DEFCON Year New Generation: Leigh Barton

Chapter 2

A few hours after the briefing, Leigh and her team were sitting in a C-130J Super Hercules cargo plane with their equipment stored in huge hardened suitcases. Leigh then nodded at her team, reminding them of the importance of their escort mission and its very high stakes. If they succeeded, the talks between American and Chinese officials could be a catalyst for women and minority rights both in the United States and abroad while also speeding up reforms for better gun control and better treatment of LGBT people around the world. If said talks failed, the US would be humiliated even after securing an overwhelming victory during World War III in part thanks to the massive involvement of women and non-Caucasian people in battles.

As Leigh's team nodded, she thought about all of the reforms and new Amendments in the US Constitution brought by World War III and a new generation of Americans who had spread those stories of brave American troops during the war on social media.

But Leigh also remembered the Intelligence officer's briefing about cultural differences between post-World War III America and China, since the former got heavily involved in the war and had an active and free press covering the war in real time, broadcasting accurate information to the American public. On the other hand, China took no part in World War III and had a state-controlled press which only broadcasted state-sponsored propaganda to their public.

Leigh knew that even if there still was racist and sexist people, the American and other westernized civilian societies didn't accept those discriminations anymore, unlike what happened in China, where Black and Latino people were looked down upon while women were considered nothing more than property of men. This meant she not only had to protect an American delegation, but also herself, Darnell, Tores and Marquez from any threat.

As the plane flew over the Luzon Sea, Leigh then took some time for a nap while her team took the opportunity to get some well-earned sleep, knowing they would have to cope with a heightened operational tempo.

As she took her nap, Leigh remembered how she and Darnell met and became best friends when they were still in middle school at age 14 in 2021. Darnell was being picked on by children whose parents never served in any capacity in World War III due to said parents' lack of empathy and understanding for the African American people and also due to the bullies' lack of understanding of the assassination of George Floyd. That day, Darnell was just walking in the schoolyard when said kids called him out with racial slurs while other children decided to denounce the bullies to the staff. That was until Leigh came in and punched the bullies hard in the stomach and the nose, earning her an appointment at the principal's office after her class.

But the principal didn't go further, since he knew Leigh was only defending another student of the school. Moreover, the principal had the bullies expelled and reported the incident to law enforcement, who acted accordingly thanks to numerous eyewitness accounts, including Darnell's. Since then the two US Marines became fast friends, going as far as joining the US Marines together, on the first year of World War III at age 17 before being sent to the front one year later, fighting alongside each other for the whole duration of the war in the Pacific theater.