Colin was early, as he usually preferred to be regarding meetings. He liked to leave on time as well, so he could return to his lab to work on whatever breakthrough he found during the more tedious parts of said meeting. Today wasn't going to be one of those days. It wasn't everyday that one got to learn more in depth details about another world, with their instructor being from said place. The conference room was built like an auditorium, with all the seats facing a wall with a small podium. Colin sat in the front row to get the best view of any visual aids.

"Oh, you're here already." Edelweiss walked through the door, it closed as soon as she stepped into the conference room. Today's meeting would be more like a class, with Edelweiss going into more details about her world than the brief overview she had given Miss Militia and himself.

"Of course." Armsmaster said simply. If he could learn how to replicate the effects of Dust, without the use of aura, it would lead to a breakthrough in his weaponry, and power sources. He hadn't had a chance to discuss such technicalities with the new Ward, they both had very busy schedules as of late. "I'm very interested in learning more about your world, Dust, aura, and your machinery." Schnee did claim to have designed and helped in the construction of Myrtenaster, her rapier.

"I'm sure you are." Edelweiss said dryly. From their short and often brief interactions since their first couple meetings, Colin deduced that her sarcasm was a defense mechanism that she used. Overall she was polite, courteous even, but she would always slip up here and there with her tone. He didn't get his psychology degree just to hang it on the wall in his lab. Colin would let it slide for now, Weiss was dealing with being stranded in another world after all.

"I am." Before he could continue speaking, the others started to trickle in. First came the Wards, minus Shadow Stalker who was encouraged to take some personal time off.

"Wassup!" Clockblocker raised his fist in the air, earning himself a glare from everyone in the room. "See, this is why I wanted to show up fashionably late."

They took their seats in the row behind Colin, with Clockblocker just so happening to choose the one directly behind him. Hopefully the young Ward wouldn't be too distracting today, Colin didn't want to miss any information, even though he would be recording the meeting.

More specifically, Dragon would be recording since Colin was forbidden by Director Piggot. The contents of the meeting would be classified, with only a handful people outside of the in-person meetings allowed access. Edelweiss took her position at the podium, and pulled out the device she called a scroll.

Following the Wards were Colin's teammates on the Protectorate, with Miss Militia leading them. Colin gave them a curt nod to not appear rude. While he wasn't particularly close with his coworkers outside of his duties, having a healthy working relationship always went a long way when it came to leading an effective team.

Armsmaster was nothing but efficient. The two PRT field commanders that Director Piggot had chosen along with the Deputy Director Renick were the next to arrive, taking their seats in the aisle beside Colin without another word.

"I believe this is everyone." Edelweiss said, looking up from her scroll. Each person in this room was personally chosen by either the Director, or Edelweiss. Dragon's avatar appeared in the corner of Collin's screen just as the young Ward spoke, just on time.

Dragon gave him a smile.

"Thank you all for coming." Edelweiss smiled. A secondary metal door closed over the exits. All other communication devices had been confiscated before they were allowed to enter. "I'm Edelweiss, but I'm sure everyone here knows that."

"Yup." Clockblocker snorted out loud, earning him a slap on the shoulder from Vista. Colin didn't need to turn around to know she had been the one to do it.

"Anyways." Edelweiss turned her attention back to her scroll. "We'll start off with a brief history of the Four Kingdoms of Remnant, Vale, Mistral, Vacuo and Atlas, formerly known as Mantle." The scroll acted like a projecting, placing a map of Edelweiss' world on the wall. Once she was more comfortable, Colin was definitely going to ask Edelweiss if he could study her scroll.

"And please hold your questions until I'm done speaking about our current topic."

Damn.

Weiss knew that her class was going to happen eventually. Director Piggot had placed too much of an emphasis on unlocking aura during their initial negotiations, and she gave up too quickly once Weiss pushed back, way too quickly. That meant the Director knew what she was doing, playing the long haul, hoping to eventually convince Weiss of unlocking aura in the future.

That's why Weiss planned on speaking about the subject most people would consider boring for her first 'Remnant 101' class, history. Personally, Weiss was a fan, unlike the rest of Team RWBY who preferred their more hands-on classes. Except for Blake, she had the highest grades in classic literature.

Clockblocker was snoring by the time Weiss finished speaking about the reason Atlas changed their name from Mantle. Hiding her smirk with an impassive face, Weiss pressed a few buttons on her scroll.

"Now I'm sure you're wondering, since Remnant has aura and Dust to protect themselves from the Grimm, why haven't they been able to expand past the kingdoms and the outlying villages?" Weiss had saved the best for the end. The hologram of an average sized beowolf formed besides Weiss much shorter body. "This is a beowolf, one of the more common species of Grimm."

Sure Weiss could have summoned one with her glyphs, but she'd rather keep that particular asset close to her chest for now. Her audience started whispering. Dennis had finally woken up from his nap. Armsmaster raised his hand.

"I'm not done talking yet." Weiss crossed her arms over her chest. Armsmaster quickly lowered his hand. Ignoring Assault snickering, Weiss pressed another button, with more beowolves forming.

"Beowolves always hunt in packs, so whenever there's one, more are surely to follow." Weiss hardened her eyes. "And I can assure you, that even a small pack can devastate an entire village if caught off guard. Grimm tend to move in hordes, gathering strength until they have enough to attack an outpost, or frontier town."

"They don't look that bad, I bet Armsmaster could take them on easy-peasy with his halberd." Dennis decided to open his fat mouth. The two PRT commanders nodded in agreement.

"Easy-peasy huh?" Weiss raises an eyebrow. While it was true, a single beowolf could easily be slain by a trained huntsmen or huntress, it could also just as easily kill someone without aura. "What if they also had hundreds of these, dozens of stories tall and just as wide, with every wound just causing more Grimm to appear?"

A recording of the Wyvern from the attack on Beacon appeared on the wall, causing everyone's eyes to widen. This particular video was shared on every news channel on Remnant, with the traitorous Atlesian knights edited out. Weiss kept staring forward as the video kept playing, with hundreds if not thousands of different kinds of Grimm laying waste to Vale.

Goliaths, Ursa Majors, Boarbatusks, Death Stalkers, Griffons, Nevermores and more. Weiss placed a hand on her hip.

"So Clockblocker, does it still look easy-peasy to you?"

A/N

This was a funnish chapter to write. Time for the next interlude!

Thank you for reading!