When an overconfident Chinese Admiral is put on the ropes by the Filipino navy, he resorts to nuking 'em to save his bacon. Emboldened, communist elements within the Filipino government stage a coup. The resultant escalation draws contenders on both the American and Chinese sides, with an early version of the B-2 as Dreamland's dog in the race. Comes with the hilariously inaccurate portrayal of both nations' governments and militaries.
The novels are set in the Philippines where the Chinese are planning to invade the country, and the Americans have to stop them by limited means to avoid all-out war. It should be noted that Dale's portrayal of the Philippine government and that of the Chinese are quite inaccurate.
A book series by Dale Brown written in 1991.
Tropes:
- Aborted Arc: In Wings of Fire, one plotline involves Sky Masters, Inc. being the victim of a takeover, with the heads of the purchasing company having a Child Prodigy daughter that really impresses Jon. All this is seemingly forgotten by the next book.
- Better to Die than Be Killed: At the end of Sky Masters, the Big Bad Admiral Yin, seeing that his plan is foiled, chooses to blow his brains out rather than return to China in defeat, where he will be humiliated and dishonourably executed.
- Bigger Stick: The entire point of Dreamland and Sky Masters, staying on the bleeding edge of technology. The Americans aren't the only ones with new toys, though.
- Coitus Uninterruptus: A redshirt takes an alert call while getting... serviced.
- Les Collaborateurs: Teguina in Sky Masters.
- Counter-Attack: One new piece of Sky Masters tech in Rogue Forces allows a plane to defeat incoming missiles with lasers, then attempt to fry the attacker as well.
- Crazy-Prepared: As noted in Wings of Fire, Sky Masters aircraft can mount Russian munitions and have the necessary code to do so, apparently just in case they ever had to. Dreamland gear apparently is also designed to dump loads of viruses onto enemy computers in case a plane is shot down and recovered for reverse-engineering.
- Dragon Ascendant: Gregory Townsend, Big Bad of The Tin Man, was The Dragon to Storming Heaven's Big Bad Henri Cazaux. Also, the Big Bad of Fatal Terrain, Chinese Admiral Sun Ji Guoming, was subordinate to the Sky Masters.
- Failed Future Forecast: While not a Sci-Fi novel, Sky Masters was published in 1991 and set in 1994. It makes references to the Soviet Union (which would cease to exist at the end of 1991) and features the Strategic Air Command in a prominent role. The SAC would be abolished in 1992.
- Godzilla Threshold: His flotilla in shambles after a Filipino ambush, with only death or dishonourable retreat on the cards, Big Bad Admiral Yin decided to Nuke 'em. Things go downhill from there.
- Going Down with the Ship: The Chinese Admiral fails to invade Mindanao, and his ship gets struck by the Americans' satellite. With his ship sinking he decides to sink with the ship and shoot himself because even if he lives, he'll get court-martialed, scapegoated for everything, and executed by his superiors.
- Heel–Faith Turn: General Samar used to be a brutal member of former president Marcos's Secret Police. Then he became a Muslim and changed for the better.
- N.G.O. Superpower: The Night Stalkers/Scion/Sky Masters/Whatever-They're-Calling-Themselves-Now, who if not a per se superpower, nevertheless maintain air and ground commando forces capable of doing a number on proportionally much larger units from conventional militaries. They're staffed mainly by former members of and use the technology of Dreamland, which was a State Sec. In A Time for Patriots, the Knights of the True Republic are a Right-Wing Militia Fanatic group with resources at least on par with the FBI.
- The Neidermeyer: An inexperienced Captain second-guesses his air defence expert and, when one anti-air missile misfires, shuts down the point defence net in his Lawful Stupidity, allowing an anti-ship missile to get through and hit the carrier they were supposed to be protecting. Said misfired missile had actually exploded and was tumbling back towards the launcher—keeping the other launch cells closed was a prudent thing to do; keeping on firing might have risked BOTH ships.
- Non-Action Guy: Jason Richter starts as one, being not much good without his CID unit, but gets better. Some Sky Masters personnel are also this, never having been military before joining and thus not mentally prepared to use their equipment in an actual combat situation.
- Not a Game: Patrick calls Dr. Masters out on his flippant, overly casual attitude with regards to the oncoming battle.
- Not My Driver: The US Ambassador to ASEAN gets a message from a Filipino politician this way.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The normally composed Jon Masters lets the pressure get to him, up to the point of rant-inducing slight, something his chief assistant notices immediately.
- Poor Communication Kills: Dreamland has a lot of secret ops that, well, they can't let others know about. Not even allies. Predictably, fighting ensues. A misunderstood radio call results in a nuclear release.
- Save Sat: A Chinese destroyer is about to nuke the city of Davao. Fortunately, the Americans neutralize it by dropping a satellite right on top of it.
- State Sec: Dreamland is a top-secret USAF unit that, while sometimes seconded to regular commands, frequently act beyond the remit of the conventional military, engaging in black ops around the world with the aid of Cool Planes and other advanced technology. In their Night Stalkers/Sky Masters, Inc./Scion/Whatever-it-is-today incarnations they are more of a N.G.O. Superpower. They're the heroes, though generally seen as loose cannons by others.
- Straw Misogynist: The onscreen ASEAN leaders.
- Super Prototype: Averted as later models of Dreamland/Sky Masters/Whatever stuff have better features than the first runs.
- Weak, but Skilled: A small Filipino group using outdated ships is able to trounce a larger, modern Chinese flotilla to the point that the Big Bad admiral in charge of said Chinese flotilla is pushed over the Godzilla Threshold.
- What You Are in the Dark: In Fatal Terrain, Patrick McLanahan warns his group that due to the classified nature of their mission, even if they succeed no one will congratulate them, and at worst they will be condemned by their own side. On the other hand, if they choose to back down and face trial in a federal court, it is likely that they will come out in a position to maintain Sky Masters, Inc. None of his group flinch from it.
