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Stalin continued to follow Ed's story carefully, while Goncharov and Natalya stared at him, confused. In time, he finished his detailing of Amestris, alchemy and his adventures, ignoring a few important parts such as his brother's return.

"I see... so in Amestris there are two soldiers who are identical to those standing beside you?"

Edward nodded.

"Hmm..." Stalin wandered about the room, thinking over all that the man before him had said, before reaching a decision, punctuated by a sharp intake of breath.

"I have a task for you, Mister Elric."

Edward raised an eyebrow, unsure of whether to accept anything from the man before him.

"What would this task be, Premier Stalin?"

"Investigate the Thule Society's work and communicate with Amestris. I want to open negotiations."

Edward double-turned. His anonymity had always been his greatest asset to ensure that their task, to prevent the weapon from being developed or used for evil, would be completed, but here he was, standing before the man who at the moment was one of, if not the most powerful in the world.

An opportunity, maybe? A chance to return home? A chance to make sure this world returned to the light?

He turned it over, considering it. If the NKVD knew about him, there was almost no way to escape their influence. He exhaled, accepting that he was already too far into this to turn away.

"I accept."

"I knew you would." Stalin continued to puff away at the pipe. "Our first ambassador to Amestris..." He chuckled to himself.

"Then go, Mr. Elric, and find what you can. You are now under the wing of the Soviet Foreign Service, reporting directly to me, and only to me."

Edward nodded. "Thank you, Comrade Premier."

He was nothing if not a quick learner.

"As for you two, you are both seconded to him as of this moment. The 13th Guards Rifle division will not be fighting in Manchuria at any rate."

The two both saluted. "Yes, Comrade Premier!"

"Then go, Fullmetal Alchemist, and talk to your country-men."

The trio alternately bowed and saluted, leaving the Kremlin with their orders, heading for the airbase.

Beria emerged from the shadows, mulling over the Fullmetal Alchemist. An interesting figure for his NKVD, he decided.

Too interesting.

**

"This is Marshall Zhukov. All German troops across the city, stand down. The Red Flag flies above your Reichstag! Cease this mindless blood-shed, give up your arms and surrender. We promise you fair treatment."

The loudspeaker played out the message yet again as dawn broke over Berlin.

Winry stirred, looking at Falman, Breda, Havoc and Sciezka who were all still sleeping calmly. The message was almost lyrical. Peace... this time yesterday, they had been enjoying it, but even one day of war had left them all shattered, and the prospects of it left them all elated.

Hughes brought down what passed for this morning's coffee: Boiled water with some herbs from a nearby garden. They drank it all the same, content to have something warm to fight the frigid air of the cellar. They had largely been ignoring the other refugees, but later noticed the man who resembled Fuhrer Bradley, and Noah. Though they had all talked a little about their heritage to those few who would believe them, conversation was kept to a minimum.

"I'm going to go and see what's happening at the Reichstag" Hughes uttered. Winry quickly offered to accompany him, and he accepted, having determined her feelings towards his closest friend yesterday.

She changed into plain clothes, to make sure she wouldn't stand out, and followed him into the sewers once more.

**

Mustang emerged from the office, ejecting the six spent cartridges from the revolver.

"You didn't have to kill him!"

He handed Riza the empty revolver, before picking up a photograph he had recovered from the soldier in the hall and showed it to her.

It made her gag.

"He needed to die, Riza: This photo was signed by him. He was just as evil as Bradley."

The aides and other inhabitants of the bunker cowered in the corner, kept under close watch by Hawkeye as she recovered her stomach.

Tramping could be heard as troops made their way down the passage, and Riza quickly turned her gaze to the door, before seeing the same troops they had seen attacking the building outside enter. Taking stock of the situation inside, one of the soldiers walked over to them.

"Polkovnik Goncharov, we will watch over this lot. You should return to the surface sir, it's... quite a sight." The soldier spoke fluent Amestrian it would seem.

Mustang realised that being mistaken for someone else, they had an opportunity to escape questions.

But before they went...

"Oh and... you might want to have a look at the Fuhrer's corpse. Looks like the coward shot himself."

"I will, sir, and I'll get the radio operators here to start broadcasting the news." They made their way to the surface, doing their best to avoid drawing attention to themselves.

The soldier looked surprised. He had only been trying it out to make sure it wasn't too bad, but the Polkovnik spoke fluent German it would seem.