..........TRANSPORT TRILOGY COMPLETE..........

The rollin', rockin', 72-tons of Military Action-Adventure Thriller, set in West Michigan, with zombies, is complete.

All three books are now available for reading consumption.

See below for details. And enjoy!



TRANSPORT (Book One)

 

The HURON, a 72-ton heavy transport vehicle and an army of four; tracked, racked and ready to roll, to serve and protect the walled metropolis of Grand Rapids—both her living and her undead. Captain Jacob Billet and his crew patrol the byways, ready for trouble.

 

William Lettner, the North Shore Coalition High Commissioner, has enemies from the mainland to the lakeshore and needs to be covertly transported home after his helicopter is shot down en route to Grand Rapids. He has no love for a city that give unliving civilians the right to survive. Lettner’s venomous outbursts assaults Billet and his crew along every mile travelled as they are assigned to safely bring him through the treacherous landscape outside the city back to his hometown.

 

The HURON and her crew will have to face domesticated zombies and the feral undead; marauders holding strategic chokepoints hostage; barricaded villages fighting for survival, and a group of geneticists who've lost control of one of their monstrous experiments if they want to complete their mission.

 

The crew will need to stay strong and trust one another in order to finish the mission and bring their “precious” cargo home, even knowing, all the while, the terrible deeds Lettner has done.

 

Travelling through West Michigan was never so dangerous.

 

"Peter Welmerink’s keen ability to create atmosphere is magical." -- Jake Elliot, reviewer

 

Book Links

AMAZON

B&N

 

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TRANSPORT (Book Two)

HUNT FOR THE FALLEN

 

 

Captain Jacob Billet

Journal Entry - Sunday April 5, 2026

 

It’s raining, it’s pouring, the undead are roaring…

 

Amassed at the UCRA east end enclosure, the dead strain the fence line while soldiers keep watchful eyes, the survivors on the opposite side of the rising river about to lose their minds.

 

It’s a crazy time: nonstop precipitation; everyone's up in arms; paranoid city council members with an asshat City Treasurer. Water, water everywhere. Zees dropping into the churning drink. Troops afraid of being stitched up and thrown back into the fray as Zombie Troopers. Tank commanders getting itchy to head out on their own after drug-laden shamblers. Reganshire insurgents trying to extract our west side civvies for some unknown reason, possibly pushing the city into taking heavy-handed action against them.

 

Then there’s some black-haired dead dude staring at me through the fence, grinning like he’s off his meds.

 

And I thought Lettner was a headache.

 

All this sh*t might give me a heart attack.

 

"Zombies... The concept has become a cliche. To successfully create such a story any more, there must be unique elements to make the new tale stand out from the countless others out there. Transport succeeds in this endeavor and provides a zombie story not quite like ones you have seen previously." -- Rage Circus Book Reviews

 

"What a great read. There’s so much action and intrigue. And the zombies are sporting a new twist too." --laurathomas61, Book Reviewer

 

Book Links

AMAZON

B&N

 

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TRANSPORT (Book Three)

UNCIVIL WAR

 

 

All is not well in the big city of Grand Rapids. Anti-Zombie Loyalists, loyalists of the late William Lettner, have set the city ablaze… Or so thinks the mayor, ruling city council and the military authority. Little do they know, a snake dwells in their midst, creating this chaos, planning an overthrow of the city’s leadership, with intentions much like Lettner: eradicate the non-living nuisances, and also any of the living who get in the way.

 

Battle will rage from Grand Rapids streets, into the UCRA enclosure where the city’s protected undead wander, to a small train station and military encampment in the village of Lamont.

 

And all is not well for Captain Jacob Billet. Coming out of a 3-month coma, he finds he has changed. Not for the better. With the deceased William Lettner dogging his every move, and knowing his days are most likely numbered, Jake just wants to make it to his old homestead before his condition sets him on a different,  and very much undesirable path.

 

"...far more compelling than most of the zombie stories you’re likely to pick up...a fascinating sign of where zombie narrative, road narrative, and narrative in general might be moving..."

-- L. Andrew Cooper's Horrific Scribblings

 

Book Links

AMAZON

B&N

 

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Humble Message from Author

 

Folks, I have to #1. thank Seventh Star Press for picking up this little project and making it all possible and come to life (or UNLIFE as it also goes LOL), and #2. thank you to all of you who have so far mentioned your joy and distain for the project. IT'S ALL GOOD.

 

I had a great time writing this particular series. My main goal was to write something military-esque (as I have always been interested in all things Military since a very young age), and the story taking place in my ole hometown region (Grand Rapids rocks! West Michigan rocks! There IS adventure here.), and maybe pepper some of my favorite "monsters", ie, zombies, into the mix.

 

It was all fun to write, and so far, from most of the comments and reviews I've received (thank you for those also), the common comment coming from readers is that IT IS FUN TO READ. Yes, yes. There are many gory, gross parts. Lots of intense action. But I have also tried to lighten it up with a human, living group of characters who are sometimes more giving each other shit (poking fun at each other) even amidst the effed-up world they are trying to survive in.

 

Anyway, I thank you for your interest and all comments.

 

Roll out! Read on!

 

Sincerely--

 

Peter Welmerink

Hiding in his bunker  :)

October 2015

 

###

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Peter Welmerink (www.peterwelmerink.com) was born and raised on the west side of pre-apocalyptic Grand Rapids, Michigan. He appreciates his hometown and West Michigan, which is why he enjoys writing tales about it. He writes Fantasy, Military SciFi, and other wanderings into action-adventure. His work has been published in ye olde wood pulp (paper) print and electronic-online publications. He is the co-author of the Viking berserker novel, BEDLAM UNLEASHED, written with Steven Shrewsbury. TRANSPORT is his first solo novel series. He is married with a small barbarian tribe of three boys.

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pwelmerink
Twitter: @pwelmerink

BLOGS
grandrapidsaltered.blogspot.com (TRANSPORT and other Alt History Michigan-related posts)
darkheroicfantasy.blogspot.com (author interviews and all things fantastical)

 

 

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Another fresh, new action-adventure available: RETURN TO STRANGE HOME, a Military-esque action-adventure, soft SciFi mini-novel, set on the lakeshore of West Michigan.

 

Publisher: Peninsulam Publishing.

 

 

 

Book Links

DIRECT FROM PUBLISHER

LCpl Loutonia Phelps in Action and Action Figure

Been a while, my friends.

 

Just so you know, TRANSPORT: UNCIVIL WAR (Book Three) is done being written and in editing stage. My publisher, Seventh Star Press, is shooting for a July 2015 release. The cover art is done. (Jason Conley from TN) The interior art is done. (Tim Holtrop fro MI) And with the editorial assistance of Mr. Scott Sandridge, hopefully we can make this last book in the TRANSPORT trilogy rock the house.

 

In the meanwhile, I have found some military action-figures that I have been messing around with. I will show you the HURON's crew shortly.

 

I couldn't find a good Loutonia Phelps figure so my talented friend, Mr. Russ Colter, who is a 1/18th scale figure kitbasher did up a "Loutonia Phelps" for me. (I had tried. Failed miserably with a much too "manly" Phelps figure so he stepped in. Fortunately.)

 

Way back in the day, before the TRANSPORT Series was even picked up by a publisher, I was talking with master artiste Tim Holtrop about the series and my ideas of characters, action scenes and such. He did a sketch of a scene out of TRANSPORT: HUNT FOR THE FALLEN where LCpl Phelps makes a leap of faith from the 72-ton HURON to the 68-ton DEVASTATOR to try and stop the tank from blowing the HURON and her friends to Kingdom Come.

 

Recently, I met a digital artist through my day job work place, Mr Lee Trevino, who said he muck about with the actual scale vehicles and figures I possess and try some "character shots."

 

Putting it all together, here's some of the cool, fine work done by friends and fellow TRANSPORT enthusiasts:

 

(All art 2014-2015 copyright their respective owners.) 

 

 

 

 

 

Biographies of Captain Jake Billet and crew of the HURON

Coming soon...

 

Biographies of the crew of the HURON, the 72 ton Heavy Transport Vehicle (HTV) featured in TRANSPORT a 3-part post-zombie apoc military action adventure series published by SEVENTH STAR PRESS.

 

Go beyond the books and get to know the history of Captain Jake Billet, Driver Loutonia Phelps, and gunners, James Stokes and Eddie Mulholland.

 

Artwork by Tim Holtrop

 

TRANSPORT Book One currently available in all formats and at all major booksellers.

 

 

 

 

Amazon
Paperback
http://amzn.to/1zii4pj

KINDLE Ebook
http://amzn.to/1qD8bNL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The HURON...LEGO Style

Yesterday I showed a sketch of the HURON (drawn by the talented Tim Holtrop way back in the early days of TRANSPORT's conception) to my son Matthew, and challenged him to create a LEGO rendition of the big M213 Heavy Transport Vehicle. The M213 Ridgerunner-Class HURON is the prevailing military vehicle in my post-apoc military/zombie action-adventure series, TRANSPORT.

 

Matthew accepted the challenge and began building.

 

And here, for your viewing pleasure, are the results.

 

Matthew and his creation

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hmmm... pretty darn cloe to cover perfection. :)

 

HURON front gunner Sgt. James Stokes??

 

It took Matthew roughly an hour and a half to dig through LEGO parts and put the whole thing together.

 

Yes, it is not Army green or beige. It is not an exact front, back, sides, duallie front wheel model as depicted in book series or illustrations...BUT IT IS DANG COOL!

 

Thanks son!

 

 

 

 

PETER WELMERINK: Five Things I Learned Writing TRANSPORT

 

The HURON, a 72-ton heavy transport vehicle and an army of four; tracked, racked and ready to roll, to serve and protect the walled metropolis of Grand Rapids — both her living and her undead. Captain Jacob Billet and his crew patrol the byways, ready for trouble.

 

William Lettner, the North Shore Coalition High Commissioner, has enemies from the mainland to the lakeshore. He needs to be covertly transported back home after a disastrous meeting in Grand Rapids. He has no love for a city that give unliving civilians the right to survive.

Assigned to bring Lettner home, Billet finds himself assaulted and insulted by the commissioner's venomous outbursts every mile travelled as they move through the treacherous landscape between Grand Rapids and the shore of Lake Michigan.

 

To complete the mission, Billet, the HURON and her crew will have to face domesticated zombies and the feral undead; marauders holding strategic chokepoints hostage; barricaded villages fighting for survival, and a group of geneticists who’ve lost control of one of their monstrous experiments.

 

Travelling through West Michigan was never so dangerous.

 

***

 

DREAM IT, DO IT
I have been writing stories about epic Sword & Sorcery tales and Military forays for as long as I could put pen to paper. When I got the idea pumping through my system about the TRANSPORT series, and wrote that first manuscript, and submitted it to a publisher, and got it picked up for publication; BAM! Dream come true.

 

If you have an idea, and it keeps burning in your mind, and you can't shake it from your system, or it simply doesn't fade away, then you HAVE TO DO IT! Set some time aside. Put your butt in the chair and your body to the drawing board, keyboard, paper napkin, in front of you and start getting that idea down. Make it happen, because, who knows, you might have a BAM! DREAM COME TRUE.

 

CLICHE? WHAT CLICHE?
I did not set out to write another ZOMBIE-engorged tale when I sat down to write the TRANSPORT series. It was first about writing a fictional, somewhat futuristic, post-apoc tale set in my old hometown GRAND RAPIDS and somehow mix a strong military presence into it with cool soldiers, big armored military vehicles and a lot of action. The zombie aspects were sprinkled in after a thought of: WHAT ELSE CAN I THROW IN THE STORY FOR ADDED CHAOS. I like zombies so, it was zombies.

 

But MY ZOMBIES ARE DIFFERENT.



Bob the zombie service station attendant

Illo by Tim Holtrop

I don't want my characters having to run away from zombies. No mass of brain-hungry rotters rampaging berserkly (new word) killing every living thing. Sure, I have the FERAL "wild dog" zombies on the outskirts of town, like giant biting pesky Horseflies always swarming about, but I also have "civilian" zombies...the unfortunate city folk who have succumb to the virus and trip-shamble about the large fenced-in retention area that is on the west side of Grand Rapids across the river from city central. There are laws to protect those undead, and they are fed doped meat to keep them "tranquil" while City Central tries to figure out what to do with them.

 

And then you have BOB the 1950's gas station attendant zombie.

 

IT'S EASY SOMETIMES WHEN IT'S ALL IN YOUR HEAD
TRANSPORT Book One was all in my head. The beginning, middle and end were all there right from the get-go. I knew what I wanted, when I wanted it, where to put it. I knew the characters though they came even more to life when I started writing them. Some characters and scenarios just POPPED ONTO THE PAGE when my main group entered their locale in the story stream.

 

Basically BOOK ONE was fully imagined before I wrote it. It was easy to write. It just flowed out of me onto the page.

 

Book Two (TRANSPORT: HUNT FOR THE FALLEN) was a bit harder to write. I think sequels are always a little harder to plop down on page because, it's like, you almost know too much about everything, how do you make this all fit now, what can you do to RAMP THINGS UP, escalate the story line, the plot line, to possibly make it even better than the first book.

 

I figured it out and after some heavy duty, thorough reviewing and revising, I really like how Book Two has come out.

 

Book Three (TRANSPORT: UNCIVIL WAR) harkens back to Book One. I know where I am going, where I am taking things, and it has been fairly easy to write, and I'm having fun doing it.

 

A COUNTRYSIDE FULL OF POSSIBILITY
I scaled my story down to mainly the city of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and West Michigan spanning an area on the west side of the state, from Grand Rapids then westward between Holland and Muskegon which are along the Lake Michigan lakeshore. If you look at this area on a map, you can see it isn't necessarily a HUGE area. IT IS ENOUGH FOR MY STORYLINE.

 

Besides having large cities and small towns peppering the region, there are also a lot of wild woodlands, farms, etc., scattered about West Michigan. Miles upon miles of opportunity for both urban and rural chaos.

 

And since I know this region very well, it made it the perfect place for the TRANSPORT series.

 

RESEARCH CAN YIELD NEW RESPECT AND KNOWLEDGE
I did a lot of research in the Military realm of things while writing TRANSPORT. I wanted realism even though the books and characters are works of fiction. I spoke with friends and folks who had either served in the Military or were currently serving. I read a lot of true real stories of battle across WWII, the Korean War, Vietnam and our more recent activities in the Middle East. They all added quite a bit of NEW RESPECT for the men and women in the field, for our veterans both past and present...and most likely, future.

 

I do have some worries about writing about the wins and losses of my fictional military characters as I am hoping I show no disrespect for our war fighters both past and present. I do not think I show disrespect, but when you have a new found respect for the real-life folks who forego a lot of pleasantries we take for granted, to serve and protect (this includes police and firefighters, etc.), sometimes I have a concern if I am doing this right. (I have gotten some feedback from some of these fine folks, and they say I am doing just fine. We all need levity from the real deal time to time.)

 

But then again, my military characters are honorable, fight for justice, serve and protect even in the most dire of situations and locals, just like the real-deal service folk.

 

I suppose, in a way, writing about my fictional MIL-characters, I am giving a respectful nod and salute to the non-fiction "characters" who are out there risking life and limb to assist and benefit our way of life.

A tank turret at the Russell Rd Military Museum

 

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TRANSPORT (Book One) can be found here:

 

AMAZON

Paperback

Kindle

 

BARNES & NOBLE

 

SCHULER BOOKS

Paperback

 

 

  

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Peter Welmerink (www.peterwelmerink.com) was born and raised on the west side of pre-apocalyptic Grand Rapids, Michigan. He loves his hometown and West Michigan, which is why he writes about it. He writes Fantasy, Military SciFi, and other wanderings into action-adventure. His work has been published in ye olde wood pulp print and electronic-online publications. He is the co-author of the Viking berserker novel, BEDLAM UNLEASHED, written with Steven Shrewsbury. TRANSPORT is his first solo novel venture. He is married with a small barbarian tribe of three boys.

Bob the 1950's Gas Station Attendant Zombie Short Short Story

Face the Face

by Peter Welmerink

**These events occur after TRANSPORT (Book 3) UNCIVIL WAR**

“Keep your eyes peeled. I don’t want other undead civilians thinking we’re laying down lunch for them,” Lieutenant Gil “Gillie” McPherson said as he watched four men wrestle the gurney from the back of the big armored MRAP parked at the street corner of Bridge and Indiana. “City spent enough cash on old Bob here, and I’m sure we’d take the blame if the old man got chewed up right after we re-planted him.”

 

 

The four soldiers huffed and puffed with the stretcher in tow. They glanced all about as they got the litter to ground level. A few locals teetered by but seemed more attracted to the gentle growl of the big Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle than the grunts and groans of the men.

 

 

“Not sure why they didn’t ‘plant’ the old dead fart,” young Private Leon Jansen said, skinny, all-muscle arms straining. Sweat ran down his brow in rivulets. “It would beat spending the cash on the rotter and lugging his carcass back out here.”

 

 

The other three grunts assisting Jansen rolled their eyes. One boasting DIETRICH on the name tape of his tactical vest, just loud enough to be heard, uttered: “Newb.”

 

 

On the olive drab canvas stretcher lay Bob the 1950s Gas Station Attendant zomb who was usually found rummaging about the defunct Marathon Service Station on the southwest corner of Indiana Avenue and Bridge Street. Bob, for short, had become a well-known local fixture within the confines of the Grand Rapids UCRA (Urban Civilian Retention Area) on the west side of town. Appreciated for his special ability as a SZ, “satellite zomb,” Bob, somehow able to mentally acquire and verbally communicate Intel on activities of the undead both within and outside the city limits, was looked upon fondly as a friend-of-sorts to the GRCC military personnel. They got a kick out of trying to decipher his grunting and snarling dialect, finding a majority of it revolving around his “memories” of the 1950’s.

 

 

A grievous blow to the head had almost sent him to the realm of the truly dead-dead.

McPherson didn’t answer the Private, instead he pointed towards the old brick and mortar gas station with the paint-peel white walls. “Set him indoors for now. We’ll hang out a bit, see if he comes around, and make sure none of the neighbors bother him.”

 

 

“Only another Zee could love a face like that,” Dietrich said peering down at the natural, red pock-marked side of Bob’s face. “Though they did a helluva job repairing the other side of his head.”

 

 

The undead gas station attendant’s injury left the upper right side of the man’s face and skull obliterated. The surgeons on Spectrum Hill used a series of skin grafts over a hard plastic polymer that replaced sections of damaged skull bone.

 

 

The four-man team carried Bob into the buildings front entrance. They cleared a spot to lay him, putting him behind the wood counter where a pyramid of rusty oil cans perched.

 

 

“So peaceful,” Jansen said peering very closely at the dead man’s reconstructed face. “How long do we have to stay here until the extra dope keeping him in sleepy time wears off?”

 

 

“As long as it takes,” Dietrich said as the other two men carried the empty stretcher out of the building.

 

 

“That can’t be soon enough. I hate this place,” Jansen said looking over his shoulder at the other soldier.

 

 

BOB by artist Tim Holtrop

(with some additions by me)

“Don’t let anyone in town hear you say that. They’ll throw you in the hoosegow for being a Loyalist or something.”

 

 

Bob emitted a groan.

 

 

Jansen looked back at Bob, finding rheumy eyes open and peering at him.

 

 

“Ah!” the young grunt screamed and ran from the building.

 

 

With hand on sidearm, Dietrich sniffed, smiled at the undead service station attendant, and said: “Thanks, old man. You won’t have to worry about that kid.” He stood, sniffed again, and backed out of the door, calling over his shoulder, “Jansen’s gonna need a change of underwear.”

 

 

#

 

 

They waited the rest of the day for Bob to get up and start shuffling about. The mission was not only to return the old one to his “residence,” but also see if he still “functioned” with his surgical modifications.

 

 

“I see blips of brain activity but none of the usual spikes when SZ’s are transmitting,” McPherson said as the team sat in the MRAP watching the service station and the neighborhood surrounding them.

 

 

“Probably nothing around to hone in on. The others seem to avoid this area since the plane crash and chemical spill.” Dietrich scratched at a spot under his helmet.

 

 

“HAZMAT crew cleaned that up good.” McPherson continued to watch the handheld device monitoring Bob. “Just goes to show, these folks retain memories to some extent,” he said referring to Grand Rapids local undead.

 

 

The handheld pings.

 

 

“Here we go. Bob’s up, starting to transmit.”

 

 

Jansen leaned forward to see what the Lieutenant was seeing. “Retina-Optic Nerve Image Defragging and Reintegration. How much did that cost the taxpayers?”

 

 

Dietrich thought perhaps the kid was pretty smart after all, until he saw the words scrolled below the small screen on McPherson’s handheld.

 

 

McPherson ignored the young soldier. “Bob’s coming outside.”

 

 

They watched as the old zomb teetered out of the service station door in his new duds: blue mechanic coveralls and a sky blue long sleeve shirt. He walked by the rusted gas pumps and halfway to the street corner. Stopping, he stood stock still and appeared to stare straight at the big MRAP parked a few feet in front of him.

 

 

“What’s he doing?”

 

 

“He’s just staring at us.”

 

 

McPherson’s screen showed a menagerie of fuzzy images: outlines of Cadillac cars, a group of women in poodle skirts, a group of hunch-back humanoid creatures skip-hopping through a field of tall grass.

 

 

“Is he picking up something? Is that what he is seeing or what his, what? Zombie ESP is satelliting to him?” One of the other grunts said looking at the Lieutenant’s handheld, then out the small rectangular visor next to him.

 

 

Jansen peered out the port slot next to him. “We’re just seeing the little reminiscences of what’s flitting around inside his rotted gray matter. What a waste of time and money.”

 

 

The grunt pulls a combat shotgun from the stanchion next to him, pushes the barrel out the window, and yells: “Hey, stupid, quit standing there and show us something good.”

 

 

Trigger is pulled.

 

 

The shotgun booms.

 

 

Jansen is gang-piled to the floor of the MRAP. Dietrich kneels on his chest while another soldier pulls the shotgun out of the Private’s hands.

 

 

“Dumb shit!” Dietrich snarls, fist cocked back ready to feed his fellow a knuckle bone, or four.

 

 

“What the--?” McPherson says, eyes on the monitor then out the window, then back to monitor. He grabs a pair of field glasses and looks through them, lowers them, looks at the screen, then back through the binoculars.

 

 

Bob bolted around the back of the gas station upon Jansen’s shotgun blast. Next, the old station attendant appeared on the flat roof of the garage. The zomb, now turned towards the west, again stood stock still except for his mouth which seemed to be moving as if he was speaking to someone.

 

 

On the monitor, a fuzzy image of a dark-haired soldier; a captain by the look of the twin bars on the patch of his tactical vest. Amazing as it was, the man’s name tape could be read: BILLET.

 

 

“What the hell? Bob seeing one of our own,” McPherson said as he looked at the monitor and then back to the old zomb on the station roof.

 

 

Bob turned to face them.

 

 

Dietrich took the field glasses from the Lieutenant and looked out and up at the Bob.

 

 

“Well, shit, that’s a new one on me,” Dietrich said, eyes glued to the binoculars.

 

 

“The image of one of our own guys?” McPherson replied.

 

 

“No,” Dietrich said lowering the field glasses and turning to the Lieutenant. “I think the old zomb is crying.”

 

 

###

 

 

“Your memory is a monster; you forget – it doesn’t. It simply files things away. It keeps things from you, or hides things from you – and summons them to your recall with a will of its own. You think you have a memory; but it has you!”--John Irving

 

 

“The world shrieks and sinks talons into our hearts. This we call memory.”-- Tim O’Brien

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TRANSPORT (Book One) is available and can be found here:

Barnes & Noble

Amazon

M213 Ridgerunner-class HTV (Heavy Transport Vehicle)

Hello All.

 

I would like to share some history and stats with you regarding the M213 Ridgerunner-class HTV. The in-story vehicle, the HURON, with CO Captain Jake Billet, is one of these massive beasts, and I thought you'd like some detail on this beautiful American-made monster.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

#

 

HISTORY

 

When the H7N9 pandemic first took solid hold, in the U.S., to get vital medicines, personnel and other hard and soft transferrable and transportable goods between infected lands, GDG&M Land Systems LLC (Grusnis, Dietrich, Gilmore & Myszak Land Systems LLC) offered the beleagured

U.S. DoD a new concept in HTV (Heavy Transport Vehicle) design.

 

A combination between a tracked APC (Armored Personnel Carrier) and wheeled HEMTT (Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck), the M213 HTV was offered as a workhorse vehicle that could be up-armored with a variety of small arms and weaponry, including larger turreted weapons like 25mm

chain-fed autocannons.

 

Initially the project was put on hold as there wasn't a need for a juggernaut land vehicle like the M213. Still, the first five vehicles were built at DATP (Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant) in Warren, Michigan. They rolled into service September 2013 as the pandemic worsened.

 

Further vehicle assembly was halted as Detroit filed for bankruptcy in December 2013.

 

With the global and national crisis strangling the United States, Canada bought Detroit and a section of the east side of Michigan, north to Mt Clemens, south to Rockwood, west to South Lyon and Ann Arbor. It was called the Detroit-Windsor Providence starting in May 2014.

 

The already-built and rolled-out M213 transport vehicles stayed in Michigan, stationed first in the Lansing area under the command of Major J. Golczynski and A. "Sonny" Saenz, then the full unit was transferred to Grand Rapids, the second largest city in Michigan. (Detroit had been the

largest.)

 

 

The M213 Ridgerunner-class HTV's were named after the five great lakes: MICHIGAN, SUPERIOR, HURON, ERIE and ONTARIO.

 

With room to seat 24 men, a CO, and supplies in the main body of the vehicle, plus a driver and navigator, it beat out APC's. Typically a commander, front gunner and rear gunner were part of the crew and held topside positions. With four roof-top hatches, these stations could be fully utilized as gun ports.

 

Towing capabilities rival its own weight, the M213 beats the HEMTT and the HET (Heavy Equipment Transport) vehicles when it comes to payload hauling requirements and needs.

 

With wheeled and tracked mobility available on the spot, the M213 is the prime armored transport for any tactical environment.

 

 

STATS

Weight:   72 tons

Length:   32 feet

Width:    14 feet

Height:   12.5 feet (from ground to roofline)

Speed:    Road 52 mph (83km/h) Off-Road: 30 mph (48km/h)

Engine:  Twin Cummins VTA-903T diesel, 1200 hp total

Fuel Capacity:   155 US gal (587 l)

Operational Range:   220 mi (354km)

Transmission (tracked):  XT-1410-5A cross-drive (3 speed forward, 1speed reverse)

                      (wheeled): Allison 4500SP/5_Speed automatic (can be synced with track transmission) 

 

#

 

At the time of this writing, only the ONTARIO and the HURON remain in service.

 

(Illustrations by Tim Holtrop, Jason Conley and Google)

 

 

 

 

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Read about the HURON and her crew in the TRANSPORT Series.

TRANSPORT Book One is available now online and wherever books can be ordered.

 

Kindle

Amazon (paperback)

Barnes & Noble (paperback and Nook)