Jack of Harts

The proliferation of gravtech in the 2200s left the famous A-10 Thunderbolts far behind the technological curve once more, pushing them into a third major retirement. Many of them returned to Davis-Monthan Spacebase’s Boneyard, as they had the previous times, where they were left as yet another generation of a final reserve against a new national emergency. But history was not done with them. Improved deflection grids in the latter half of the century allowed less aerodynamic craft to navigate the interface between space and atmosphere, and the Republic of Texas wanted a new attack craft since the Chinese were getting frisky again. Whereupon an enterprising young woman from one of the major Texas manufacturing firms acquired an old A-10 hull for testing. She tore it apart, rebuilt it with modern materials to make it airtight, added a pair of engines, some point defense lasers, and replaced the main gun with a space-rated autocannon capable of firing numerous types of munitions for anti-ship use. The United States Space Force rechristened it the A-6 Thunderbolt under the new numbering system, and Davis-Monthan entered yet another age of refurbishing their retired craft for yet another burgeoning conflict.