Jack of Harts

Nearly all of the United States of Jack’s time had Space Forces of their own, though some combined their Space Force and Navy into a single branch. Aerospace fighters, and the various ground and orbital forts the States maintained were far cheaper and numerous than warships. They also threw out more firepower on a ton for ton basis. Fort Wichita, seen in one of the earlier actions of Jack’s career, actually belonged to Kansas, and maintained a permanent defensive orbit in the skies over that State. She also maintained a plot of ground in her central promenade made entirely of Kansas dirt and native buffalo grass, to meet the court definition of being built on State ground. The entire fort was an extension of Kansas herself, a sovereign part of the State in Earth orbit. That was the case for all State installations in space. The easiest way to defend them from territorial or colonial taxes was to plant a piece of the State inside them and claim them as official State property. The Feds did not approve of this practice, since it cost them valuable tax dollars, but they secured an agreement with the States to link these stations into the entire American defense grid during emergencies. This link became a permanent state of affairs after The War began, to the disgruntlement of the States that did not wish to lose their sovereignty. It was a delicate political balance between the necessities of total War, and the political realities on the ground. Literally.