Post by BG Anne McKenna on Apr 27, 2020 0:02:06 GMT -5
C-119 Flying Boxcar - 3rd Transport Sqdn, USM
I will be so glad to get back on solid ground, General McKenna mused as she caught sight of the Detroit River down below, in the distance. It'd been a bumpy flight from River Field back at West Point but as the general sat back in her cargo seat, she pondered the events of the past year, her fingers running over the one-star insignia on her chest, a symbol of some of the changes.
One year earlier, she'd just been given that brigadier's star by General McArthur and given command of the reclamation of Boston. A bloody slog it had been times; insurgents - mainly gang members, bandits, militia who didn't want to go back under American sovereignty - had made the entire operation miserable, so much so that McKenna had had to order the entire region a free-fire zone. Every mile forward had thrown up one horror after another; not only had they encountered walkers - how any of those creatures, she thought, could still be roaming the damn earth after seven years? but they'd also encountered the first major pockets of Night People on the East Coast, urban cannibals who made the walkers seem like honor scouts. God only knew, she thought, what they'd find if there was ever a salvage operation of the Big Apple..and that's all it'd ever be, the city too far gone to save in any tangible piece.
But that was one thing; the success story that the City State of Detroit had become in those seven years was a testament to her, an absolute testament to man's spirit, gumption and the will to persevere, no matter the odds. In seven years they'd not only survived but had (a) cleared out all of Detroit up to Eight Mile Road, (b) established a working, if sometimes rough frontier-style settlement and stronghold, (c) controlled several combat bases throughout the area, from Coleman Young to FOB Fools' Dice to FOB Detroit State and Bloomfield Hills all the way north to Wurtsmith and Camp St. Clair and (d) done so by rolling up their sleeves and - with assistance from the United States military - clearing every area they went through, bit by bit, block by block, street by street. To say Belle Isle and the accompanying city-state were the strongest areas under United States control was an understatement.
Which, she sighed, brought her to today's return. Aboard the dozen Flying Boxcars making the trip to Detroit were troops of the 5th Regiment - the River Walkers. "Hargrave's Hornets", she whispered, glancing over and seeing Colonel Sierra Hargrave, the regimental commander, and her command staff in hushed conversation. The 5th were veterans of the Clearing of Detroit, the Battle of Wurtsmith and the Battle of Charlestown during the Reclamation of Boston and the three new streamers on their regimental flag were proof of how tough that regiment was. The 5th was going on permanent station at Belle Isle, but they wouldn't be the only ones there; there was already a unit of Dragoons - Mississippians who'd assisted in the Clearing of Detroit, officially known as the 1st Detroit Motor Rifle Squadron (1 DMRS). Engineers from West Point were coming via the Great Lakes, while another couple of flights of Boxcars would bring additional troops and supplies forward; for what, McKenna wasn't sure, but she knew the Reclamation would begin moving westward, just as the old wagon trains moved west, they'd surely go soon enough.
"Attention, everyone, we'll be landing at Coleman Young in about thirty minutes; make sure your seat belts are fastened securely and stow all weapons in their compartments," she heard the pilot announce over the intercom; tugging her belts tight across her, General McKenna sat back and began thinking about the operation to come....