Thunder in the East

Three years had passed since the United States lost World War III ...

Although the Americans were the victors in the great battles of the War, they ended up the losers with the deception that followed the cease-fire. After arranging for the assassination of the President and his Cabinet, the traitorous US vice president allowed the country's defenses to drop long enough to permit flood of Soviet missiles to obliterate the America ICBM force while it was still in the ground. The sneak attack left the center of the country-from to Dakotas down to Oklahoma-completely devastated Now a nightmare swath of neutron radiation, the Badlands effectively cut the once-great country in two.

The "peace" that followed was dictated from Moscow. Called "The New Order," it mandated that America be divided into dozens of small countries and free territories. All references to the "old days were prohibited. Now it was against the law to carry an American flag or even utter the words "Unite States of America."

Still reeling from their battlefield defeats during the war, the Soviets had a great interest in keeping this New Order America fractionalized and unstable.

Through their agents and terrorist allies-and sometimes by direct intervention-their devious plans guaranteed that America would be constantly at war with itself. Early conflicts involved the leaders of the murderous Mid-Atlantic States-the hated Mid-Aks-trying to wrest control of the entire East Coast. Later battles involved the criminal elements now operating in New Chicago in an attempt to take over the free-wheeling but democratic independent state of Football City, formerly known as St. Louis.

In both cases, Hawk Hunter, the fighter pilot hero know as The Wingman, rallied the democratic forces and directed the defeat of the Soviet-sponsored aggressors.

But these victories for the forces of Freedom only led to an even greater conflict, known as The Circle War. A deranged Soviet KGB agent named Viktor Robotov managed to invade America from within-arming himself with thousands of Russian surface-to-air missiles. Only through much cunning and bloodletting did Hunter and the democratic forces defeat Viktor's Soviet-led Circle Army at the Battle of Platte River.

When Viktor escaped to the Middle East, Hunter followed, determined to bring him back to America to stand trial for his crimes. Yet soon after arriving in the Mediterranean, Hunter found that another war-actually a continuation of World War III-was about to erupt in the area, ignited by a lunatic named Lucifer. As it turned out, Viktor and Lucifer were one and the same. Hunter helped a valiant group of British RAF pilots and mercenaries salvage the abandoned nuclear aircraft carrier the USS Saratoga, tow it through the Med and preempt the war by stopping Lucifer's Soviet-controlled force at the Suez Canal This adventure, known to all as The Lucifer Crusade, ended with a confrontation in the Arabian desert between Hunter and Lucifer/Viktor. Squared off as this man-to-man battle between Good and Evil, an assassin's bullet, fired by a mysterious character dressed in Nazi garb, took Viktor's life and robbed Hunter of the chance of bringing the madman back to pay for his crimes.

But while Hunter was pursuing Viktor across the Mideast, and in the months that followed, another great war was brewing in America ...

"They say the perfect football game is when neither team moves from the fifty-yard line," General Dave Jones, commander of the Western Forces, told the room full of military officers. "The offense perfectly offsets the defense and vice versa.

"That's the position we are still in today . . ."

A winter had passed since .the Western Forces defeated the Soviet-backed Circle Army at the battle of the Platte River. The battered enemy had withdrawn back across the radioactive no man's land called the Badlands and into the only city they controlled on the western side of the Mississippi.

This was Football City, formerly known as St. Louis.

Now the Western Forces-an alliance of democratic armies and militias joined together to rid the American continent of the Circle Army-were preparing to take the offensive.

Jones walked to the front of the Planning Room and unveiled a huge map. At its center was Football City. Blue flags to the north, west and south indicated 11

the positions of Western Forces deployed around the Circle stronghold.

"I'm happy to report that we've solidified our positions to the north," Jones said. "We're now anchored here at Spanish Lake, thanks to the arrival three days ago of the Free Canadian volunteers.

"Now to the south, the Fourth Texas Armored Brigade has dug in here at Tesson Ferry. And of course, our major deployment-the Pacific Americans and the Football City Army-hold the strong line between them in the west.

"So you can see, we've got them sewn in on three sides, with our line roughly paralleling the old Route Two-seventy . . ."

"So when do we attack?" one of the newly-arrived Republic of Texas Army officers asked.

"Not any time soon," Jones answered.

"But why not?" the Texan followed up. "We've got them outnumbered at least two-to-one in manpower-and a lot of their guys are just hired hands, mercenaries or whatever. We've got more airlift than they have. Also we have four squadrons of fighters to their one and a half."

Jones shook his head. The Texan's unit had just arrived and the man wasn't totally up to date on the situation within Football City.

"All of this is true," Jones replied. "And I'm glad to see that nothing has diminished the fighting spirit of Texas. But any military training course will tell you that an offensive force attacking set defensive positions needs at least a four-to-one advantage for a successful outcome.

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"We don't have those kinds of numbers and I can't risk the heavy loss of life that would result if we

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jumped off any time soon."

Jones looked around the room. All of the Western Forces' top representatives were there: Louie St. Louie, the man who transformed the moribund postwar city of St. Louis into the fabulously hedonistic Football City, only to see it nearly destroyed in two successive wars. Mike Fitzgerald, the former Air Force pilot who transformed the municipal airport at Syracuse, New York, into the wild and woolly aircraft repair stop known as the Aerodrome. His territory too was still under Circle control.

Also on hand was Marine Captain "Bull" Dozer; the commanding officer of the famous 7th Cavalry, a near-legendary group of freelance democratic fighters.

Seated next to him was Major Frost, the Free Canadian Air Force pilot who was the unofficial go-between for the large "neutral" free nation to the north.

Ben Wa and J.T. Toomey, who like Jones were former US Air Force Thunderbird pilots, were also there, as were a host of other commanders of the many freelance armies and militias who had joined forces with the Westerners.

"As you know, we spent the entire winter planning for this campaign," Jones told them. "We agreed that the only way we'll be able to accomplish our objective is to play it smart. Up to now The Circle has been the one always on the attack. They're an offensive-minded army. Now, we've got to trick them into playing defense, something they don't do very well.

"But this doesn't mean we ignore the fundamental strategies of war. It gets back to that perfect football game. If the offense and defense exactly complement each other, no one is going anywhere. We have to wait to build up our forces."

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A silence descended upon the room. Jones knew they were all anxious to take their measure of the Circle Army. But there was one more reason that demanded they move cautiously.

"We have to remember another thing," Jones continued. "The enemy is holding nearly ten thousand POWs, both military and civilian, inside Football City. We have to consider these people as hostages. We have good reason to believe that if we attacked The Circle now, they would start slaughtering those prisoners.

And I won't allow that to happen . . ."

Yet the Texan persisted.

"But General," he said in a thick drawl. "Taking Football City is just one of many things we have to do, if we are going to solve our larger . . . problem."

Even the feisty Texan couldn't bring himself to say it. Yet everyone in the room knew what he was talking about.

"The Problem" was that the Westerners had information that a large invasion force was being put together in Scandinavia by the Soviets. Once assembled, this force-which was made up of terrorist armies and mercenary forces-was to be put on ships and sent to invade the east coast of the American continent, linking up with the weakened Circle Army and cementing the Soviet hold on the eastern half of America. Thus the overall and very ambitious goal of the Western Forces was to gam control of certain key cities and strategic positions in the east, thereby hoping that the invaders-for-hire would reconsider before attempting a landing.

It was a desperate campaign for the Westerners, one that already had all the earmarks of a noble failure. Yet Jones knew that did not deter anyone 14

sitting in the Planning Room.

They are brave Americans, one and all, he thought.

"True, we cannot solve the Big Problem until we deal with a host of smaller ones," Jones said. "But we also cannot let ourselves become over-anxious. Our overall war plan is risky as it is. We cant let our impatience hinder it.

"So we will continue our present strategy of siege against Football City. That includes our daily surgical air strikes and our regular shelling. Only when the rest of our reserves come in from the west coast and/ our further Volunteers' from Free Canada arrive, will we start planning an all-out attack on Football City."

"And when will that be?" the Texan asked.

"Possibly another month," Jones answered. "In the meantime we are working on things inside the city. There is a small but effective underground that is helping us. As you all know, we also have a large group of fifth columnists working within the city even now as we speak."

The big Texan shook his head.

"But what good are these people doing, working inside?" he asked. "You said it yourself, General. The only way is to hit The Circle head-on. Attack 'em. Bomb the living crap out of them. Open up all our big guns, then go in. Invade the city and get it the hell over with . . ."

Jones tried to stay calm, but he was quickly losing patience with the man.

"I said we have to stay smart," Jones replied sternly. "And I repeat that we have ten thousand prisoners being held inside that city. Those people will be massacred if we act harshly."

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the Texan was up on his feet. "But by that line of reasoning, they're going to get killed no matter when we invade, so I say do it now!"

Once again, Jones took a deep breath and fought the temptation to lash out at the man. The Texans were good friends and superior soldiers. He didn't want to open up a rift with them now.

"My hope is," the small wiry general said in measured tones, "that by the time the rest of our troops arrive, our efforts inside the city will force the crackpot in charge of the Circle garrison there to see the light. Who knows?

He may even pull out of the city altogether..."

"But that's no better for us," The Texan shouted. "If we don't fight them here, we'll have to fight them somewhere along the way to the east coast."

That was it-the breaking point for Jones. "Don't you think I know that?" he angrily shouted back at the man. "But there are brave men of ours risking their lives right now in that city, while we sit back here and discuss the finer points of warfare. They're doing everything from organizing the underground to directing our air strikes . . .

"We have to give these men tune. Tune to reconnoiter and identify strong points we'll have to destroy when we do invade. Time to come up with an escape route for the POWs when we do attack. These things are important to our larger goal. We just cannot risk being hasty at this very important juncture."

The Texan fell silent. A murmur went around the room. The majority of those assembled knew that these were tough decisions and that the burden of making them fell entirely on the shoulders of General Dave Jones.

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But for his part, Jones just hoped that his fifth columnists were still alive and safe within the city . . .

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The two A-4 Skyhawks roared in without warning . . .

They passed low over the downtown section of Football City, their engines unleashing an unearthly scream, which shook buildings and people alike. The sun had just set and the devil-may-care activity of the city was just starting to warm up. But now the bright lights and music of the gambling casinos and whorehouses were replaced by an immediate blackout and the wail of air raid sirens.

A scattering of antiaircraft fire followed the A-4s as they pulled up and turned east, away from the heart of downtown. Major Tomb, the man in charge of the Circle's AA battalion, watched the two jets from the top of the circle headquarters, the former Federal Building just blocks from downtown.

"Goddamn Skyhawks are loaded with ECM," he cursed to his lieutenant as they watched two SA-7 surface-to-air missiles rise up from the city limits only to careen away from the streaking jets and fall harmlessly into the Mississippi.