Thanks to CajunBear73, Guest, and everyone else for their reviews and commentary. This Epilogue's going to be a short one, but I think we'd all be happy to know that at least someone came out of this whole mess better off than before...

=O=

Chapter 43: Epilogue, or, Who's ready to fight the next war?

Portland National Capital Region

Joint Government of the Pacific

General Drago Bludvist, Strategic Air Command (SAC), marched down the corridor, a confident grin on his face. Majors and lieutenants scrambled to the walls as he marched his staff of tall, imposing colonels and generals, decked out in sharp Air Force blue, through the halls of power.

In war and in peace, in the distant lands of Western Europe and in the corridors of the military bureaucracy, presence was critical.

Everything was going perfectly.

A hawkish new Administration, led by an inexperienced young President, was in Portland – one Drago was certain he would be able to manipulate into doing his bidding.

Congress had just passed the largest peacetime defense appropriations bill since WWII. It had something for everyone, but among the branches, Strategic Air Command and Army Ballistic Missile Defense had been the biggest winners.

SAC was getting everything on its wish-list: Space battleships powered by Orion-type nuclear-pulse rockets, nuclear-powered bombers, even controversial Pluto-type nuclear-ramjet-powered supersonic low-altitude missiles. Locomotive-sized monstrosities, the Pluto missiles would spew radioactive fallout in their exhaust and blast down small houses with their sonic booms even as they barreled towards their targets, roaring just over the treetops at three times the speed of sound, itching to eject one of the dozen nuclear warheads strapped to their backs. If all went well, the Air Force would rule the planets within four years – well before the scientists could stick their grubby fingers in them.

As for the Army... well, the nationwide rollout of the Army's Sentinel Missile Defense System had been given a blank check and top priority.

And his scheme to dismember Aerospace Defense Command (ADC) had finally come to fruition.

He walked into the meeting room. The ADC four-star sat glumly in the corner. Drago took his seat at the head of the table, and began to speak. "Good morning, everyone. There is only one… item on today's agenda." He grinned at the other attendees.

Stoick Haddock, just happy to be alive. The Secretary, his lips pressed tightly together in disapproval. The eager members of the incoming Administration's transition team, leaning forward over the table, hanging onto his every word. And others.

Drago sighed theatrically. "It is clear from the conduct of the crisis last year… that in the modern age of limited nuclear warfare… the command organization… that is Air Force Aerospace Defense Command - ADC… is… grossly mismatched to operational requirements."

Stoick saw no reason to disagree. ADC had not exactly endeared itself to TAC, in Siberia or over India.

Nor was he in any position to oppose Drago's empire-building.

"The cumbersome command… limits the flexibility and deployability of our multirole nuclear air forces – an obvious liability in the modern age of flexible response. This is particularly galling a liability, since the central advantage of airpower lies with its flexibility."

The members of the transition team nodded happily at the buzzword.

"Dedicated interceptors are no longer a viable weapons system. In fact, ADC itself no longer operates any dedicated interceptors. ADC's Blackbirds are multi-role fighter aircraft, and through the Six Shooter program, its Delta Darts have been brought up to the standards of air superiority fighters, no different from frontline TAC squadrons. As such… ADC… brings no special capabilities to the table other than management of the integrated air defense system – a role which it performs in close cooperation with Army Air Defense…"

The grinding of the ADC four-star's teeth was audible from across the table, causing Drago to silently chuckle.

"As such… it has been decided… that Aerospace Defense Command will be disestablished. Existing ADC interceptor squadrons will be assigned variously to the Air Force Reserve, Tactical Air Command, and Air National Guard. ADC radar squadrons will be assigned to TAC and SAC as strategic requirements dictate."

Stoick nodded even as he cast a sympathetic gaze at the ADC four-star. Better him than me.

Drago sneered. "And ADC's Blackbird squadrons… will be transferred to Strategic Air Command. Henceforth, SAC will be responsible for generating and managing the forces… for strategic air defense of the Mainland, North America, and Australasia. After this reorganization, SAC, and SAC alone, will wage the fluid, mixed offensive-defensive nuclear aerospace battles that, as recent events have demonstrated, will define the strategic aerospace environment of the coming decade."

The transition team nodded fervently. The Admiral in the corner glared daggers at Drago.

"As coordination of these forces with Army Ballistic Missile and Air Defense assets will still be necessary, the role of coordinating strategic air defense will be handed over to a new, Tri-service Aerospace Defense Organization, to which SAC will flexibly assign defensive forces as the strategic situation dictates."

Drago smiled as the Army man nodded in agreement.

"Even before the ragtag bands of Boudica fell… before the disciplined legions of Rome on the plains of England, unity of command… was known as a central principle… of war. Today, we… Strategic Air Command! Have restored unity of command to the nuclear battlefields of tomorrow!"

Drago took a deep breath.

"From treetop level, where supersonic nuclear-ramjet missiles will carve swathes of destruction through the landscape… to the stratosphere, where supersonic and hypersonic aircraft will do battle… to High Earth Orbit, where nuclear pulse battleships, blasting skyward on plumes of nuclear fire, will rain that same nuclear hellfire upon their foes… Strategic Air Command will fight... as one! For dominion of… the Earth! The Sky! The Stars!"

Drago raised his arms skyward. "We… will emerge… victorious!"

The room erupted in thunderous applause.

END EPILOGUE

=O=

And... that's the Epilogue!

A quick apology to those hoping for a longer epilogue; I forgot to bookend Ch. 42 with the customary farewells to signal the nature of the Epilogue, and thought it would be tidier to put it all at the end of the Epilogue. Oops.

Well, this officially concludes Blackbird, a HTTYD fan-fiction of supersonic air combat, escalation management, and love on the nuclear battlefield. It was a joy to write, and I hope you all found it reasonably enjoyable and came away with some interesting ideas.

I have sketched out a sequel (and a miniseries-type thing) on a napkin, but it's probably not getting written anytime within the next three years. I will tack on a notification to Blackbird (probably complete with Epilogue II) if that ever changes.

Note that I am a mere interested amateur, and have aspired to convey generally accurate concepts rather than strive for 100% technical accuracy, for which I lack the technical and academic expertise. I have a high confidence in the general conceptual descriptions of the technologies, weapons systems (mostly based on real-world equipment or proposals), phenomena, basic science, and basic philosophy of nuclear war. The rough tactics of nuclear, conventional, and supersonic air warfare are mostly based on real-world tactics and doctrine, but the exact details of those tactics are at times squishy best guesses. I have only the foggiest of ideas of detailed operating procedures (which is why I describe them in general terms whenever possible - they are usually long, complicated and involve checklists). The expert will doubtless find countless flaws and errors large and small.

An interesting point: Chapter titles are a mix of Cold War jargon and rungs from RAND corporation think-tank theorist Herman Kahn's (42-step) Escalation Ladder, a model he used to help understand crises in the nuclear age. Kahn's 1960 bestseller, On Thermonuclear War, was not particularly good at predicting the future, but it remains a useful reference and is full of interesting ideas

My thanks goes out to all my readers for sticking with me through over forty chapters of umm... "story", and to my reviewers for their invaluable feedback and excellent commentary (hey, I figured I was at least doing something right). Special thanks must go to CajunBear73 for the analysis and commentary, DrBlazer for the questions and sanity checks, LadyHaddock for the writing checks, Atomicsub927 for the technical discussions, and Ridersofrowan, OechsnerC, and theDeathlyRider2287 for their input and support.