Mother of Intervention

Weiss awoke on a cot covered by a blanket in the same room she fell asleep in.

How much time has passed? She had no idea. As far as she could tell, she had been in that room all afternoon and evening being questioned by that councilor; what was his name? Mister Price. Not only was he inquiring to every single detail that he could gleam from her, but he was also writing down constantly with notes being separated into multiple piles that were each about an inch high in thickness. At first he was asking about how she and Ruby ended up in that Insurrectionist tower, but then he was rapid-firing questions such as: What is aura and how does it work? Where is Remnant? What do you mean by Grimm? Where did the Grimm come from? At one point he actually sounded astonished that "her kind" possessed such "advanced" technology and yet they never tried to go into space where they would obviously be safe from the Grimm (at least according to what Weiss had told him).

She slowly sat up, stretching her shoulders out while putting the plain black blanket aside. She placed her feet on the ground, noticing that Ruby's cloak was lying on the ground next to the cot. She picked it up and wrapped it around her, thankful that the soldiers didn't take it away. Gingerly, she stepped around the table piled high with notes and toward the only door to the room. She reached out to try and open it, but then withdrew her hand, wondering if the men who took her and Ruby in probably saw her as a threat, which would explain the intense way the councilor was questioning her.

She gave her head a quick shake.

Regardless, she had to see if Ruby was okay for herself. She was her partner and also a fellow huntress. She reached out for the door again only to have it slide open, revealing a blue-steel corridor and a woman wearing the turquoise armor she witnessed earlier, or was it: yesterday, except this time no helmet was present. Instead, she clearly saw a head of deep, auburn red hair with untidy bangs, a pony tail and bright, almost fluorescent, emerald eyes.

"So you're up?" the woman said, her voice instantly recognizable to Weiss.

"You're...the soldier that was leading the others earlier?" She nodded.

"Yes. My name is Carolina, active agent of Project Freelancer." She gestured with her head to one side. "Come on, your friend is this way." She began walking down the corridor with Weiss hesitantly following behind her. Just over a dozen steps later and the two of them passed by a pane of glass that caused Weiss to stop in her tracks. Carolina took a few more steps before realizing what had happened and back-tracked to a open-mouthed Weiss. "First time seeing a world through the eyes of God huh?"

Weiss didn't answer right away, when she found her words she answered: "Is every world a jewel like this?" Beyond the glass was a massive orb of green, blue, flecks of white, and even a small splotch of brown.

"I would think so. Not every world is alike though. The planet you're looking at now is called: Circumstance. Along with Reach, it was one of the first worlds humans settled on after leaving Earth. Earth is the birthplace and eternal home of humanity, but even I must admit Circumstance is a much prettier planet."

"Why did your people leave Earth?" Weiss asked after a couple moments of awe-induced silence. "Were you running from something?"

"Only ourselves. Earth had a population count of billions and it became obvious to some that it would only be a matter of time before humanity either starved itself through hunger or killed itself with war. So we sent first one or two, then more, and eventually we had settled on multiple planets and everything seemed better off. Of course that was before we encountered the alien alliance known as the Covenant. Now all of humanity is united against this single powerful threat."

"Is...is it possible that Remnant is one of those worlds?"

"I don't see why not. But come on, your friend is this way." They resumed their initial course and Weiss eventually found herself in an infirmary. Apart from a handful of medical staff, dressed in white, there were only two other occupants. The first was large man with a shaven head and bandages wrapped around his throat. Weiss' eyes instantly gravitated to the other bed-stricken patient.

"Ruby!" She hurried to her partner's side and immediately noticed, apart from the fact that Ruby was now wearing an all-white patient's outfit, a single stripe of cloth wrapped around her head holding in place a circular patch in place over Ruby's right eye. Along the edges of the patch, Weiss could see slight, gnarled, vein-like discoloration in the skin surrounding Ruby's eye-socket. She could only imagine what it looked like underneath the patch. "Ruby..." She knelt down beside the bed, placing a tentative hand on Ruby's shoulder. "Ruby...I'm sorry...I should've...I never..."

She couldn't say what had to be said. She didn't know why, she just couldn't. Carolina just looked on as the white-haired girl began to weep again beside her friend.

meh

"So what is the overall plan again?" Blake asked. Yang answered from her reclining spot on a large rectangular black rock.

"We wait until Grif and Simmons return from their scouting trip and then, based off what they find, we move to a new location."

"And hopefully Grif gets lost beyond the hope of being found," Sarge added.

"But it has been at least an hour since they left," Blake pointed out, "and I am getting really tired of playing 'Eye Spy' with these two." She jerked her thumb at Caboose and Donut.

"Look at the bright side," said Tucker nearby, "at least you can't loose playing Eye Spy in a place where there is only rock, sand, and sky."

"Don't forget the creases in our armor and every article of clothing these young ladies have," Donut put in.

"And there is always that bright white thing that-oh my God the sun is in my eyes again!" Caboose blurted out.

"You were saying?" Blake asked, giving Tucker an irritated glare. Just then the radio crackled to life and Simmons voice was heard.

"Um...Sarge?"

"Yes, what is it Simmons?"

"I think we have a little...problem...with the warthog."