26: To A New Era

"So, what does the Ukraine think of the deal?"

The President covered the phone with his hand. He told his staff bluntly, "He's pissed off."

"No shit?" the Secretary of the Treasury asked.

Silently, the President reached forward, putting the President of Ukraine on speaker.

"You want us to give up the Eastern territories and Crimea!" his voice shouted angrily. "Mister American President, you are asking us to give away part of our own country. Would you give away Maine and Alaska so easily?"

"Mister Poroshenko, you must face reality," the President said calmly to his counterpart. "The Russian government has given no consideration to the sovereignty of your nation. While you may consider the contested regions as belonging to your nation, they are de facto no longer under your control. You are facing a potential threat from the portal and from the Russian Federation. Your options are-"

"You are giving me no choices!"

"On the contrary. I am offering you a choice. You can reject this offer. The Russians may stop at the edge of the Donbass region or they may continue. Remnan forces may stay on their side of the portal or they may not. Some of your nominal allies may intervene on your behalf, or they may not. You face a great deal of uncertainty. What I am offering you is the continued sovereignty of the rest of your state, backed by us, and by NATO and agreed upon by the Russian Federation. We are proposing is a safer option."

The line was silent except for noise for an agonizing minute. Finally, the Ukrainian asked, "You will send assistance immediately?"

"Is that acceptance?" SecDef asked.

"That's correct. We have forces stationed in Central Europe and the Baltics. The moment this goes through, we'll send them into your country to assist." The President paused. "Do you agree to our proposal?"

"I will agree to it. And then I will try to keep my country from ripping itself apart." He practically spat the words.

"Then we will begin immediately," the President said. "I'm not under any illusions, Mister Poroshenko. This will not be easy. But I am hoping that together we will be able to build a prosperous, independent Ukraine."

The line clicked off.

"Asshole," SecTreas muttered.

"Can you blame him?" SecState asked. "We just strong-armed him out of part of his own country. Maybe part of it that they haven't controlled in a year, but it's still part of their country. He knows he's backed into a corner and he's probably feeling like both sides are fucking him over."

"It's an unfortunate situation." Changing topics, the President asked, "What's the situation in Vale?"

"The Terran delegation has arrived- including the Russian ambassador. We're waiting on the Remnans but it looks like negotiations could begin any time now."

The Minister of Foreign Affairs surveyed the lineup of officials sitting down around the negotiating table. Coming from countries around the world, they'd rushed to Vancouver and then to Vale to meet their Remnan counterparts. The US was represented by the Deputy Secretary of State, who he'd met before. The British Ambassador, too, he was familiar with. Also present were ambassadors from Japan and the Russian Federation, as well as special representatives of the United Nations and the European Union. However, one representative was notably missing.

"The Chinese aren't here?" he whispered to his American counterpart.

"No, they weren't overly interested," the Deputy Secretary of State replied. "They don't see this as relevant to them."

"Damned shortsighted of them."

"Maybe, maybe not. I think they want to wait and see, work out something when we know more and things are more stable."

The Remnan delegation entered, cutting off their conversation. They recognized one member of the four-person entourage, but the other three were unfamiliar. At the front was a portly man with wispy purple hair and a suit to match. Immediately behind him was General Ironwood, followed by a man with firey orange hair and a serene-looking woman in a flowing orange garment that defied description. They took adjacent unoccupied seats at the opposite end of the table and sat down.

The purple-haired man spoke first. "I'm Councilman Berry, representing the Kingdom of Vale. General Ironwood will be representing Atlas-" That surprised some of the Terran delegates who were less familiar with Atlas's system of government. "-Ambassador Gealbhan of Vacuo and Ambassador Aelius of Mistral. On behalf of the world of Remnant, welcome. We have much to get through, so let's get started."

"Thank you for coming in," Ozpin said to the team before him. It was, of course, a formality. As students of Beacon- technically they were full Hunters but that would soon be rectified- they were obliged to show. "Please, sit."

"I hope we're not in trouble," Ruby whispered to her teammates before sitting down. Her eyes flicked between the Headmaster behind his desk and Professor Goodwitch standing in the corner of the office.

"No, of course not," Ozpin answered with a smile. "I just wanted to ask a few questions about Earth."

"What kind of questions, Headmaster?" Ruby asked.

He replied casually, "Well... If there is any indication that they will betray us, or if they are hiding anything that may affect the negotiations."

"Wow, no hard questions, huh," Yang remarked.

Brown eyes pierced lavender. "What do you think, Miss Xiao Long?"

"Earth is a really big place," she answered. "It depends who you're negotiating with."

"Then let us begin with perhaps the easier question. Is there something that may affect the negotiations that we do not know about?"

Yang glanced at her sister, then at her partner before answering. "Yeah. I guess. They could have wiped us out if they wanted to. Still could, probably."

"Hmm..."

"Nuclear weapons," Weiss explained. "I could try to explain how they work, but it's way beyond me. There are a few countries on Earth- the United States, Russia, China, Great Britain, France, India, Pakistan, North Korea, and possibly Israel- that have them."

"What kind of weapons are we talking about? People? Machines?"

"Bombs. Delivered by missile or aircraft," she answered grimly. "Drop one, wipe out a city."

"So that's what the book was talking about," Glynda muttered. The book they'd been given had a section on the Cold War, but skirted around the issue of nuclear weapons. They had been mentioned, but not explained.

"Do you believe they will use these weapons on us?" Ozpin asked.

Yang recoiled. "God no! "

"Very well, then," Ozpin concluded. "What can you tell us about who we're negotiating with?"

"They're not too different from us," Weiss answered. "Every side has their own agenda, and everyone's looking for something. But nobody really wants a war, and they're willing to compromise, at least on paper. They'll go for the solution that benefits everyone if you let them."

"Miss Rose, you've been silent," Ozpin mentioned, turning to the girl in red. "What do you think?"

"I think everyone just wants the same thing. They want to get something out of it, but they want to work with Remnant. Nobody wants to fight, we just want to live together. But I think a lot of people are mad about the attack."

Ozpin's eyes shot up. "What attack?"

She took a deep breath before answering. "There was an attack on Earth. The White Fang was there, and so was Torchwick and Cinder Fall."

"So, the Remnans want to establish a treaty. That's exactly what we expected. What's your take?" the President asked his Secretary of State.

He answered, "It seems that they don't want to commit to anything specific just yet- that's kind of a recurring theme. This treaty is going to be more of an agreement to talk about things than an agreement to actually do them."

The President nodded. "Okay. I know we had some points to broach and they probably did too. What are the main points of the treaty?"

"The big one is securing the portal sites," he answered. "Atlas will cooperate with us on the DC site, Vale with Canada and NATO on the Vancouver site, the Japanese and the Vacuoans on the Tokyo site and the Mistralians and the Russians with the Donbass site. No specifics on what that cooperation entails."

"What about Syria?"

"An agreement to discuss and investigate- their words, not mine. Though that applies to all the portals and who or what opened them. They didn't even know about the fifth portal until we told them."

"Could there be more portals?" SecTreas asked.

The Secretary of Defense answered. "It's possible. We're combing through as best we can and we've advised the Remnans to do the same."

"They've agreed to that in principle as well, though everyone has stopped short of actually declaring a strategy," SecState added.

"What about the issue of terrorism and extradition?" SecTreas asked. "Do they know about Texas?"

"Not the specifics, but we've brought up that there was an attack. They'll probably find out from the teenagers," the President answered. "Sorry, John, go ahead."

"They agree with our desire to pursue justice, in principle. We have another agreement to discuss and build a framework," SecState answered. "They have added a clause to cooperate against terrorism and common enemies- the Russians are a bit hesitant about that but I expect them to acquiesce. In any case, we're not going to be able to hand over our prisoners or hunt down the White Fang yet, though it might be sooner than we think. The Remnans move fast."

"How fast?" the President asked.

"They want to finish negotiations and sign it tomorrow."

"What about trade, technology, visiting, immigration?" the Secretary of the Treasury asked.

The President answered, "The plan was to broach that but not commit to anything."

"Yes, sir, that's what we've done," SecState confirmed. "We want to define frameworks for future possibilities of trade, cultural contact, and cross-portal movement. We expect them to agree to this with no issues because they don't have to do anything about it yet."

The Secretary of Homeland Security interrupted, "Wouldn't those be fairly thorny issues?"

"It would, but like I said, nobody's actually committing to anything. It's better to appear open to it even if nobody actually wants to do anything. Like I've said, the treaty is basically a letter that says we're going to keep talking and not shoot each other. Although it is possible that they have more in mind that they're not telling us about."

"Where exactly are we in the treaty process?" the President asked.

"Most of the way through the drafting," the Secretary of State answered. "It'll be night soon in Vale, so the talks have stopped for the moment. The Remnan parties expect to finish drafting the treaty and signing it tomorrow morning."

"That's fast."

"Yes, sir. We figured they'd move fast going in, and they're not disappointing us. We're going to have to warn them that it could take a month to ratify."

The President nodded. "Okay. Let me know the moment we move forward with this."

"We've been up here before," Rose noted as she followed her husband out on the roof. She didn't remember why or how, but the view was familiar. And spectacular.

Taiyang shut the door gently behind them.. "Many times. The first time was when we were students here." He paused. "Do you think other students use this place? I hope they don't catch us."

Rose shrugged. "Fuck 'em."

They sat down on the edge of the roof, legs dangling off into the open air. It was a clear night, with the shattered moon dominating the inky sky. They were facing the wrong way to see Vale, but could see Forever Fall and a strange glow from over the horizon.

"What is that glow, anyway?" Taiyang asked. "The portal, isn't it?"

"Sort of. The time here doesn't match up to Earth," Rose explained. "It's still daylight in Vancouver."

"I missed this," Taiyang said, snuggling up close to her. "I missed you."

"Me too."

"So..."

Rose raised an eyebrow. "So?"

"So, what are you going to do, now that you're back?"

"Stay at home, dote on my daughters when they come home." She shook her head. "We both know that's not going to happen."

"You're going back to being a Huntress?" At the same time, Taiyang was surprised and not surprised. She couldn't stay away back then, either, and for a while, they'd made it work.

"I don't know. Maybe."

"I don't want to lose you again," Taiyang admitted. "You're really going back to being a Huntress?"

"Like I said, maybe. I don't know. I just got back." She paused. "But... I don't have to. I don't want to do what I did again. I just don't know if I can stay away, if everything people tell me is true."

"What are people telling you? That you're the best Huntress ever?" He leaned in close and kissed her on the cheek. "Because you are."

"Has anyone told you that you pick really weird times to flirt?" Rose commented.

"Yes. You did. Many times. But you love it." He winked.

"You're not wrong." She replied with a smirk.

"You haven't changed." Taiyang said after a pause. He pulled her close for a passionate kiss under the stars.

Haven't I?

The negotiation process started early the next morning. After the preliminary talks, the delegates were given accommodations and allowed to contact their home governments. For the American and Canadian delegations, this was relatively straightforward- the equipment was already set up. The other delegates used encrypted voice and text over a high-power wireless backhaul link bridged to a cellular modem on the Earth side of the portal. To some observers, it seemed an odd system, but it allowed end-to-end encryption to be used and could be quickly cobbled together from off-the-shelf hardware.

Early morning sunlight streamed gently through the windows of the conference room, illuminating the table as the representatives took their seats. Orderlies and a lone photographer flitted between the officials. The Valic representative summed it up to his Atlesian colleague. "A beautiful morning for such an important treaty, General."

"Yes."

The Councilman addressed the delegates before him. "If there are no last-minute changes, the signing process may begin."

"In the spirit of the peace process, we will sign the treaty as presented," the Russian ambassador replied. To demonstrate his government's commitment, he immediately signed his copy with only a cursory glance.

"The Kingdom of Vale agrees to the conditions of the Beacon Agreement," the Valic Councillor agreed. He scrawled his signature on his copy of the treaty.

"Atlas agrees to the Beacon Agreement."

"The Kingdom of Vacuo agrees to be bound by the conditions of the Beacon Agreement."

"Mistral agrees to the conditions and considerations of the Beacon Agreement."

Not a lot of legalese, the Deputy Secretary of State thought as he read through the document. Satisfied that it was the same treaty that they had agreed to sign, he picked up the pen and attached his signature to the document. He made no statement echoing that of the Remnan ministers. It wouldn't be binding until it was ratified, and if he made such a statement it could be misconstrued.

"I told you they'd move fast," the Canadian Foreign Minister whispered to the Brit next to him after signing his copy.

"Indeed. It would be very unusual for even a treaty of this nature to move from drafting to signing in a day. I can't help but feel we are rushing this."

"On our world, we act quickly or suffer the consequences," Ambassador Aelius told him, overhearing the exchange. "Inaction can be fatal. Rarely do we have the luxury of waiting."

"Japan will sign the treaty of the Beacon Agreement," the Japanese Ambassador called, adding his own signature.

"That will be all?" Councilman Berry asked, looking to the two remaining delegates.

"The European Union supports the treaty in principle but does not have the authority accede without the approval of its member states," the EU representative stated, French accent heavy in his voice.

The UN envoy answered, "The role of the United Nations is to witness international agreements."

"So be it. Thank you all," the Councilman Berry concluded. "We've made history today."

Ozpin stood near the edge of the room, surveying the handiwork of his students and staff. The Beacon hall had been dressed up once again. It probably wasn't sufficient for the event at hand, but on such short notice it would have to do. There was some talk of using a venue in Vale and flying the Terran delegation into the city, but ultimately it had come to nothing.

"You're early," Ozpin remarked as a blonde woman approached him.

"So are you," Glynda shot back.

"Better to be early than to be late," Ozpin replied nonchalantly. "I see the students came through."

"Eventually. We had a few fourth-year teams who were... well, not eager to do it, but they did a good job." She shook her head. "This whole thing is seriously disrupting the operation of Beacon Academy. The students are getting restless and they're not learning."

"An unfortunate sacrifice that had to be made. I'm sure they will soon understand the importance of these events."

"Yes..." Glynda rounded on Ozpin. "Do you still trust the General?"

The Headmaster considered for a moment before answering. "He was not wrong. If there is one thing James can be relied on, it is that he will always do what he feels is right."

"That is why we keep him around," she agreed half-jokingly.

"I do have my reservations," Ozpin admitted. "But we would not be better served by cutting him out."

She changed topics. "Have you talked to Summer yet?"

"Not yet."

"What's your feeling on this whole thing?" Glynda asked deliberately. "Do you think we're headed for a new era, or straight into a trap?"

"We have avoided a war, and hopefully built the foundations of a new relationship," Ozpin concluded. "Our important work is yet to begin, and the current peace may be temporary, but for the moment, we may celebrate."

"I hope you're right."

It was obvious that the Beacon hall was not intended for a diplomatic event, but Ozpin's evaluation of the situation was shared by most of those present. It was remarkably well done considering how little time was available. The momentous events of the past day and a half overshadowed any such considerations.

In addition to the delegates from the negotiation, several guests had been invited to the reception. These included the rest of the Terran contact team, the senior Beacon staff, a few Atlesian officers and a handful of Valic government functionaries. Notably absent were any of the Remnans who had lived on Earth.

Reporters circulated in droves. Most of them were from Vale, with a few from the other Kingdoms. Earth was represented solely by a CTV news crew flown in the previous night, distinguished from their local counterparts by their bulky Terran equipment and military escort.

"This has been a very quick process, but it's very well done," said the British Ambassador to the military officer in front of him. "These Remnans can certainly put on quite the show, and in short order too."

"I won't argue with that, sir," Colonel Hale acknowledged. Catching a familiar shape in the corner of his eye, he told the ambassador, "Excuse me, sir."

The ambassador tipped his class. "Enjoy your evening, Colonel."

Hale nodded at the ambassador one more time before he disappeared into the crowd. He was headed for a large man in the uniform of an Atlesian general. "General Ironwood, may I speak with you for a moment?"

The General nodded. He could tell by the Colonel's tone that this was something for him and him alone to hear. He led the Canadian officer to a secluded corner of the hall. "Okay, Colonel. What's this about?"

"Your military android- gynoid- known as Penny, is public knowledge on Earth. That includes her nature as a synthetic machine, a fictionalized depiction of her personality and, to a limited extent, her capabilities," Hale told him. "As with the nature of your world as a fictional universe, this knowledge will inevitably spread from Earth to Remnant. It was the decision of my government to inform you of this discreetly to avoid unhappy surprises in the future."

Ironwood's response was simple. "How?"

"How do we know?"

"That's right. How do you know about one of our most classified military secrets?" Ironwood asked, voice calm but with an edge to it.

Hale refused to flinch under the General's glare. "I was under the impression that Headmaster Ozpin had already filled you in."

"He did, I just didn't believe it," Ironwood answered half-truthfully. "Even if such a show does exist, why would our secrets be on that show?"

"She was chosen as a major character," Hale answered. "Unfortunately, I'm not the one to ask about that."

Ironwood nodded, realizing that was all he would get. He asked bluntly, "Anything else I should know?"

"As a matter of fact, yes, sir, there is, though you may already know about this from debriefing Jaune Arc," Hale told him, with slight hesitation. "We have reason to believe that your CCT system may be compromised. We believe a virus was uploaded by the criminal known as Cinder Fall on the night of the Beacon dance. We cannot confirm this but our experts strongly advise that you carefully examine the system."

This time, Ironwood forced himself not to react. "Okay. Thank you, Colonel. I'll relay your information to my superiors."

"Sorry to be the bearer of bad news," Hale apologized. "Have a pleasant evening, sir."

On the other side of the room, the American representative and his Russian counterpart were having a much different conversation.

"This could be the most important agreement of our time," the Deputy Secretary of State told him. "Yet you and your government have been less than enthusiastic. I would dare say you are more suspicious than cautious."

"Russia has seen many agreements breached in the past, to her detriment. This one may be nothing but empty platitudes. We know so little at this point," the Russian Ambassador cautioned. "Still, it is a start."

"A lot has happened in the past few days," he agreed. "A start is a lot better than what we could have had. I think that's worth celebrating."

"Our governments disagree in many things. But that, we can agree on." He raised his glass. "To a future together, Mister Deputy Secretary."

Escorted by a pair of F-15C Eagle fighters and a KC-10 Extender which it had just topped up from, the E-4 continued its steady cruise above the United States. Soon, its mission would be over. With the crisis stabilizing, they would soon land at Offutt Air Force Base.

"Well, we have a treaty," the Secretary of State told the staff gathered aboard. "It may be vague as hell and it still needs to be ratified, but it's something."

"That's a lot more than we could have hoped for." The President asked, "John, do you think everyone will hold up their end of the deal?"

"We'll follow through on our end unless Congress decides to do something stupid. So will the Canadians. The Japanese, too. Even the Russians will do something," the Secretary of State replied. "The Remnant states are harder to judge. I don't think any of them will object in principle, but they're going to interpret things different ways. They threw this together in part to shut us up and I think they know we know it."

"They'll probably object to military intervention- they say they'll work together with us against the White Fang and other groups but I doubt they'll be happy with us carrying out drone strikes," SecDef added. "They'll probably expect us to foot the bill for the portal stations- after all, we're the ones on the defensive."

"It's a start, at least. We've avoided World War Three and drafted a peaceful agreement with the Remnans," the President said. He pulled off his tie and tossed it on the conference table. "Once we land in Washington, I'm going to have a hell of a speech to give, so perhaps this is a little premature. But I think we've pulled off quite the victory today. Good job, everyone."

"I'm going to be perfectly honest, I was expecting way more to go wrong," the Secretary of Defense mentioned.

"No shit," SecState agreed.

"I think this is an occasion worth celebrating." The President flagged down an airman carrying a stack of papers. "Technical Sergeant, is there any alcohol aboard this plane?"

"Not officially, sir," he answered carefully.

The President winked. "Bring us the best stuff you've got, please."

"Yes, sir."

The airman soon returned, carrying several plastic cups and four bottles of red wine. The President took one, read the label, and nodded, impressed. "I would have preferred something harder, but this is a good vintage. How long have these been aboard?"

"We, uh, call this the last drink, Mister President," the airman answered. "As far as I know, it's been here since the Reagan era."

"That's grim," SecTreas noted.

"Well, it's a good thing it was never used for its intended purpose," he replied lightly. The airman held out a corkscrew. Instead of handing the bottle over, the President took the corkscrew and opened the bottle himself. He handed it to the Secretary of State before opening the next bottle.

"Can't fucking believe we're doing this," SecState muttered, pouring a cup for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs.

The Chairman protested, "Sir, I'm-"

The President interrupted, "I'm your Commander-In-Chief and I authorize you to drink."

"Yes, sir." Having been given dispensation, the General took his wine. With the executive staff playing server, it didn't take long to distribute a "glass" of wine for everyone in the room.

The President raised his glass. "To a new era."

"To a new era."

Wow, already at the end of Convergence! To be honest, I don't think it's a great send-off. It's kind of a mess, a bit narmy, and I feel that it's somehow both too long and too short.

knight7572: We'll see. I don't want to rush into it like I did with Cinder.

SanDemonMax: Ruby wouldn't know firsthand, but the show depicts her as a robot and knowing that makes it obvious in retrospect. There's still a small chance that Penny isn't a gynoid based on that, but most consider it as fact.

Scot911: While Grimm on Earth anywhere is Very Bad News, it's a lot less urgent if it's in Syria than if it were in, say, the continental US. The big risk is that, say, the Turks invade Syria. Or that Al-Assad and the Russians will go all-in. Actually, that may be seen as preferable by some parties. Syria is a thorny issue, but it's not one the US actually wants to deal with.

The whole older tech=cheaper is largely a myth, especially when you compare actual effect on target rather than cost per bullet put downrange. Gun-based systems may be good enough or even better than missiles in some situations, but they'd look more like Shilka or C-RAM than Flak 38. Lower capability tanks or mobile gun systems may be a possibility. It's important not to conflate older, less advanced technology with cheaper, lower-capability technology. Newer technology can actually do a better job for cheaper. For all its faults, the F-35 is still cheaper than the F-22 and more capable in many areas. I think small, cheap PGMs using lower-grade, possibly COTS technology will be the order of the day.

Thunderboom5: Basically, yes. Earth was thought to be a primitive planet ripe for the taking. It wasn't, and with the possible exception of the Queen, nobody is willing to start a brutal war over it.

5 Coloured Walker: That was the intent. A darkly humorous, poignant statement.

The Paleblood Hunter: It's been suggested and has some merit. Whether they can be built actually depends on if Terrans can get their hands on Dust and figure out how to use it. The technical challenges of exoskeletons have largely been solved over the past decade or so. The big problem is that we still don't have a power source that's portable and can run a suit for a useful length of time. Various solutions, including fuel cells, supercapacitors, and graphene batteries have been proposed, but Dust would provide an easy shortcut. And yes, the Queen is kind of nuts.

CalligoMiles: Some of that was planned from the beginning, some of it a holdover from Emergence and the reasons for choosing the sites in that story. In-universe, these sites were selected deliberately. Others were considered and ultimately passed over.

DinoGuy2000: I guess... well, I guess you have your answer now. But though the situation appears hopeful, there are still many loose ends and potential threats.

XavenCain: Salem won't be in Convergence, but she might appear in Emergence Second Interquel and Emergence Next. What role she would have if any hasn't been decided yet. As for Volume 3, at least some people on Earth know what was planned for it, but there is significant doubt over whether those plans pertain to reality or not.

Herofire: In all honesty, I wish I could have put more RWBY into this. I feel that canon characters, especially the stars of the show, are really getting the short end of the stick here.

Firehawk242: That's an interesting way of looking at it. It's a position I used to take, but I'm now leaning away from it. I don't think that Remnant is necessarily bad at theoretical science, but rather that they have more experience in different areas. They don't know a lot about aerodynamics, for instance, but they have extensively studied Dust dynamics, something which we haven't even looked at. Grimm aren't any stronger or weaker on Earth, but they do not spawn on the Earth side of the portals. They must traverse it and are not naturally inclined to do so, though sufficient provocation will get them to cross.

Smithrooks: ISIS would get slaughtered. Their victories say more about the competence (or lack thereof) of their opponents than their own capabilities. I should caution that the next interquel will be less slice-of-life and more plot-heavy than the previous one.

Guest: I'm going to be honest, I don't remember either well. I mentally associate the Black Ops II theme with the ending of Convergence.

Natzo: This is one area where Emergence goes a bit AU, mostly because I made these decisions before we learned how canon handled it. In canon, Dust does not work in space (or possibly outside of Remnant at all). In Emergence, Dust doesn't care where it is. Remnant did not go to space because of the massive resource drain and lack of technological and theoretical background. Using Dust-based fuel would significantly improve the mass fraction if an efficient engine could be engineered. And don't worry, there will be no Hollywood Hacking in this fic or its successors.

DarkFlameOfSouls: They're not. They're really not. While ISIS likes to appear powerful and mainstream media often supports this perception, most experts agree that a competent military force would easily pound them into a fine powder. It's the aftermath that would be the problem. Russia, on the other hand, is somewhat unpredictable and would respond with nuclear weapons if threatened. In all fairness, they're not the only ones with this policy.

SUPERHAPPYFUNGUY: Hybrids are, on average, weaker than pure Remnans. However, there is a great deal of variation in both groups. Breaking up families is possible, but it depends on the circumstances. In most countries, those that already hold citizenship would not lose it. Children born on Earth would hold citizenship in jus soli states and may hold citizenship in jus sanguis states. The Kingdoms are more casual about citizenship, so if they wished to return they would be able to. Finally, hybrids- and Remnans on Earth- are extremely rare.

Guest: Undoubtedly. I won't name names, but these people already exist.

GodOfAllSaiyans: Terran Furries may be seen by Faunus the same way African-Americans view blackface. The Faunus nearly were the victims of their own Holocaust- the proposal to move everyone to Menagerie was at the very least ethnic cleansing and probably would meet the definition of genocide. How they approach Terrans will vary. Faunus extremists will see Terrans as another enemy, humans not so different from Remnans that will inevitably turn on the Faunus. Others will be more open-minded. Interestingly, many Terrans will probably see the Remnan Humans and Faunus as together and distinct from themselves- closer to each other than us.

Guest: There are several elections in 2015 and 2016 that will be big issues in ESI.

Cipher92: Cinder's plan is well off the rails at this point- actually, it had been hijacked by me much earlier, but that's another point. If that were not the case, the portals and the new geopolitical context would result in a very different ending. She may still be able to set up for the planned battle in Vale, but may have to contend with Valic, Atlesian and NATO opposition. The dragon may find itself eating a nuke if she doesn't eat a smart bomb first.

Guest: I think Weiss Reacts might have already done that. You should check that fic out.

Sigma-del-Prisium: No, this wasn't the intent. It was just extremely poor wording on my part. Cinder's dead.

Fallout24: The Syrian government might take objection to that, though there is little they could do at this point. Also, the Remnans (at least the ones in charge) don't even know who created the portals, let alone if they can be closed or how. Finally, a scenario without Team RWBY was something I considered for a fic I never wrote.

Guest: I doubt it. These shows rely heavily on references to our world, a world they have had little experience with.

There will be an epilogue after this, and probably a self-indulgent rant about where Emergence came from and where it's going next as well.