Digging Up Dirt On The Politician, Tannheuser goes political...sort of

[Omega]

This got Wes to get nervous. He knew this would put many money restraints on West now, maybe even some cut-backs. And if that happened, it was possibly Skye would have to fire some people. Even if Wes was one of her state alchemists, that didn't mean he was safe. He could lose his job and funding he needed. No money meant that he couldn't propose to his girlfriend Ariela. No money also meant he'd still have to live with the Manons and have to deal with the questions of 'are you doing anything with Ariela...like...more then just boyfriend and girlfriend' type of questions form Marta, Marlin, Cole, and the rest.

"So is there anything that could help get our funding back Brigader General?" Wes asked as he managed to get some asprien for his boss.

[Styx]

"I plan on cutting off the protocol Central wants us to do without that money," Skye told Wes in a very stern response. "In other words, instead of cramping everyone around us, I've already spoken with the Magnus and Agrippa families; they're both willing to invest in a certain motion I dread to unleash, but we've got no other choice." She gave a sigh, her palm in her face. "Johnson, you might want to ask your loved ones to move down here, or simply get out of the west. We're going to secede." Yes, he heard her right; the western poriton of Amestris was joining together for secession.

"We've been Central's breadbasket for decades; most of the crops for all of Amestris come from out here, and we've currently got some technical advances from the University of West City that haven't made it out there. Why, I've even signed contracts with physicists to give us an edge. As soon as they cut off our branch of the military's finances, it's as if they're begging us to leave. Well, we'll grant that request, and they'll be the ones to regret it." West Amestris was one of the richest parts of the country, financially and resourcefully, and West City was their rowdy capitol.

[Omega]

Wes looked horrified at this news. Secession? He didn't want to force everyone of the Manons and Hagans to move just because of him. He also didn't want another Civil War to happen because of this. Amestris was already in shambles after Bradley died.

"Can't we negotiate with them?" Wes demanded as he stood up fright. "If you know how much aid we can be to them, then let's just tell them flat out. We don't want this to happen or else...well...we don't know what could happen. I'll try and negotiate for the West if that comes down to it. Skye...let's not resort to this."

[Kitanna]

The click-clacking sound of hard soled shoes echoed on the hard floor as Rebecca Kitborough made her way down the corridor with some papers in hand...and a rather anxious look on her face.

She had one of those feelings in her stomach again...and no, it wasn't a sign that she needed to get to the toilet badly; it was one of those tuggy feelings that kicked in whenever something was up...although for the moment, the twenty-four year old was putting it down to the fact that she was possibly nervous about being back in her work place again, especially after having been absent for a while.

Not only that, but part of that anxiousness was tied in with the fact that her very first revamp experiment had decided to go all the way back to East City.
Jacob Tucker had been a grouch while he was staying with the young lady...but he had been company, and now Rebecca didn't even have that.
' You better look after yourself, Jacob...I don't want to have to bring you back again...' she thought to herself as she finally reached the office door.

Hesistating for a while, if only to compose herself...Rebecca then took a deep breath and knocked on it.

[Styx]

"ENTER!" Tannheuser bellowed in a tone so deep and sonorous that it was quite a disturbing fact someone of that small of stature could get so loud. She was barely over five feet tall, less than a hundred pounds, and yet able to carry her voice so far across the West City headquarters. She wasn't sure who was knocking, but they were bound to get involved in this mess, anyway; there was no avoiding it. Oh, how she hated to think things were going to get worse, but they were. "Johnson, I won't have you tell me how to run this area; Fuhrer Bradley put me in charge of the west for a reason!"

She was so close to the Omega Alchemist that he could smell the faint aroma of alcohol in her breath. Yes, she was angry. Yes, she was thoroughly pissed that this had come to pass, but no; she wouldn't stand down. "I've ALREADY tried to talk sense with Central, and those bastards continue to give us the cold shoulder! When I had the audacity to mention holding back our supplies if they cut down on the number of enlisted parties sent out here, they cut off our funds. This isn't anything new; this is our last resort."

[Omega]

Wes was slowly backing down from Skye's very intimidating stare. "I'll see what I can do. Maybe if I can find this weapon and bring him here...we can convince Central that we are capable of still getting funding. Come on Skye...what have we got to lose? I'll take any responsiblity to try and keep West a part of Amestris. Just let me try..." Wes said, his hands gripping the edge of Skye's desk very hard at this point, only the auto-mail arm was actually digging into her desk.

[Kitanna]

On hearing Skye bellow 'ENTER!' from within the office, Rebecca jumped a little in shock ( she wasn't expecting that!) and ended up fumbling the papers slightly as a few documents slipped out of her grip.

' Aww darn it, thank goodness no one saw me do this...it's bad enough I'm called a softie, but to be called a clutz too...' her thoughts mumbled within her mind as the twenty-four year old tried to reorganize the papers as they were picked up once more.

Once all of the papers were picked up and put in order, Private Kitborough sighed deeply and gingerly opened the door before heading into the office.
" Sorry for barging in like this ma'am, sir" she addressed both Skye and Wes.
" But there's a whole bunch of documents that came from Central today and for some reason, they're all addressed to yo-"

Although her words had trailed off as she had ended up walking in just as Tannheuser told Wes about what had happened with the people in Central.
Which was soon followed by the young man's response...needless to say it didn't sound too good and Central was involved in this somewhere.

' It seems like I came in at a bad time...' Rebecca thought to herself as she just grinned nervously and put the documents on the table.
" Erm...although I'm pretty sure I saw a letter from Eastern in there as well"

[Styx]

Tannheuser bet the East still recieved money from Central, and that only angered the woman further. "I guess the cat's out of the bag. Kitbourough, this morning, I--upon the interest of everyone out here--have talked with the civilian government out here and worked together with them to bring in a letter of secession." Her hazel eyes narrowed on Wes (he'd just put some chips in her mahogany desk). "The damage has already been done. We've severed ourselves from the rest of Amestris. It is up to Central and other posts what happens next."

They wouldn't go down quietly; she had no thoughts on that happening, not in a million years. Sure, she wanted that to be the case, but ideals were for the foolish. She planned to send word to her "eyes and ears" all over the rest of the country, as well as her relatives, asking them to move out west before things got too dangerous. "Sergeant General Lohengrin in South HQ responded; we won't be having any problems in that part of Amestris."

[Omega]

Wes frowned at this, running his fingers through his hair. "Skye...please...let me just try and tell Central this. Everything is going nuts because the Fuherer died and I know seccession is gonna hurt everyone in the end. But let me just try Skye. And if it fails...I'll figure out something." He again, went back to Ariela. He didn't want to move or want everyone he knew to move West just because his employer was thinking it was the right thing to do to leave Amestris.

He looked pleadingly at Skye, hoping, no praying she would say at the very least 'go ahead'.

[Kitanna]

At the words of a secession, Rebecca's eye pupils shrunk as her eyes widened in shock...they were going to be politically seperating from the rest of Amestris?!
But she had a family living in Central!

' But I don't want them to end up moving over to here...the weather's much too hot for my little sister and dog to cope with, let alone myself' the young woman thought as her expression just turned from a look of shock, to a very grim one.

At first, she didn't say anything as Wes spoke up once more and just stood listening with her arms behind her back...but the troubled look was still there, cleary showing her discomfort at the situation.

Finally, Rebecca gave a nod of agreement with Wes's words and looked to the teenaged General.
" Skye..." she spoke anxiously at first, unsure if she was allowed to refer to Tannheuser by casual terms while on duty or not...but remembering that the younger woman had once said about how she hated formalities, Rebecca shrugged that doubt off and continued.
" But if they start off another civil war in retaliation, what will we do? I mean Central city is the main hub for all State alchemist's there and we all know how they did in Ishbal...what ace would we have up our sleeve?"

[Styx]

"Where do you think extinguished State Alchemists slither in search of new contracts?" Tannheuser retaliated. "They're reassigned to West City as my Regional Alchemists." Her hands were in her pockets at this point; seriously, she wanted a cup of Cretan Coffee later, but now just wasn't the time. Oh, now was definitely not the time! "There are also those who were unfortunate enough to recieve funding from no other positions in Amestris. These talents come directly to me out here in the nation's breadbasket."

But it wouldn't be that any longer; this was the last straw. "For too long, we've decided to fight fire with fire. The announcement for the west tonight will bring us to a new direction. With technical advances and resource advantages, West Amestris is going to fight the rest of Amestris in a new way. We'll be fighting fire with water." But oh...what did that mean?

[Kitanna]

Now it was that last part of the General's speech that definately caught Private Kitborough offguard...
" Fi-fire with water?" Rebecca questioned, repeating the last line of her boss's words.
The twenty-four year old had a slight inkling as to what that phrase might of meant, but as she knew that water could put out fire...she didn't particulary want to apply that to what it could mean for the rest of Amestris.

' The bottom line is that this could possibly become very nasty...' the young woman reasonated mentally with herself and just scratched at the side of her neck nervously.
Glancing at Wes slightly, Kitborough could only try and wonder what thoughts were going through the young man's head at this moment in time, since it seemed his outlook on the entire thing was just as uncertain as hers.

[Omega]

"Skye..." Wes said slowly. "What are you planning?" If there was something Wes was scared of, it was what Skye was capable of. He just got bad vibes from the woman. "I don't wanna be part of some...some Civil War if that's what your planning." He may have the same abilities as the now missing Edward Elric, but that didn't mean he was nowhere near as skill with them as FullMetal.

"And what do you mean by water?" Wes asked, echoing the private's question.