District 6 is an amazing dichotomy of opposites. Ninety percent of the land is pristine wilderness dotted with green verdant forest and sandy coastline. The other ten percent is industrial wasteland. The land of the District is divided between two peninsulas set among the five inland seas of Panem. The larger one in the south is shaped like a large mitten and borders the wind turbine covered plains of District 5. Most of the industry is here due to the access to 5's power grids and the direct harbor access to the southern inland sea. The northern peninsula is mostly wild timberland which juts out east from District 7. No one is really sure what lies to the north of the inland seas. Since the rise of Panem, this area has simply been known as "The Canada." Early pioneers attempting to claim that land for the Districts would return totally out of their minds, telling stories of monstrous beasts and fiercely territorial feral tribes of cannibals who roam primeval forests and frozen wastelands, kill outsiders on sight, and eat the bodies of their conquered enemies with maple syrup. We chalked these tales mostly to ghost stories. The sad truth is that there are simply not enough people left in North America after all the wars and famines to settle the massive unknown frontier.
What we do know of District 6 before the wars was that it was already a hub of transportation half a millennia ago. Ancestors of the current residents even built a canal connecting the inland seas of Panem to the Atlantic Ocean. After the great wars destroyed what was left of the ancient settlements, the government of Panem moved in and forced the inhabitants to create a new city of factories and use their ancient knowledge to build everything from cars, to trains, hovercraft, and even war machines. The Panem tank arsenal, the only major military factory located outside of Districts 2 and 3 was constructed adjacent to Fort Henry Ford (a large maneuver complex named after some long forgotten native hero of District 6 that only they remember). During the Revolution, the seizure of the largely intact arsenal by the rebels was a major blow to the Capitol and a giant step towards victory. It was here that I spent many years of my youth training in the art of armored warfare, learning to maneuver tanks and armored personnel carriers through rough terrain, thick forest, and the abandoned ruins of an ancient city that the locals called, "Detroyte."
About an hour out from our target, I click on the intelligence terminal in the hovercraft and get the latest reports on the battlefield from the Capitol and what is left of Fort Henry Ford. TEC forces attacking 6 had a distinct advantage over the other enemy divisions in that they flew their hovercraft over "the Canada" and arrived mostly intact. However, I don't think they were expecting such heavy resistance from the armored forces of Fort Henry Ford which have pushed the invaders off the open ground and into the actual city of District 6. Here among the skyscrapers and civilians, the effectiveness of the tanks has been largely neutralized by the TEC's use of anti-armor rockets and the danger of killing our own people still taking cover within the city. I patch in a link to Central Briefing to speak with President Holmes. She grew up here, survived the Revolution here, and hopefully has some good ideas of how to fight this fight.
"Are you seeing this, Ma'am?" I ask over the video link.
"Yes, Colonel. We were just able to speak with Lieutenant Colonel LaSalle, Commander of Fort Henry Ford. He's on the front line and is expecting your arrival. He's ringed the city with tanks and trapped the TECs inside, but is having to press the attack with ground forces because we've ordered him not to use heavy armor where it risks harming our own civilians."
"Are you sure that's a wise idea, Ma'am?" I ask hesitantly. I already know what her answer will be.
"That is not debatable, Colonel Snow. Do you understand? I don't want a single unnecessary death."
"Understood, Ma'am. Do you have any other suggestions then? I know it's your old backyard." President Holmes brings up a digital map on her screen and mine.
"According to Lieutenant Colonel LaSalle, it looks like the TECs have set up their headquarters in the Justice Building here," she points to a grid square on the map. The infantry of Fort Henry Ford are trying to push towards it, but they're meeting heavy resistance from enemy rocket and machine gun teams that have occupied the worker's housing sector. If you look here, you'll see a string of apartment buildings and warehouses here along the waterfront of this canal. If you stay to the west of the warehouses, you should be able to be shielded by the canal to your left from any kind of automatic weapons fire or attack from the apartment buildings. The Peacekeepers tried the same tactics that TEC appears to be using now. It's how we were able to seize the Justice Building back during the Revolution. Hopefully, history books about the tactics of the UDP rebels aren't required reading in the TEC and lightening will strike twice."
"I doubt many history books are required reading for them," I say flippantly. "At least any history books with real history in them…"
"Also, something else, Colonel Snow…it looks like the TECs are starting to pull workers out of their buildings and are forcing them toward the Justice Building."
"Human shields?" I ask remembering the tragedy in front of the Presidential Mansion twenty-six years before that took the life of Prim Everdeen.
"We don't know. Just be extremely careful, Colonel. You don't know what kind of situation you'll be facing when you get on the ground."
"Oh, you know me, Madame President. 'Careful is my middle name.""
"Then I must be mistaken. I can't possibly be talking with Colonel Ares Snow." I manage some laughter.
"Alright, Ma'am. I got it. But you wouldn't want me on this job if you thought I couldn't get it done right?"
"As much as it pains me to admit it…you're right. Just do the deed, Ares, and come back. I doubt this will all be over quickly and I need my best intact."
"I'm flattered, Ma'am." I see her actually smile a bit through the video link.
"Well, before you get to cocky, we just received another update from General Sturm. He's been fighting on the ground in District 2 for over an hour and has almost broken through to the TEC headquarters. He wanted me to tell you, 'Let Snow know that I may be old , but I can still fight better than that little wet behind the ears…" she coughs uncomfortably before she says the next words, "…little wet behind the ears, mother fuc….' His words, not mind, Colonel." I laugh the hardest I have in a awhile. "Are you gonna let him talk about you like that or are you gonna prove him wrong?"
"Let's just say Sturm and I will have a lot to discuss when this is all over and we get back to the Capitol."
"Then get going! I'll talk to you again when the 'Mockingjay and Stripes' is flying over the District 6 Justice Building again!"
"Yes, Ma'am!" the video-link cuts out as she hangs up. I run to the cockpit and brief the pilots on the course action I've decided.
"We'll fly in low over the inland sea. TEC forces should be mostly concerned with the ground forces to the west and hopefully won't notice a lone hovercraft coming in from the east."
I then point out on the digital map where Lieutenant Colonel LaSalle is located in the streets southwest of the Justice Building.
"There's heavy crossfire coming in across this square," I say to the captain of the hovercraft and his co-pilot, "but we need to link-up with the ground commander here to help guide us in to the objective. We'll do a hard drop over the square and then you can cut back out to the southeast and then support us as a fires platform and communication relay back to the Capitol. Understand?"
"Yes Sir!" the pilot says as he nods his head.
A few minutes later, we're skimming eight hundred feet over the black water of the inland sea below. Through the viewscreen, we can see the orange glow of the fires burning in city of District 6 as the battles rage through the streets. The crackling radio transmissions of the desperate infantry come through our headsets as they scream to each other, trying to get into position to attack the fierce defense of the TECs dug into the buildings around them. The frustrated tankers yell back, begging for permission to push into the city and assist in the fight, but another voice keeps telling most of them to stay back.
"Lieutenant Colonel LaSalle," I can even tell through the radio how frustrated he is that most of his heaviest forces are being left out of the fight, but a direct command from the President can't be easily ignored. "I'll say one thing for this guy, he can certainly follow orders better than I can…"
We fly over the harbor and see the tiny forms of armored TEC infantry dug into positions below. We begin to receive erratic machine gun and rocket fire, but the enemy is spread out and little threat to us. The pilot arms his missile pods and makes quick work of them below. I must admit, it is very satisfying in a guilty sort of way to see enemies who were shooting at you a few seconds ago suddenly disappear into a cloud of smoke and flame.
We begin weaving our way through the skyscrapers toward Lieutenant Colonel LaSalle's transponder signal. The sound of sporadic gunfire begins to ricochet off the hull of our ship. I guess our enemies want us to go down in flames, but we're not worried. The armor on this assault hovercraft is more than thick enough to stop bullets. Below, UDP infantry and armored personnel carriers are beginning to get the upper hand on the TECs. We can see that our guys and gals below are encouraged by the sight of a friendly hovercraft. I wish we could give them more help, but we're here to go for the Justice Building.
On the south side of a square fifteen blocks from the waterfront, we find Lieutenant Colonel LaSalle's convoy. We can see him dismounted next to an armored personnel carrier and he is flanked by two tanks providing security. Unfortunately, they are limited to firing only their machine guns among the apartment buildings. Their devastating main cannons remain silent.
I give my final commands to the pilot and then run back to the crew compartment in the rear of the hovercraft. I find the rest of the platoon making final preparations to their equipment. Everyone checks to see that their weapons are loaded and oiled, their gear is strapped to them tightly, and that their night vision glasses work properly.
I grab my own gear and begin to strap it on. Full body armor and helmet are part of the package this time.
"Hopefully, Ohm's magic bullets aren't part of the TEC forces new standard issue…" Finally, I take my place in the front of the crew compartment as the pilot signals from the cockpit that he's ready. We'll only have about ten seconds hovering above the square before we become too big a target for enemy rockets and the pilots will have to bug out. I click the lights in the troop compartment from white to red and go through the final announcements.
"Ten seconds till hard drop!" I yell out to the platoon.
"Ten seconds till hard drop!" they repeat after me. We all line up at ten hatches, five on each side of the hovercraft. All of us are nervous…especially me. Even though I've done a hard drop a million times in training, I've never actually done one while being shot at.
The reason that this particular landing method is called, "a hard drop" is that there is absolutely nothing preventing you from slamming into the ground except for your own skill. We feel the hovercraft stabilize into a straight hover.
"Standby!"
The hatches swing open and the wind from the engines fills the compartment. Ten, black ropes release from the sides of the hovercraft and uncoil the one hundred feet down to the ground. The ropes swing in the breeze five feet in front of us, and would be absolutely invisible in the blackness of the night without night vision glasses. Only one thing remains: jumping out with all your gear into mid-air, clearing the sides of the hovercraft, grabbing the rope without letting go, and then sliding down to the very bottom. Better jump just right: too short or too far and it's a very long way down to the ground…
The TECs on the ground have already started to fire at us. We have to move now.
"This is it…" one more deep breath. "GO!"