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.

The A-10 Thunderbolts at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base had been retired with the base a decade before the Second Great Depression. The Air Force confidently upgraded their ground attack squadrons to the far superior F-35 Lightning and never looked back. So when Texas combed over the Davis-Monthan Boneyard, they found many A-10s capable of being cleaned up, serviced, and flown out under their own power. They quickly gave the craft to the Texas State Guard and deployed them against the Mexican drug cartels, where they proved that they were still the best aircraft for the job. Texas flew those refurbished A-10s for many more years, throughout the Drug Wars, and deep into the Cybernetic Wars until it became clear that they required another major overhaul to remain in service.

The Second Great Depression was the emergency Davis-Monthan Air Force Base was built to serve. No one knew that when it was built, but the Boneyard of retired aircraft it housed would become the arsenal of freedom for the Republic of Texas. Some uncharitable souls would say they plundered the base. Texas called it Operation Finders Keepers. The United States had closed the base. The United States had stopped paying the private security watching the base. There was nobody in position to keep the old war machines from falling into the wrong hands. It was clearly their patriotic duty to rescue any serviceable craft and parts before someone with ill intent used them against America. The federal government did not see it the same way, of course, but they did not have the resources to stop Texas from taking everything they thought they could possibly use. And Texans have a reputation for thinking they can use a great deal more than others think they can.