Hey guys! Here's Chapter 2, boy did that take longer than expected, guess I just needed a break of some sort. As some of you may, or may not know I'm currently active duty in the Navy, so yeah, free time has been a rather rare commodity for me as of late, and the 2 weeks of leave I took last month I used purely just to rest, and essentially forget I'm in the military. I really needed that mental refresh it turns out. Enough about me though, lets continue where we last left off!


Connors awoke with a start as the sound of glass shattering and police sirens wailing pierced his ears. Wiping the sleepiness from his eyes he looked around the room. Sam, Nat and David were all seemingly as confused as he was, and it was then that he noticed the ground was shaking, with the audible rattling, clicks and clangs of glasses and cutlery in the kitchen also giving away what he now knew was occurring. Earthquake. His heart started racing, as well as his mind as the back of his neck became chilled with a cold sweat, and the hairs on his forearms raised up with goosebumps.

However, just as soon as it all began, it all ended. Shattered glass lay on the floor, and outside smoke and small fires from car crashes could be seen in the distance. As Connors and his friends looked out the window, their eyes widened, not because of the havoc that had been wrought in the city down below, but because of the scenery that caught their eyes up above, as the clouds in the night sky parted to give view to a shattered moon, and its remnants strewn about.


Washington, DC

0315 EST

The White House

President Francis Gambles, dressed in just his white long-sleeved formal undershirt, dark blue pants, and black shoes in need of a polish would march into the oval office with a significant stride, just as he was putting on his blouse and tie. In the room already were a myriad of his different cabinet members, and appointed secretaries, all in a similar state of disheveled, as they all had came to convene here in a rush.

"What's the situation Moors?"

He'd say as he made his way to his desk, and sat down, taking the moment to adjust his tie and button his aforementioned blouse. It was then he noticed the strange combination of advisors and secretaries within the office.

The secretary of defense, and the head of NASA in the same room regarding the same situation?

"This can't be good,"

Was the thought that immediately came to his mind.

Then, his secretary, secretary Moors began to give him the rundown.

"Mr. President, earlier last night... er well, earlier this morning there was an earthquake that seemed to have sweeped through the entire nation, and shortly after we lost contact with all of our satellites and satellite based communications. Foreign embassies here in DC are also reporting that they have as of yet been unable to make contact with their respective countries governments."

Francis raised a hand to stop Moors from continuing his summary, as he found himself utterly bewildered by what just came out of his mouth.

"Hold on, did you just say we had an earthquake that swept through the whole nation? As in, the entirety of the United States?"

"Yes sir."

"That just doesn't make any sense, it didn't occur along any fault lines is what your telling me?"

"Indeed sir, I believe the gentlemen here can offer a better explanation than I can at the moment."

The President would furrow his brow slightly, in confusion before moving on,

"Very well."

He'd say, motioning for one of the men present to step forward and explain what was going on.

The representative from NASA, Director Herrera, was the one who bit the bullet, and stood to offer his explanation of events.

Nervousness crept at the Directors senses as he was about to explain the, well to put it simply absurdity of the situation that the nation had now found itself in.

"Well, sir, uh, to put it simply, the entirety of the United States, is no longer on the planet Earth."

Several moments of silence would follow after, as the Director waited for the President to process the information.

"What? Director, is that some kind of joke?"

Was the only response the President could muster, the furrow of his brow deepening.

"No sir, that is, as I've said the simply put reality of our current situation."

The President would shift his gaze upon all the other men in the room to gage their own reactions to this news, and whether or not this truly was a joke or not. To his utter dismay, with hesitant nods they all confirmed what may have been the worst bad news he had received during his term in office, topping even that of when new came in that the North Koreans had crossed the DMZ, and begun their attempted invasion of South Korea, just 2 years ago.

Bringing his hand up to his forehead to assuage an oncoming headache upon the realization of this new reality, he'd let out a sigh as he steeled himself to enter full on work mode. Within minutes he began delegating and assigning tasks to all the secretaries and cabinet members involved, ranging from the current status of the military, most notably the Navy and Air Force, to predicting the most likely disastrous effects this situation would have on the economy, and more importantly, how the hell the American public would react to this news in the coming hours once he held his presidential address to inform the public of the situation.


Seattle, Washington

0630 PST

Connors sat on the couch, dumbly looking at his last sent text to one of his friends who was still in Korea, as the phone defiantly continued to display the highlighted red text, with a neat little red exclamation point to match that quite plainly read

"Message not sent, no service"

Tilting his head up to look out the window as the mix of orange and yellow hues of the sun peaked over the snow dusted peak of Mt. Rainier in the distance. Any ounce of exhaustion that had once been all too prevalent now gone, as the chilling pangs of worry began to take center stage in his mind. Ever since that earthquake earlier last night, service had been spotty to nonexistent, he couldn't send or even receive texts.

It seemed that the problem wasn't his to suffer alone, all his friends and the few neighbors he asked oddly didn't have service as well. Even more concerning, was that it wasn't just his cellular service that was down, but seemingly the wifi as well, even the practically ancient cable box that he had to dust off wasn't getting any signal.

For lack of a better phrase, something just wasn't right. If that chilling and surreal image of a shattered, and unfamiliar moon was anything to go by last night, then yes, something was very, very wrong.

He shuffled uncomfortably, as his friends, also sat in worry, whilst David helped himself to a bowl of cereal. They didn't know what to do really, eventually, the city itself was also plagued with an eerie silence, as few people took to the streets this morning, many still terrified of the events of last night.

It was Sam who broke the silence, partially in hopes of lightening the tense atmosphere, and partially to get the ball rolling on what they were going to do today.

"Welp, I'm calling it, its aliens."

The others looked at him with a mixture of confusion and amusement, as Connors challenged his idea.

"What? What gives you that bright idea?"

Sam would go on to explain, gesturing wildly in exaggerated motions as the hint of a smirk crept upon his face

"Think about it!"

He'd exclaim,

"A mysterious and sudden earthquake happens out of nowhere, and once its over, blamo, the moons shattered like fine China. You can't tell me thats not the work of aliens!"

David would chime in,

"So what, we should get to making our tin-foil hats now?"

To this, Sam would scoff,

"Oh David, my sweet summer child, its too late for that, they've already gone and blown up the damn moon, might as well be too late to stop them from shattering the collective minds of all of humanity as well."

Nat would settle to watch the three continue their banter, laughing and giggling as it went on. The absurdity of what had occurred last night was not lost on them, and despite their initial fear, they made out to do the best they could to just enjoy the start of their day the best they could, even if it seemed like the apocalypse may very well be nigh.

Nats' thoughts would eventually wander off as she observed the banter between friends, they'd wander to thinking about Connors has she found her gaze upon him. The news that he was joining the Army was quite the shocker, given his own personal politics and disagreements with much of the US's foreign intervention and conduction of diplomacy. She remembered back on when he would go on long rants whenever the topic was broached about how, the US had to stop conducting its borderline, or at times blatant imperialist practices and instead worry about its more important domestic issues first. He was much more easily frazzled back then, and looking at him now, she couldn't see the same old Connors as before. No, she was looking at someone entirely different, but at the same time, entirely the same. He still had his endearing and compassionate side to him, as well as some of his quirks, but he held himself with much more confidence now, his strides were much more deliberate, and when he spoke he would stutter less.

Whatever the Army had done, it had changed him, for better or for worse.

Coming back to the present moment, Nat would find herself utterly confused by the sudden change in topic that the banter had taken.

"And that my friends, is why pancakes are a god damned lie."

Connors would speak, as if he had finished wrapping up a college lecture reserved for only the brightest and most high class of academic minds.

Nat would blink a few times before speaking up, struggling to contain her laughter as she did so,

"I-I'm sorry what? How exactly, did we come to that conclusion after talking about aliens and tinfoil hats?"

Sam would turn and just look at Nat, with a deadpan expression before saying, in an honest manner,

"I have no God damn clue Nat."

The rather comedic moment would be broken as the TV, which had up until now been a screen with nothing but static would change scenes. Connors, thinking quickly, would grab the remote, turning the volume back up from 0, as a news broadcaster would speak.

"Good morning everyone, in just a few moments the president of the United States will be on to address the events of last night. We apologize for the delay, as prior events have rendered useless most modern means of broadcasting until we could find a work around. If you are able, please notify your loved ones, and your neighbors of this broadcast, and if you must have them join you in viewing it. We will now switch to the presidential broadcast, live from DC."

The scene would change, as the presidential seal would be displayed upon the screen, before changing again, revealing the presidential podium, with, at the moment, an absent president.

Connors watched, alongside millions of others with bated breath, waiting for the President to give his address.

After what felt like ages of waiting, the President could be seen entering the hallway before walking down the red colored carpet until he would reach the podium. Placing down the copy of his written speech, he would adjust his tie, before looking into the camera.

"My fellow Americans, last night, as I am sure you are aware, our nation was struck in its entirety with an earthquake of unprecedented scale, and upon it's conclusion, those of us who looked to the sky, expecting to be greeted with the image of the moon in it's entirety, were only to be met with the shattered remains of it. I come here tonight to tell you, that it is not our moon that is in the sky. From what I have been told, we the people of this great nation, find ourselves in a situation unprecedented in not just American history, but in the entirety of recorded Human history, as find ourselves no longer on the surface of the planet Earth, the constellations are different, our moon is different, and those of you live near the border may have noticed a new ocean breeze blowing in from the South and the North. Despite our new found circumstances, I am here to tell you that I, and the men and women within our Department of Defense are working around the clock to protect Americas newfound shores, and ensure that you can rest easy, knowing that you are protected from the unseen and unknown threats that this new world may offer. Some of us have lost countless friends and family to this event, however, we have also come across a new, and great opportunity. What lays before us is the opportunity to start anew, as we find ourselves in what may be a world free from the damage, and pollution inflicted upon our own Earth. I can not say, with any amount of certainty whether or not it is possible for us to find a way back, but I can say, that despite that, we will find a way to thrive in this new world. With that, I wish you all a good day, and God bless the United States of America."

As the screen faded to black, Connors stood dumbfounded, as the information slowly processed within his mind. A flurry of emotions began to pop up, worry, fear, sadness as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and looked once again at the last text he had sent to his friend who was still in Korea. The red text still displayed defiantly, much to his utter dismay. His eyes watered, and a painful lump began forming in his throat. His grip on his phone tightened as he fought back the overwhelming sense of loss he felt in that moment. Finally, with a painful swallow of this new reality, he closed his eyes, placed his phone back within his pocket, and soldiered on. His friends were all also in similar states of worry and confusion.


The next day...

Beacon Academy, Kingdom of Vale

0650 VST

Ruby awoke with a groan, as a poking and prodding on her cheek dragged her out of her slumber.

"Hey, Rubes, it's time to get up, don't want to be late on our first day now do we?"

Ruby knew that voice all too well, having grown up with Yang on Patch and being subject to her teasing for all 15 of her years now. Then another voice chimed in, one she wished she hadn't grown familiar with.

"Great, she's supposed to be our leader yet she can't even get out of bed on time. At this rate we'll be late for class."

As the ever increasingly irritating voice of Weiss chimed in Ruby groaned once more, before slowly propping herself back up and wiping the sleep from her eyes.

"We're not gonna be late, the sun isn't even up yet,"

Ruby would retort, as she grabbed her scroll and checked the time, before her eyes practically shot out of her skull realizing that she indeed, had slept, just a tad, too long.

"Oh no no no no, we're gonna be late!"

She exclaimed as she got into action, the rest of Team RWBY seemed to already have gotten ready, which meant they were just waiting on Ruby, as she used her semblance and sped across the room, grabbing a set of her uniform, her notebook, and finally sped into the bathroom, before slamming the door, all of this before the rose petals she left behind even hit the floor. The sound of the shower turning on filled the ambient sound of the room, as Weiss tapped her foot with impatience.

Team RWBY would barely make it to class on time, much to Weiss's chagrin, as she subjected Ruby once again to one of her many, many lectures on leadership, and how punctuality was integral to being a good leader. Such was the case for the students of Beacon, who were expected to be Humanity's defenders from now and through the uncertain future, a future that unbeknownst to them, was more uncertain than ever, as the shattered moon they knew, gave way to the sun that breathed morning life into every being on Remnant.


A/N: As always, I hope you enjoyed the new chapter, and I'll see you in the next one