Coming And Going For The Week Ending 12/17/2022

New And Coming Soon:

• Hirohiko Araki: Thus Spoke Rohan Kishibe, Vol. 2 at Amazon in digital and Hardcover.
• Jason Anspach: KTF Part Two at Amazon for Kindle and Audiobook.
• Cirsova: Winter 2022 issue is up at Amazon in Kindle and Paperback, and over at Lulu in Paperback and Hardcover.

Ironage Media interviewed Cirsova (here) recently. If you prefer video, here you go.

Author Rawle Nyazi appeared to be interviewed on the IronAge Spotlight.

David Stewart had a New Pub Talk stream today.

The Business of Writing had a new episode.

And #20Booksto50K began dumping video archives of their 2022 Vegas convention. More are being added. Playlist below.

There was also a lot of talk about A.I. art and writing algorythms this week, but that deserves a seperate post.

Coming And Going For The Week Ending 9/3/2022

Things that caught my eye this past week:

• Dragon Award winner Declan Finn has Book 11 of his St. Tommy series up at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo.
• Imperium Press has no book news, so instead read their Substack to pass the time. "The Aesthetic Age" and "The Mithradates Strategy" are worth your time and shows that Imperium is not some disinterested Mammon Mobster doing this as a grift, but a committed fellow traveler working to get things thrown away back into common knowledge.
• Chris Fox has a five-book fantasy series called "Shattered Gods". Book Four is now available on Amazon, and Book Five drops in December.
• Antelope Hill has the audiobook version of Faith and Heritage: A Christian Nationalist Anthology at their store, along with print and ebook, here.
• Richard Fox has Book Two of his Tyr trilogy for sale on Amazon in Kindle, Paperback, and Hardcover.
• Nick Cole & Single White Medusa's "The Tolkien Project" has a new episode here.

Signal Boost: "Swords Against The Dark" By Peter Nealan

Last night, author Peter Nealan appeared on the Galaxy's Edge YouTube channel for an hour to talk about his new mil-WeirdFic novel Swords Against The Night with Walt.

As the interview makes clear, this is Peter's take on the mixture of real contemporary military personnel dealing with fantasy worlds. Forgotten Ruin broke this concept through in the West, but Japan's GATE precedes it by several years.

This is, at present, a four-book series. You can find it at Amazon here. (The link goes to the Kindle page, but there are paperback options for each book.)

Coming & Going: What's Worth Your Attention This Week

In case you missed it, here's some things to consider by people that don't hate you.

• Israel's brightest light has a new campaign for Vol. 6-10 of "Light Unto Another World" at Kickstarter.
• Nick Cole has Book Two of Strange Company, Voodoo Warfare, up at Amazon in paperback and audio.
• Steven Pressfield has a new non-fiction self-help book in the manner of The War of Art at Amazon, Put Your Ass Where Your Heart Wants to Be. Available in audio, Kindle, and paperback.
• Declan Finn has Book Ten of his St. Tommy N.Y.P.D. series, Lightbringer, up at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, and Kobo in multiple formats.
• Jon Del Arroz's "Overmind" campaign closed at over $30K raised, making it his most successful comic campaign to date. Congratulations!
• The legend Chuck Dixon has a new Western in his Levon Code series up at Amazon in Kindle and paperback, Levon's Range: A Vigilante Justice Thriller.
• Rick Partlow has a new mil-SF book in his Drop Trooper series up at Amazon in Kindle and paperback, Drop Zone.
• Peter Nealan has a new mil-fic book in his Brannigan's Blackhearts series at Amazon in Kindle, Marque and Reprisal.
• B.V. Larson has a new Space Opera book in his Star Runner series at Amazon in Kindle, Androids and Aliens.

Got any others? Drop them in the Comments below.

Signal Boost: "Death Mask" By Razorfist

As he put it on Twitter:

In case you missed the announcement on tonight's stream:
My new fantasy noir pulp, DEATH MASK is now available for pre-order! Fully illustrated by the very talented @GPrime85 (with additional illustrations by myself) https://t.co/S8jGDlCzXP pic.twitter.com/TcPBbUFTJu

— RazörFist (@RAZ0RFIST) June 18, 2022

You'll find the preorder page here.

That page also has a link to the first novel, so you can catch up while you wait for Death Mask to arrive, and by all means follow Razorfist on all the socials and especially when he streams live.

Signal Boost: "Deus Vult" by Jon del Arroz LIVE on Indiegogo

The Leading Hispanic Voice in Science Fiction, best-seller and award-winner Jon del Arroz is back with another fantastic comic project.

DEUS VULT!

A crusade into another realm...

...leads to the deadliest of evils.

Sir Domingo, Spanish Knight and Holy Crusader, is blessed with a vision on his return from his triumphant conquest in the Holy Land. The Holy Grail appears in the sky, leading him on an adventure to another realm where demons and monstrosities lay waste to all of creation.

He discovers a strange race of people called the Kityin, who seem more kin to Earth's cats than they do humanity. He alone can lead them to salvation and away from the tyrannical rule of The Demon King.

Should he fail, not only the Kityin but all the people of all the realms will be destroyed!

DEUS VULT is a 66-page crusader fantasy graphic novel which will bring back memories of great comics like CONAN THE BARBARIAN and THE MIGHTY THOR.

The story is written by #1 Bestselling and award-winning Sci-Fi author, Jon Del Arroz, artist Jesse White, and colorist Matt Crotts with a special variant cover by our good friend Miss Sashi!

Jon's gotten very good at this sort of thing. He's all ready to go; this campaign is to finance actual production and distribution, since the writing is already done and you can see below that some of the artwork is also. When he said he's going for that classic Savage Sword of Conan look he means it, because that's what immediately leapt to mind when I saw these samples below.

While not as low as the novel campaigns I boost, you can still get in rather cheap. $12 gets you a digital copy, and $25 a physical one; this is one you want on your shelves, so I advise going for the hard copy. The bigger backer benefits include original art, being drawn into the book, complete sets of Jon's comics to date, and a Napa wine tour with the man himself. Yes, that last Perk is pricy; if you take it, bring the spouse with you.

This is the sort of thing we who are dissatified with what Establishment entertainment insultingly offers to us should support. We must find our own creatives, encourage them to create works that actually entertain us, and patronize them when they do. Now's the time.

You can find the campaign here at Indiegogo.

Signal Boost: "Forgotten Ruin" Limited Time Event

Nick Cole & Jason Anspach took time away from the dumpster fire of a galaxy that is Galaxy's Edge to do their own take on "Contemporary military takes on fantasy Dark Lord army." Since they're better at selling it than I am, allow me to quote them:

Tolkien meets Shock and Awe

Orcs. Trolls. Wraith riders. Dark wizards. Together, they form an unstoppable force. Or so they thought.

Dark Army… meet the U.S. Army Rangers.

When a Joint Task Force of elite Rangers are transported to a strange and fantastic future where science and evolution have incarnated the evils of myth and legend, they find themselves surrounded, pinned down, and in a desperate fight for their very survival—against nightmares of flesh and blood made real. Which means only one thing.

It’s time to Ranger Up and stack bodies.

The forces of evil have no idea how dangerous a Ranger has been trained to be, and once the action starts, it won’t let up in this no-holds-barred, full-auto, epic battle for survival in the Forgotten Ruin.

From the creators of Galaxy’s Edge…

Buy in, and jock up for this thrilling WarGate adventure. A battle unlike any other is calling.

That sounds fantastic, and I guarantee that it will be better done than the most well-known pop culture example most folks reading this will recall: GATE, out of Japan, where the JSDF takes on (and curbstomps) a fantasy army. Guys with actual combat experience, and a small army of other combat vets to consult with, will produce a better Mil-SF narrative than a former JSDF soldier that never saw combat.

Click on the image below to go to the sales page and get yourself a copy.

The Business: Cirsova Kickstarter Scrapped, Goes Straight To Pre-Orders

Quoting from the source:

I’ve decided that rather than flog the Kickstarter for another week and a day, I would redirect all of my efforts towards ensuring that all versions of the Spring issue are available and up to snuff and getting all of my other projects lined up.

Right now, only the eBook version is available for pre-order, but as soon as all of the files process, we’ll be sure to let everyone know where and how to get your hands on the Spring issue.

It wasn't going to make it, so rather than throw good after bad Cirsova cut the lines and moved on with the process. As quoted, the issue in question is available for pre-order; click on the image below to get to the Amazon sales page.

Signal Boost: The 2020 Reissue of the Junior Classics

It took longer than expected, in part due to the Coof, but finally Castalia House has made available the first three volumes of the Junior Classics once again. You can buy directly from Castalia here. For those that prefer Amazon, here's the links to each volume's sales page:

• Vol. I Fairy Tales & Fables
• Vol. II Myths & Legends
• Vol. III Tales of Greece & Rome

This is, as the publisher notes, an ideal resource for homeschooling and these are meant to be heirloom-quality pieces meant to last for generations with proper care- yes, even the general editions now available. These are not digital disposables. These are books you buy in print, put into good shelving in good conditions, and use gently as you would your Bible.

Please leave all comments with the publisher.

Signal Boost: Light Unto Another World, by Yakov Merkin, at Kickstarter

The leading voice in Israeli science fiction, Yakov Merkin, is back with a brand new series: Light Unto Another World.

This is the man behind the Galaxy Ascendant series (available at Amazon), so he's got a proven record of delivering results. You can trust that he'll give the good stuff to his backers, so I recommend that you give this a good look and throw him some spare cash if you want original fiction that brings to mind the best that Japanese isekai can deliver (and that's a lot more than what's been out in the last few years).

Signal Boost: Cirsova 5th Anniversary Issue

The fine folks behind Cirsova Magazine have a crowdfunding campaign up at Kickstarter for their 5th anniversary issue.

$5 gets you a digital copy, and $12 gets you a paperback with your choice of cover (see the Perks on the page), so this is a great deal.

If you like this, and you want to give them more money (and collect back issues), you can find them all as well as your purchasing options at Cirsova's site.

Crisis at Garmil's Gate - 22

On the bridge of the Tiger of Maribu, Duke Far stood next to the stellar navigation station when an alert sounded.

"Your Grace," a crewman said, "the scout's in position at the suspect location."

"Main screen." Far said, and the video feed from the scout appeared on the big screen. In real time, the scout showed the asteroid pirate base, and its activity resembled that of a panicked wasp hive. Not one of the vessels leaving the base was a warship. Instead, Far witnessed a bunch of pirates in unarmed mechs towing away the stolen container units, apparently leading to a point on the edge of the solar system- right where it opens to deep space.

"Scout, have any warships or mecha come or gone?" Far said, following a hunch.

"None, Your Grace." the scout said, "This is all that's been going on since the base lit up a few moments ago. Just prior to that a burst signal terminated here. Your Grace, this isn't a muster for battle; these pirates are abandoning their base of operations."

Far looked over at his Communications Officer, who nodded affirmatively in anticipation of the question. "Scout, send the trajectory of the burst signal back here. Stay on station, observe, and if detected flee."

"Yes, Your Grace." the scout said, and moments later the requested data appeared. The Communications Officer superimposed the data on a map of the system, revealing a point on the edge of Garmil's Gate's atmosphere.

"General Quarters!" Far said, and the battle lighting came on as the alert klaxons sounded. "Helm, intercept that ascending ship."

The Tiger of Maribu's engines flared to life once more, turning the battleship about and heading away from Gatewatch on an intercept course. As the battleship raced to intercept Redalen's Revenge, the mech squadron aboard ship scrambled and stood ready to launch upon contact.

"Missiles at the ready." Far said, anticipating what's to come, and soon the map updated with positive sensor contact.

"Launch!"

A salvo of missiles fired their engines and flew from their tubes, clearing the battleship before turning and flying towards their target. Immmediately thereafter the mech squadron launched, taking up their formation ahead of the Maribu. The ship's main guns now powered up, anticipating closure to combat ranges presently.

"Enemy missiles inbound!" a crewman said, "Enemy secondary signals confirmed. Tiger Leader has visual confirmation of enemy mecha and their mothership."

"On screen."

Redalen's Revenge appeared on the main screen, starboard side in profile, racing as fast as it can go for the edge of the system.

"Missiles intercepted and destroyed."

"All ahead full! Time for the Tiger to pounce!"

The mech squadrons broke formation and engaged, turning quickly into a series of dogfights, as the Tiger closed on the Revenge

"We've reached gunnery range, Your Grace!"

"FIRE!"

The Tiger's forward turrets opened fire, alternating fire to maintain a steady assault of three-barrel barrages. The first volley scored a glancing blow and coruscated brilliantly off Revenge's shields, but the second hit square on the pirate ship's starboard side. The hit overloaded the shields, bored a hole in the armor and into the hull. Some hapless pirates not incinerated by the shot itself got sucked out into space during decompression before the bulkheads slammed down and sealed off the breach.

Revenge returned fire, tracking the Maribu and firing a barrage from its own turrets. One missed entirely, but two more hit and stressed the shielding on the ship's fore to its limit. A fourth went just high and skated off the shielding over the dorsal hull.

"Now if Roland can just join the battle." Far said, "We can finish Dashing Jack for good."

Crisis at Garmil's Gate - 21

The Baden-Powell broke through Garmil's Gate's atmosphere once more, descending well below the clouds to answer the distress call from the noblewomen on retreat.

"The signal's still transmitting, Sir Ramsey." Sibley said, "I expect that as long as the women can keep the raiders out of their secured room, we can home in on that."

"Creton!" Ramsey said, speaking into his microphone, "On the guns, now!"

"Expecting a hostile reception are we?" Sibley said, and in response two blips came on the sensors coming from the noblewomen's location. "Contacts. Look like the escorts for our raiding party."

"Spin up the guns." Ramsay said, "Take them quickly, boy. We don't have time to waste."

Ramsey saw the guns powering up on his console. "Aye, my lord!" Creton said, his enthusiasm plain, "Standing by!"

"Fire when ready." Ramsey said, "Just make certain that you hit."

The turret rotated around the ship's axis, and the cannons pointed down slightly in the direction of their descent. Creton sat at the controls, fixed on the target reticle, as he saw the lead mech in the pirate element come into range. He marked the wingman's position behind the leader, and in a smooth motion shifted his aim to the trailing wingman. The boy pressed the trigger, and the blaster cannons threw forth a burst of hot plasma bolts downrange.

The leader laughed, thinking that the volley was meant for him, only to hear his wingman cry out a moment before dying as the mech's powerplant exploded. Before the leader got his wits about him, Creton sent a second volley. The bolts slammed into his mech's torso, first burning out the armor and then boring through the cockpit--and him--to the same result. Neither go so much as a ranging shot off.

"Scope's clear, my lord." Sibley said, "We're clear to land."

"No time, Sibley." Ramsey said, "Take the con. I'm dropping down, so I want you and Creton hovering overhead just in case."

"Understood, my lord." Sibley said as he changed seats, "Boy, take the co-pilot's chair."

Creton handed Ramsey the knight's baton, and moments later the ventral hatch opened. Ramsey dropped out of his ship, and free-fell the last half-mile or so to the target while the Baden-Powell veered off slightly. It was a good precaution, because now some ground-to-air missile launched from the surface. Ramsey spread his arms and legs wide, and a thin plasma-like energy flashed up to form a gliding suit out of his armor. The ship drew off and shot down the missiles, and then moved forward in case of more ground fire, which did come as both man and machine came within visual range of the wilderness retreat.

"Sibley!" Ramsey said, "Clear a path!"

Creton used the ship's guns to blow apart the makeshift anti-air gun the pirates put up, and then blew up the shuttle they meant to escape with. Those explosions kept the pirates' attention away from Ramsey until it was too late, and the Paladin glided down from above, swooping down upon them like a mighty eagle. In one smooth motion he landed on one pirate, kneeing the fool in the back and cracking the villain's head open upon the pavement, rolled forward, and shot a second dead with his pistol. A third came at him with a club as Ramsey got to his feat, only to be pushed off his line and shot down by Ramsey.

A forth cried out an alert before being shot dead in turn, and Ramsey knew that violence of action now was his only option. He put his pistol in his off-hand, drew his beam sword, and rushed into the retreat. Two came for him from around a corner; Ramsey ran one of them through, used him as a shield against the other and then shot the second down. They came again and again in twos and threes, until he cut down or shot dead a score in total. The last, standing before the armored door to the secured room, fell on his sword than face his doom like a man.

"I am Lord Roland of the Solar Guard." Ramsey said, putting forth his arms before the camera and showing his face, "The raiders are gone. You may come out now."

Moments a dozen nobles and their attendants emerged from the cramped room, taking their turns blessing him and kissing him, before their hostess and leader emerged. Neither eldest nor youngest, but clearly the highest in station by her bearing. She stood up to Ramsey's chest, a woman in the full bloom of youthful beauty, with straight red hair to her shoulders and eyes blue like a clear sky- a visage so striking that Ramsey paused a moment.

"We are grateful for your valor, Lord Roland." she said, "My father will hear of this for certain."

Ramsey bowed, affecting a courtly manner. "The loss of she whom is heralded as God's songbird would be a terrible injury to Christendom, Countess Robin. However, time is short and I must insist upon haste in escaping. Their master lingers nearby."

Countess Robin nodded. "Agreed. Bring forth your ship, Lord Roland. We are many, but we shall not saddle you for long."

Ramsey keyed into his comlink. "Sibley, bring the ship down and have Creton ready to assist. Tell Gatewatch to expect us presently."

Crisis at Garmil's Gate - 19

The Opulent Dragon and the Tiger of Maribu began firing upon each other, and with the former battleship unable to manuever the fight escalated into a merciless slugfest between the ships' main cannons. Meanwhile, both ships sortied their mech squadrons, which immediately rushed to engage each other. Gatewatch joined the fray, launch its mech squadrons and firing upon the Dragon in support of the Maribu.

The relentless pummeling by naval artillery shook the interior more and more severely, making the fighting inside become perilous beyond expectation. Ramsey, Far, and Far's bodyguard cut a bloody swath through Fang's loyal crew as they race for the Flight Deck, arriving just as they see Fang attempt to forcibly board Duke Far's shuttle only to see the pilot and co-pilot resist them.

Far keyed into a comlink. "Pilot! This is your Duke. We are approaching your position. Stand ready for the men and I to board."

"Acknowledged, Your Grace."

With a nod, Far and Ramsey rushed out of cover to attack Fang on the flank. The shuttle kept the traitor pinned down, and that left Fang open. The first few shots fired at the traitor's position cut down several of his men, dropping them to the deck, before Fang and the remainder shifted their position as best they could to cover against both threats. With Fang and Ramsey in the lead, their beam swords blazing, they quickly closed the gap and fell upon Lord Fang two on one- two of the best swordsmen in the galaxy against one cunning criminal nobleman.

Fang knew he couldn't win this encounter. Immediately on the back foot, he tried to disengage again and again, only for one or the other to thwart the gambit. Beyond the duo delivering his doom, he saw the shuttle admit Far's men. A well of resentment and frustration burst forth, unmanning Lord Fang and prompting him to lash out at Duke Far with a wordless howl of rage. Unmoved, Far stepped off Fang's line and struck. The first removed the condemned man's arm. The second removed his head.

Ramsey extinguished his sword. "I'll have Sibley pick me up."

"They'll fight to the last, but none shall survive." Far said, "Once we're both away, let us discuss the matter of Fang's former ally."

"Agreed." Ramsey said, "A temporary parting, Your Grace."

"Yes, Lord Roland." Far said as he shook Ramsey's hand, "Until later then."

Ramsey nodded, and Far took his leave. Boarding the shuttle, Far escaped the Dragon without further incident. A short time later, the Baden-Powell entered and hovered while Ramsey boarded. Once aboard and underway, Ramsey took his place in the pilot's chair and watched on the main screen as the combined fire of Gatewatch and the Tiger of Maribu finished their pummeling of the Opulent Dragon, with a final volley hitting the power plant and provoking a most violent explosion.

"May God have mercy on their souls." Ramsey said as the Baden-Powell approached the Maribu.

Crisis at Garmil's Gate - 09

Sir Ramsey began a countdown in a corner of his helmet's viewscreen, letting him track the estimated arrival of the enemy as he went about preparing the courtyard for another battle. He pushed wrecked mecha and other vehicles into the breech of the outer wall, prepared traps using loose ordinance, and set up killzones where the enemy's numbers wouldn't benefit them. Once ready, with some minutes to spare, Ramsey got to the compound's media center and put himself on the comms.

He first opened a channel to directly connect to Solar Guard Headquarters on Earth.

"Priority Transmission to Palatine Hill from Garmil's Gate. Authorization: Sir Ramsey Hennipen, Seat of Roland."

The screen read back "Access Granted".

"Inform Court of Stars. Insurrection in progress. Lord Fang and Mining Master Iser in league with Red Eyes pirates. Iser slain. Lord Fang's location unknown. Gatewatch status unknown. Situation is in hand. Recommend Lord Fang's liege intervene."

The screen read back: "Cast in the name of God. Ye Not Guilty."

"Acknowledged. Sir Ramsey, over and out."

Then Sir Ramsey got on the channel used by the rebelling workers.

"This is Sir Ramsey Hennepin, Paladin of the Solar Guard. I hold the High Justice. Those that surrender shall receive mercy. Those that resist shall die condemned of heresy and treason."

Ramsey saw Dashing Jack's face appear before him. "If, Paladin. If you can enforce it. You are still just one man."

"I an not just one man, villain. I am never just one man. Observe--I know you are--and you shall see this first hand before you go to Hell."

"Indeed. Entertain me, Papal Puppet. Dance! Dance for my amusement."

The sounds of artillery fire blowing apart the improvised barricade prompted Ramsey to cut the comms. The timer ran out; and the enemy arrived right on time. As Ramsey ran to his first position, he saw in another window on his viewscreen a perspective from one of the working security cameras of rebel mecha and infantry rushing into the courtyard. He saw them stop after the first bomb exploded and took out the leading infantry platoon as well as the armed worker mecha they escorted.

By the time he got into position, the enemy cleared away their wrecked unit and swept clear what remained of the infantry. He put up a shoulder-fired missile launcher, took aim, and launched at the foremost unit. He didn't wait to see if he hit; he immediately tossed the launcher and ran back under cover. The return fire tore apart his former position while the impact on the leading unit stymied any attempt to track him long enough to thwart it.

"I can't move!" the unit's pilot said, confirmng Ramsey's hope of a mobility kill. As he got into his second position, where another launcher awaited him, he heard the order from the rebel commander: "Reduce the upper floors and force him to the ground." Ramsey smiled; someone there wasn't a complete moron. He fired his second missile, again running back under cover, and this time switching down to the ground floor. The enemy mecha fired upon the compound's buildings, leveling their upper floors, before sending infantry into the now-reduced remains aiming to force Ramsey into the open.

But this meant going into close quarters, where Ramsey again held the advantage, and he ambushed the first squad he found with beam sword and blaster. He erupted from a side room into a hallway, appearing in the middle of their single-file formation, cutting down one man while shooting a second in the chest with a double-tap technique. Caught unawares, they attempted to respond.

"You're not fast enough!" he declared as he cut and shot them down in their confusion.

Soon he flushed them out of the buildings and back into the courtyard, quivering in fear. Their leader emerged from on of the armed workers, and he shot one of them to get their attention.

"One! Man!"

Ramsey strode into view, standing in the doorway of what was the compound's main building- formerly Master Iser's headquarters. He took aim at the rebel commander with his blaster.

"Paladin!" Ramsey said, and shot the commander dead with a clean hit to the man's forehead.

The infantry broke and ran, fleeing before the golden-armored knight, only to to stop before the sight of a giant-sized man-like robot.

"Go on!" its pilot said, "We've got this."

Sir Ramsey let the rabble flee. Instead, he took notice of the mecha now arriving. These were the House Fang units, repainted black with red accents and red eyes. His viewscreen identified them as basic Oni-class models, though they had to have undergone some modification by now.

"Come out, Paladin. Let's see you fight against us."

"Don't be so hasty." Ramsey said as he took in the full view of the enemy mecha--both the new arrivals and the armed workers remaining--before him, "I will not deny your request, or to hear your regrets for making it."

Crisis at Garmil's Gate - 08

Master Iser and Sir Ramsey clashed their beam swords together, crossing red-on-gold with sparks and discord.

"How does it feel, Master Iser? To get so far in your schemes, only to have someone come along who can tear it apart inside a day?"

Iser broke the clench and made a cut at Ramsey, which the Paladin easily blocked. "I wouldn't know. I've not had a scheme fail so far."

"You think you can turn this around?" Ramsay said as he hammered at Iser's guard, knocking the traitor off-balance and flailing to stay on his feet, "You have no idea how many times I've been in this exact situation, Iser."

"Oh," Iser said with a mocking gesture, "do tell."

"Fool!" Ramsay smashed aside Iser's blade. "I am 30 years old, and a Paladin of the Solar Guard. What does that tell you?"

"That you had friends shower you with prestige?"

Ramsey cut Iser's hands off, and then cut his beam sword in half. "Try again."

Iser stood there, looking at the cauterized stumps where his hands used to be. Ramsey didn't need to see Iser's face to know his mind at that moment.

"There, Iser, is your answer. When you reach Hell, go look up the other villains I'd sent there previously. They'll tell you just how wrong you were."

Ramsey's tone brought Iser back to the moment. "What do you mean, 'were'? Are you arresting me?"

"By right as Paladin of the Solar Guard, and confirmed by the Court of Stars, I hold the High Justice. You are condemned, Master Iser, for treason and heresy."

"Condemned? What idiocy is this?"

Ramsey shut off his blade, turned his back, and walked away. "You are already dead."

Iser, beneath his crimson helm, looked on astonished. "What?"

"Sibley." Ramsey said, ignoring the man, "What's the situation?"

"You can't be serious!" Iser said, disbelieving, when he attempted to step forward. His legs did not move, but his torso did and fell forward off his waist and hit the floor. The clang and thump of the now-lifeless corpse of the traitor Master Iser didn't so much as get Ramsey to look over his shoulder.

"The courtyard is clear of hostiles, Sir Ramsey, but heavier mecha and the main forces are on their way here from the elevator. They have it under their control."

"Nothing from Gatewatch?"

"Not a word. Something's wrong."

"The usual something, Sibley. Go with Creton and handle the elevator. I'll deal with the main force."

"They've got proper military-grade mecha in the main force along with more of their modified workers. You'll need more than your sword and blasters."

Ramsey reached into a boot sleeve and retrieved the baton that Creton gave to him previously. "Your boy made certain that I'd be ready for that scenario. Go on now. I'll be fine."

As Sir Ramsey made his way out from the hole in the wall and down into the courtyard, he saw in his faceplate a viewscreen from the perspective of the Baden-Powell: a squadron of mecha, backed by a company of rebelling workers on foot, rapidly converged on his location. Four of them seemed to be proper military models, resembling those stolen from a mothball facility run by House Fang several months ago.

"I see." Sir Ramsey said, "The matter is clear to me now. This treachery ends, here and now."

Crisis at Garmil's Gate - 01

The Baden-Powell arrived at Garmil's Gate to find a Red Eyes pirate attack upon an incoming merchant convoy.

"This is Sir Ramsey Hennipen, Paladin of the Solar Guard. All Red Eyes vessels will heave to and surrender or be destroyed."

On the viewscreen, Sir Ramsey saw several of the squat, blocky mecha sortied by the Red Eyes pirates turn about from their dogfight with the garrison at the orbital colony of Gatewatch to intercept his ship. Then, despite extreme range, they fired upon him.

"There's your answer, Sir Ramsey."

"Sibley," Ramsey said to the elder warrior sitting adjacent to him, "signal Creton to stand by on the guns. The lad's clear to fire when they come into range."

The gray-haired sergeant-at-arms keyed into the ship's comms. "Son, stand by on the guns. Fire when they're in range."

"Aye, father!" said an eager young boy, "Ready for battle!"

Sir Ramsey focused his attention outward once more. "Saint Itano, make Creton's aim true."

He threw the throttle forward, going all-ahead full to reach combat speed. Without another word, he saw the ship's secondary guns--mounted on turrets on the dorsal hull--light up, launching rapid volleys of laser-guided plasma appearing as red bolts in the void of space at the Red Eyes mechs advancing upon them. The unit in the center of the formation took a full volley head-on and exploded in a fireball, shattering the formation and leaving a hole for the Baden-Powell to fill.

"That should relieve the fighters defending the merchant convoy." Sibley said, looking at the bigger battle before them.

Creton swung the dorsal and ventral turrets about as Sir Ramsey spun the ship on its horizontal axis, allowing the turret a full sweep of fire. The Red Eyes mechs reoriented as they broke formation, bringing their cannons to bear, but Creton struck down the one trying to fire from their starboard flank before it brought those cannons about.

With that side clear, Ramsey turned away from the other two that fired from the port flank. Creton struck the lower of the two first, and as Ramsey completed the roll Creton acquired and fired upon the last one. Its hapless pilot sat there, mouth agape as the lethal volley slammed right into his cockpit, stunned that he and his wingmen went down so easily.

In the middle of the furball fought amongst the merchant convoy, a giant humanoid robot in black-and-red with a pair of red eyes cut down a defending fighter with a beam sword. Its pilot, cocky enough to not wear a flight suit, heard an entire flight of his minions scream their death cries seconds apart. He brushed a lock of hair out of his face and smirked. "The Church sent a Paladin? House Far must be desperate."

The face of a man who seemed to have been molded by repeated hammer blows appeared on a side monitor. "Captain, primary objective is complete."

"Acknowledged, Gori." the captain said, "Recall the fighters and spin up the drive. I'll cover their retreat. We're done here."

Aboard the Baden-Powell, Sir Ramsey saw the smirking captain appear on his viewscreen.

"Greetings, Sir Ramsey. I am Dashing Jack, captain of this band, and we shall neither surrender nor be destroyed. Rather, we shall take our leave."

Sibley quickly pinpointed Jack's unit and brought it on screen in another window. "He's got a knight's mech, Sir Ramsey."

"Paladin, I recommend playing to the heroic nature of your kind and choosing not to pursue today. As I am certain you can see, I am quite capable of crippling or sinking these vessels before you can stop me. I'm certain that the garrison commander will concur that you are wise to acquiesce."

A third window opened, this time showing the face of that very man: Sir Kei, of House Far's vassal family, the Fangs. "My wing is unable to pursue, but we can escort them to port. There will be another time, Paladin."

Ramsey turned to Sibley. "Time to target."

"At this speed, three minutes."

Ramsey stared at Dashing Jack, countenance stern. Jack smirked at first, but soon it faded, replaced by nervous laughter. "Until we meet again, Paladin."

Jack cut off his comlink. "He's retreating now."

Ramsey turned that face to Sir Kei. "Thank you, Paladin." Kei said, his voice betraying his exasperation, and also cut his comlink.

Sibley keyed into the ship's comms. "Stand down son. Fun's over, for now."

"Too easy." Ramsey said, "I'm certain that The Red Eyes have something bigger at play here."

"Aye, Sir Ramsey, but what is it and who else is involved?"

"We'll find out soon enough. Resume course for Gatewatch. We'll start with Sir Kei."

Miscellanous Setting Notes for the Feudal Future

Space is Big, and Writers (Typically) Have No Sense of Scale.

So, if you don't mind my indulgence, some setting notes.

• Earth has a population of 10 billion people. Yet most people are not urbanites. Those on Earth proper are spread out across all of its landmass (including Antartica) and do not cluster in coastal cities, reducing the congestion of population accordingly. Further relieving this pressure are the floating settlements on the oceans, and their seabed counterparts deep below the waves. High-speed rail transit forms relgional networks that link up at major hubs into a global network. Air travel links with orbital connections to complete the Earth transit network. The orbital habitation is half the population, clustered around the Lagrange points using the model from the Universal Century timeline of the Gundam franchise (sans terminology).
• Mars and Venus are similarly populated, maintaining familiarity with Earth-normal living standards for extra-planetary populations; this practice repeated itself outside of the Terran System. Terraforming efforts are minimized by preferring Earth-like planets when viable, but the means to change a planet into something suitable for Mankind does exist and has for some time- including the means to increase or decrease the gravity of a world into Earth-friendly ranges.
• Faster Than Light Travel exists. Multiple forms exist, but most people know only of the hyperspace travel that requires starships with FTL drives. Gate-based travel exists. (Yes, that means that the gate at Garmil's Gate is a literal stargate.) The reason for both FTL travel and space-based population expansion stems from the same reason as the following technologies: The Nephalim and their Fallen Angel fathers.
• Mecha: Powered armor arose during the Wars of the Damned in the era immediately after the Coming of the Azure Flames. It was the best option to leverage a reduced Mankind's odds against the undead horde of the Necromancer, allowing a single man to fight against a thousand or more at a time- unarmed. Armed suits increased the leverage yet again, reducing the hordes from billions to nothing within a few generations, a deed done when The Emperor arose to establish the Empire of Man over the ruined Earth and bring war to the Nephalim. Giant robots arose when they became needed to fight the great monsters as well as the Nephalim and their fathers face-to-face. First those of the Real Robot sort, and then when the Church escaped its hobbling it joined in earnest and the Super Robots came in their wake to allow Man to fight Angel on even footing.
• Blasters: Arose when the need for firepower exceeding what then-conventional firearms allowed, with the creation of practical plasma-casting technology. Using the existing infrastructure to minimize downtime during the turnover, and increase redundancy, a situation akin to the 19th century's introduction of the metallic cartridge occurred. The first generation blasters were conversions of conventional cartridge firearms; the second generation were purpose-designed and built to use plasma cartridges, but could use more conventional ones if required. Eventually blasters became the norm, and the older firearms became historical relics like those they formerly displaced. Newer technologies are eliminating the need for shells, but those are naval technologies only at this time.
• Cloning/Drones/AI: Either banned or highly-regulated by the Church. Bodies with ego but no soul are ridiculously open to demonic possession, so to prevent demonic Terminator incidents these are banned from usage or highly restricted. Alas, this ban passed only after a high-profile incident in the past; the possessed AI warship is still out there, and still seeking to Kill All Humans. The use of cloning is strictly and tightly regulated, allowing for medical usage so long as it is neither contrary to dogma nor otherwise a criminal act. In either case, the Inquisitors are not shy about nuking the site from orbit just to be sure. This means that vehicles of all sizes still have men at the controls, with only some levels of remote piloting allowed.
• Personal Weapons: Most people carry a knife, or walk with a cane or staff. Those able to afford a blaster pistol carry it, and few places are so foolish or venal as to ban the practice and try to enforce it. Beam swords are commonplace for noblemen, knights, and those aspiring to such status (often gentlemen).
• Medical technology: In a properly established and maintain facility, almost nothing immediately fatal will keep you down; gene therapy (see Cloning), self-derived clones of vital parts (clone your own liver; swap it out for a damaged one), and similar such technologies along with therapeutic techniques to support recovery make many injuries survivable. Lost limbs remain an issue, but for now cyborg replacements are the norm and are fitted as soon as possible.

And that's just some of them. Merry Christmas, folks.

Making the Setting: The Villains of the Piece (Part Four)

This week we're descending from meta-narrative to narrative. Of those two mastermind-level villains I described previously, I'm putting work in on Red Eyes, so I'm writing a story about space pirates. As Red Eyes is the Pirate Admiral, his chief henchmen are going to be his subordinates and staff. At this point< i have a choice to make, which is to decide on the scale of Red Eyes' fleet. It's quite tempting to go with something small, as that's a clear historical parallel, but equally tempting is to go large- very large, such that Red Eyes' immediate subordinates are Admirals themselves.

I'll let you find out what choice I made when the story is ready for purchase, but for now it's time to get down to more immediate narrative concerns.

The reader demands that you capture his attention right away, which is why you ought to start your story as close to the Inciting Incident as it gets. For this tale, I'm starting with a pirate attack that targets our Space Princess for abduction. Our pirate leader is one of the more colorful crooks in the fleet: Dashing Jack. This is one of my double-meaning names, as he's both charismatic and fleet of foot, but nonetheless a thoroughly despicable cad.

Everything about this opening sequence is open for use in establishing Jack as the antagonist, as well as displaying Red Eyes as the greater threat behind him. Exactly what ruse is used, how it is used, and those executing the attack are important characterization details. A brutal, bloody-minded pirate uses intimidation to demoralize targets prior to straight-forward assaults that pound targets into submission. Then get on with plundering the prize and butchering those he cannot justify as booty.

Jack isn't that. Jack prides himself on deceiving his targets, and then taunting them when his cunning gets what he wants before they can do anything about it. From women to warfare, he's all about showing off how clever he is to display his superiority; he's with Red Eyes because the notorious barbarian see Jack as akin to himself- a superior man, entitled to take what he wants because he can.

(And yes, Dashing Jack will be wearing a mask.)

When using a lesser villain, remember that he has to reflect whom he's the stand-in for in some manner. Readers will expect it, so make that expectation work for you. Jack's mask will have red eye lenses, and that's just the most obvious reflections of being a man under Red Eyes' banner. Key words and phrases, operational habits, attire, and more are all there to show symbolically how Jack is the stand-in for Red Eyes in this story. The question I need to answer is "What aspect of Red Eyes does Jack represent most?", and you will have to wait for that answer also.

That about does it here. Leave questions below and I'll get to them as I can. Next week will be something different.

Making the Setting: The Villains of the Piece (Part Three)

When setting up a meta-narrative, there's care that needs to be done upfront well before a reader sees your first release. The mastermind's chief lieutenants must, at first look, appear to be wholly independent and autonomous actors pursuing their own agenda of villainy. Only those taking a galactic perspective at how these schemes' effects interact, and at first that's not your reader; for all intents and purposes, those first few releases are stand-alone works with--at most--themes and motifs shared across them.

Your mastermind sorts aren't that varied. They split between Threat Without and Threat Within, or Warlord vs. Courtier. The rest is all shading on those differences, accounting for specifics of individual villain and their environment, and the better ones can mask one as the other as necessity dictates.

So let's talk masterminds.

Our first Warlord is a charismatic Genghis Khan type, originally from one of the barbarian worlds outside civilized space. He's a giant of a man, and may well be a Nephalim descendent: Red Eyes the Pirate King. He leads a star-faring horde that preys upon civilian shipping throughout the rimward arm of the galactic west, including brazen raids and invasions of worlds believed too tough for such a man to crack. His brilliance comes from his deceptive demeanor, hiding a keen intellect capable of warfighting on a scope and scale that many think to be only for a formal navy.

The catch is that he does run a formal navy. It's not one that civilized space recognizes, but it is formal nonetheless. Most of the core crew comes from Red Eyes' homeworld and related colonies, where severe population pressures push the majority of young men into a berth on a ship in Red's fleet. They seek wealth and women, as they are denied both at home; rampant polygyny means that high-status men take most of the desirable womenfolk for themselves.

Red's reason to bend the knee to his mysterious master, a terrifying figure he knows only as "The Master", is due to the promise by The Master to swing wide the gates into civilized space and allow him and his men all the wealth and women they can carry off- and let them lay waste to all that resist their will.

Our first Courtier is a struggling idealist, leader of a reform movement within the Court of Stars that calls itself "The Speakers for the Obliged" and style themselves advocates for the common man throughout the galaxy. He is young, popular, and charismatic- but as the younger son of a Baron, Lord Gallford has no serious political capital and no prospects for gaining so legitimately.

He bent the knee due to promises of reform of the galactic structure to better ensure that the nobility acts in service to the commonfolk on their lands, and his master now poisons him towards greater acts of covert defiance using honeyed words well-curated to distort the lord's perception of history. "1917 was not a mistake, but a warning" is now a catchprhase of his- as is his increasing willingness to use disposable minions in deniable ways to remove opposition.

You can see how important the key villains are even if they don't appear front-and-center in the narrative at-hand. Their presence will be felt, and must be felt to have the desired effect upon the reader. But villains need henchmen and minions, and more on that next week.