42 Chapter 2 : Ishval Civil War

Amestris is a unitary state under the rule of a parliamentary republic, though it is unknown whether it's bi-cameral or unicameral. What is known is that, since the formation of Amestris, the parliament has been used as a mere facade to distract from a more authoritarian regime, as the government appears to be almost completely centralized by the military.

Ishval is a region os Southeastern Amestris 

on the border of the Eastern Desert.

Existing in Amestris' relatively barren frontier and just shy of the Great Desert separating the western and eastern nations of the continent, Ishval is a rather harsh land made of little more than rocks and sand; it has no significant natural resources and very little farmable land, which likely accounts for the strict codes of conduct and sense of resilience adopted by its inhabitants.

The people of Ishval had clashed several times with the central government of greater Amestris in the past and had been annexed to a region in the southeast of the nation, near the Eastern Desert.

Though religious and cultural tensions continued between Ishvalans and Amestrians, relative peace had been achieved between the two until 1901, when an Amestrian soldier "accidentally" shot and killed an Ishvalan child. 

The area exploded in a storm of riots and protests until the situation had become an all-out civil war, causing massive casualties on both sides.

Though the Amestrian Military had the Ishvalans outnumbered by far, Ishvalan rebels were able to keep the conflict going due to a steady supply of munitions from the neighboring country of Aerugo, which aided the rebels in order to weaken Amestris' southern border for their own gains.

The fighting continued to spread until the entire East Area of Amestris had become a war zone. In 1908, a full seven years since the conflict had begun, Amestrian Führer King Bradley issued Order 3066, sending State Alchemists into the front lines to act as human weapons. This decision decisively, and horrifically.

Night of November 7, 1908, In a small town north of Ishval, burnt corpses were lying on the ground as military cars drove through the streets, the smell of blood and burnt bodies circulated throughout the town thanks to the dry, cold desert wind.

In one of the piles of corpses a young man dressed in a rather dirty Ishval outfit suddenly appeared.

He was at first unconscious and then suddenly opened his eyes a few seconds later.

*Yuk* *bouah* *Cough*

The youngster who had just woken up then vomited the next instant before coughing and then pinched his nose with his fingers while trying to cover his ears with his elbows.

"It's torture! My nose!!"

Then he vomited again.

His eyes itched, his skin felt the temperature excessively, all his senses were so overdeveloped that it was torture for him.

[Confronting a Army]

*Click*

James suddenly heard the click of a gun's trigger and without hesitation he rolled on the ground dodging a bullet hitting his home position.

He quickly got up from the ground and looked back and saw two soldiers in blue military dress each carrying a machine gun strapped around their chests, one of them holding a handgun in his right hand while aiming at James.

"You missed him, let me do it." Said the other soldier as he drew his sidearm and aimed at James.

James, although slightly weakened by the sudden increase in his senses, took one step, then a second and appeared almost instantly behind the two soldiers and knocked them out.

But because of this action a message from Survival World appeared before him.

[It was detected that the traveler James has attacked the Amestris camp, so he's joining the Ishval camp by default]

[Task: Survive and fight the army of Amestris.]

"Asmestris? Ishval? Full metal Alchemist!!!"

When James was given the task, he suddenly felt like insulting the father and mother of Survival World, in the Full Metal Alchemist animation the Ishvals were almost all massacred or turned into philosopher's stones!

Amestris' army had many soldiers, it was well equipped and had alchemists with philosopher's stone, fighting them was no joke, the best example was Solf J. Kimblee who could literally annihilate a city on his own.

"And why say I've chosen a side, I'm dressed like an Ishval, I woke up on ishval's corpses, if those soldiers hadn't mistaken me for an Ishval it would have surprised me!"

"I heard gunshots farther away!"

"Shit John and Harold are down!"

James saw a patrol of four soldiers running towards him as they drew their machine gun.

"I've got to get out of this town.."

And without hesitation James flees to the southeast.

He ran at full speed through the streets of the city trying to find his way as best he could, but a problem soon made him stop in an alley.

"My stamina has returned to that of a normal person."

he was tired.