A/N: Nope, this is still ongoing. Not dropped. Not on hiatus. For all those interested still, I have nothing but gratitude for you.
B/N: Bwahahahaha. Not as bad as Me!
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Six seconds and an unimaginable distance later, Ruby took a deep breath. Cimmeria was weird on its own, but she would be hard pressed to say it was unpleasant. Other than the rustic smells of animals and the less than stellar hygiene, it had the type of purity more in line with the deep forest, far away from civilization. Blake would probably offer some flowery line about the place like 'this is what the world could have been like, before man and the Grimm.'
It took her about three seconds to decide Earth was not like Cimmeria, at all.
The room she found herself in was large, covered in grey concrete everywhere. There were two massive doorways on opposite sides of the room which had thick metal linings, reminding her of a vault. Facing her was a set of windows, with more large slabs of metal hanging above them. Through the glass she could see a number of people bustling around; she had a good guess what they were working on. Leading up to the Stargate was a long metal ramp.
"Okay, this is different." Weiss murmured from beside her. Even though she went through several seconds before Ruby, the heiress was evidently in no better shape than her.
There were a number of lights scattered around as well, providing more than enough light. Though dimmer than the sun from a moment ago, they were bright enough to let her see exactly who was in the uncomfortably bare room too. Most obvious were over a dozen men arrayed in view of the gate; these ones were wearing multicolored splotched green uniforms rather than Jaune's basic outfit, or at least she thought it was basic. All of them were covered in gear, toting fearsome looking weapons pointed in her direction. Ruby gulped, despite knowing she could probably run circles around them.
When she glanced to her sides, her friends were in the same state as her, looking around in wary awe. When Jaune met her gaze, he sent her a sympathetic look.
"Gate room security. Don't worry, they're always jumpy." he quietly explained. Somehow, Ruby was not reassured at all.
Nevertheless when he began to stroll down the ramp, she trotted after him with the others in her wake. Glancing around, she saw several other things which pecked at her nervousness; primarily the two enormous guns which wouldn't look out of place on a Paladin situated on each side of the ramp, manned by more of the Earther soldiers and aimed towards the vanished puddle. She had the uneasy feeling if something came through that was not strictly allowed to do so, it would not get a warm reception. Whatever checklist they used, the five Remnant natives apparently passed it since in the next few seconds, the soldiers began to file away out of the room.
"Heads up." Yang said softly from behind Ruby, bumping her elbow into the smaller girls back. She stopped looking for the ceiling to focus ahead, seeing at once why the blonde nudged her.
Standing off to the side of the ramp were two people she recognized from the village: Major Smith and a blank faced lackey, sans weapons and equipment. The rest of the soldiers were leaving, save for a couple of permanent guards. He stayed in place with his arms clasped behind his back, waiting for them.
The older man affixed Jaune with a stern look while tracking him down to the ground. "You're five minutes late."
"Lost track of time sir." Jaune replied, tone clipped. Risking a peek, she saw the same shift in him as back on Cimmeria; when she wasn't looking, her friend was replaced by an hard faced stranger.
Major Smith gave a long look at him, not so much as flicking his eyes to the gathered girls. Many nervous moments later, whatever it was broke and he sighed.
"Go get yourself cleaned up, then get to the conference room." he ordered blandly.
"Understood." Jaune replied, giving a curt salute to the older man. The officer didn't deign himself with speaking again, gesturing his head to the large door on the left. He strolled away, but once he was behind the man's back he quickly twisted around to offer a smile at the girls before walking out of sight. Ruby met his eyes, but she couldn't return the smile.
"Alright, time for the hard part." Major Smith mumbled. The lackey with a patch on his breast pocket that said 'Barnes', nodded in sympathy. When he looked to the arrivals, he saw them starting to glance around. "Welcome to Stargate Command. Now, I have to ask you to relinquish your weapons."
The four students, who had each taken a curious peek at their new surroundings, immediately snapped to him with wide eyes.
"Say what?" Yang exclaimed first, features wrinkling while she recoiled in surprise. Both Ruby and Weiss exchanged a look before glancing back at him, the former tentatively reaching around her back for the reassuring weight of her treasured scythe.
"Why exactly?" Blake worriedly inquired, cringing as she looked ready to bolt.
"Protocol ma'am." the Earther officer spoke, his own posture and tone unchanging.
Weiss sucked in a breath through clenched teeth, cringing.
"You do this for everyone who comes here?" she asked carefully, forcing herself to stay in a dignified stance.
"Yes ma'am. If you're worried about safety, this facility is the sixth or seventh most secure location on the planet." Major Smith answered flatly.
The girls looked at each other, their level of unease at the request varying. Ruby could see why the officer wanted to disarm them, considering where and how they got there. It didn't make her feel any better. Blake took a deep breath, looking to Weiss. Neither looked particularly happy, which was calm compared to Ruby and Yang.
"We're guests here. Their home, their rules." the faunus said lowly, sighing.
"If this is how it has to be." said a quiet Weiss, partly to herself. Ruby was wincing, but she saw what needed to happen. Yang cringed as she looked to each of them for some kind of affirmation. When the two swordswomen hesitantly began to reach to their sides, she sputtered out a sigh.
Weiss unclasped Myrtenaster from her belt entirely with its several cartridges of Dust, probably guessing the man would want those too. Blake slung Gambol Shroud from her back, being careful with its edges as she maneuvered it to her hands. Yang unlatched the left gauntlet of Ember Celicia first, for a moment struggling to accomplish the task with her missing fingers. A hesitant offer of assistance from Blake was rebuffed with nothing more than a curt look.
For Ruby, unslinging Crescent Rose from her back was easy. The hard part came from handing the weapon she built herself over to a stranger. She consoled herself by recalling that Jaune, despite his numerous faults, was a good judge of character. He trusted these people; the very least she could do was give them the benefit of the doubt.
Forcing the anxiety aside, she carefully held Crescent Rose out to Major Smith. Rather than accepting the weapon she playfully called her sweetheart, he gestured to the man beside him. Barnes reached over to take the sling from her, blinking as its not inconsiderable weight settled onto his forearm. He needed a moment to adjust the sling before nodding to the others.
Weiss frowned when she handed over Myrtenaster, watching him carefully while he fumbled the blade under his arm. "You better be careful with that."
"Yes ma'am." Barnes replied automatically, turning to Blake when it was in a good spot. She showed plenty of reservation at handing over Gambol Shroud, fingers slightly trembling before and after the sword left her grip.
Once both gauntlets of Ember Celicia were free, Yang held the pair by via pinching the wrist clamps. She began to stretch her arm to the overburdened soldier, but halfway over she stopped and yanked it back. "All weapons?"
"Yes ma'am." Major Smith said dryly, both his pose and his tone somehow unchanged throughout the whole ordeal. Then again, he was doing little compared to his subordinate.
Yang had an evasive look on her face, which her friends responded to with puzzlement. It grew worse when she bent over, going to her boot to fumble with something around her ankle. The apex of confusion was reached when she stood back up with a thin black sheath in her free hand. Ruby blinked, at a loss for words.
"Since when do you carry a knife?" Blake questioned in her stead, her bow unconsciously flicking. Yang opened her mouth to speak, but suddenly changed her mind and closed it, finally settling on a short sigh. The hand holding the small blade wiggled, perhaps out of nervousness.
"Its... look, its a good habit to have a knife okay? If I need to scrape off tree bark or pop open a soda can or something?" she spoke rapidly, her blonde hair tumbling while she turned to each of them.
"Sodas have tabs." Weiss pointed out.
Yang groaned while her eyes rolled, sucking in a breath through her clenched teeth. "You get what I mean."
"I… guess?" Ruby thought aloud, frowning. The discomfort at being unarmed was overshadowed by this new revelation, and she internally questioned how long her sister had been carrying a knife around. By the look of the sheath it was a simple utility blade, available virtually anywhere in the Four Kingdoms for a few lien. Her explanation made sense, except for its location on her ankle.
Maybe its because... Ruby chased the thought away to focus on the present.
Rather than continuing Yang threw her hands out to Barnes, who paled at the sight of even more stuff to carry. Major Smith sighed and turned around, gesturing for one of the guards to come closer. Approaching them, the soldier slung his large black rifle around his back in order to carefully take Ember Celicia and the knife from the blonde, gingerly holding each of them in his grip. When a weapon laden Barnes began to walk away to the same exit Jaune vanished to, he followed after him.
"Airman." Major Smith spoke, stopping the guard in his tracks and causing him to look around nervously. "I don't need to tell you to be careful with those." He nodded quickly and powered after Barnes, who had gained a lot of ground on him. That accomplished, Major Smith turned back to the girls with something hinting at relief.
"Now that this whole drama is taken care off, would you please follow me? General Hammond would like a word with you." he finished, finally unclasping his hands from behind his back to wave them on.
Ruby took a breath to steady her nerves, aware of her friends psyching themselves up as well. "Lead the way."
Major Smith turned to walk in what was clearly a march, stomping off to the same door as the others. While she powered after him, Ruby glanced to the right side of the room and imagined where it lead to. Behind her Yang, Blake, and Weiss followed but not quite in single file. Only the last kept a straight walk, though even she couldn't stop herself from looking around this very different place.
Out of the room itself, there was a large hallway which kept the same style at the bereft room. Above the quintet, a dozen lines of exposed piping, wires, and numerous lights lined the ceiling to parts unknown. Everywhere there were signs, warnings, and reminders for things a quick glance failed to understand. Unconsciously Ruby's breathing picked up; she wasn't claustrophobic by any means, but the walls seemed to press down on her. Checking her friends, they looked to be having the same problem, albeit not as badly. Weiss appeared to be the best off, perhaps relying on her etiquette filled upbringing to keep herself together.
In the halls of Stargate Command were a number of people going to and fro. Some wore the same uniforms as Major Smith, a few had lab coats, and a rare few had on what probably passed for normal clothes on this world. Two men came out from around a corner to brush by the soldier, wearing camouflage patterned uniforms complete with blue berets which were similar but clearly different from the others. When they walked by her heading in the direction of the gate room, she heard a snatch of their conversation. Whatever it was they were saying, she didn't understand a word of it. One suddenly broke out laughing, which the other replied to in a friendly tone. Ruby though she heard a snort from Major Smith, but she wasn't sure.
"What'd you call that guy back there?" Yang asked from immediately behind her, alternating between keeping her gaze forward and looking around the facility with an amazed eye.
"Airman. A lot of the people here are United States Air Force, including most of the security personnel. You guys have a military back home?" Major Smith leaned over his shoulder to speak, his pace unchanging.
"Uh, yeah." Blake said ahead of Ruby, frowning at something while a few passerby's gave them strange looks. Beside her Weiss abandoned her own sightseeing to focus on the conversation, guessing where it was going.
"Its the equivalent of a private in other branches. Arc is a senior airman, rank is basically a corporal. Before you ask, there's no real difference in the command structure." he explained, sounding bored. Ruby opened her mouth to ask him about Jaune, but he interrupted her just before she started to speak. "I'm sure you have a great number of questions, and I'll gladly play Q&A with you. Later." he concluded with a tone of finality.
Closing her mouth, Ruby frowned. She had so many questions about everything; him, the Air Force, Earth, this place, Jaune, and many, many more. It was understandable why he couldn't answer anything more than basics for the time being, but it didn't improve her mood any-
"Wait, hold up." Yang interrupted, pausing in the middle of the floor.
Ruby reacted first by half tripping over her own feet, coming close to falling over before righting herself and twisting around. Weiss looked off balance while she looked to the blonde questionably, and Blake was giving her an irritated stare while somehow avoiding any of their missteps. Peering to Major Smith, Ruby saw him standing still, for the moment facing forward. She thought she saw him take a breath before turning around with what she assumed was his usual blank expression.
"What is it?"
"You said Air Force. Like, you know, flying?" Yang questioned carefully, making several little waves with her hands in the air. A lone man in a long white coat passed them by, looking to her strangely until he was out of sight.
"Its what the name implies, yes." was Major Smith's blank reply.
"Since you're Jaune's boss, commander, whatever." she waved away whatever protest he may have had in store. "This means he is too, right?"
"What're you getting at?" Blake frowned at whatever her friend could be thinking, crossing her arms in the process.
Major Smith frowned too, joining the girls. "That's right."
Ruby looked at Yang quizzically, raising an eyebrow at whatever was going through her head.
"So… Jaune's…" she couldn't finish. Instead she clasped both hands over her mouth, her entire body rippling. It took Ruby a second to figure out she was trying not to laugh, and failing. Blake and Weiss exchanged a confused glance.
Sensing eyes, Ruby noticed Major Smith giving her an inquiring look. It was the same kind a professor gave her when she did something she wasn't strictly allowed to do. "Could you please explain to me what's going on?"
Her confused shrug elicited a deeper frown from the man. "I dunno what she's talking about either."
"Just, j-just." Yang fought through the snickers, holding one hand over her mouth in a vain attempt to stop giggling. "Wow. Air Force." she shook her head bemusedly.
"You lost me." Weiss stated flatly, frowning first at the blonde for the bout of apparent madness, then at Ruby for failing to give a good explanation.
"Oh c'mon." Yang rolled her eyes. "Ruby, don't tell me you don't remember how you two met in the first place?"
Ruby wrinkled her brow, wondering what she was getting at. "Um, you mean the airship on the way to Beacon?"
"Yeah. The airship. Go on." she pressed with a smirk.
"He, uh." she glanced at Major Smith, who offered no help. Neither the faunus nor the heiress were much assistance either. "He threw up... why are you laughing then?"
Suppressing a snicker, the brawler smirked at the Earther. "Jaune gets airsick at the drop of a hat. Out of all people he could've joined up with, he picked the flying experts." she shook her head in bemusement, sniggering.
Ruby saw Major Smith's reaction to her reason, or lack thereof.
"Arc gets queasy on flights. But he's only vomited once on my watch, and that was because of food poisoning." he explained coolly, showing less emotion than a combat android.
Again the four pairs of eyes went to him, Weiss especially looking disturbed. Yang's half snicker went on for several more seconds, trailing off at the same speed as her fading smile. She blinked once more, mouth slightly agape as she stared at him.
"You... um..." she tried to say, unable to get further. Her hands slowly dropped in quiet shame.
"What did you guys put him through?" Ruby questioned darkly. For the moment, her unsettled curiosity won out over the distrust she felt for the man.
Major Smith took a deep breath. The fortiesh man swept his gaze around, as if he was searching for someone. Nodding in apparent satisfaction, he rolled his neck around with a quiet sigh. Before Ruby's eyes, the hardness he showed since she first saw him seemed to leak away. Not much, but enough to make him look much more human.
"You don't like me. I get it, okay?" she opened her mouth to protest, but he continued before she could speak. "He's told me a lot about his home, what its like there. You guys value warriors a lot to keep the Grimm away. A formal military is at best a necessary evil." he quietly explained. Even his tone was different, lacking the clipped formality he always seemed to have. Ruby chanced a peek at Weiss, who gulped nervously from him hitting closer to home than he realized.
"Arc, Jaune." he shook his head at some internal conflict. "I've been serving for almost twenty years now, survived the pararescue course after failing twice, and I still have no idea whats going to happen every time I step through the gate. Jaune had six months to learn what took me a decade to figure out, the minimum before anyone even glanced at my file. The first time I met him, I didn't think he could handle it. I've never been more wrong."
Yang was cringing, her posture looking like she was expecting a punch she knew she deserved. Ruby hardly noticed; her eyes were wide open on the Earther soldier while he spoke, ignoring her sister's self imposed shame or her friends' amazed reactions at the short tale. The thought crossed her mind he was lying, or at least exaggerating.
"He's not perfect, no one is. Still, Jaune is a good kid. I think he would've gone far if he was still back at Beacon with you guys." he remarked.
"Um..." Yang got out, shrinking back when his eyes flicked to her.
"He's saved my life, twice. Whatever you think of him, just know he has guts." Major Smith finished quietly. He sighed once more, his body language returning to the steel like disposition from earlier. "One thing though, before we proceed."
"Uh, yes?" Ruby hesitantly replied, sparing a glance at her anxious friends. Yang looked like she wanted to go hide under a rock for a long while, or take the punch to get it over with.
"The entrance test to get into your academy. Was there really a giant spring to fling you into the woods?" he unexpectedly questioned. She blinked, features wrinkling in confusion.
"...Yeah...?" she slowly answered.
"Yes, that's normal. I flew maybe two hundred meters myself, what about you?" Weiss turned to Blake for her question.
"Not entirely sure, but it was a couple hundred meters too, at least." she shrugged off, going back to the Earther officer. While outwardly nothing about him had changed, there was a noticeable difference in his eyes.
"I always thought he was making that part up." he said softly, lightly shaking his head before straightening back up. "We're at fashionably late that this point. Lets not make it excessive." he told them, turning back around to power off.
Seeing Yang still cringing at herself, Ruby quietly sighed and looked to Blake. The faunus huffed as well and grabbed her bicep, yanking her along. The blonde's sudden unease at having her right arm taken hold of was enough to snap her out of her fugue, and she was moving under her own power again once she jerked the limb back.
Not a minute later they came to a set of stairs, which were much darker than the rest of the cramped hallways. The bright source of light at the other end showed an outline, but little else. Rather than proceeding Major Smith stopped by the side of the stairs, clasping his hands behind his back before glancing to them expectantly.
"You're not coming with us?" Weiss asked him with a curious expression.
"Not my place. I'll send Jaune up when he drops by." he answered blandly.
Ruby took a quick breath, resisting the impulse to criticize the lowered air quality. "Thank you."
"Its what I do ma'am." he replied, one hand leaving his back to wave them onwards.
Glancing up the steps, Ruby steadied herself. Before the doubts could cloud her mind, she powered up the stairs with her team close by. Out of the corner of her eye she thought she saw Blake shudder at the cramped walkway, her bow flicking at something. If she wanted to Ruby could have reached the top step in a second using her semblance, but she felt it would be more polite to walk. It was only a short set of stairs anyway.
Imagining some grandiose meeting place at the end, Ruby felt let down by the sight of an austere conference room which possessed only a single large table. It reminded her of some boardroom, with its wooden furniture and few sets of generic yet interesting pictures hanging from the walls. Then again, while she had seen very little of Stargate Command, they seemed to tend more towards plain functionality than showmanship. Perhaps it was a cultural thing, she didn't know.
She had less than two seconds to examine the room, noticing a number of people already present. Then a blur rushed out, hitting her and wrapping around her torso with the force of a constricting King Taijitu. Too stunned to react, Ruby found herself caught in a powerful and ever tightening grip. Her eyes felt like they were bulging out of her head, which was nothing compared to her protesting ribcage. All she could think of was who was trying to crush her, and why her wide eyed friends weren't doing anything to save her.
"Ohmygoditsreallyyou!"
Despite being crushed to death Ruby had to blink, what little air left in her lungs exiting as a pained squeak. Mercifully the powerful arms encircling her fell away as fast as they appeared, both of her hands slapping down hard on her shoulders instead. It gave her a perfect view of an excited grinning girl she thought long gone.
"Nora?" Ruby couldn't say anything more concrete than that, she was too amazed to do much of anything else. The bubbly girl looked mostly like how she remembered; her hair being a bit longer was the only visible difference she saw. Giggling just like how she used to, Nora Valkyrie clapped her longtime friend on the shoulder hard enough to half stagger her.
"I...I...wow." Yang was at a loss as well, her own wide eyes roaming up and down the orange haired girl's form, now a head taller than before. Weiss numbly nodded in agreement. Blake was the only one able to tear her eyes off of her, becoming transfixed by something else entirely.
"You're telling me! Its been way too long!" the words tumbled from her mouth in a barely legible stream. A cleared throat made her suddenly pick up, dragging one of her hands off Ruby's shoulder to push her farther into the room to see two others, who had taken the opportunity to rise from their chairs and approach.
The tiny smile the sable haired young man in front of her offered seemed inconsequential, but she knew it spoke volumes about his feelings. "Almost didn't believe it, hey." he said quietly, his crossed arms unfolding.
"Ren." Ruby spoke breathlessly, eyes wide.
"You're...um." Blake gulped instead of speaking more.
Lie Ren turned the small smile her way, taking in their appearances just as they were taking in his. His features were sharper than before, maturation affecting him greater than the others. While far taller than before, his hair was oddly shorter, looking to be at the same length as Jaune and Nora's. When he turned to someone else, Ruby saw a tiny ponytail on the back of his head. Most reliving to her, the magenta stripe by his forehead was still there, albeit shorter.
Ruby's gaze inexorably flickered over to the last one standing beside Ren, who offered a shy smile and a small wave which belied her excitement. "Pyrrha."
"Hi Ruby. Um, its been a while." Pyrrha Nikos greeted reservedly, unmindful of how massive of an understatement it was.
Out of the four members of JNPR, Pyrrha showed the greatest change. Her long mane of red hair was a shadow of its former self, now confined to a set of bangs and a ponytail a little longer than Ren's. Her features appeared more open than before, seemingly more relaxed than years ago. It took Ruby a moment to realize that her circlet, which she wore almost all the time back at Beacon, was missing. On top of that, like the others she was taller. Idly Ruby wondered what the Earthers had been feeding the missing team to make them grow so much.
"I...don't know what to say." Ruby admitted, looking over them. Ren shrugged noncommittally.
"Its okay. Its good to see you guys." Pyrrha finished for him, in time for Nora to give another staggering clap on her back before turning to her fresh victims. Victims who were happy yet distinctly unsettled at the sight before them.
Each one wore the same outfit: a thick green jacket which was currently unzipped, with patches on the sleeves and chest along with several pockets. Black shirts were visible underneath. Below they had green fatigue pants which ended at polished black boots. The only thing the uniforms were missing were black vests and weapons.
They were just like Jaune.
"You're...looking well." Weiss hesitantly complimented, unable to look away from them.
Nora's smile faded instantly into puzzlement before her eyes widened in understanding, making a tiny "ah" noise and chuckling bashfully. "Oh, the outfit. I would've changed into something better, but didn't have time." she explained rapidly, shrugging in good nature. Blake watched her mutedly.
"Sorry." Pyrrha averted her eyes for a second, smiling nervously while she absently moved a bang out of her eyes. "I just got back a little bit ago."
"From, um, where?" Weiss stepped around the others to walk over her way, looking the redhead over. To Ruby, looked unsure of whether she should be happy or disturbed.
"P4X-351. It wasn't exactly a... pleasant place." Pyrrha hesitated on her wording, looking upwards for a moment in memory. Then the red toned girl got a whiff of the unmistakable scent of sweat from her.
"Pee-four... what?" Blake wrinkled her brow in confusion.
"Another world?" Weiss inquired, wrinkling in a strange blend of emotions.
"Yeah. The place was, well, baking hot." she admitted with a small shrug.
"Enough for now." Ren interrupted her before she could proceed further, "How are you guys?"
"I'm well. Yeah, well. How about you?" Yang nodded while she spoke, adopting a smile which wouldn't fool anyone.
"Good. Keeping busy, you know." Nora piped up genially with a shrug, an identical look on her own features.
Ruby took a deep breath, gathering her thoughts. The two teams were freely mingling, yet an uncomfortable silence had descended over the seven. Yang looked to one of the pictures on the wall instead of talking further, while Ren brought up a fist to his mouth to clear his throat. Nora still beamed at her friends, but it didn't take a genius to see it was plainly forced. Neither Weiss nor Blake found anything to say, the latter shuffling her feet to stay busy.
All of it changed when a new voice from behind the changed trio commented. "This got awkward in a hurry."
Ruby snapped her head to the direction of the speaker, catching a noticeable flash over Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora. In the split second look, she saw a glint of the same change which now affected Jaune. Whoever it was that spoke, he was their commander. Rolling the term over in her mind, she put aside any innocent curiosity she had. Even if the sight of him caught her off guard.
It wasn't his appearance which did it; a nondescript older man well in his late forties with greying hair, casually leaning back in the table chair. He was clad in a similar uniform as her missing friends, though lacking a green jacket. A pen was in his hands, and he fiddled with it while peering her way. The look on his face was one of either boredom or expectation, she couldn't tell. What confused her was the lack of the same steely gaze found on practically every Earther soldier she encountered thus far.
"Who are you?" she questioned him directly.
Beside her Ren cleared his throat once again, suddenly nervous. Out of the corner of her eye Ruby saw her team move away from the stairwell, and the present members of her formerly close knit companions stand up straighter. Each one, even Nora, now looked quietly anxious. The unease in her team only grew.
"You first." the man quipped back.
"I asked you already." Ruby countered. The pen in his hands froze, his brow rising a centimeter.
"Good point." he conceded. He glanced to the rest of his end of the table, leading her to notice three others she overlooked.
There was a tall man with dark skin who looked to be in his early forties, sitting beside the greying man with his hands clasped to a paper on the table surface. Her gaze was drawn to a strange golden emblem on his bald forehead which faintly glinted in the artificial light. Unlike the first, there was a blank frown on his face, revealing nothing of his thoughts as he read whatever it had written. Unlike the others, he was quite large in comparison, perhaps bigger than even Yatsuhashi.
On the other side there were two others occupied with a sheaf of papers in front of them, a man and a woman. Both had on similar uniforms as the others, complete with the jackets. The latter looked to be in her thirties, with short blonde hair and fair skin. The former man was a similar age, with short brown hair and glasses. He too was rifling through the papers in front if him, whatever was on it absorbing all his attention. At least until the first man tapped the table with the pen, causing both to look up with some surprise. Instead of answering he nodded his head to the other end of the table before leaning further back in the chair, enough to make the front legs leave the floor.
"To answer your question, I'm Colonel Jack O'Neill of the US Air Force. Yourself?" he greeted her, completely at ease.
"Um, I'm Ruby Rose, of Beacon." thinking for a second, she added, "From Remnant."
He showed nothing of his feelings except for a level of interest. "Both red."
"Fits the naming conventions." the glasses man added absently, flicking to the paper for a second.
"Right right." he glanced to the man. "How'd you know that?"
"Its in the report in front of you Jack." said the bespectacled man, looking up from his papers to sit up straight.
"Huh." Blake grunted, crossing her arms. When Ruby peeked at the others, she saw all three of them looking shuffling in place, politely embarrassed.
"He's..." she started.
"Our boss, yes." Nora confirmed resignedly.
"Huh." Yang agreed with the faunus, raising a brow. They along with Ruby turned an eye to Weiss, silently inquisitive.
"Um, Colonel is a high rank. In Atlas they normally lead regiments, but its not unheard of for them to do things on their own." she answered softly, even though the Earthers could likely hear them.
O'Neill clapped his hands together. "So, anyone besides me feel like introducing themselves?" he turned to the others, idly spinning in his chair.
"I was waiting on Hammond sir." the woman answered, in the next moment letting the paper she was reading fall back to the table. "But I guess there's no harm in doing it now."
"It would be most efficient now rather than later." the dark skinned man rumbled with a basso voice, lowering his own paper. Like the glasses wearing man, the wokan gave the newcomers a welcoming look.
While the remaining members of JNPR shuffled off to the side looking all apologetic, Ruby swallowed her unease to carefully walk over. In response one by one the men and woman began to examine the new arrivals, each one subtly different in how they did it. The woman was at ease, yet she could see the discipline in her body language. In contrast the bespectacled man was almost lackadaisical, though not to the extreme as O'Neill. The emblemed man simply stared their way, every move deliberate.
"So Miss Rose and company, this is SG-1. Guys?" O'Neill turned to the others expectantly.
"Right. I'm Dr. Daniel Jackson. Archeologist." the glasses man introduced simply, giving a perfunctory nod their way while stuffing his hands into his elbows and leaning back as well.
"Major Samantha Carter, United States Air Force. You can call me Carter if you want." the blonde woman greeted, her eyes going to the paper for a second before tenting her fingers.
"I am Teal'c." the dark skinned man rumbled in monotone; internally Ruby wondered if he were an android mocked up as a human. The thought inevitably lead to Penny-
The first bit clicked. She remembered Jaune mentioning something about an SG-7, how he was assigned to them. She glanced to the nearest of her changed friends, Nora in this case. The now unexpectedly reserved girl was just in the right position for her to see the patch on her shoulder; it had a stitched 15 in the same style as his. She had little doubt Ren and Pyrrha had similar ones on their shoulders. Ruby felt like asking how the team ranking system worked, but there were more pressing concerns at the moment.
First up was her sister toeing around her to get a look at this SG-1, glancing questionably at Ren. He shrugged sheepishly before she turned back to them and planted her bare hands on her hips. "Hi. I'm Yang Xiao Long."
Daniel Jackson gave her a funny look. "Huh, you don't look..." he stopped to clear his throat. "Well, I'm sure you've gotten this a lot already, but welcome to Earth."
"Right." Ruby spoke, steadying herself and seeing an encouraging look from Pyrrha. "These are my friends, Blake Belladonna and Weiss Schnee." she introduced, waving to the other two girls. They gave weak waves back, the former doing her best to meet their eyes.
"Colorful group you got there. Dare I say, rainbowish." O'Neill commented as he waved a pointed finger their way and then back again.
"Its in the report Colonel." Carter pointed out, making him shrug.
"Always with the reports." he muttered disdainfully. "Anyways, welcome. If you want to take a seat." Immediately he looked to the silent trio "This means you too."
"Yes sir-" Nora caught herself, gulping nervously when she received several questioning looks from the other girls.
She settled for flopping into the nearest chair, while Pyrrha quickly did the same. Ren gestured for the others to do so as well before sitting himself. On the opposite side of the table Blake took a deep breath while she pulled up a seat, while Yang slumped into an open chair easily. Weiss carefully down, taking a second to adjust herself.
"So, let the barrage of questions begin." O'Neill invited of them, lackadaisically waving an arm in the direction of the girls.
"We are supposed to wait for General Hammond, O'Neill." Teal'c rumbled, clasping his hands in the space in front of him like nothing happened.
"I meant them actually. You girls probably want to know about everything around here, don't you?" he rhetorically asked them while leaning back once more.
Carter cleared her throat. "That could take days sir."
"Won't hurt to get the basics." Jackson added, turning to the girls. Idly he adjusted his glasses. "So, how can we help you?"
"Well," Blake was the first to speak, briefly sharing a look with the others. Upon seeing no objection she proceeded. "Where are we exactly? I mean, I know we're on Earth." she corrected.
A slight movement from the opposite side of the table caught Ruby's attention. While Ren and Pyrrha looked relatively at ease, Nora was half fidgeting in her chair. The movement caught the eye of Jackson, who turned to her expectantly. He shrugged.
"Why not I guess." he said softly, turning back to the paper for a moment. O'Neill nodded approvingly.
"This place?" Nora began, giving a tiny wave to the ceiling. "Cheyenne Mountain."
Ren quietly coughed. "Its a facility," his features flickered at seeing the girls's unenthused reaction to his wording, "Built into a mountain. For that." he finished by jerking a thumb to the wall behind him, to a set of windows. Outside, the top edge of the Stargate was barely visible.
"Explains a lot." Yang said softly, frowning yet nodding. She glanced to the ceiling, probably thinking of the amount of ground between her and the sky. An idea Ruby tried not to dwell on.
Weiss leaned forward onto the table, getting a better look at SG-1. "What're those papers?"
"Reports of, well, us." Pyrrha offered, prompting no less than three raised eyebrows, save only a frowning Weiss. "Biographies, notes, physical data, everything they took down when he got here."
"Everything." Yang noted darkly.
"Its about a week's worth of interviews and medical checkups condensed into a ten page document. Nothing invasive." she corrected with a short move of her palms to placate them.
"Nothing interesting either." Nora mumbled.
"And you guys." Weiss directed at SG-1. "Are doing what with those?"
"Refresher for the interview. Study crunching if you want to look at it like that." O'Neill answered, idly flipping pages of his own report. He gave the impression of someone steadfastly pretending to study his schoolwork rather than actually doing it.
Reminds me of Uncle Qrow, Ruby thought. She wasn't sure why, this man and her uncle looked like they had nothing in common.
"Interview?" Blake questioned guardedly, casting an uncomfortable look towards the trio.
"I promise, its normal. What's the situation back home, reason for traveling, so on." Pyrrha explained casually, shrugging to loosen up.
In contrast Ren frowned and rested his hands on the table, giving them a thoughtful look. "Speaking of which, how exactly did you guys find Remnant's gate? It was hidden in a remote cave when we found it."
The four quietly squirmed, shifting eyes away. Neither Ruby nor Weiss wanted to explain the story, though they both knew it was only a matter of time. Time which came sooner than anticipated.
From the same stairwell they came from Blake turned her head, hearing footsteps well before the others. Ruby learned long ago how to read her body language, so when she stiffened up the red toned girl reacted as well. It gave her plenty of time to see how all three of her friends became alert, emotions vanishing like a switch. In contrast SG-1 didn't seem to do much beyond looking to the entranceway.
"Must be Hammond." O'Neill commented, a heartbeat before the man himself strolled into the room.
When she heard General, she imagined someone like Ironwood; tall, imposing, and icily cold. The sight of an older man in a slightly more flashy version of the standard uniform in this place didn't fit her vision. There were plenty of tabs on his shoulders and chest, far fewer than she would've expected. His bald head reflected some light, while his own face was admittedly sharp.
"At ease." he commanded automatically the moment he stepped through, strolling to the other side of the table. The way he spoke was strange, a weird twang to his speech that was unlike any accent she ever heard before.
His body language however was as clear as day; he walked with purpose, authority radiating off him so thickly even Aura stunted people could feel it. General Hammond may not have looked like a general to her, but he certainly acted like one. Caught up in observing him, she didn't register the presence of someone behind the man until he took the last seat on the opposite side of the table. A flash of surprise was muted when she saw a tiny smile on Jaune adjusting himself.
Hammond took the lone chair at the head of the table, the eyes of all twelve people present locked on him. No one spoke until he was seated and had his clasped hands in front of him.
"Greetings. I'm General Hammond, I'm in charge of the Stargate Program here on Earth." he greeted perfunctorily. "Given the unusual circumstances here, I'm going to dispense with the formalities and get down to business. Now please, I'd like you to tell me where, how, and why you rediscovered your world's gate."
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A/N: So, a month. And I cut it off right in the middle of a scene. Covering maybe ten to fifteen minutes of questionably in-character interactions. No action, no real plot moving, just yap yap yap. Why are you people interested in this?
B/N: It's Fun.
CrazedGammaMan1721 and TheDoctor1998, the omakes I promised you are going to have to wait a bit. I'm awful with puns. Still, thank you.