his distant form, she focused all of her attention on the blue sky that would soon become white. Next... those rebels would have to face her wrath. As a wave of bullets soared from various windows, sniper nests, lookouts, and catwalks below them, Reila prepared herself to add to it.

Houka had leapt out of the jeep without a word and followed her friend and commander to the roof. With each step the thought of what they were about to do tickled her and brought an evil smile to her face. When they reached the roof and she was given the command she drew her blade and held it aloft focusing and making the red symbol on the base of its hilt glow. Moisture began to rapidly condense in swirls of clouds. The moisture was not all that was occuring wind swirled around her blowing her hair in all directions. Her eyes seemed to glow with inner fire as the clouds formed over the entire of the drachman army. She glanced over at Reila forming a quick smile.

"Let's show them the wrath of the snow queens." she said and this time her eyes seemed to really glow as hail the size of golf balls began to fall from the sky. They would hurt enough anyway, but from the height they were falling they would be like huge bullets of ice. "Your turn Major General." she said casually as if it was nothing.

Then she saw Xan and anger formed on her face. She focused causing the hail around him to be accelerated by the wind to try and destroy him. She hated him for his apparent betrayal of Amestris, but even more so because he had betrayed Briggs. She looked at Reila waiting for her to make her move. What would be there next move after this? "Shall we attack the rebels as well?"

Reila watched as the clouds formed around them, the necklace around her neck glowing brilliantly as she helped navigate the gray to loom over the Drachman army. Her long, strawberry blond hair whipped out around her, thrashing against her back in waves of wind. "Why thank you, Yoshi," She returned casually, unleashing her tachi in a smooth, quick motion. It rang from the sheath. She held the sword high, her eyes shining with a deadly glow, splaying golden light around them. She cut, the blade slicing through the air, sending a spray of transformation. Her fingertips glistened with alchemic power, the hail changing as each formed. Instead of golf-sized balls, they became icicles sharpened like knives. They spiraled down as if breaking free from the side of a roof, but with aim. The unsuspecting Drachman army below was pelted both with bullets and icicles the size of their arms. Reila watched as they impaled the small humans below, sprays of red spurting to stain the pure snow. She turned to face her friend with a sadistic smirk. "Serves them right. Yes, now it's their turn."

Daigoro... had been checking his equipment this entire time, so he hadn't really heard too much of the battle that had been going on. He sighed, seeing that the fighting was about to begin. Even after Reila's command of 'Fire at Will', his soldiers remaind prone and waiting. Unlike the rest of the soldiers at Briggs, this group was completely under Dai's command. They listened to his orders only. He smirked, and knew that he was ready to go, which meant that he would be ready to give the commands. He raised his right arm towards the sky, the command that would tell the soldiers that they needed to take aim. He smirked.

"Fire at Will!" The soldiers began to fire the modified rifles at the opposing armies, the incendiary rounds streaming towards the two armies. Unlike most conventional rifles, these rounds were propelled by Alchemy, and fired with complete silence. The incendiary rounds themselves would both cause more injuries and disillusion the soldiers slightly. Each hit caused the small rounds to explode, creating balls of fire that would definitely reduce morale.

They did always say a Fire Attack worked... But I bet they weren't thinking of something like this... Dai laughed to himself, deciding to meet the General out on the front lines. His men would report to him with any problems, and that was all he needed. He smirked as his feet made loud slapping sounds on the concrete paths that filled the halls of Briggs. No matter how fast he moved, it never seemed to end. The redhead grimaced, and burst through the doors of Briggs. As he moved along, one hand went up to his ear.

"Reila, I'm moving out to the front lines. Just to let you know... I'll be fine..." He grinned, and made his way to the Rebel Army that stood before them. He smirked, and stood before the soldiers. He reached his hand out to his side, and clicked it once. He used the static build-up to strengthen the field around him, just in time it seemed. Because they recognised Dai as an Amestrian Soldier. Because they opened fire. The red-head grinned, as the bullets were simply stopped by his Magnetic Field, caught in stasis. He smiled softly, and reached up behind his head, grabbing Wolfsbane out from his hair.

The heavy steel chainwhip hit the ground, pulling up a bunch of snow with it. He needed to clear the space around him. So he magnetised the bullets using his field, and the sudden repelling forces that were created spread the bullets out over a large area, but not causing any damage. That clear, Dai ran for the Drakkan soldiers, and sent the whip out, spreading it out around their neck, catching them with the barbs that lined the chain. He grinned, and shifted his weight, before flinging the soldier into the nearest bunch of enemies. Instead of being flung off by the force, the soldier stayed attached, until Dai used enough of his weight to sever the soldier's neck, causing him to fly into another bunch of soldiers. Dai sighed, releasing the next multitude of bullets that covered his field, before clicking his fingers again and strengthening the field once more...

"Everything's good on this side, but I'd appreciate a little backup..." Dai's voice rang through the radio.

Spoiler:

Murazar gritted his teeth as the entrance was locked, he grabbed a bar of semtex and primers setting up the device on the entrance speaking to them to prepare to enter. He heard reila and froze, so his bullshitting got him at least to the fort, eh? He went over on the other side and motioned he would be last in. After the explosion and the team's went in quickly and quietly he went in last...slowly.

He reswitched the frequency quickly and spoke as he normally did, frigid, calm, unaffected by the carnage. He spoke in aerugese however" Very well, you've got me there. I'll switch to your side if a delivery from either you or Houka with Three Hundred Thousand Dollars is delivered in a duffel bag directly to me in my office. Thats a third of the Tripled price i'm asking. After the battle I want the other Six Hundred Thousand in my usual bank account. Answer this back with whoever is going to go, if I dont see that money I will wipe out the entire populace of briggs from the inside. Over."

He gritted his teeth as he turned the signal back to recieve only and moved on, this way the spec ops team he was with wouldn't know what language he was exactly speaking. He took half the team and showed the other half on a map where the locations the explosive experts were to go, he accompanied one to one of the closest barracks and watched as the man ran down the hall and blew up the area, it didn't collapse the area, but it certainly destroyed the area.

He grimaced in disapproval of the method that was used and took his team to his office and wiped out the located intelligence division easily considering most were armed with a pistol if that. Then he showed them on a map the supply room and got them to leave as he turned his place into a defensible location and marked the various locations where the suicide bombers would hit and the spec ops teams objectives in a order. He pocketed it and went over to sit at his desk which was completely bullet-proof. He held his assault rifle pointing towards the doorway just in case someone other than the one who had his money come in, if it was reila hell he might still shoot.

The green-haired homunculus' eyes narrowed when this... Famine said that he knew what he was. So, he worked for Father? He sighed, and turned away. Great - more people who knew who the fuck he was. He just turned back and smiled brightly, not a care in the world.

"I no speak this velly well. Try different one!" He smiled and sighed, before chaning the tone of his voice, his accent and his language all at once. He'd noticed the man's red eyes, and spoke with a chilling tone.

"I'm only dangerous if you make me mad. I don't get mad easy, but if you make me mad, be in for a world of pain..." He smiled again, yawned, and turned towards the soldiers again. Hmph. These guys... seemed to be crushing the soldiers of Briggs... Maybe he could get more money out of Briggs, and make it a fair fight, huh? He grinned, and walked forwards, the two blades in his hands, cutting down rebel soldiers as he went. Need to earn their trust, somehow.

The man grinned, and turned to Sashura. The guy thought he was an idiot, huh? Well, that remained to be seen... Who would be laughing when the time came, huh? He laughed, and pulled his rifle off his back, and began firing upon enemy soldiers, but something struck him as odd. Why... had that man dared question his authority? HIS! His eyes narrowed, and his shots became more erratic. He fired at every soldier who walked into his line of sight, but things were going wrong. His finger was beginning to ache, and he was missing more... Was it because of that guy? He grimaced, and turned to Sashura.

"If you think you're so high and mighty, why don't you try running this army? I've got a right mind to kill you myself, you little scumbag sunovabi-" All he could see was black. The flaming hole in his head shouted out one thing - he had been his by one of Dai's incendiaries. The commander of the army fell to the ground, but nobody seemed to care. He was a shit leader anyway...

[R.I.P]

Teimo watched in a sort of awe as artillery shells from both sides rained down upon each other. He had never seen anything like this in Xing. All his experiences in fighting involved assassins going after the princess, perhaps a thief or two got in the way as well. He hadn't seen anything like the carnage these people were doling out on one another. He wasn't sure if he should feel disgusted or amused. It was definitely a bit of both, but there was also a sense of pity. This was such a waste, why were they so intent on fighting over a bunch of snow? This place didn't seem to be worth much. He didn't even realize miserable places like this existed. Well, he did realize it, he had read the books about it. The literature didn't quite do the misery of this place justice however. The tap on his shoulder broke his concentration and he immediate set after the man running through the snow, a task Teimo wasn't really suited for.

He was able to keep up with the man, somehow. Perhaps weather just couldn't beat athleticism? It was about to be put to the test. A one centimeter ball of ice crashed into the ground in front of him. Was this hail? He had read about it, but this was an odd time for it wasn't it? Why was he so unlucky? This just was not fair. The boy quickly dodged to the side as another sphere of icy pain was about to collide with his head. This was going to be problematic, he would have to do something about this.

The boy wracked his brains, he had read enough about this subject for his studies, this shouldn't be too hard to stop. The average falling speed of hail was nine meters per second. It wasn't too quick to dodge in and of itself, but there would only be more of it and dodging multiple balls wasn't going to happen if he hoped to get to his destination. The boy's eyes trailed to the man infront of him and a plan donned.

Accelerating, the boy caught up to the man and, using the agility and grace of a child of Xing, catapulted himself into the air and landed on the man's shoulders. A few pieces of hail had connected on the journey, but small bruises were little more than an annoyance at the moment. The average running speed of an athletic man was between thirteen and twenty-one kilometers per second. Given this man's build, his maximum speed without sacrificing too much in the way of stamina should be around the middle ground of that. Factoring in the poor footing and the additional weight...

"Sir, if you don't mind, could you please try to maintain a speed of roughly eleven kilometers per hour? It would be much appreciated Mister.

The boy pulled from his belt a long shaft, his speciality. The blowgun wasn't something people of these lands often saw. It wasn't something people of his own country often saw. With rentanjutsu however, it became quite the potent weapon and tool. Here, he was going to use it to shield them from the hail. Given the speed at which he asked the man to move and the falling velocity of the hail, he would have to aim upward at a sixty-two degree angle. Repeating this shot should create an effective shield, eliminating the hail that would fall at the spot where they would soon be. It was a rough calculation without any fact checking, but this was hardly the time.

Then something weird happened. The wind had picked up and began to change the trajectory and speed. That wasn't natural, that couldn't be natural. Was that alchemy? Was that possible? The people they were fighting really had such a person? It seemed to be focused on them as well. Well, it was probably focused on Teimo's mule, not Teimo. Teimo wasn't particularly important. He'd have to adjust for the speed, increasing the angle by five degrees should compensate adequately.

"You have some interesting enemies old man."

The boy took in some air and the transmutation circle on the blowgun glew a vibrant color. He wasn't going to get beat by hail. The small boy blew, the concussive force exploding from the gun and knocking the hail away from his location and creating a small lane for the man to run through. It wouldn't last long and the boy would have to keep going. They'd have a chance to catch their breath's when they got there right?

Xanthus Icarus was running quite fast, and hoping that the Xingese boy was following him closely. He looked up just in time to see that Reila and Houka were both on the wall, and it appeared that both of them were performing alchemy.

‘Oh great, so now I’m going to probably have to start dodging hail soon.’

Xan had read up on both of their files recently, and had learned that both of their powers were now centered around the major discipline water, just as his had once been. Unlike him however, their powers were based in the sub discipline of Ice alchemy and another major discipline: Wind. In other words, they could create storms like the one that was brewing above Briggs at the moment.

Two ice alchemists on the battlefield at the same time that a hail storm was brewing? If that wasn't alchemy, then Xan would eat his boots. Raw and without salt and pepper.

Before Xan could even begin to dodge hail in earnest however, the Xingese boy leapt onto his shoulders and asked him to run at eleven kilometers per hour. Before Xan could even ask what he was up to however, the kid had pulled out a blow dart and used...no way...was that Alkahestry? It had to be, because Xingese citizens didn't learn alchemy. It had been so long since Xan had encountered another Alkahestry user that in his surprise he almost missed what the kid did with the blow dart. He blew into it, and a piece of hail in front of Xan shattered into tiny pieces.

'Ah, so that's what he's up to? Fine, I'll play along.'

Then the Ishvallan heard the 'old man' comment, and he had to resist the urge to throw the kid into a snow mound.

Who exactly are you calling old?! I'm 21 you brat!

The Ishvallan looked at the wall and noted that they were getting closer.

'Just a bit further now...Reila, I'm coming for you, so you had better not die on me.' Then Xan thought for a while and added:
'And as for Houka, I might just be tempted to throw her off of this wall when I get to her...no one tries to burn me alive and then hit me with hail and gets away with it!'

The young boy couldn't help but be a bit amused with his solution to the hailstorm. How many people would have thought of something so ridiculous, much less adjusted to changing conditions? The small amount of pride would have to be put on the back burner though. The small child was still in awe. That had to be alchemy right? That was far too coincidental that the ice concentrated on them, that couldn't have been natural. If that's the kind of power that he was going to be pitted against, maybe he shouldn't get involved.

Unfortunately, it was too late for that. He probably shouldn't have started piggy backing if he wasn't going to stick with this. The boy would have sighed, but he was slightly busy carving them a path through the storm. He couldn't keep this up, eventually he'd have to catch his breath. Alchemy can tire ya out every now and then.

Hey, are we there y...who the hell are you calling a brat you scabby fossil?

Most people would think twice about insulting someone who was carrying you, much less seemed to be an important militant, but Teimo wasn't most people. He also had brief moments where he wasn't too bright either. In on quick motion Teimo brought his blowgun down and gave the man a quick knock on the head. He was promptly thunked on the head by a few pieces of hail, karma at work.

Xanthus had been thinking that they were almost to the wall when he heard the Xingese bra…boy ask him if they were there yet. Or rather, he heard the boy almost ask him if they were there yet, because he decided to insult Xan yet again, only this time adding a quick hit to the head with his blow dart into the mix. Xan was about to respond in kind when he heard the unmistakable sound of ice connecting with head.

‘Ah, serves the little brat right. I’m not old!’

Xan’s thoughts were interrupted by the fact that he had made it to the wall in one piece. They were about a meter away from the wall, and looking up, Xan began to have serious doubts about his plans. 'I can't believe that after what happened in South City, I'm risking my life to save these people. I need a vacation!'

Okay you little bedwetting demon, I'm going to need you to not throw up. We're about to go very high up in a very short amount of time, so you might get a little sick. If that happens, then hold it in until we stop, because I'm going to need to concentrate for a moment. Got it?

Without waiting for an answer, Xan pressed his left hand to the ground. Instantly, ice surrounded him and Teimo inside of a small sphere. But that wasn't half of the fun. Keeping his hand pressed to the ice, Xan released a great deal of energy into the icy ground. The sphere shot up on the end of a tower that was rapidly growing larger at a rate of twenty feet per second.

Doing quick estimates in his head, Xan deduced that they would make it to the top of Briggs in less than a minute. Of course, that was assuming that nothing shot at them from the top or the bottom for that amount of time.

Kid, if you believe in a Maker, then I would suggest praying to it now!

Draco didn't hesitate a second - just as the Drachman forces began shooting he smirked and raised his arm:

"FIRE AT WILL!!! KILL ANYTHING THAT MOVES!!!!" - of course Draco meant the enemy, not his allies, but he simply liked to say this.

His Drakkars had already fortified their positions, they began firing from cover in any enemy seen, and rained fire on enemy positions as well. Nothing would get through. Especially when the heavy squad deployed the machine gun. It was like a long whip of lead, cutting anything in it's way.

The artillery was hidden in the rocks, camouflaged by the snow. But not for long - their long throats began spitting fire onto the Fort and it's defenders, sometimes they fired on the field, preventing anyone to come close to the Drakkars, if they would be insane enough to do so.
Draco crouched at one of the barricades, they were hastily done, but good nonetheless.

The Drakkar sniper was not only killing Briggs soldiers, he was also giving coordinates to the Basilisk artillery, pointing at the enemy's positions. He also prevented the artillery from shooting in any friendlies. This was gonna be a piece of cake.

Then the Drachman Commander was taken out... what a looser, he didn't even take cover. Draco watched the Fort carefully, he wasn't going to use his powers... not yet...

Houka saw that Xan was approaching rapidly, with some boy who seemed to be stopping her hail, but she also had orders to attack the other army. She quickly moved to the other side of the wall her hair still streaming out behind as she formed another torrent of hail. Daigoro knew of her power as did his troops so they should be ready for it. The army however, might not be. Despite these factors she didn't make the hail as large this time. About half the size of golf balls. They would serve as a distraction. THen she turned heading back to attack Xan when she saw the ice sphere. She drew her sword and launched two blades of wind straight at it trying to break the sphere. That would distract him for a few moments anyway.

She then quickly moved radioing to Reila. "Hail deployed. What next Major General?" she said. Her movement had taken her behind one of the mounted artillery guns. These guys were attacking troops and not the enemy artillery. She glared at them. "I said target the artillery. They are the main problem here." she ordered. They stared at her for a moment and she pushed the man out of the way re-aiming the artillery cannon at one of the opposing force's artillery. She watched for a brief second and then fired timing the shot so it hit would hit the cannon a fraction before it launched its own round. The resulting force destroyed it. "If the artillery is down they will struggle to breach our walls." she explained indicating the ice they had formed. "Use the hail as a distaction and show them what Briggs is made of." With that she stood there waiting for Xan to breach the rooftops, if he managed to. She hoped he wouldn't because fighting him up close would be as good as suicide. Also, he had an ally who used a blowpipe and a battle was an ideal distraction to use poison darts or similar.

The young Teimo looked up at the daunting wall ahead of them as Xanthus came to a stop. This was kind of intimidating, the wall didn't look nearly as large when they started. How in the world were they going to get up there? He could climb, but he didn't see any footholds and a lone boy climbing the wall would just be inviting a bullet. Bullets were not fun.

"Hey! That was just one time and it was an accid...shut up!

The boy didn't have a clue what he was planning to do, but he was pretty sure he wasn't going to vomit. Primarily, because no one bothered to feed him. What was he supposed to throw up? That cracker? Teimo wasn't sure how distracting a regurgitated cracker would be. Maybe a little bit smelly, but apart from that a military man should be able to maintain his concentrationr right?

"Fine then old timer, don't exert yourself too much. Don't want your bones to turn to dust prematurely do we?

The boy didn't have time to muse over his next cleverly crafted insult. The two of them rapidly shot up the wall on a block of ice, the force of the acceleration caused Teimo to momentarily lose his grip. He barely caught on with his legs, dangling parallel to the man's back. Not the best position to be in to be sure.

"Geez old man, not much for a smooth ride are ya?"

The comment was just to veil the awe the boy felt. This guy was an alchemist too? That was good probably, you can never be too full on weapons. This was very impressive though, did all the alchemists of this country have this kind of power? At least it wasn't only the other side that could do things like this. Then the sound came. The boy's ears perked slightly as he felt the force coming toward him.

"Incoming grandpa."

Bringing the blowgun back to his lips, the small boy twisted his body to face the incoming windy projectile. When two forces collide without a solid composition, they disperse unless one is significantly more powerful than the other. He should be able to block the force with a force of his own. The circle on the blowgun glew brightly once more and the water around him liquified and vaporized, firing a concussive pulse from the boy's weapon. Force met force and the two dispersed well before the projectile reached their ride. This was already more dangerous than he wanted it to be, he didn't need gusts of wind being fired at him as well.

Xanthus Icarus watched as the Xingese bedwet...boy countered Houka's wind alchemy simply by blowing into his blow dart. The two forces had collided right before Xan passed through, resulting in a little bit of a warm breeze because of the forces of two bursts of air rapidly colliding. It felt like a welcome reprieve from the frigid air of Briggs, but it also felt kind of strange. Warm air at BRIGGS?!

The Ishvallan didn't have time to remark on the temperature of the air, nor the fact that he was being insulted again, although his next insult to the boy would have had something to do with where he could shove that little toy of his. The reason that Xan did not say anything at all was that they had made it to the top of the wall. Xan saw Reila and Houka, doubtlessly the masterminds of the storm. The Ishvallan, still with the Xingese boy on his back, jumped off of the ice elevator and landed on the metal wall of Briggs.

Hello, Ice Queen. Oh, and I see that the Ice Princess is here too. It's been a while, has it not? I do believe that one of you tried to burn me alive while the other tried to have me arrested. Ah, such fond memories eh? Ironically, I'm here to save your lives from a tactic designed by a Drachman Lt. Colonel. My reason: I need you two alive for a strategy of my own. You have no say in the matter, so remain silent so that I might concentrate. Oh, and if either of you tries to kill me, this kid will probably shoot you with his blowdart.

Then, Xan whispered a few words to the Xingese boy.

Kid, if either of them shows signs of using their alchemy, then fire a concussive wind like you did earlier. If I fail at this next piece of alchemy, all four of us are going to die. Very painfully I might add.

Then, Xan took a deep breath, and touched the ice that was on the wall with his left and right hands.

You two aren't the only ones who can use ice. Watch in awe as I save your lives with your own element, for I am the Infinity Alchemist!

A blue light shined from Xan's palms, and all of the ice that was on top of Fort Briggs was suddenly drawn in, and it almost appeared to be melting upward. That is, until one looked toward where it was going. A solid rectangle was being formed around the defenders of Fort Briggs. The rectangle was made of ice, and was being made thicker and thicker as more and more ice was being drawn in. Soon, the walls were over two feet thick. When all of the ice was used up, Xan used his right hand to blast through the ice he was standing on, and touched the metal underneath him with his left hand. The metal INSIDE (NOT OUTSIDE METAL, AS THAT WOULD TAKE AWAY FROM THE DEFENSIVE WALL) of the Fortress was being drawn up for use this time. It began to form a wall on the inside of the ice wall that was itself a good foot thick. This entire process had taken about twenty seconds itself, but it left Xan panting slightly. It was pitch black in the ice and metal defensive wall, but Xan somehow figured that he wouldn't want to see what was about to happen outside of it.

Sashura finally arrived at the midpoint of the mountain, right on the east side of Briggs. He looked down at the chaos evolve, and quickly used his communicator to tell the main forces to avoid shooting the woman, and to instead aim at the soldiers on the wall. However, as Sashura had planned it, Xanthus had created a field of metal and ice around the entire fort as to protect them from Sashura's attack... the poor fool. Sashura knew abut Xan, and knew that the man couldn't be trusted, which is why he had his soldiers, that travelled with Murazar, prepare everything the opposite way that he explained it. They had went to their various points, and even had their bombs strapped on, but they also placed bombs against the inside walls and in the storae room along with random spots in the middle of the fortress. The funny thing was that they all were told that Sashura would be the one to detonate the bombs... and what did you know? He had the detonator in his hand at this very moment. He sighed as he loked down on the protected fortress from atop his horse, and clicked the button.

In total, Murazar led a unit of eight soldiers within the base, each with their own bombs in a bag or strapped to their bodies. These bombs all wet off at the ametime, and just as Sashura had planned, six of them were against the wall, and two more by or near the storage room. The two who roamed around also placed a total of three bombs each against the wall aswell, and another six bombs in random places in the center. Now, out of the eight... one of them didn't have a bomb strapped to him, and sense it was pitch black, noone would be able to tell that he was a spy. Those who did have bombs strapped to their bodies had either C4 or Themobaric bombs hidden and attached to them. Only two were noted to have thermobaric bombs, while one was believed to have a shrapnel bomb aswell. The bombs could be heard exploding from within the fortress, and at that point Sashura sighed and pulled on his horse to turn around. He looked back at the fortress, and noticed a flare shot within the air. This was the signal that all was prepared and soon, to Amestris' dismay, this battle would end with another victory added to the archives of Drachma.

"I really hate mercenaries..."

Reila didn't have time to think. She saw and processed that a huge pillar of ice was pushing up towards them and that none other than Xan was upon it. There wasn't a moment to notice the boy atop his shoulders because Houka was suddenly launching wind at the pillar. Reila twitched, her hand tightening around her sword. She almost made a move to counteract Houka's attack, but knew Xan would avoid it easily. She watched him draw nearer and nearer and then heard Mura's voice over her radio. Pushing the speaker to her lips, she replied in a cold voice, seething with anger. "I am sending Houka, but hear me, Mura, if you so much as scratch her, I will personally come after you." Would he really kill them all? Her hand was shaking. She clutched it with her other and calmed slightly when she heard Houka's voice ring through her headphones. "Got it," She replied, breaking out in a sprint to the other side of the wall ...towards Xan. She unleashed her tachi, and sliced through the clouds, turning hail into icicles. The Drakkar rebels below were impaled in a gust of blood. Then she watched as their artillery was completely destroyed, turning to glance behind her as the Drachman's artillery followed to its demise. She couldn't help the small smile of satisfaction as it flew to her lips.

The long-haired Major General turned to the redhead. "Yoshi, here is the combination to the locker in my office," She handed her a gum wrapper with bubbly numbers written on it, "Take three-hundred-thousand dollars out and put it in the suitcase lying nearby, then bring it to Mura who should be in his office. Prevent him from killing any one. He betrayed Briggs and breached the fortress. We need to go. Now." She took three steps to the door and stopped. Icicles broke around them, the cries of the dying echoing through the crisp air. She spun around, her hair billowing out and golden eyes widening. Most of the attacking armies had to be dead now and it was time to act, but... "Xan..." She breathed, her voice filled with uncertainty. "Thank you for coming, but..." She listened to every word carefully, but the instant he told them to watch in awe, she grabbed Houka's arm and made a run for it, leaping off the side of the wall on the Drachman's side. If they hit the ground, it would be suicide, but this was Reila; she always had a plan. With her hand that still held her sword, she dug the blade into the ice against the wall as they plummeted. It scraped against the stone, sparks flying as the speed they fell was stunted. The silver of her blade glowed a deep blue as ice formed from the ground. A platform in the shape of stairs drew out from it and grew to a parallel level with the lookout. Reila and Houka hit it on their feet, only a slight shock resonating through their bodies. The Major general didn't stop, she let go of the girl and nodded to her, a dangerous and severe look protruding from the gold of her eyes. "Go," She ordered without hesitation, an order that could not be disobeyed. And then she raced through the lookout door and back into Briggs.

Sprinting through the long hallways, Reila took deep breaths, heading straight for the stairs that led to a separate section of the wall. If Briggs were to go down...she would be happy to die with it. The blonde spun around a corner at stop speed, her boots screeching against the clean floors. For once she felt thankful that she had hid information from Mura. He couldn't know everything; he was a mercenary after all. Reila wasn't about to hand him all her fortress' secrets on a golden platter just like that. One fact as such was that the supply and storage rooms were actually underground, not where it was shown on the map. Those rooms were actually being used to hold cleaning supplies and various cooking ware. In fact, many of the areas on the map weren't what they said they were. She jolted to a stop when the sound of a faint explosion sounded. Blanching visibly, she paused no longer. Briggs was under attack from the inside... and it was all Mura's doing. She wasn't angry, no. It was her. It was all her fault, but she wouldn't wallow in self pity or doubt; there was no time. She fixed her radio to her mouth. "Yoshi, I need you to max your alchemy. Surround the entire fort and make it as cold as you possibly can. If you cannot reach all of Briggs, focus on the North half."

There were men in her fortress. Men Mura had brought in. For what purpose she could only guess. The early explosion spoke to her, whispering secrets in her ear. Bombs. They either had bombs or guns and they were planning to take Briggs out from the inside. The false supply room had no value, but the walls did. If the wall came down... then she would have failed. There was no way. She flipped the speaker back over to her troops in the control room. "Activate plan C60387. Passcode つらら氷柱 leave out quadrants 5x02 now." She received a response immediately confirming. She had to get to hirer ground. At least Houka and Mura would be safe and dry in his office...if they stayed there. The general broke out onto the roof in a huff and slammed her hands against the frozen wall. How much time did she have? In that moment, all of Fort Briggs burst into a sea of water. Reila was overwhelmingly thankful they had such a huge reservoir underground where they burned fires to melt the snow into fresh water. The huge flood poured from every office protected by waterproof flaps that dropped from the ceilings. The paperwork remained dry, and the few remaining Briggs Brigade still left inside ran against the walls at the sound of the alarm activated by plan c60387. The water instantly seeped from the fortress and fell over the side of the walls like a waterfall. Any bombs that were within half a mile of Fort Briggs and the large wall that blocked out Drachma were deactivated. The electronics would freeze instantly from Houka's alchemy along with the water that drowned them. No signal could carry through solid ice. Meanwhile, Reila's fingertips glowed as she assisted Houka by taking the south half of Briggs and freezing the huge quantity of water.

Briggs glistened, the sunlight beating off of the fort that was now seemingly made of ice. Shots were still echoing in the distance and the thuds of hail as they impaled the few remaining soldiers on either side. Victory tarnished the air, but a sigh of relief did not escape her lips.

Dai's eyes opened. The alarm, C60387? Shit. He grimaced, and ran back to Briggs. Higher ground. Good idea. He was glad that he'd chosen to wear these boots today, that was for sure... As soon as he reached the wall, and knelt down by his feet. He clicked his left hand several times, before ripping the fake soles off of his shoes, revealing the metal beneath. He grinned, and transmuted the steel, so that it was magnetised. There were several pipes that ran up the side of Briggs, and Dai was after one of them. He ran for it, and jumped onto it, the magnetised metal connecting the two. He ran up it, no time to smile, every step he took would've slightly drained the mangetic strength of his shoes...

Each step clanged against the steel, and each breath was ragged. That's when it happened, and the water streamed out of the Fort. Great. MORE obstacles. Daigoro kept on running, and looked over his shoulder, just in time to see the water beginning to stream out of the Fort. He shouted out, as the run became literally vertical. Almost... There... Dai grabbed the edge, and vaulted himself onto the roof, rolling over and puffing, looking around, and seeing the General standing nearby. He groaned, and rubbed his forehead. No. He just stayed on his back, heavily breathing, chest rising up and down.

When he had finally gotten some of his energy back, he stood up, and turned to Reila with a small smirk.

"Re... mind... me... never... to... do... that... ag... ag... again..." Dai hit the ground, thouroughly drained. His vision began to blur, and suddenly went black. Dai wouldn't be awake for a little while...

Houka grimaced as she was suddenly dragged off the roof just before a dome sealed over it. Why had she been so foolish to attack Xan? Anger? At who? Xan or herself? As they hit the ice stairs Houka began sprinting the wrapped in her pocket. She had just reached Reila's locker when the next order came through. She took a deep breath. This was going to be difficult. "Confirmed." she said into her radio unsheathing her sword and kneeling down with the point just touching the ground. Manipulating the temperature over such a large area would be impossible with just temperature manipulation. However, Houka had her wind ability. Wind began to sweep through the halls of Briggs and around the outside of the fortress. Wind that was icy cold. It helped in reducing the temperature of the fortress. However, she was also manipulating the temperature itself to drop it to much colder then Briggs' normal temperature. SHe focused mostly on the north, but covered as much of Briggs as she could. When she was finished she was exhausted. "Temperature reduced." she gasped through the radio as she entered the combination to the locker.

She took the money and placed in the suitcase before quickly heading through the halls towards Mura's office. She had a bone to pick with him. She was not annoyed that he had betrayed Briggs and joined the enemy for money. No, she was annoyed that he had then attacked Briggs. She kicked open the door to his office sword in one hand and suitcase in the other. She saw him sitting there at his desk and she glared before throwing the suitcase onto the desk, manipulating the wind to open the clasps just as it hit the desk so it landed open in front of him. "There's your money." she whispered. Everything from her tone of voice to the way she was standing showed she was angry, though she knew she could not handle Mura. He was too strong. "I thought our friendship might mean more to you then money. I guess I was wrong." It was then that she heard the alarm. Fortunately, they were high anyway. So that was Reila's plan. Flood and freeze the bombs so they couldn't explode. A clever tactic. Still it wouldn't of worked half as well if Houka had not been able to pull off reducing the temperature of all of Briggs. Houka felt she might be promoted after this. She had shown leadership, power and skill beyond that of a mere captain.