The Fall

As the months passed, the air cooled down in the higher elevation, and shades of red, brown, and orange coated the autumn trees surrounding the military compound. Morning dew would glaze the grass every morning while the sun would slowly creep its way over the distant mountain ranges, as a sheet of clouds rolled toward the base in the sky. A few guards dismount the towers that outskirt the base as others climb the same towers to relieve them from the night shift of keeping watch. In the barracks, Riley and the other recruits opened their eyes to the new day, making their way out of bed and suiting up in their uniforms before heading out on their morning run like every other day for the past few months. By now, the physical conditioning of all the recruits there had gotten strong enough, to the point where they could all easily do the five-kilometer run while hardly breaking a sweat. 

Gathering once more in the meal hall, sitting down for the first meal of the day that never seemed to lose its sense of bliss. All of the recruits unanimously concluded that the breakfast they shared was the best part of the day on base. As they ate, everyone at Riley's table shared plans for what they'd be doing over their upcoming break; Thanksgiving would be during the following weekend, and the military would give all of the recruits the long weekend off. Most of the recruits were excited about going home to eat homecooked meals or seeing their families for the first time in a while; but while Riley did want to see his parents again, he was most excited about getting to hang out with Mary again and even proposed that their families do Thanksgiving together this year on a call they had together a couple weeks ago. As Riley was joyfully sharing his plans with the others at his table, the drill sergeant threw open the door, walked in, positioned himself at the front of the room, and shouted out;
 "Today's going to be different! You all signed up to be paratroopers, and today you're all going to get your first real taste of it. Finish eating, and follow me out for mission briefing." Within a minute, all of the recruits had finished eating and gotten up to follow him out of the dining hall and into an intelligence room connected to an airplane hangar. 

Mike followed right behind Riley in the single-file line to the intelligence room, led by the drill sergeant. At first glance, the room looked similar to a university's lecture hall; a large semi-circle room with seats, and stairs on a decline toward the front of the room. The front wall was covered with screens that would be used to display relevant information, with a desk centered, a few meters off the wall. The sergeant stood behind the desk, slammed his hands down, and spoke up once everyone had taken a seat.
 "Before we begin today, I would like to introduce all of you to General Jude Park." The sergeant motioned to the back of the room. Riley and all the seated recruits turned their heads around to see the newly introduced General Park; he was a tall man who stood at six-foot-two with muscles, but not bulky at one hundred and ninety-five pounds. Park carried himself with a sense of pride and passion on a level that exceeded anyone else on base. He walked down slowly to meet the sergeant at the front of the room, hands clasped at the hip behind his back. Once he stood at the front of the room, off to the side of the sergeant, the sergeant continued his introduction of General Park.
 "General Park is the head of the paratroopers unit we have, and as of today, he will also be your new commanding officer." 

The sergeant stepped away from the desk, leaving room for General Park to take his spot and address his recruits. Once General Park stood behind the desk and started talking, the sergeant left the room, leaving his old recruits in new care. General Park started his speech, eyeing the sergeant as he left the room.
 "As you've all heard, I am your new commanding officer, and as I believe you've been told, today you're going to start your training as paratroopers. We're going to start easy, dropping in locations that should be easy to land in, but after that, you'll be training to land anywhere so you can survive in war times, no matter the scenario." Jude spoke in a no-nonsense tone, his voice carried authority with little emotion; not sounding 'high and mighty' but also lacking empathy. 
"Suit up and gather in the hangar next door. Once we're all there, we'll hop on the aircraft and send you up for your first drop. Dismissed." 

As soon as Park had finished talking, he walked straight out of the room, leaving everyone to chat for a few moments before a sense of urgency came upon the room, where Mike, Riley, and all of the other recruits filled out the back door of the intelligence room to make their way to the hanger. The hangar was huge, bright floodlights illuminated the hangar; multiple military cargo planes lined the parallel walls of the hangar with one of them positioned in the middle of the hangar. General Park walked down the cargo door of the motionless plane after checking that everything was set and ready for the recruits to make their first jump. Everyone lined up. Parachutes were handed out along with sidearms. General Park explained that the sidearms were not to be used and were only there for the sake of jumping while having a firearm in your possession. He then said that there would be consequences if you lost the sidearm during the activity. Mike took a seat next to Riley in the cargo hold of the aircraft, Mike was still a little nervous about their first jump, but knew he'd get used to it in no time. On the other hand, Riley was excited, pumped full of adrenaline at the prospect of jumping out of a plane; he felt a wave of pride wash over his body, this was yet another step toward his goal of protecting his life and those he loved. 

The plane took off without a problem, leaving the vicinity of the base for the first time since he arrived early in the summer. The clouds that rolled in earlier in the morning had now completely overcast the sky. Peering out the small circular window on the other side of the cargo bay, Riley could tell that, still ascending, they would soon be passing through the clouds. As the plane flew through the clouds, Riley saw a flash of purple through the window, momentarily reminding himself of the view from his old room in the House of the Emperor. All adrenaline faded and he felt his stomach drop at that moment, he was still on the plane with the people he'd gotten to know over a few months, but something just felt different to him.
 "Hey, Mike!" His voice barely audible, "Did you see that?" Riley said, pointing out the window on the plane.
 "See what?" Mike responded. His answer did not calm Riley's nerves.
 "Must've just been lightning, I guess." Riley was unsure of what he'd just witnessed, and no one else seemed to notice it. He tried to play it off as PTSD, he hadn't been so high up since Edok had shot him in his room that overlooked the whole city of Jimat. 

At a cruising altitude of twelve thousand feet, General Park lowered the plane's cargo door and spoke through an earpiece so everyone could hear him clearly;
 "We got clouds, but they don't go low. Pull your parachute once you break through and make your way safely to the ground. Don't move around once you land, y'all got trackers and we'll come to pick you up." He paused for a short moment. "Alright, this is your stop! One at a time, please exit the vehicle" Riley's mood lightened at the Generals' poor attempt at humor, regaining his confidence and some of the adrenaline he'd lost. As the recruits started jumping out of the rear of the plane, Riley found himself following Mike as he jumped out of the plane. Picking up speed as he entered freefall, the clouds were coming up quickly. Breaking the top level of the clouds, he saw another short flash of purple lights; but when he broke through the clouds and pulled his parachute, he was shocked when he saw the ground in the distance. Instead of the valleys of grass that he expected to see, he was greeted with an aerial view of Jimat, surrounding the House of the Emperor. 

Riley landed on a hill just outside of the city and detached his parachute. He couldn't believe his eyes. He fell to his knees with his mouth agape, instinctively reaching for the sidearm strapped to his vest for protection. There was nothing he could do, his life had been ripped from his grasp once again. His family, gone. His friends, gone. Even his buddies he made in the army were missing. Left alone in the world he once knew, with nothing but his memories, and a pistol.