RWBY is property of Roosterteeth! I only own my characters.
CHAPTER 3
"Priority transport, designation A4-11, is now arriving. Please keep clear of landing pad eighteen." A robotic voice reported from a loudspeaker. Admiral Dietrich pushed himself off the wall of the hangar where he had been leaning as a Dragonfly dropship coasted into the hangar aboard the Maw of the Abyss.
Following the disappearance of General Evans and four others, the Admiral had begun a rather desperate search. Losing a high-ranking officer and three Bloodlines had not been a good start to his day. The aging Navy man lifted his cap to briefly sweep his hand over his head and took a moment to straighten his coat as the dropship landed with a heavy thud. The side hatch of the craft opened upward to allow its two passengers to disembark. Two pairs of snow-white armored boots landed against the hangar floor.
"Guardians Drazen and Izumi. Thank you for coming so quickly." Dietrich greeted. "Guardian Miller arrived a few hours ago. He's been down on the engineering deck, running through the data from our encounter with the Order."
"Evening, Admiral." Guardian Sven Drazen greeted politely. The Aura was covered by a ragged-looking cloak, hood down to reveal a kind face with dark eyes and hair. "Can you give us a better idea as to what happened?"
"I would if I could, but I scarcely understand anything about the situation. Miller could probably already give you a better explanation than I could."
"Knowing Sam, he's already come up with half a dozen plans for getting the others back." Guardian Rei Izumi chuckled. He was of a more muscular build than Drazen, and stood a full head taller than his comrade. A metal eyepatch covered the Guardian's right ocular socket. He had black hair and brown eyes like Sven, but Rei's gaze was sharper and his hair longer.
"I hope so." the Admiral nodded. "Let's not keep him waiting any longer, shall we?" Dietrich gestured with his hand and led the two Guardians down the orderly halls of the EDC Dreadnaught. He made minor notes of how the two moved. Sven walked quickly with an eerie sort of liquid grace, making almost no noise despite wearing armor. Rei's stride was heavy, the Guardian's boots clanking against the metal floors with each step.
As the Admiral stepped into an elevator with the pair, he felt a child-like curiosity fill him. He had been surprised when General Evans had brought Guardian Blackwill and his sister onto his ship. It was the first time the Naval officer had gotten to meet a Bloodline up close. To say the least, it had felt like standing in the presence of some sort of god of war. Now, here Dietrich was, standing beside two more of the most powerful humans in existence. The Bloodlines of Death and Wrath.
"The two of you are late." Guardian Sam Miller greeted his comrades as Dietrich showed them through the door to the Maw's engineering lab. The third Guardian was poring over a multitude of screens, all rapidly relaying information at a rate beyond either of the Bloodlines. Dietrich excused himself, leaving the trio of white-armored individuals on their own. "Sven. Rei. Good to see you're both still in single pieces." Sam greeted Drazen and Izumi respectively.
"Have you found anything from what you've seen so far?" Sven asked, his cloak fluttering lightly as he walked over to his old friend.
"I've found something, but it's hard to believe."
"After everything we've seen over the years, I find that difficult to believe." Sven replied.
"Alright, I'll try to explain then. You both understand the basic idea of a wormhole, right?"
"Physics was never my strong suit." Rei grunted.
"Okay then..." Sam looked around the lab, spotting several sheets of paper laying on a nearby table. After quickly assuring there was nothing too important written on them, the Guardian brought a few sheets over to use as tools for his explanation. "Let's say one of these sheets is our universe. The short version is that a wormhole brings two faraway points close together, like folding this paper."
"Fine, so you're saying that Jerloh and the others got spit out somewhere along with Agony?"
"Well... sort of. Based off the data I've sifted through so far, Agony didn't really 'stick to our sheet of paper', so to speak."
"You're talking dimensional travel?" Sven inquired.
"Yeah," Sam nodded, "Told you it would be hard to believe..."
"If it really is another dimension," Rei cut in, "How do we get there?"
"You assume this is like opening a door."
"Is that not exactly what Agony did?"
"He-" Sam stopped for a moment. "No, you're right. Huh. Sometimes the simplest solution really is the best." He began to think to himself, trying to figure out how he might create a doorway across dimensions. His thoughts were interrupted by a loud beep emitting from the tactical pad laid on a table beside him. Sam picked it up and looked at the completed scan. "That's odd."
"What?" Rei asked.
"On a hunch, I wondered whether whatever hole Agony opened up was still here. It is. In a way at least. My scan picked up some low-level energy readings, but the hole itself doesn't seem to be stable enough to travel through."
"What use was the scan then?"
"It wasn't the only hole it picked up. When I thought it was a normal wormhole, I bounced a scan off every EDC sensor they'd let me, figuring I'd find out where the exit was. Now that I have readings from this one, I can confirm it isn't the first time something has crossed over."
"Slow down, Sam. English." Sven gestured with his hands.
"I mean there's more of these residual portals, including one on Earth that I could potentially stabilize enough for us to stage a rescue."
"Alright. You handle the details, we'll secure the portal. Just point us in the right direction."
"I'll send all the necessary data to your HUDs."
A short while later, Sven and Rei returned to their dropship to head out towards the coordinates that Sam had provided. As Sven's boot tapped against the side of the craft, he felt a small tug on his cloak. Turning, he was greeted with the faces of two small children, Devin and Ember, Alyia's son and Ryan's daughter. The latter held a bundle of Sven's tattered cloak in her hand.
"Uncle Sven? Are you going to bring back my Daddy?" Sven dropped to one knee so he was on eye-level with the little ginger-haired girl. She had desperate tears in her eyes. He lightly placed a hand on her head.
"Don't worry. We will."
Rei watched as his fellow Guardian stepped onto the Dragonfly, waving his farewell to the pair of children in the hangar.
"It always strikes me as odd how compassionate you are, Sven. Even though you're a Reaper." He commented from his seat within the dropship.
"Is it really that strange?" Sven asked, taking a seat across from the other Aura.
"It just seems bizarre how the Bloodline of Death goes out of his way to prevent the very thing he represents."
"I learned from the best." Sven smiled. Rei nodded his understanding.
"Greene, huh?"
"Yeah."
"Well, as far as role models go, I suppose the hero of humanity is a good one to aspire to."
"I doubt he would have wanted to be called that. Titles weren't really his thing."
"No, I suppose they weren't."
"The stories really are strange, aren't they? That we get made out to be these great heroes while Alex slowly fades into history... We wouldn't be where we are if not for him..."
"Yeah..." Rei nodded solemnly. "Yeah, it is..."
EARTH DEFENSE COALITION DATABASE: EDC GEN3 ARMOR/ AEGIS ARMOR
"The culmination of the alliance between the Guardians and the EDC has given birth to this: the third generation of powered, shielded armor systems."
"The Guardian's design for the Aegis is exceedingly powerful, able to take direct hits from Aura-based attacks without harm to the user. It is light, yet strong, and has rapidly regenerating shielding. However, since every suit of Aegis is built for its unique operator, they are both time and resource consuming to produce. For now, their distribution has been kept only within the ranks of the Guardians and EDC-MATF."
"The Gen3 EDC Multi-Role Armor System (M-RAS) is not quite as strong as the Aegis per unit, but it packs enough punch to get the job done. Unlike the Aegis, it can be mass-produced and does not require specialized training to use. The platform is highly customizable to fit mission parameters on the fly. In exchange, however, it has weaker shields and armor plating. It can take hits from Shades, but it won't be taking on a Bloodline in single combat any time soon."
A/N: Short chapter, though most chapters involving Earth are going to be relatively shorter than the ones in Remnant.
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REVIEW REPLIES
Stevealio: I'm assuming Yang's hair has stayed about the same length.
Skaana: Thanks for the enthusiasm!