Legends (Part 3 - IFF)

Richard Green taught at the Military School of Central Command for many years, but he got involved with Ishvalan militants after a year of the start of Ishvalan civil war. No one ever had the doubt of him being on the side of Ishvalan because he had an Amestrian lineage. Moreover, when he joined the Military School, he even hid the fact that he was married once. After the promised day, when the new Amestrian government tried to establish a good relationship with Ishval, some Ishvalans protested. They wanted freedom from Amestris, and become a separate country. In order to achieve their goal, the Ishvalan Freedom Front was formed. The people who were Ishvalan militant earlier, kept on doing the same thing, that was killing Amestrian soldiers, but now they did that under the banner of IFF. Besides them, there were other operatives of IFF who operated out of shadows. They led protests before military facilities and recruited other Ishvalans to join their cause.

Thomas Maxwell was the head of IFF, and kidnapping Oliver was his brainchild. When the IFF found out that Major General Roy Mustang had a son, and he was admitted in Military School, IFF made a plan to keep an eye on Oliver and know everything about him. They eventually kidnapped Oliver by luring that child on the promise of letting him meet his mother. But, killing him was something out of place. If they wanted Roy to do their bid, they could have done that by keeping Oliver as a hostage. Now that Oliver was dead, Roy would never do their bidding, in fact, he started using his full power to find the killer.

The prime suspect for Oliver's murder was most obviously Richard Green, who vanished from the school at the same time when Oliver was kidnapped. The military was searching for him, and he was in Ishval to meet Scar.

When Scar entered into his Master's house, he saw Richard sitting on a chair, but he was unaware of Richard's identity. Upon watching Scar, Richard stood up.

"This is Richard… he works for Thomas Maxwell," Master introduced Richard to Scar.

"What is he doing here?" Scar asked.

"He wanted to talk to you," Master replied.

Scar didn't ask any more question to his Master, and sighed. He then looked at Richard and asked, "Why do you want to talk with me?"

"As you know, we fight for Ishval's freedom, the freedom which is the right of every Ishvalan," Richard said.

Scar glared at Richard and spoke fiercely, "From when an Amestrian is fighting for the freedom of Ishval?"

Richard narrowed his eyes and replied, "Even though I am an Amestrian, the only family I ever had was my wife and my daughter. My wife was an Ishvalan, and my daughter was the one responsible for starting the war…or I can say the Amestrian soldier who killed her started the war."

Scar and his master were confused for a moment. They now started listening to his reasons more seriously, while Richard continued, "What terrible thing did a 6-year-old do, due to which the soldier had to shoot her? Eventually, my wife died at the hands of those bastards…I was in Central city at that time when all this happened. I tried to come to Ishval, but all the routes to Ishval were blocked for civilians…I couldn't even see their dead bodies." Tears started forming in his eyes while he shared his painful story, "Yes, I might look like an Amestrian, but I will always remain an Ishvalan by heart. When I die, I want to get buried in this land…finally reuniting with my family."

Tears from his eyes were sliding through his cheeks, falling on the ground. Scar wanted to tell Richard the truth that it was a shapeshifting homunculus who killed his daughter and not a soldier, but no one was ever going to believe in something like that. So, Scar didn't tell Richard the unjustifiable truth, and asked, "So, whatever you are doing is just plain revenge then?"

Richard quickly wiped his tears, rose his head and replied in an agitated voice, "No, we don't want to kill anyone. We are just trying to save this country from those animals. Why should we keep any relation with Amestris? What good have they ever done for Ishval?"

"The new Fuehrer is not like the previous one, he is helping to rebuild Ishval," Master tried to persuade Richard.

"But, who destroyed it in the first place?" Richard glared at Master.

Master and Scar had no answer for that. They lowered their head, meanwhile, Richard calmed down and said, "Scar, if you join our purpose, then no one can stop us from achieving freedom. People see you as a hero, if you tell them that you will get absolute freedom for them, then they will rally behind you to achieve the purpose. There will be no more war, no more suffering."

After telling that, Richard walked toward the door. Master and Scar speechlessly were looking at him leaving the house. Before leaving, he looked at Scar and said, "Scar, if you really value Ishval so much, then you should wear your real name with pride."

Richard left after saying that. His job at Ishval was complete.

The first step of IFF's plan was to weaken the Amestrian military from the inside, which they did by kidnapping the son of one of the five Generals of Amestris. Their second step was to strengthen the Ishvalans by taking the help of the Ishvalan hero, who could unite every Ishvalan. Their first step was executed properly, but the death of the hostage was something unusual. On the other side, the second step was executed properly by Richard. But, in the worst case, IFF operatives were also adding other Ishvalans to IFF by themselves in Ishval.