Board Thread:Speculation House/@comment-25353464-20151113002601/@comment-14909251-20151113234317

Alternatively Cinder may only think she is doing the right thing and fighting against a corrupt government, but is actually being manipulated by the Big Bad who may also be manipulating people on the other side Emperor Palpatine-style. The goal being to divide the kingdoms and usher in a glorious Grimm victory.

With regards to the red and black sphere. Raven clearly uses it as a portal, so the obvious conclusion would be that RWBY are using a portal to get into the midst of a bunch of Grimm for some reason and/or to serve as an escape route in case they can't defeat those Grimm.