Raining Fire

Fullmetal Alchemist meets ODST

0600 hours, aboard the UNSC In Amber Clad, low earth orbit.

There was yelling…always yelling. This annoyed Val the most. Val opened his eyes and saw nothing through the frigid air and lid of his cryo-pod. Suddenly the interior lights snapped on and the lid opened. As Val's hearing slowly came back he heard klaxons blaring loudly. Less than five minutes later Val was sprinting through the hallways of the Amber towards the armory. Val quickly grabbed his armor and began putting it on, once all his seals were secure he grabbed his weapons. Strapping two M7S submachine guns to the mag-pad on his lower back, the M6C/Socom pistol to his side and finally his favorite, the S2AM Sniper rifle across his back. Val sprinted into the briefing room for his squad just as his commander was beginning.

"Alright…There's a covenant flagship out there with a prophet on it. A team has already been deployed to hit the carrier we are going in ne…." The commander was cut off by a loud boom and several more alarms

"All hands prepare for slipspace jump!" the intercom blared

"What?!" the commander yelled before the ship lurched sending everyone flying.

"one minute until jump!" the intercom blared.

"Pods now! We're jumping before that!" Val raced to his pod and quickly strapped all his weapons in before strapping in and slamming the hatch shut.

"Jump in fifteen seconds!" the intercom blared

"Launch, launch, launch!" Val's commander yelled and Val slammed his fist into the launch button before the feeling of freefall rushed to meet him.

"We have to clear the rupture zone!" Val's squad mate Jack yelled. As soon as Jack finished his sentence Val's hair stood on end as the UNSC In Amber Clad made its slipspace jump.

"We're too close!" Val's commander Avery yelled. That was the last thing Val heard before the rapidly approaching rupture reached Val's SOEIV and the force wrenched his consciousness from him.

Unknown planet, unknown date, 2200 hours

Val woke slowly there was a constant beeping noise emanating form outside his helmet, he looked out his pods windows but saw nothing but darkness, when he looked to find the source of the beeping he noticed one of his displays was still active, and showing that the pod was up against some sort of object. Val slowly realized he must have his a building or crashed through the street. Val hit the emergency start up and three monitors blazed to life. Val realized the pod was buried in something, Val keyed up the command for his maneuvering thrusters and found they still had fuel. He gripped the control stick and squeezed the trigger firing the jets. The temperature around the pod increased dramatically as the jets singed the dirt and his pod moved upwards slightly. Val gave the controls a jerk and the pod tilted backwards before firing out of the ground. Val caught a brief look at a green landscape before a jet malfunctioned sending him into a spin. The pod hit the ground and kept spinning until it ran out of fuel. The pod now rested on its back with Val looking up into a night sky. Val hit the triggers that would open the pod door but they were jammed. Val then tried to hit the emergency release buttons but the door only lifted about an inch.

"Great…now the hard way…" Val thought as he began to kick at the window in front of him.

Griffin

Griffin was walking along the stone wall outside his house when a loud explosion caused him to jump and fall off. When griffin looked up seven streaks of fire shot across the sky and landed with booms in the forest behind his farm. Several more tore off in all directions. Griffin, awestruck ran towards where the objects landed. When Griffin got to where he thought the objects were he didn't see anything, then suddenly a black shape trailing flame shot straight into the air before spinning wildly and crashing into the ground several hundred feet away. When Griffin reached the shape again he heard a muffled thumping sound coming from inside it. The shape looked like a large rock with a polished mirror on the front, the grass around the object was burnt and blackened. Griffin slowly approached the object and reached out to touch the side suddenly a loud bang caused griffin to turn and run for cover behind some rocks as the mirror on the front of the object shot into the air and landed with a thump. Terrified Griffin watched from behind his cover of rocks as something began to move.

Val

Val continued kicking the glass when suddenly the explosive release went off and the cover of his pod shot into the air and landed next to the pod. Val groaned before unlatching himself and slowly standing up. Val poked his head out of the pod and looked around seeing an unfamiliar landscape.

"I must have been dragged to this planet by the rupture…how my pod made it through slipspace is confusing though." Val thought as he stood and began gathering his equipment. After Val had strapped his equipment on he tapped the side of his helmet activating his VISR system and night vision. Val pulled his sniper rifle out last and kept it ready in case the covenant found him. After taking a quick look around Val keyed his mike

" Echo squad respond, Echo squad respond. " Val called

"Echo squad confirm…" said a disgruntled voice

"Identify yourself…" Val said back

"It's Will…My pod is a little jammed and all I can see is dirt can you help me out?"

"On my way Will… nice to hear a friendly voice… and wait to you see where we landed…" Val tracked Will's signature on his radar until he found a drop pod sitting face down on the ground engines smoking.

"Will…you're flat on the ground I cant move your pod alone…" Val said

"Get back let me try my jets." Will said. Val hurried away and the jets fired but only succeeded in rolling the pod halfway over. Will could now see Val standing looking at him.

"Might wanna move Val…" Will said before punching he emergency release on his pod. Val sidestepped the flying window and looked towards will who was retrieving his equipment.

"Echo squad confirm…this is Jack." a voice suddenly said in Val's helmet.

"Alright Jack setting a beacon on my current location. Within ten minutes Jack reached Val and Will.

"Well that's three down four to go…" Jack said

"Wait…shh" Will said

"What?" Jack asked

"Contact!" Val yelled and wheeled around bringing his sniper to bear on a pile of rocks behind them. Jack and Will both trained their weapons on the pile, Will had a DMR and Jack had a BR55 Battle Rifle. Val saw a red dot move on his radar just behind the rocks, the dot looked as if it were attempting to run away. Val keyed his mike

"Show yourself! Or we will fire!" at this the red dot stopped and slowly made its way back towards the group.

"D…don't hurt me!" a small voice cried from behind the rocks.

Griffin

"D…don't hurt me!" griffin yelled from behind his hiding place. He had never seen things like these creatures before…they were like people but bigger and had reflective faces. When Val had heard a voice from the group that had previously just stared at each other.

"Show yourself!" the voice yelled again. The voice sounded weird…metallic and almost as if over the phone. Griffin slowly peeked his head at the three figures on the other side of the rocks. They all had strange looking weapons that Griffin assumed were guns pointed at him. Griffin put his hands over his head and walked out from behind his hiding spot. At once the three figures stopped pointing their weapons at him and one began to approach him. The figure was at least two times Griffins height and its reflective face scared him. The figure squatted in front of Griffin and the reflective face flashed green before fading and revealing a human face behind it. Griffin yelled in surprise and fright and took off running for the forest leaving the strange man behind.

Val

"There you go again Will… you scared the kid." Jack joked

"There was something weird about that kid guys… did you see his clothes? He looked like he was from the early 19th century." Will said

"Also no satellite uplinks and all the outer colonies were glassed so I don't know where we are…" Jack mentioned.

"Then we follow him and find out where we are" Val said "We'll leave a trail of beacons for our squad mates to follow if they find us." With that the trio set off in the direction the kid had ran. After about fifteen minutes of walking they reached the edge of a town.

"I don't think we're in Kansas anymore guys." Jack said

"I thought you were from Mars Jack" Val said.

"Shut…up" Will snapped. The town was from a long off era with farms all around, and candles in the windows. Several buildings had what appeared to be electricity but not all.

"We've got company…" Val said as he noticed a small group of townspeople approaching. Val, Will, and Jack began walking towards the villagers but when they were about halfway there the villagers stopped and one man walked forward. The man was dressed in a brown coat and held no obvious weapons, not taking any chances Val slung his sniper across his shoulder and depolarized his faceplate.

"Hello there." Val called the man stood silently mouth slightly agape looking at him.

"We mean you no harm…" Will yelled from behind Val.

"W…What are you?" the man asked

"We're ODST's…" Jack said expecting the villagers to react

"What is an ODST?" the man asked

"We are soldiers, and we are wondering where we are and if you have seen anyone else like us." this seemed to get a reaction from the man.

"Soldiers eh…you don't look like soldiers…where's your uniforms? The man asked disbelievingly

"These are our uniforms…" Val said

"Are you state alchemists then?" the man asked

"What is a state alchemist?" Val asked

"How do you not know? Are you not from here?" another man yelled

"No we are not. Me and my squad crashed here… now where are we?" Val demanded

"You are in the outskirts of central."

"What is central?" Jack asked

"Our capital…" the man said

"what's the fastest way there?" Val asked

"Train probably… another voice said

"When does it leave?" Val asked.

0400 Hours Unknown planet 2552

Val watched the sunrise…something he had never done before. It was an awe inspiring sight. After the sun had peeked up he returned to watching the small trail leading into the town. Nobody had come to bother them at the train station. Val assumed that his squad must have scared them.

"Train spotted…old…dude its running off steam." Will said in Val's comm.

"Great…going to be slow and confusing." Val said

"Hopefully Jack will be back from scavenging the rest of the pods soon" Will said

"Almost done already. Grabbed a bubble a couple jet-packs also I found a special treat for you and Will from the pods. On my way back." Jack said, fifteen minutes later the three ODSTs were waiting on the platform as the train pulled in slowly. The trio approached the train and stood at the door when the conductor opened the door he jumped into the train suddenly.

"What the hell are you?!" the conductor shouted

"Your next passengers…" Val replied.

"D…do you have tickets?" the conductor asked

"No…how much do they cost?"

"For central? One dollar." the conductor said

"The last time dollars were used was 2200...you've got to be kidding me…" Will said.

"Can we pay you any other way?" Val asked.

"No."

"How about this?" Val says unsheathing his combat knife. "this should be worth a lot of money here." The conductor jumps in surprise

"Y…yes that's a very fine knife…I suppose this will pay for three." The ODSTs boarded the train and took a booth. The seating was awkward due to the bulky armor each was wearing.

"First watch on Jack…I'm going to take a C-nap wake me up when its my watch." Will said as he propped his helmet on the glass and fell asleep. Val thought about it before slowly drifting off into a light sleep.

"Val…trouble!" the internal speakers in Val's helmet said.

"Why the private channel Jack?" Val asked

"Two guys just entered the car, they are looking pretty suspicious one has a bulky object in his left forward pocket."

"Weapon?" Val asked

"Possibly want to check?" Jack asked

"How?"

"Remember when I said I rescued a surprise from the pods. A supply pod fell with us. It had all the nifty new toys ONI has been working on. Just us and the Spartans get them. I grabbed you a fun one." Jack handed Val a small black rectangle that fit into the power slot on Val's back.

"What's it do?" Val asked

"Turn it on and find out." Val keyed the command for his suits expansion where the armor ability was located. Val faded from view and quickly blended in with the seat behind him.

"Active camo…Nice" Val said as he slipped out of the booth and down the train car to the seat behind the two suspicious men. Val saw that the man clearly had a gun in his pocket that Val's directory couldn't identify. Suddenly the man sprung up and shouted

"Alright everyone hands up!"

"You've had the misfortune of meeting the Bloody Suns gang!" the second one shouted and the train came to a screeching halt.

"Now this train isn't going anywhere as our gang is…liberating it." The first man said.

"Will, Jack do you have any more camos?" Val asked through a private channel.

"Of course we're stealthed and in tac positions back left and right of the car."

"Alright on the count of three, don't break stealth but take care of the two at the back."

"One…Two…Three!" Val yelled and slipped out of the seat. He flicked his hand upwards and knocked the gun out of the first mans hand. He then punched the man in the ribs and threw him to the ground. The second man shouted in surprise and tried to level his gun Val grabbed his gun and disarmed him. Val's Camo flickered and failed due to the incompatibility of the gun. Val heard the shocked gasps and cries of several other passengers that until now had not known of Val's squad. Will and Jack dropped their camo and joined Val.

"Attention passengers remain calm we will deal with this gang and you will all reach your destination safely." suddenly gunshots rang out from the car in front of them and all three drew their weapons. Val threw the door to the next car open and fire a quick burst from his submachine gun. The first man in the car fell and his gun went off and screams erupted. Bullets hit the wall next to Val's head and the trio dove behind different seats before returning fire. They moved forwards slowly clearing the car. Before moving to the next one. In this car there were only two men and both were dispatched quickly as Val's team swept through the cars. When they reached the next car they saw three men in blue uniforms engaged in a gunfight with the gang. Val's squad killed two of the three men and flashed the blue dressed men a couple of hand signals for friendly and they moved forward clearing the car. After the car was clear Val addressed the three men in blue.

"Are you some sort of police force?" Val asked

"We're soldiers…also thanks for helping use…but what exactly are you three?"

"We're soldiers as well…but not form around here." Val answered

"I can tell your weapons are…phenomenal they barely make any noise when you fire them." the soldier said.

"Are you guys from outer space or something?" A soldier in the back yelled.

"How did you know?" Jack said sarcastically.

"Yes and no…We are human if that's what you're asking but yes we are from space." To prove his point Val depolarized his visor to show his face.

"What are you guys wearing then?" the third soldier asked

"Mk V combat armor, G rated and updated with VISR and an oxygen supply for fifteen minutes. Also with integrated combat ability systems rated for up to four expansions." Will said

"Its armor that allows us to see in the dark and breathe if there's no air." Val says.

"That's amazing." the soldiers said.

"What are your ranks?"

"Corporal"

"Sergeant"

"Corporal grade two"

"Alright well this is Gunnery Sergeant Will, Gunnery Sergeant Jack, and I'm Lt. Val." The three soldiers immediately snapped to attention

"Until this little…hostile takeover ends I'm taking you under my command is that understood?"

"Yes sir!" the three soldiers yelled.

"Alright what I want you three to do is go check on and secure the passengers in the cars behind us. We will secure the train cars ahead." Val said.

"yes sir!" the three soldiers departed and ran to the previous cars. The three ODSTs moved forward. In the next car there was only one man but he was the largest man Val had seen yet. He had a strange tattoo branded on his arms and chest. He turned the second Val and his squad entered. The man yelled and pulled what seemed to be a rocket launcher from behind his back. He took aim and fired a shot at the squad. Val ducked out of the way as Will slammed his fist down and activated his bubble shield. The blast hit the blue dome of energy and exploded destroying multiple seats around them.

"This is going to be a problem." Jack said as the shield collapsed and the man loosed another shot. As the man fired his second shot the train began moving and it was picking up speed fast. Val began firing at the man but he ducked behind cover. Suddenly the man dropped to one knee and placed his hands on the ground. The seats next to Will exploded and took the form of a fist sending him crashing into a wall. Jack loosed several shots of his Battle Rifle at the man but the floor came up and created a Wall between them.

"Big problem…mister magician over here is controlling the freaking train!" Will yelled

"Not for long…" Val said as he grabbed his sniper rifle. Val rolled out of cover got up on one knee and took aim. There was a deafening shot as Val fired the massive sniper rifle at the man. The bullet tore through the metal wall and continued through the man as well.

"Will someone explain what the hell that was?" Jack said aloud.

"I believe I can…" a voice said from seemingly nowhere. Suddenly another man in a blue uniform stepped out from behind a seat. "That was an alchemist…but the real question is what are you?"

"We're orbital drop shock troopers." Will said

"What is that?" the man asked

"We're from very far away and we're very unhappy about being shot at. And from what you saw happen to mister magic hands over there we would like an explanation now." Val said coldly

"Jeez…ok. Well first my name is Markus, Captain Markus to be exact, and the man you just killed is a wanted alchemist. Because you seem to not know what that means…he is able to use alchemy. Alchemy is the art of turning one thing into another. He used the materials of the seats and floor to change their shape." Markus said. As he finished the trio snapped a hasty salute

"Excuse me sir but how is that possible?" Val asked

"Through transmutation circles." Markus replied. As Markus finished screams came from the next car forward followed by gunfire.

"Pardon me sir but we are more equipped to handle this situation, as the only commanding officer you should check on your men in the previous cars." Jack said

"That's no way for an officer to fight! If there is gunfire that means my men are in there…and if you refer to me as the commanding officer I must be a higher rank than you so I choose to come with you." Markus said

"Alright then…your funeral." Will said. Val and will rushed to the door and Val kicked his way through it while firing in short bursts. Less than two minutes later the car is clear and four more soldiers have joined the group.

"The next car is the engine car our three friends here will go first as they are unknown by our enemy and incredulously good fighters."

"Yes sir!" Val, Will, and Jack said. Val switched on his private com with his teammates

"Will I want you to set up a bubble right in front of the door I have a feeling there's going to be some fire coming." As the three race into position the other troops take cover in various parts of the train. Will activates his shield and Val kicks the door open at the same time. Gunfire erupts through the door and straight into the shield with Val standing directly behind it. Val let loose a small chuckle before rushing through the door and dispatching three men before the fourth could blink. Val disarmed the man and pinned him against the floor. Val switched his suits language translator to the very garbled version of Sanghelli and yelled at the man until his eyes dilated in fear. Val's com immediately broke out in laughter

"That guy almost shit himself Val!" Jack yelled as he laughed

"Yes…yes he did." Val said with a small chuckle

Onyx Shield World, Gamma company

"Run!" somebody screamed as explosions tore through the compound.

"What's attacking us?!" Alek yelled over the sound of explosions.

"No idea!" his squad mate Clair yelled.

"Ingris squad form up!" Alek yelled as the three other Spartan III's in his group assembled. "We're under attack hurry to the armor centers and get geared up." The squad took off running through the building. Suddenly a swarm of floating robots tore through a hallway past them firing lasers into a group of marines. Ingris squad reached the armory and to their dismay saw half of it was destroyed by a collapsed roof.

"Armor up an scrounge what you can!" Alek yelled to his squad.

"Ingris squad I recommend you evacuate to the nearest orbiting carrier. Your squad is a valuable military asset." The compound's AI Leonardo said.

"Leonardo there's no time, Activate scuttling programs. Wipe all internal mainframes and download yourself into my armor." Alek yelled

"Yes Spartan D267 Alek" Alek rushed to his armor stand and stood still as the laser measurements took his body lengths.

"Actually sir if I may. We have four functioning MJOLNIR VI suits capable of powering combat extensions and shield generators. These can be fitted to your squad." Leonardo chimed in his calm tone.

"Do it!" Alek yelled and the armor systems rose from the floor and began assembling themselves on their bodies.

"Alek where did we get clearance for this armor?" Another of Alek's squadmate Ben asked.

"This is an emergency situation and you are one of two surviving Spartan III squads on planet." Leonardo said with an almost cheerful expression.

"Ingris we move out now. We are getting off planet now! Grab as much equipment as you can carry. Then fill a crate or two and hurry to a pelican." Alek's squad ran in all different directions shoving entire shelves into crates.

"Alek these suits have strength upgrades almost twice as good as our last ones." Alek's final squadmate Kara said.

"Then grab more!" Alek yelled as he hefted several crates into his arms and started moving toward the door. Several minutes later Alek's squad were sprinting towards a pelican. Gunfire erupted around them as marines were mercilessly destroyed by the floating robots. Alek jumped into the pilots chair and fired up the pelican. Alek angled the pelican almost straight up and gunned the engines as fast as they could go.

"Hold on everybody!" Alek yelled as the G-forces pinned him to his seat.

"Sir may I recommend a shallower angle of ascent. Our current angle will waste fuel and created over extensive G-force damage." Leonardo said

"Quiet Leonardo!" Alek grunted as the pelican broke through the outer atmosphere. As the pelican sped towards the nearest frigate a beam of intense light shot off the planet and impacted the frigate. The frigate exploded into a ball of fire and floated lazily away leaking flaming gas and superheated metal.

"And….that was our ride…" Clair joked.

"Sir…" Leonardo began.

"Not now Leonardo.

"But sir slipspace ruptures detected." Leonardo said.

"What!? Where?" Ben asked

"Several covenant signatures detected." Leonardo said

"And we're screwed." Kara mumbled

"Leonardo shut everything down go dark we're small enough not to be noticed." Alek said quickly. The pelican floated through the wreckage of the UNSC Shadowed Flight. Alek suddenly saw a group of pelicans latched to the side also in the dark.

"Good somebody survived." Alek said aloud. Alek let his thought calm until Leonardo blared in his and the others coms

"Slipspace rupture and nuclear detonation detected. Location Core of planet warning the ensuing blast will reach us in thirty four seconds. Thirty-three. Thirty-two.

"Leonardo!" Alek yelled pulling the pelican out of the dark and gunning the engines. The other pelicans saw this and followed suit. Suddenly a squad of seraph's broke free and came after the group of pelicans.

"Pelican squad detach we'll take them!" Alek yelled in the com to the other pilots.

"who are you?" the pilot asked

"Spartans!" Alek said before opening fire at the squad. The lead seraph took several hits before exploding and crashing into another one.

"Sir seven seconds to impact." Leonardo said

"Everyone hold on!" Alek yelled

"Three….two…one!" There was a deafening roar and the seraph squad disappeared replaced by the brief nothingness of slipspace before fire overtook the windows.

"What is going on?!" Alek yelled

"Planetary re-entry" Leonardo quipped.

"Great! We jumped into an atmosphere." Alek said through gritted teeth before yanking the pelican out of its dive. The pelican broke through a thick cloud bank and saw the giant pieces left of the UNSC Shadowed Flight falling around them.

"Warning EMP has disabled maneuvering thrusters and power is draining from other systems." Leonardo said as his hologram appeared on a pedestal.

"You guys remember how to have fun when we "land" difficultly?" Alek joked

"Now we're crashing!?" Ben yelled

"Well you spoiled the surprise…hold on to something." Alek yelled as the ground came into view. Alek yanked the controls up pulling the pelican into a gliding descent.

"Thank you for flying explosive airlines now if you could please place your head between you legs and kiss your ass goodbye." Alek said as the ground rushed up to meet them.

"Impact in t-minus fifteen seconds." Leonardo blurted

"Lock your armor!" Kara yelled. The resulting crash was none to comfortable for the four Spartans. Alek slammed into the cockpits glass window cracking it and the other Spartans were jostled between crates of weapons and each other.

"We have come to a full stop please remove your seat belts and drag yourself out of the pelican." Alek groaned

"Caution falling debris will impact a two kilometer range for the next fifteen seconds." Leonardo quipped. Several loud booms accompanied this.

"Well time to get to work…" Ben said as he punched the hatch open. The Spartans grabbed all the gear they could carry.

"Sir UNSC signatures detected on planet." Leonardo said

"What planet?" Alek asked

"Unknown planet… jump data scrambled. The jump exit in not in the known galactic map." Leonardo said

"We're outside our galaxy?" Kara asked

"No we are likely stuck in a parallel slipstream bubble of quantum loop pocket." Leonardo said

"English please!" Ben yelled

"We're most likely in what you would call a parallel universe." Leonardo said with enthusiasm "if only we had packed scientific equipment."

"Well…shit." Alek said.

And here I am back from my cold lonely grave. I planned an earlier Halo story but it fell through and was never completed. So hope you like this one. Please comment I love feedback. XDreizehnX