Only Thing Stopping Me is the Ground

When your blown the operation is over, if you haven't given up operational intelligence you may be allowed home, if not, enjoy your new life as being an ex military operative try not to get killed. - Imperial Field Guard Manual

I've always been surprised at Rolando's ability to stay alive, its almost rivals my own, almost. - Chronicles of Lorentino

"Say hello to the ground asshole." Rolando heard it as he was being ejected from the spacecraft. He didn't really register it as he was groggily shaking off the tranquilizer. The air was way too cold as he plummeted. It woke him up, but only made him panic as he could see the ground coming way too fast and he had no way of stopping. Of course he was a shifter and the panic faded when he took that into account, but for a brief moment he was afraid.

It took a bit of work to shift to the ground. Rolando understood shifting ignored pretty much all physics because it was magic, but he wasn't entirely sure of that belief and didn't want to find out it wasn't true by slamming into the ground at deadly velocity. Once on the ground Rolando had the difficult task of determining where he was. It was definitely wilderness, and while he hadn't explored all of the planet Morlatech was on, he didn't recall there being any area of large wilderness. Without knowing how long he'd been under the sedative he could have been anywhere.

That's when the terror set in.

****

Operative Rolando Lorentino

Status: Deceased

Nihls stared at the screen for a moment before hitting send. He didn't know where Lorentino had gone, but he knew he was dead. Morlatech listed it as a training accident, but Nihls knew they had discovered him. He only hoped Lorentino hadn't exposed the operation, not that Nihls was staying around to figure that out. He was already out the door when he filed the report.

Months of training lost to poor planning, he knew Rolando would not work, but kept his objections in check over his superiors. His only real worry was the elder Lorentino blaming him, though there were reports he too had been killed by Morlatech. Oh well on to the next was all Nihls could think of.