Major Armstrong
Legacy Name: Major Armstrong

"All of you have been summoned here so you can bring victory to Amestris,” King Bradley began. “You are to leave no one alive. Spare no one - - not even the women or children. If you let anyone live, they will only come back and kill us. You will begin at 0800 tomorrow."

King Bradley looked over the group. All of them looked grave at being told they would have to kill women and children -- all except for one man. He was the Crimson Alchemist, Solf J. Kimblee. King Bradley's eyes lingered on Kimblee for a few more moments. "At ease," he finally said as he left them.

How can he order us to do this? It goes against the very purpose of alchemy! It isn't a weapon to be used to kill people; it's a tool be help people! What reason could Bradley have to order us to kill mere women and children? Armstrong thought furiously to himself.

But what could he do? If he was to disobey, he'd be punished and the rest of the alchemists would kill the innocent Ishbalans. If he followed orders, he would have to do the killing. No matter what he did, they would have to die.

No, there has to be another way.

Armstrong had a restless night of tossing and turning. Despite all of his efforts, he couldn't think of a solution.

0800 finally arrived. Armstrong and the other alchemists charged into the battle field. The Ishbalans were fleeing and screaming for mercy. One by one, they were silenced.

Eventually, a group of several families came running in his direction. He used alchemy to create a wall to block their path. He heard children crying from the other side.

He couldn't take it. Armstrong started punching the wall he made with his customized gauntlets. The transmutation circle etched on them allowed him to use alchemy without constantly having to draw a transmutation circle.

But before he could create a big enough gap for the people to escape through, one of his fellow alchemists showed up. It was the Crimson Alchemist.

"Good job rounding them up, Armstrong! This makes it so much easier to kill them all at once," he said as he passed Armstrong and went through the opening in the wall he had just created.

Moments after Kimblee passed through the wall, Armstrong could hear the Ishbalan people scream in terror. Their screams were followed by several explosions and the splatter of blood. Soon, only Kimblee's cold laugh remained. He rejoiced at using his alchemy to create explosives from anything. His specialty was turning any person into a ticking time bomb.

Kimblee passed through the opening one more time. He placed his hand on Armstrong's shoulder as he said, "I couldn't have done that without your help." He then shot Armstrong a menacing grin and walked off, no doubt looking for his next victims.Armstrong stood, completely motionless.

I ... I helped kill those people. I am a murderer.

Armstrong didn't move all day. He just stood in that same spot, reliving that travesty he helped make possible as tears rolled down his cheeks.

"Armstrong? Is that you?" a soldier called out.

Armstrong looked up to see who was calling him. It was Maes Hughes, an old friend of his since childhood. Hughes surveyed his friend.

"We need to get you outta here. We both know this isn't the place for you."

Armstrong just continued to stand there as Hughes spoke.

"Look, you and I both know that something is up within the military. There is no good reason why Bradley would order the total massacre of the Ishabalan people. So I want to ask you for your help."

"Help with what?" Armstrong asked, his curiosity rising.

"Help me change things, from the inside out."

Credit:
Minion overlay by User not found: sphinx
Armstrong in uniform from Hobby Chaos.
Armstrong shirtless from Anime Holic.
Profile by Reekoh
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