Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue

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Roy Mustang sat in his office, regarding his brand new chess board with deep concentration. It had been a present for his recent success in capturing a wanted military criminal from General Grumman, his first lieutenant's grandfather. It was obviously handcrafted, the work of a true artist, its marble setting and equally beautiful glass pieces giving it an elegant appearance. It was common knowledge that he loved the game, especially when played against Hawkeye's grandfather, but very few people knew why he enjoyed it so much. Almost no one knew his real reason as to why he was so partial to this game in particular.

To him, it was so obvious, it made him laugh.

When he played, his entire life became a chess game. From start to finish, he viewed all of his pieces as his men and all of his opponent's as his enemies. The board became a battlefield and the game became a war. It wasn't just for fun to Roy. It was practice for what was to come.

He glanced at the edges of the board and considered the first pieces; the rooks, the castles, the sturdy pieces that could only move in straight lines. These were the ones you depended upon to do their jobs as straightforward and militant as possible. In his case, these were also his newest pieces. His side of the board had been built from the inside out, that was for certain.

His rooks were the most recent additions to his personal battle, Major Armstrong and Warrant Officer Falman. Though both were technically under the command of his best friend, Maes Hughes, he could always count on them to do their jobs. They moved forward in a single line and anything in that sight could be brought down.

His knights were Fuery and Breda. Both men did their jobs in completely obscure ways to the outside. In all honesty, if he didn't know them so well, he would probably think that they didn't belong in the military. Most people thought that, he knew.

Like the pieces he had named for them, Fuery and Breda both moved around their job and danger in ways that could only be predicted by he one moving the pieces. They had options and strategies that only they could see, whether it be with radio signals in Fuery's case or with games in Breda's.

The bishops of his game were undoubtedly Maes Hughes and Jean Havoc. These two were very different but they really did have similar methods when you really looked at the game. They moved diagonally, making leaps in judgment and understanding evidence that all of the other pieces could only stare at, open mouthed and amazed. They, too, moved in a straight, by-the-book way but theirs was a path that they made by jumping along tiles of one color instead of following the typical course of straight lines and repeated patterns.

And lastly, came his queen, Riza Hawkeye. She was sealed to her piece by everything she did. She could move in any direction to protect the king at any cost. She was to feared and admired. Kept in the ranks as long as possible, she struck with a vengeance that couldn't be rivaled. Those dumb enough to go for the king before taking out his queen were almost always eliminated from the game by her hands. If he was captured, she would lose her purpose and fail her mission.

For these reasons, she was the most important member of the game. With her still in play, it was near impossible for him to lose.

All of this business with the philosopher's stone was unraveling a mystery that had seemingly come from no where. It was a new game with an unknown challenger but Roy Mustang was ready. He had been waiting and setting up his pieces carefully for years.

When the time came for his move, they enemy wouldn't know what had hit them.

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