Neither Sours nor anyone else at Gowen Field had any idea that they had been called out for anything more than adding a bit of credibility to the governor’s position. After all, the very thought that Idaho could stand up to the military might of the United States was little more than ridiculous. And since they were no more than props for the war of words being waged between the governor’s mansion and the White House, no one in the Idaho Guard chain of command saw any need to issue anything resembling a full, basic load of ammunition.

Yet even if that ammunition had been issued most Guard junior officers and NCOs knew, in their hearts and souls, that the reasons for using that ammunition against anyone simply weren’t compelling. The governor had made a political statement, he had kept the Idaho Six from being extradited, and that, the Guardsmen figured, would be that.

Andrew King’s paratroopers, on the other hand, were not constrained by a lack of ammunition or an unwillingness to use deadly force. They were professional soldiers. They did as they were told, a trait Andrew King valued above all else and took every opportunity to reinforce. Pumped up by the indoctrination they had been exposed to from day one in the Army, a fair number of King’s young paratroopers looked forward to the day when they would be afforded the opportunity to use the tools of their trade. Even King’s own pep talk conspired to set the stage. “We’re going there to do a job,” King had told his men before they had boarded the transports. “There are people in Idaho who have chosen to raise their hand against our flag,” he informed them in a manner that he hoped would fire them up. “Those people need to be shown that treason, in any form, will not be tolerated.” Exposed to all these forces as well as a volatile mixture of adrenaline, testosterone, and fear the prospect of battle generates, it was little wonder that the soldiers of Company A hit the ground primed and ready for a fight.

Barging into this supercharged atmosphere were Master Sergeant Sours, Tim, and a tank that was, to every paratrooper who saw it, the most ominous and deadly creature they had ever laid eyes on.