Bomber Witches: Inferno

by RobertaMorgan

May 9th, 1972. Alien militarists, known as the Teki, have ravaged northern Vietnam with war. In response to these events, President Kennedy authorizes an escalation of the conflict. It's now up to the 7th JSF to take back the northern sky, and quell the Inferno. Disclaimer: These events are semi-fictional, and may not represent the ideas or opinions of the author.

1. Prologue

Prologue

"No event in American history is more misunderstood than the Vietnam War. It was misreported then, and it is misremembered now." -Richard M. Nixon

In the mid 1950's, a meteor fell near the city of Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. When the Vietnamese Army attempted to secure the site, they were nearly wiped out by a horde of black alien creatures. The civilians surged southward to escape the carnage, leaving thousands of homes behind. China was willing to defend its borders, but refused to intercede on behalf of northern Vietnam. Even the French Union had decided to pull out, and removed their forces from the Indochina region by 1954. In response, the United States of America reached out to the people of Vietnam, deploying Carrier Task Force 77 from Yokosuka Naval Base in Japan, to the Gulf of Tonkin, seeking to quell this insurgency. The first few years consisted of ferrying survivors out of the northern regions, to safety in the south. A demilitarized zone was established at the 17th Parallel in 1954, dividing North Vietnam from South Vietnam. The enemy, referred to simply as "Teki," seemed to acknowledge the DMZ as the border separating north and south, and the violence leveled off. For fourteen years, things were quiet, and U.S. recon planes anxiously patrolled the DMZ, searching for any signs of aggression.

Then, on January 29th, a massive throng of Teki surged across the DMZ. This attack was an enemy attempt to capture and control Saigon, the newly formed capital of South Vietnam. By some miracle, the U.S. came out victorious, holding the Teki off long enough to recapture the embassy in Saigon, and allowing CTF 77 to launch an air interdiction strike, silencing the enemy forces. Four more years passed, with small insurrection attacks occurring at towns closest to the DMZ. By 1972, the American forces were able to finish defensive preparations along the DMZ, installing anti-tank mines and tank traps all along the 17th Parallel. On May 9th of that same year, President Kennedy officially authorized an escalation of the air war in Vietnam, releasing the chains of the Strategic Air Command, and allowing General Curtiss Lemay to unleash his bombers on North Vietnam. He realized soon enough that the lumbering B-52 bombers could not be sent across the DMZ alone, and the fighter escorts available were unable to protect the groups effectively from anti-air attack. As a result of the escalation on May 9th, the 7th Joint Strike Force was formed under the command of Lt. Gen. Joseph H. Moore, with an aim to assist the B-52 fleets, and help the ground forces retake Hanoi and the rest of North Vietnam. This group, in conjunction with Carrier Task Force 77, is comprised of only the toughest and best trained, and they will always get through. From the distant Osan Air Base in South Korea, these brave witches take to the sky…