Despite Political Rhetoric, No Action on Chicago
March 5, 2057
Outside the Chicago Containment Zone: UCAS army transports continue to bring supplies and munitions for the soldiers of the 109th Infantry Battalion, who guard the southern walls of the Chicago Containment Zone (CCZ). The troops of the 109th, as well as their compatriots in the 93rd and 7th Battalions, and the entire compliment of the Illinois National Guard have now been guarding the increasingly well guarded barrier between the UCAS and the the formerly bustling metropolis of Chicago for almost two years now.
In 2055, when the national emergency was first declared by then President Steele, the public was led to believe that the city was the site of a massive VITAS outbreak, possibly an act of bio-terrorism, that, for some, brought back dark memories of the dead and dying during the first and second VITAS waves back in 2010 and 2023. The universal fear of that horrible disease silenced many who would have objected at the time to the actions taken by the Steele administration: the cutting of all communications lines to Chicago, and the erection of a containment wall manned with snipers.
It was not until early 2056 that the public finally learned about the true nature of the Chicago tragedy: Insect Spirits. Malevolent beings from beyond astral space and summoned here by deranged shamans, these creatures "manifest" by possessing the bodies of metahumans. While this process sometimes creates the monstrous "true form" insect spirits, giant insectile beasts capable of overturning security vehicles or flying off with unsuspecting prey, it just as often creates what UCAS army mages are calling "flesh form" spirits: metahuman in every respect, down to the host's memories, but possessed of the spirit's powers and cruelty. It is because of these creatures that the Steele administration, advised by the Great Dragon Lofwyr and the Council of Princes in Tir Tairngire, gave the order to cut off the city, and to shoot on site anyone attempting to flee the zone.
Inside the wall, the city is in chaos. Gunshots ring out night and day, punctuated by screams and explosions. From outside the containment wall, massive true form wasp and fly spirits can be seen hauling victims back to hives for implantation. Though military personnel may want to help these doomed innocents, true form spirits are all but immune to conventional weapons, and highly dangerous to the precious few army spellcasters available to police the zone. As such, army policy has been to only engage spirits attempting to flee the CZ itself. Though the military has been making regular supply drops to the zone, intelligence operatives, army drones, and satellite footage have confirmed that these drops are almost always claimed by local gangs and warlords, who in turn, demand fealty from those in the area who would like a few meager scraps thrown their way. Rumors of neo-feudal kingdoms, skyscrapers-turned-fortresses, roving gangs committing acts of racial cleansing, and strange alterations to Chicago's astral plane have all worked their way out to the men and women who guard the walls of the CZ. Such rumors, and the things they see through scopes and imagers on a daily basis have worn morale down significantly over the past two years, but neither has hurt as bad as the killings.
Because of the insidious nature of the flesh form spirits, anyone who escapes the zone could be an insect spirit bent on spreading the contamination to the rest of the UCAS. The guards and snipers guarding the CZ walls issue fervent warnings to anyone approaching the wall, praying that they'll listen to reason and return to the zone. Each day, however, some refuse to turn. Driven by hunger, terror, hopelessness, madness, and maybe, just maybe, the insidious influence of an insect spirit, they attempt to scale the wall in a poorly lit area. Sometimes, they simply charge the towers, knowing what comes next. In either case, the men and women of the UCAS armed forces must bear the onerous task of protecting the UCAS by putting a bullet into what may well be an innocent man, woman, or child.
Yet, with the zone up for nearly two years now, public attention has drifted away from the plight of those in Chicago and those who keep them there. A number of distractions have pulled the fickle UCAS's attention toward President Steele's election debacle, and now the media circus that is the 2057 election. And while the Containment Zone is a hot-button topic, especially for retired army General Franklin Yeats and magicians like Rozalynn Hernandez and the Great Dragon Dunkelzahn, the continued political turmoil in Washington means that no firm decisions can be made about what the media has dubbed "Bug City." One can only hope, in this time of true crisis, that the UCAS voters can make an informed decision, and that our new President can form and implement a swift resolution to the ongoing tragedy that is the Chicago Containment Zone.
