AN: I think it needs to be stated here because there has been a little confusion about it. RWBY as a story, show, whatever, does not exist in this version of Earth, they have to learn stuff the hard way.
"Tell me something I don't know." Project Director Daniels said as he walked through the tents encompassing "The Anomaly" as everyone was calling it. Cool air from the desert night made the place somewhat pleasant, so long as the sun didn't come up. Daniels and his assistant Robert walked up to a rise that overlooked The Anomaly. It was an intricately detailed stone circle, with glyphs and lines carved into it, depicting a pattern that he could feel existed but couldn't place.
Just being in its presence was unnerving. A HESCO wall with M2s and MK19s mounted atop the fortifications surrounded it with a screen above it to keep prying satellites from getting a clear idea of what it was.
After a few of those "things" got out they slaughtered a town to the man they weren't taking any chances. A few more had appeared since then but copious firepower seemed to have dealt with that problem. The circle hadn't even showed so much as a scratch when HEDP grenades and API bullets cut down the creatures atop it. He sighed and looked at his assistant, Robert.
"I'm saying we should let other departments take a crack at this." Robert said.
"Bullshit this is a Homeland Security matter and the only reason the military is involved is because this is their land, if the uranium heads at the Department of Energy want to nuke the thing they can take that up with the DOD, and until they get someone with a higher pay grade to tell me what to do, I am not budging." The Director snapped.
But Robert wasn't paying attention. He was looking over his shoulder. The Director turned and looked just as The Klaxon started sounding. The Anomaly lit up with a blue glow emanating from the patterns carved into it.
"Shit." He said as soldiers hurriedly manned weapons and took up defensive positions.
He and Robert hightailed it away from The Anomaly. A firefight was not the place they wanted to be, especially after reading the casualty reports.
But no gunfire came, instead a runner came. Some kid, probably an ROTC schmuck that got shanghaied into this operation, stopped breathless before him.
"Sir… you better look at this." He said between breaths.
"What is it, Lieutenant?" The Director asked.
"Humans." The Lieutenant said, still panting.
The Director shot a look at Roberts and wordlessly they walked over.
Standing in the middle of The Anomaly were four teenagers, looking very concerned that they would be turned to fine paste by .50 and 40mm.
"Uh hi?" the one in red and black said tentatively.
The Director sighed, "Well shit, maybe claiming jurisdiction will be easier after all."
"Please state your name for the record." The female voice said.
"Uh… Ruby Rose. Can I see who I am talking to?" Ruby said, squirming in her seat. She was in a bare tent, facing a screen. The room was spartan with a plastic table and chairs. A couple guards stood watch at the entrance, impassive.
"Unfortunately, no." The voice said. "We're here to ask some questions about how you got here."
"Uh sure, where do you want to start?" Ruby asked.
"What were you doing prior to entering through The Anomaly?"
"We were on a mission…" Ruby said trailing off.
"And this mission?"
"Oh yeah. We were sent to destroy the lab of a scientist who was mutating the grimm."
"Could you explain what these grimm are?"
"Oh, sorry. They're creatures that try to destroy humans and everything we create."
"And how many of them are there?"
"Pffft too many to count, no-one has ever been close to getting a clear idea of how many there are."
"So why was this scientist mutating them?"
"That's what we were trying to find out. Next thing you know he sets the self-destruct and we run into this cave for shelter and there's this circle in it. Weiss tried to create a barrier in-front of the entrance but it lit up and now we are here."
There was the sound of writing and then the voice asked, "And this scientist, what do you know of him?"
Ruby thought, "Well he had been experimenting with grimm as previously mentioned but he was also responsible for the destruction of Mountain Glenn."
"And what was Mountain Glenn?"
"It was the second largest city in Vale after the city of Vale itself."
"So Vale is both a nation and city?"
"Kingdom but yes."
"And how large was Mountain Glenn."
"I don't know off the top of my head but I would like to say it held just over two-hundred thousand."
"And Vale?"
"I don't know, like ten million or something."
"And you mentioned that Vale was a Kingdom, what is the monarchy like?"
"Oh it's just a title it and the other kingdoms have. They actually have a council that does all the work."
"And how many kingdoms are there?"
"Four, Vale, Atlas, Vacuo, and Mantle."
"And are they similar in population to Vale?"
Ruby thought for a moment. "Uh no. Mantle has like 15 million while Vacuo has three million and Atlas has about two million."
"And has the population always been like that?"
"Well it's grown a lot since The Great War."
"And this Great War was?"
"I don't know much, history was never my strong suit. My sister says that's fine, we all have our strengths."
"That's alright, whatever you know will help."
"Umm… it was a fight between Vale and Vacuo as one side and Atlas and Mantle as the other. The current governments and huntsmen systems were created in its wake."
"And these huntsmen, what exactly are they?"
"Well they're the protectors of mankind, we're training to become huntresses."
"And how long does this training process take?"
"Well I started when I was ten and normally people get their licenses by around twenty though I'm two years ahead of others my age."
"So it takes years to train. Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why does it take years to train people to fight these grimm as you called them?"
"Well… umm… You first have to train your aura, build your weapons, train with them all, learn about huntsmen code, work with your team, go on easier missions, pass final examination, and many other things." Ruby said, flustered.
There was a pause and the voice asked, "Could you explain what aura is?"
"Well… Brothers… I… Uhh. I guess it would be best to start at the beginning if that is fine?"
"It's alright, we have time."
"Well aura is the manifestation of the soul. It acts as a barrier protecting us and can be used to enhance our movement." Ruby said, aura shimmering across her arm.
"And how much control over this 'aura' do you have?"
"Lots, but I had to train a lot to get here. Eventually I unlocked my semblance when I was twelve."
"And what is a semblance."
"It's a unique ability that people have. For example I can move faster than normal aura would allow. My sister gets stronger as her aura gets lower."
"And does everyone on Remnant have an aura?"
"Well… not exactly. Everyone can have it unlocked but not everyone has it unlocked."
"Why doesn't everyone have it unlocked?"
"It can mess with your head a bit, especially as you get older, sometimes overriding memories in a few cases. Also Grimm get really attracted to aura users so it can be dangerous to just have someone with an unlocked aura around."
"How does one go about unlocking aura?"
"Well it can happen under extremely stressful situations but that normally only partially unlocks it. To fully unlock it you need the help of a specialist who already has their aura unlocked to do it."
"Can any of your team unlock an aura?"
"I don't think that would be a good idea. We're just huntresses in training, we'd probably mess it up and put whoever we tried it on in a coma."
"Understandable, thank you for your time Ruby Rose."
The camp was a hive of activity as soldiers and agents rushed about doing some task or another. Director Daniels sighed as he walked up to the tent housing their "guests" as they were. Soldiers that were just standing or sitting around spoke in hushed tones as he approached. Scuttlebutt was an inevitability and no doubt had preceded the formal reports that he submitted to The Joint Chiefs of Staff and The President.
"Fucking hell." he muttered, nodding to the two soldiers on sentry duty and brushed his way inside the tent. The four girls were sitting on appropriated cots and looked fairly nervous as a couple med-techs did this and that with various scanners and devices.
"What's the progress?" Daniels asked the techs.
"We're just finishing up." One of them, a woman, maybe 40, responded.
Daniels nodded and shifted attention to the girls.
"We've already told the whole truth, now can you stop with the questions." The one in red almost pleaded.
Daniels sat down and fiddled a bit with his shoe before meeting the girl's eyes. Speaking carefully he said, "I'm Director Daniels. I do not know how much you know about your current situation but to summarize the last things to come through that anomaly killed 236 men, women, and children. I cannot and will not take any chances with you. You are unknowns and I cannot risk the safety of the surrounding population and my own personnel with you. If it's any consolation I feel sorry, I really do, but these are frankly unprecedented circumstances."
"But we're just normal Huntresses in training." The Red one whined. The white one shot her a look like a chastising mother.
Daniels sighed again. "I don't think you fully grasp the situation. You are not on Remnant, or whatever it is you call your planet, you are on our planet, Earth. I am not at liberty to share much more at the moment."
The blonde leaned over to the red one and whispered in a not-so quiet voice, "I told you so."
The techs got up and left. Daniels lingered for a minute and said, "If you need anything just ask, the men outside will do their best to provide it."
With that he got up and left.
As Daniels walked back to the HQ a runner came up and delivered a status report.
"Sir the roadblocks are in place, quarantine protocols have been enacted." She said.
"Good, this place needs to be airtight, select personnel on supply pickups only." He said, eyes still fixed straight ahead.
"Of course sir." She said and left.
"I WAS RIGHT!" Yang cheered. As the others took on various states of glum acceptance.
"What do you think of them?" Weiss asked, looking up at Blake.
"Military-type, I've seen them before." She said simply, glancing at the flap that served as the door to their tent.
"They seem afraid of us." Ruby said quietly.
"And that's how we'll keep it." Yang said, smashing her fists together.
"No Yang, we won't" Weiss replied curtly. "If they're afraid of us they are liable to just kill us instead of listening to what we say and given the looks of their weaponry they probably will."
This put even more of a damper on everyone's moods.
"So what do we do?" Ruby asked.
"Nothing." Blake said. "If we try to escape they will kill us. We don't know how to get home so there really isn't somewhere to escape to."
"Rescue might be coming." Ruby said, trying to sound hopeful.
"You saw the amount of dust going off in the lab, the entire island we were on is probably ocean. They probably think we are dead." Weiss said.
"Wow, you really know how to brighten the mood." Yang cut in, the words biting into Weiss.
"We should get some sleep, it's been a long day." Blake said, trying to distract the group.
"Agreed." Weiss said.
Ruby just nodded and the cracks in Yang's façade were starting to form.
They lay down, trying their best to sleep, feeling the slightly heavier gravity tug at them.
"Please state your name for the record." The female voice said.
"Yang Xiao-Long." Yang said, arms crossed.
"Thank you Miss Xiao-Long, could you describe what you were doing prior to entering through The Anomaly?"
"Can I please see my sister?" Yang said, eyes flashing red.
"Who is your sister?" The speaker asked, taken aback for a second.
"Ruby, I would like to see her." Yang said, increasingly angry.
"Would you be willing to answer our questions?"
"No, I want to see my sister."
The speaker sighed, "Alright, it will be easier to arrange housing and benefits if you are cooperative. Have a nice day."
"Noted." Yang said and was shown out of the tent by a guard.
The group was roused by Reveille. A series of bugle calls punctuated the desert morning, rousing the enlisted, commissioned, and the other.
None of the girls could be described as morning people but this one was especially oppressive. The air was thinner and less oxygenated, nothing serious but enough that it was noticeable. Consciousness became more of a chore to achieve. That on top of the long day they had and stress surrounding the whole situation, made this morning one to be detested.
Nevertheless they got up and did what they could to get ready for the day.
Ruby was about to go outside when Blake held up her hand and made a shushing motion. Ruby stopped and listened.
Through the tough fabric of the tent they could hear several voices jostling for purchase.
"So what the fuck is the SOP for this shit. I mean one day I'm in basic, the next I'm sent off to bumfuck Arizona because of some fucking shadow demons that look like they attended a cyberpunk convention. Oh and here's the kicker, some random fucking schoolgirls get booted through the very dangerous alien artifact so now we're stuck out in the fucking desert heat guarding their tent." One of them said.
"I don't know man. CO really gave us the fuckin green weenie when we were told to play fucking babysitter." Another said.
The first speaker sighed and said, "At least the blonde one has nice tits, might just make this bearable."
"Don't fucking jinx us, they're already putting us in goddamn quarantine."
"Hey at least we have a stateside posting, better than being in fucking Iran or whatever dealing with the shitshow after the last round."
"Man do you ever learn to shut the fuck up while you're ahead? We're in quarantine. We might as well be in Khuzestan Province for all that it matters."
"I heard Khuzestan actually isn't that bad right now. INA has it pretty locked down. Granted Iraq has interest in it so that helps but still."
"Fucking nerd. Should've joined intel, maybe you wouldn't have to sit out in the heat with the rest of us."
"Yeah, that was probably a mistake."
There was silence from the voices for a while and Ruby wondered if she should make her presence known. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how one looked at it, she didn't have to. Yang pushed past her and for a moment Ruby felt an ounce of pity for the beating that was liable to be dished out for the more lecherous comments that the soldiers had made. Then she saw the grin plastered on Yang's face and pity turned to dread of the terrible idea that undoubtedly creeped into her sister's mind.
Yang pushed the tent flap open and morning light and heat rolled into the tent. "Heyy boys." She said in her sweetest voice.
Ruby nearly gagged at the gesture but Yang went on in a more seductive voice, "What does a girl have to do for some breakfast?"
Their guards were predictably taken aback by the course of their morning but one got their wits about them and answered, "We're under orders to keep you four confined. I can head to the mess and get whatever they're serving."
Yang pouted, "Is that it? Maybe a little something else?"
The soldier did a damn good job at being impassive and replied, "Ma'am you're going to have to be more specific. I can probably fill out a requisition form for just about anything and The Director will sign off on it."
Yang considered and then said playfully, "No, I guess nothing will be necessary. Thank you!"
With that she ducked back into the tent.
Weiss glared daggers at Yang and Blake looked positively terrified. Yang just shrugged and said, "What? I was getting information."
"By flirting with the men with guns?" Weiss said incredulously.
"What can I say, it's a talent." Yang said, reclining against an empty crate.
Their breakfast arrived a little while later. The guard from earlier set down the boxed food on the empty crates that served as furniture in their tent.
"I managed to get y'all some omelets even though it ain't Sunday. Consider yourselves lucky, guess the cooks are willing to make some exceptions." He said as he separated the various items including a couple drink containers. He added, "Other than that we have some Canadian bacon, juice, hot chocolate, bananas, apples, toast, and coffee, let me know if y'all need anything else."
Ruby perked up at the mention of hot chocolate. This wasn't lost on Yang and she said in a warm instead of flirtatious tone, "Thank you, that will probably be all."
The man nodded and left.
"Please state your name for the record." The female voice said.
"Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company." Weiss said in a dignified manner.
"Thank you Weiss, prior to entering the anomaly what were you doing?"
Weiss paused. "We were on a mission, I don't know if I am at liberty to share the details."
"Understood. Could we know the details of who you were working for?"
"Umm sure… We were sent on the mission by our headmaster."
"Your learning institution gives out combat missions?"
"Uh… Yes, it's part of training."
"Training for what?"
"Training to become a huntress or huntsman."
"And these huntsmen and huntresses fight Grimm?"
"Among other things, yes."
"What other threats are there to humanity other than Grimm?"
"Well there are criminals and The White Fang."
"So huntsmen act as a police force?"
"Not exactly. They don't work for the kingdoms."
"So they act as mercenaries?"
"That wouldn't be the word I would use but it could be seen that way."
There was the sound of shuffling papers and the woman spoke again, "Could you describe this 'White Fang'"
"Yeah they're a group of Faunus that have been fighting humans, ostensibly for rights but they have killed a lot of civilians in the cross-fire."
"Could you describe what Faunus are?"
"Uh.. yeah, they're like humans just they have animal features and occasionally some animalistic instincts."
"So you view them as sub-human?"
"What no! I have friends that are faunus! We even have a faunus on our team!" Weiss visibly regretted the words as they came out of her mouth.
There was a pause and the speaker said, "And this would be Miss Blake Belladonna whom you are referring to?"
Weiss desperately tried to compose herself, "Uh no."
"Please do not lie to us Miss Schnee, we already know about her secret."
Weiss was increasingly flustered and was visibly relieved when the speaker asked, "Could you describe Dust to us in a more scientific way than some of your teammates have."
Weiss perked up and answered, "Well we don't know the exact origins of Dust but we do know what it can do. The different types of dust can have different effects and these can be mixed and refined for adjusted or new effects."
"Could you expand on that? Like what types of dust are there?"
"Yeah there's Water, Air, Earth, Growth, Fire, Electricity, and Gravity dust. These can be mixed for different effects."
"For example?"
Weiss was visibly relaxing at the change of subject. "Well mix air and fire dust and you get combustion dust which is used in sports cars and propellant for guns."
"And how expensive is dust usually? Your family is involved in the matter fairly intimately."
"Well it can vary but it is fairly expensive. Most places have opted to use hydro-electric power when available due to lack of alternatives. Wind power has emerged in some locations but as of now is only a small portion of the energy market."
"And oil or petroleum isn't a major factor?"
"Like lamp oil? No, I don't think that's even a part of the market."
"Black stuff, comes out of the ground." The speaker described.
"Uh liquid grimm upwellings? Those have been documented but are a death sentence to get close to."
There was some muttering on the speaker's end but their voice clarified when they said, "Thank you Miss Schnee that will be all for today."
Daniels entered into a tent converted to a field lab. On the tables were the odd weapons and personal devices that the girls had possessed. He walked over to the head scientist, Grace Barton, and asked, "Is there anything I can do to help?"
Barton looked up from the report she was typing, "Uh yeah, I would like to interview them more extensively, especially about this dust. I don't have all the resources of a full lab but from our spectrometer it doesn't resemble any known elemental makeup."
Daniels nodded and said, "That could be arranged. I'll also see if we can ship items out of quarantine to better labs."
"That would be great." She said, nodding absent-mindedly.
Daniels spent the rest of the morning supervising more tests having to do with The Anomaly. Today's test had to do with durability and after shrugging off an old repurposed 120mm HEAT shell the conclusion that the thing wasn't acting like normal stone as was indicated by earlier readings from the spectrometer were confirmed.
Then it was off to confer with the logistics branch about the supply drop and how that was going to occur.
Daniels was nursing his fifth cup of coffee and a steady headache by noon. The meeting with his superiors was looming in the afternoon and he felt like a condemned man on death-row.
"Back to work." He grumbled after pinching the bridge of his eyebrows.
"Please state your name for the record." The female voice asked.
"Blake Belladonna." Blake answered quickly.
"Miss Belladona what were you doing prior to entering through The Anomaly?"
"We were investigating a series of radio broadcasts on an island, trying to track down a rogue scientist who was mutating grimm." She sighed exasperated. "Why are you asking me this? I'm sure the others already answered the same thing."
"We're just trying to ascertain the chronology of the events leading into the event."
"Is that it?"
"No, we're also trying to learn about Remnant and the threat that the Grimm pose. A number of them, likely mutated from the descriptions of them, preceded your group through The Anomaly by a few weeks. They killed the entirety of a small town and the public and our government want answers."
Blake was silent and the speaker took that as an opportunity to ask another question. "What is it like being a faunus?"
Blake sat bolt upright in her seat. "How do you know that?" She asked, voice edging on threatening.
"We have our ways, please answer the question."
Blake settled down and contemplated a response. Slowly she said, "I don't know what you are going to do with this. I haven't seen any faunus among the soldiers here."
The voice simply said, "That is because we do not have any faunus on Earth, they don't exist here."
Blake was silent again for a time but then asked her own question, "Why do you want to know this?"
"Like I said, we want to know what we are dealing with. We want a picture of what Remnant's society is like in the event that long-term contact can be made."
Blake sighed. "I guess it's not too different from being a human, I mean as a cat faunus it's just an extra set of ears."
"Do they function or are they vestigial?"
Blake answered carefully, "They work just fine."
"And your human ears?"
"They also work." Blake said exasperated.
"Are there any other anatomical differences? Different blood types, organs, anything else that comes to mind?"
Blake answered carefully, "No, but different faunus can manifest different traits like tails, wings, ears, so on."
"And how many faunus types are there?"
Blake shifted, "Well, there's a lot, I'm not quite sure if anyone knows. Both my parents were cat faunus, so I came out a cat faunus."
There was a pause and the speaker said, "Thank you, I think we'll do a separate interview on the biological side of faunus. What can you tell us about them in terms of the general population? Like what proportion of Remnant is faunus?"
Blake paused and said, "Well it depends. Around Vale they're a small minority but in places like Menagerie they make up the entire population."
"And Menagerie is?"
"An island that humans tried to confine all faunus to after The Great War."
"I take it they were not successful."
"No they were not, the faunus fought for their rights in a revolution and were free to live in the Four Kingdoms though the majority of the population still lives on Menagerie."
"And tension still exists between the two leading to groups like The White Fang?"
"Well… yes. The White Fang was formed to combat the inequalities that faunus faced but they…"
"Became a terrorist organization?" the speaker filled in.
"Umm, yeah, you could say that."
There was a long pause and the speaker said, "Thank you Miss Belladonna for your time."
"It's not like I had much of a choice."
"Hey Blake, what does quarantine mean?" Ruby said as they lounged about their spartan accommodations.
"No idea." She said as she desperately tried to sleep.
Yang and Weiss were already out and besides dinner, which their guards had called "lunch" the day had been a blank slate of nothing.
It was nearing supper time when they heard a knocking on the tent flap. Ruby bolted up and over to it, desperate for any sort of entertainment.
She came face to face with a haggard Director Daniels. He nearly jumped back at her appearance but quickly composed himself.
"I came by to check on you." He said. "Dinner should be served soon but in the meantime I have these." He said, holding out several books.
Ruby experimentally picked them up.
Daniels continued, "The higher-ups want to keep an information blackout on you four but I was able to secure an approved list of books and literature for you. I know your writing system has some different characters than our own but I'm fairly certain you guys can figure it out in time."
Ruby thanked him and took the books. As she turned she noticed Blake had perked up at the mention of books.
Ruby sat them on a crate and looked through the titles. "Blake, do you want to take a look at these?" She asked.
She didn't really need to, Blake was already at her side looking through them. One was a pamphlet on phonetic pronunciation, a useful tool when dealing with a slightly different writing system. The other books were Dune, The Lord of The Rings trilogy, and the Hyperion Cantos.
Blake browsed through them, reading the summaries and eventually settled on Dune. Ruby, for her part, was enraptured by the supplementary details found at the back of The Lord of The Rings books. Maps, languages, and histories of another world. Ruby entertained that their current situation was a bit similar, being thrust into another world unlike their own.
She walked over to where Yang was sleeping and prodded her in the stomach.
"Ugh, go away dad." Yang said in her sleep.
Ruby was a little more forceful and was successful in rousing her sister.
"What is it Rubes?" Yang said, bleary-eyed.
"I want you to read to me." She said, holding out The Fellowship of The Ring.
Yang cracked a smile, "Just like old times?"
"Something like that, just read."
Yang shifted and sat up, stretching as she took the offered book.
Flipping through the first few pages she said, "I can't read this, does it come with a translator?"
Ruby was ahead of her. "Here." She said, offering the phonetic pronunciation guide.
Yang took a bit to read through it, then read through a few pages of the book, periodically checking the pamphlet and mouthing the words as she read them.
After a while, which Ruby spent in rapt attention Yang cleared her throat and began,
"Three rings for the Elven-Kings under the sky,
seven for the Dwarf-Lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for the Mortal-Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where The Shadows lie
One Ring to rule them all,
One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where Shadows lie."
Yang read on until there was a knocking at their tent door and one of their guards brought in supper. The group ate, disposed of their trash, used the toilets, washed up, and headed back, all under heavy guard.
Back in the tent the group, even Weiss clustered around Yang as she read. As the night waned on they slowly fell to sleep, the sound of vehicles, marching feet, and the AC serving as a backdrop for their exhaustion.
And so their time passed. Day after day, wake up at reveille, eat, read, talk, eat dinner, talk and read more, occasionally go out for an interview or answer some questions about their equipment, exercise if they felt like it, eat supper, read, talk, and go to sleep. They would ask for things like more books or board games but despite the guard's promises they would almost never see any of the promised items unless they were something like more clothes or food, in those cases the guards quickly returned with the requested items but that boon helped little in staving off their boredom. And so the days wore on, unending.
One evening Blake stood up as Yang was part-way through the first chapter of The Return of The King, and exclaimed, "Godsdamnit, how much longer are we going to be kept like this? They say we aren't prisoners but this is just unbearable."
She stormed out of the tent and was stopped by the guards.
"Ma'am we're under strict orders to keep you confined…" One of the guards who was identified by the nametape as "Smith" started to say but was cut off when Blake threw a punch into his temple.
He crumpled and his companion brought his gun up and fired at Blake, making deliberate single shots.
Blake dove for cover and took a couple bullets on her aura. It flickered a bit but held.
"Attention all units we have as security-" The second guard said into his communication device but was cut off by a hard punch from Yang.
"Blake are you alright?" Yang asked after Blake, who was crouching behind the AC unit.
"Yeah, I'm fine, I guess I messed up?" Blake responded.
"Nah, I was getting tired of this place too, if you didn't do that I would've." Yang said, playfully.
The others rushed out of the tent. Looking at the prone figures of the soldiers Weiss asked, "What now?"
"Now we run." Yang responded with a playful grin.
Daniels woke to the klaxon sounding and gunfire.
The PA system rumbled to life, "Warning, Warning, Security breach, Security breach. All personnel to combat positions."
Adrenaline spiked in his blood. The sleeping and working area was cordoned off with a separate set of HESCO barriers from the site but if there was a major security breach that wouldn't really matter.
Even before he could get his boots on Roberts burst through his tent door.
"Sir, the prisoners escaped." He quickly reported.
"Shit. Get the air national guard on the line, I want gunships on them ASAP. Weapons hold. Am I clear? Weapons hold." Daniels said, collecting his thoughts.
"Crystal sir."
"Get Mathias and I in a Humvee, we're going out there."
"Understood sir."
Ruby wasn't pushing herself by any stretch of the imagination but the stress of the whole situation still set her heart through the roof. Her other teammates were beside her, running through the desert night. Behind them searchlights clicked on and swept the scrub. Ruby made the mistake of looking at one as it passed over them and promptly ruined her night vision.
She could only register that it did not linger on them and got up and continued running. They ran and ran and ran, for what felt like hours. They made it to the top of a ridge overlooking the dried lake bed that the camp had been in. The sun was just over the horizon when they heard the strange thrumming sound.
Blake picked it up first of course but in time they all heard it. It was unlike anything on Remnant and they stopped to listen. They got moving again when they figured out the source of the sound.
A pair of boxy, angular aircraft ducked around a hill. They were unlike any that the group had seen. A disc above them resolved itself into a series of rotating blades as they drew closer.
"Shit!" Yang swore.
Ruby didn't bother chastising her, instead she ordered, "Down in the gully, we'll hide there."
They moved quickly, scrambling and sliding down the scree. They reached the bottom as the aircraft passed overhead and circled like Nevermores.
Up closer Ruby could see the weapons pods on their stub wings and the large cannon underneath the belly of the vehicle.
They lay under a bush, holding their breath as if that would help them, dust being kicked up by the downwash of the aircraft.
Ruby closed her eyes to slits, trying to keep the grit out of them.
They lay there for over an hour as the sun came out and started to bake the land. Fortunately they were hidden from it by the valley they were in but nonetheless the heat of the day was taking its toll.
And yet the aircraft still circled. Sometimes they would go away for a bit only to return.
Eventually Blake had enough. She got to her feet and walked out into the open, only to be faced with Director Daniels and a contingent of soldiers, all with their guns pointed at the ground but at the ready nonetheless.
They stood there silent for a moment, the sounds of the helicopters in the background.
Daniels spoke first. "You need to come back to base." He said, voice level.
"And why should we do that?" Blake said defiantly, "So far we've been your prisoners, we don't even know who you really are. We know absolutely nothing about you and you constantly pump us for information."
Daniels pursed his lips as a gunship made another pass and he spoke, "I've been talking with command about getting you four better arrangements but it takes time."
Ruby was out with Blake by then. She took her turn to speak, "You always say that but we don't get much, if anything."
Daniels put his hands on his hips and looked away for a moment. He spoke carefully, "I don't know what your expectations are but working in a chain of command, especially under circumstances such as these…" He paused and said, "Do you think I like holding you guys as prisoners? Do you think I like having to isolate this base in case you four brought some super disease that will wipe out all life on the planet? Do you think I like not being able to see my goddamn kids?" He stopped to compose himself a bit. "I have put my best foot forward when it comes to getting you things. I managed to get you those books, command barely greenlit that one. They thought it would give too much insight on our culture or whatever. I have done my damndest to make sure you guys have a bearable time in our custody and yeah it fucking sucks but now how easy do you think it is going to be for me to get you guys housing outside of a cell? To command when we are dealing with the extraterrestrial there is no precaution too great."
The four of them digested what he had to say, a few words falling in the linguistic gap between them but they understood what he was saying well enough.
Just as Ruby was about to say something a man with a large antenna sticking up from his pack tapped Daniels on the shoulder and gave him an odd looking device.
Daniels put one end to his ear and the other near his mouth. Ruby strained to listen to what he was saying but was taken aback by the sudden exclamation of "Shit." from Daniels.
He spoke in hushed tones for a little bit and then nodded to one of the men with an officer's stripes and started hiking back to wherever he had come from with a contingent of soldiers.
"What was that?" Yang asked at their sides.
She was interrupted when The Officer said, "Another matter has come up. We need to take you four in. If you do not comply those Apaches are going to turn you into a stain on the ground. We're forty kilometers from the nearest civilization. Even without them you will die before you get half that distance." He gestured at the circling gunships. His tone was flat, containing no hint of malice in it. It was just a statement of fact.
Wordlessly the girls made their decision.
They walked back to a small convoy of Humvees and got in.
As Daniels approached The Anomaly, shouting rose to greet him.
"What the fuck." He muttered, sweating in the heat.
As he crested the overlook to it, the cause became clear. Standing in the center of the circle was a white, humanoid automaton.
It wasn't moving but a tech ran over to Daniels with a tablet in his hands.
Gesturing at it the tech said, "The robot is emitting a weak radio signal. We're working on decoding it but it's encrypted in a way we've never seen before.
Daniels just arched an eyebrow. "Am I supposed to be surprised that you've never seen it before?"
The tech stammed, "Uh, no sir, I just-"
Daniels cut him off, "I'm not the type to need excuses, frankly with the leeway that I've been given in certain regards I actively avoid them. Just cut the bullshit, tell me what I need to know and do your job, lord knows we all need to."
The tech just nodded.
Daniels smiled and said, "Go, I'll check in a bit, just update me as progress is made."
The tech nervously said, "Yes sir." and left.
Daniels sighed. "Mathias better be back here soon."
The Girls were led back to the same tent, this time with significantly more guards and a number carrying batons and other less-lethal weapons.
The Officer spoke, "You are to remain in the tent unless otherwise stated. Failure to do so will result in force both less-lethal and lethal being used against you. Do you understand?"
They all nodded.
"In accordance with FM-3-19.40 you are to be treated as Stateless Persons under section 1-11. You will be accorded proper shelter, treatment, and sustenance. We are under no obligation to go any further." He rang out, meeting each of their gazes head-on, daring them to look away.
They then entered the tent that they had called home for the last couple Sixdays.
It had all of their things as they had been left, as if nothing had ever happened.
They sat down and tried to pretend like it was so but to no avail. Tired and hungry from their attempted escape, sleep eluded them.
Daniels held the report on the robot. The robot itself was laying down on a table in the lab, various instruments around it.
"Sir, should we interview the prisoners on it?" one of the techs asked.
"Yes, I will do it personally." Daniels said, not looking up from the report.
He closed the tablet and walked out of the tent and towards the heavily guarded makeshift prison.
He took a minute to speak with Major Mathias, who commanded the ground contingent.
Walking up to the officer he asked, "Are the prisoners secure?"
Matias answered honestly, "Sir I do not know, with the capabilities you've heard about through their interrogations-"
"Interviews." Daniels corrected.
"Interviews, I don't know if we could easily incapacitate them without killing them." Mathias continued.
"Alright, I want you to then focus on security around The Anomaly in that case, both guards had to be airlifted, no sense in putting more men in harm's way. Additionally with that robot going through it seems like someone or something is deliberately trying to send stuff, I don't want to be caught with our pants down if they decide this might warrant something bigger." Daniels said.
"Thank you sir, I will see to it." Mathias said and walked off to confer with some of the officers under him.
Daniels continued on to the tent and knocked on the flap.
A dejected voice from inside said, "Come in."
Daniels entered, his eyes taking a moment to adjust to the comparative darkness.
"Hello Director," Ruby said, tiredly. The others were sitting about in appropriated fatigues, too tired to read but not tired enough to sleep.
"Hello Ruby." He said, trying to be congenial in his tone. "There has been a development at The Anomaly."
Blake sat up, "What kind of development?"
"You tell me." He said, taking out a tablet and displaying an image of the robot. "This came through this morning while you were out on the run. It's been sending out a radio signal, I want to know what this means."
Weiss got up and looked at the robot. "That's an Atlesian military robot." She said, "It's probably sending a signal to our scrolls."
"Could you guys access that signal and figure out what it means?" He asked.
"What's in it for us?" Blake asked before Weiss could answer.
"Well command thinks we can drop the quarantine soon, so you'll be able to be moved to another location. I could probably make sure you get nicer accommodations than some officers quarters." Daniels answered.
"But you said we were going to be in cells." Ruby stammered.
"And I wanted to get you guys back to base. Plus that wasn't exactly a lie, I just misjudged how pissed command would be at your escape attempt." Daniels said, fixating on the young girl.
Switching back to Weiss he asked, "So, are you going to help us or not?"
Weiss turned to Ruby, who turned to Yang, who just stared back at her sister. Ruby, flustered, said, "Sure we'll help."
"Excellent, follow me." Daniels said and walked out of the tent. "They're with me." he said to the guards. They just turned to each other and shrugged as the four girls filed out behind Daniels.
"They're here," Daniels announced as the quintet entered the lab tent.
"What do you mean… oh" was the response from Barton as she sized up the girls. "What's this about?" She said, turning to Daniels.
"They said they could access the radio signal from their personal devices." He said, meeting the researcher head-on.
"And that is my call to make Director." She said, emphasizing his title.
"Let me remind you who controls the personnel assignment in this operation." He said, a threat edging into his tone.
Barton exhaled through her nose but said nothing. Walking away she said, "Alright, let them take a look at it."
Daniels nodded to Ruby, who walked over to a table that held their scrolls. She opened her scroll and it picked up the transmission immediately. Tapping on the notification it played for everyone in the tent.
"Attention Team RWBY, help is on the way. At 25:00 hours, a search party will enter through The Device. Attention Team RWBY…"
Everyone stared at Ruby. Slowly Daniels spoke, "What time does your chronometer say it is?"
Ruby looked at the clock function of her scroll, "Uh 23:36."
"Their hours are about 88 percent as long as our own." Barton replied from across the room.
"Shit." Daniels swore and he quickly marched out of the tent. He found Mathias still talking with his officers.
"Mathias!" He called, getting the Major's attention. Mathias turned to him but Daniels continued, "I was right, there's a rescue party due in just over an hour for those four." He said, jerking a thumb at the girls, "I want the base placed on alert and weapons emplacements manned."
Mathias nodded grimly, "Understood sir."
The circle lit up, the patterns playing on the camouflage cover over it. Daniels sat next to a twitchy soldier manning an M2.
"Easy there son." He said, trying to reassure the kid.
For his part the soldier nodded and swallowed, taking in a deep breath.
The girls sat on the other side of Daniels, their equipment bagged and ready for transportation. While they did not have their normal brightly colored outfits they were still readily identifiable by their distinctly not regulation hairstyles. As they sat, eyes inevitably drifted over to them. Some with interest, some with hatred. The men they injured in their escape and the need to essentially wait on them hadn't exactly made them popular among the everyday grunt, even if they were easy on the eyes.
The light show made a dazzling crescendo and faded after its peak. What remained was about a platoon of strangely dressed soldiers and what looked like an older version of Weiss.
Daniels stood and was about to speak when Weiss cut him off.
"Winter!" She practically shrieked.
"Weiss?" The woman exclaimed in turn.
Weiss promptly vaulted down and ran up to hug the older woman.
Daniels was left there, hands on his hips, eyes searching the men emplaced on the walls, darring them to say something. An intrepid private met his gaze and shrugged. Daniels snorted at that and refocused on the reunion happening below him.
He cleared his throat which surprisingly had its intended effect in getting the attention of their newcomers. Unfortunately the woman who looked to be the mother? No, maybe an older sister to Weiss fixed him with a glare that would kill anyone outside of a fortified pillbox.
She marched over to where he was standing on the wall and effortlessly jumped up the Earth and Kevlar embankment to where Daniels was standing.
He did his best not to show any emotion at the display of physical power beyond what anyone from his home planet could accomplish and met her glare with an impassive look.
Gunners tracked her movement with their machine guns, rifles, and anti-tank weapons. Everything was wound too tight. If something went wrong it would go FUBAR before anything could be done.
Still keeping eye contact he called out to Mathias, "Mathias, tell everyone to back away from the guns, I don't want this situation going tits up because someone was a little jumpy."
Mathias was with his own contingent a few meters away. He yelled back, "Sir, is that a wise decision?"
Grimmly Daniels said, "Only one way to find out."
Mathias grimaced and gave the order. Soldiers eased off their weapons, and tried to put on a less threatening posture.
Speaking to the woman Daniels said, "Alright, welcome to Earth, sorry for the poor reception, these have been unprecedented circumstances."
Gritting her teeth she ground out, "Give me a reason I shouldn't gut you where you stand after what you did to my sister."
Sighing Daniels brought out an E-cigarette and took a puff. Slowly he spoke, "First, the detainment was precautionary. They were unknown factors. It was for the safety of our entire planet that this camp has been confined to itself in the event they brought new diseases that we have no immunity to." He stopped and gauged her reaction. She still looked like she could kill him at any moment.
"Alright we're going to be like that." He said, "Orbiting above this location at a classified altitude with a classified amount of ordinance is an aircraft. If the order is given by me or from one of several forward observers it will level this camp. I do not know exactly how tough aura is but I can guarantee that whatever that does not kill will be killed by the troops and aircraft that follow it."
"And why should I believe you?" The Woman asked.
"Winter please," Weiss pleaded from The Anomaly. She was forgotten.
"Frankly I'm glad you asked." Daniels said and brought out his radio. "This is Andromeda to JTAC over."
He quickly received a response.
Speaking into the radio again he said, "Yeah, I want to do a show of force. Single GBU-38 should do, Hill 3 please."
He got confirmation and turned to one of the hills of many encompassing the lake-bed. Speaking to this "Winter" he said, "You're in luck, not many get to see fireworks on the dime of Uncle Sam." Nothing happened. "Any minute." he said breathlessly as he could feel the eyes of their new guests on the back of his head.
Suddenly there was a screeching sound and a deafening explosion rocked the desert evening as an object almost imperceptibly fast slammed into the ground and exploded.
Turning to Winter he asked, "Reason enough?" Before continuing, "If you're done wasting all our time we have much to discuss."
With that he got down from the wall and headed to the HQ tent, not even bothering to look back to make sure she was following.