The Fight for Princess Jedah Siroth of Melihum

The servant to the Prince of Dozanga gasped, his eyes wide in surprise at the dagger between his ribs. Princess Jedah Siroth of Melihum let her hand slip from the dagger's handle in the same moment that his hands reflexively clutched at the weapon. She placed both palms against her kidnapper's side and shoved him over the edge of the small flier. As his screams faded beneath the swift craft, Jedah knelt behind the windscreen and struggled with the flight controls. They wouldn't budge. The key to the locking mechanism had plummeted to the ground with the Dozangan. She remained a prisoner of the speeding vessel.

When dawn broke, so did the flier's buoyancy tanks. Jedah awakened to the detonation of the explosive bullets ripping open the tanks of the mysterious substance which allowed the craft to defy the planet's gravity. Another shot sent the propeller spinning away from the flier in a dozen jagged fragments. Her prison plunged, only the smallest cache of the buoyancy substance trapped in the remnants of the damaged tanks preventing a fatal free fall.

The green Zarhoon warriors knew their business, and seldom missed even at long range with their long rifles. The three scouts returned the rifles to the scabbards and drove the cantankerous beasts they rode toward the ruins of a small city where they predicted that the damaged flier would meet the ground.

Jedah clung to the falling wreckage. The moribund machine scraped the tops of the only stand of trees within sight. The branches hooked the ragged edges of one of the tanks, slowing the vessel's descent, but sending it spinning rapidly as it went to ground. The craft crashed, the thin metal crumpling in the collision upon the sparse, yellow, moss-like grass which disguised the unyielding surface. Jedah slammed into the control panel before bouncing from the craft and tumbling away from the flier like a rag doll in a gust of wind.

The princess awoke with no idea how long she had been unconscious. She rose to her hands and knees. Pain raced up her left arm and it buckled. She knew it was broken. She held the damaged limb against her body with the good arm. She ignored the blood streaming down the left side of her head and rose to her feet. Her legs wobbled, but held her upright. Through the throbbing pain that seemed to dim the sight in her left eye, she made out three riders approaching. Green men! She stumbled away toward the nearby ruins. As she entered the hollow remains of the destroyed and deserted city, she felt her awareness slipping toward shadow. She stagger among buildings until an arched doorway opened before her. Her balance failing, she pitched through the entrance to collapse behind a pile of debris.

"There, Nantos Nan!" Dav Ravos called out to the lieutenant, or Dapwar, of the formation--what was left of the formation, a mere four men, Nantos Nan, Dav Ravos, Han Hadron, and Mardos Tors.

"I saw a woman fly from the wreckage. She ran into the city, but her gait is unsteady. She is hurt," Mardos Tors observed. "Green men on their mounts. They chase her."

"I see them," Nantos Nan said. He ordered, "Into the ruins! We've got to find her before the Zarhoons take her. I recognized our princess. It is Princess Jedah Siroth of Melihum"

Two of the green men ran into the ruins. The third took the mounts to secure them. Vak Voka, the leader of the scouts, sprang forward and into the first doorway he saw. Meanwhile, Bak Badja. dashed to his right toward another doorway.

Han Tadron ran straight into the ruins and up a bridge near the center. Atop the bridge he saw Bak Badja searching an entryway. Mardos Tors fired his pistol at the four-armed man, scoring a hit against the green hide. Bak Badja dove through the doorway for cover.

Vak Voka quickly looked through the room, grabbing a small jar of unguent, before passing through an adjoining opening. When he lifted a suspiciously raised plank, a section of the floor gave way, dropping him twenty feet below to the ancient pits beneath the city.

Mardos Tors broke to the right to enter a building before which a patch of moss-like grass and scrub brush had grown. Nantos Nan broke to his left while Dav Ravos sped toward the doorway into which Bak Badja had disappeared.

Dav Ravos found the wounded Zarhoon sprawled just inside the doorway. Bak Badja raised one of his blades, but the man of Melihum batted it away and plunged his sword into the Zarhoon's chest. Bak Badja slipped into oblivion.

Bav Bavja, having secured the mounts, rushed into the ruins. He spotted Han Tadron upn the bridge and engaged the red man. Han Tanron could not stop the Zarhoon's whirling blades. One of the green man's swords laid open his thigh, but the red man refused to retreat, merely giving ground before his large opponent. Duty to his princess compelled him to remain in the fight.

Nantos Nan found the Princess! He lifted her unconscious form and placed her over one shoulder.

Dav Ravos heard the clang of swords upon the bridge and sprinted up the bridge behind Han Tadron's attacker. Before he could reach the enemy, the bridge ran red with the blood of his comrade, and Han Tadron's head rolled down the slope of the bridge.

Vak Voka powered his way up the side of the ancient pit to stand within the ruined walls once again. 

Mardos Tors saw the green warrior rise and aimed his pistol, across the scrub brush and through the section of collapsed wall, at the Zarhoon. Mardos Tors squeezed the trigger. A wound exploded on a lower shoulder and Vak Voka ducked for cover. Mardos Tors redirected his fire to Bav Bavja upon the bridge. The Zarhoon's chest erupted in a spray of flesh, fluid, and bone. Bav Bavja's body crumpled over the bridge rail to drop in a heap upon the stones below.

Dav Ravos leaped over the side of the bridge to confront the wounded Zarhoon leader, but the green man jumped to his feet, hardly hindered at all by his wound.

Dav Ravos lunged and drove back the Zarhoon. Vak Voka brought his two blades around, threatening the red man from above, below, and from both sides, driving Dav Ravos back to the doorway. Dav Ravos slipped in the Zarhoon's bodily fluid staining the floor. The green man spotted his opportunity and drove both blades into the red man, pressing him into the dirt. (Both shots, above and below, as seen from beneath the bridge).

Meanwhile, Nantos Nad has steadily progressed in carrying the princess from the ruins. He was almost safety when he tripped upon the wrap hanging from the princess' costume. The poor woman fell from his grasp as he hit the hard surface. 

Vak Voka sprang over the bleeding Dav Ravos, and loped to the fallen Nantos Nan. He pulled up next to the red man and the princess. He considered only for a moment whether to raise the limp form of the princess or to slay the disadvantaged red man first. Opting for the latter, Vak Voka swung a blade down in a deadly arc at the red man's head. Nantos Nan rolled and parried, sprining to his feet to surprise the green man. The two antagonists clashed beside the inert body of the princess. Vak Voka overpowered the red Dapwar, knocking him to the ground. 

As Vak Voka raised his blades for the killing stroke, Mardos Tors hurled himself at the green mountain of flesh, driving a sword through one set of ribs. The red man turned the Zarhoon, spinning him away from Nantos Nan and the princess, placing himself between the green man and his princess.

Vak Voka pressed forward to drive the red man back, but the smaller man refused to give way, and Vak Voka stumbled, falling in frustration. Mardos Tors could not pierce the net of steel woven by the Zarhoon's twin blades, and the green man regained his footing, wounding Mardos Tors as he did so. Nanton Nan, also on his feet again, plunged into the fray, only to be pushed away by the Zarhoon. 

Nantos Nan saw that Mardos Tors' doom was upon him, and turned to scoop the beautiful Princess Jedah into his arms. As he raised her, Vak Voka swords penetrated Mardos Tors' defenses, and the red man's torso as well. Nantos realized that this was his one chance to escape and preserve the princess, and exited to safety as Mardos Tors' body slid from the bloody blades of Vak Voka. 

Fun Facts: The Boston Massacre happened March 5, 1770. The British had sent more than 2,000 (some sources say 4,000) soldiers to occupy the city to enforce the various tax laws. Clashes between soldiers and colonists became more common as the latter's protests against British taxes often included vandalism against the stores of merchants selling British goods. When colonists attacked a loyalist's store in February, a customs officer living near the store fired on the crowd, killing an 11 year-old boy. On March 5, 1770, Private White was the lone soldier on guard outside a customs house on King Street. Angry colonists threatened him. He fought back with his bayonet. The colonists responded with snowballs, ice, and stones. In desperation, White called for reinforcements. Capt. Preston arrived with more soldiers. The situation escalated as the colonists struck the soldiers with clubs. Someone may have shouted, "Fire!" A soldier fired his musket. Others fired, killing five colonists and wounding six. The soldiers were soon arrested. Paul Revere produced a propaganda etching showing the soldiers starting the massacre.

John Adams represented the defendants and persuaded the judge to call a jury without any citizens of Boston in its composition. Preston and the soldiers were found not guilty of murder. Two soldiers were found guilty of manslaughter and had their thumbs branded.

Of course, things went downhill in Boston from there. I'll save for another day a recitation of additional facts contributing to the outbreak of the Revolutionary War. Revolutionary Boston of 1775 is the rude eye of revolution which my characters must thread--or pass through--in the first book of my Tomahawks and Dragon Fire trilogy: Threading the Rude Eye. I am literally figuratively beside myself with excitement and anticipation as I near the conclusion of the third book, Clamorous Harbingers. The word count has marched close enough to see the whites of the eyes of 110K. I hope to finish with the climactic battle this week and wrap up the book and first trilogy at around 120K words. (I may be overly optimistic in my expectation to finish this week). In the second book, Power to Hurt, the adventure takes most of the characters out of the settlements and into the wilderness controlled by Indians, gryphons, and dragons. The characters re-encounter old enemies, and meet new terrors in Clamorous Harbingers.

***

As you may know, the 4th season of Last Kingdom is out. I've watched via vidangel the first three episodes over the last couple weeks. I'm disappointed. Alfred died at the end of the third season, and his heir Edward has proved to be easily manipulated by his father-in-law. As for Uhtred, he has a son whose whiny and annoying characteristics are entirely overdone. The first two episodes of season four set up the beginning of episode three--which unfolded exactly as even the dullest of wits (including me) predicted. The rest of episode three suffers from an abundance of long, slow shots, prolonged (and not well done) mourning, and discussion with all the edge of my pre-sharpened mower blade. I'm confident that it will get better. I hated the beginning and first few episodes of season three--but Alfred's impending death and the potential turmoil which threatened to follow rekindled my interest. I would have been happier if the witch been left out of the third season entirely--hated that character and everything she did to that season. Maybe that's why I never commented on the show last season. Here's hoping for better episodes to come.

***

I've long entertained the idea that Edgar Rice Burrough's The Red Hawk, book 3 of the trilogy that began with The Moon Maid, was the inspiration for the Star Trek episode "The Omega Glory." In THR, the titular hero leads his people, who have lived like the Americans Indians for generations, to recover the last of their land (in California) taken by the Kalkars, the invaders from the moon. In TOG,  the Yangs recover the last stronghold held by the Comms (or Kohms). The Yangs carry Old Glory and have the Pledge of Allegiance and The Constitution of the United States. I like both of these. TOG is routinely denigrated as "cheesy" for the battle-scarred Star Spangled Banner which makes it's entrance near the end of the episode.

As for me, it's my favorite episode. Morgan Woodward (in one of his two outstanding appearances on the series) nails the bad guy role of the Starfleet Captain Ron Tracey. He is my favorite villain of the series, and is one of Kirk's most formidable foes in the circumstances of the episode. Also, you won't find anything like this in any other episode:

As for TRH, it's not Burrough's best, but it is exciting and the ending features some unanticipated aspects -- a reconciliation and joining of forces after an enmity that has spanned several generations. The real fight is against the Kalkars, rather than with the humans whom they have manipulated and enslaved. As I mentioned in my discussion of The Moon Men, the Kalkars are stand-ins for the Soviets. I guess ERB was saying that while there can by no reconciliation with communism, there can be a reconciliation between peoples.

 It began when the princess fled from her father's wrath by taking her flier and leaving the city before dawn. At dawn, as she slept on the floating craft, a party of Zarhoons shot down the flier. Warriors returning to the city on foot saw the flier and recognized the princess' personal insignia before it went down. The princess was injured in the crash but managed to hide herself within the ruins before she passed out from her injuries. The warriors and the Zarhoons search the city for the princess.

This was the Wreck at the Ruins scenario for play testing my new skirmish rules in a Barsoomian setting. Of course, it went fabulously. The miniatures are from Bronze Age Miniatures:

 At one point while searching the city, one of the Zarhoons was set upon by a massive pale simian.

 While his partner tangled with the pale simian, the other Zarhoon found the unconscious princess but could not get away with her before being set upon by her loyal warriors. This multi-armed Zarhoon, Bak Badja, received a wound or two and fled from his multiple attackers. Meanwhile, his companion, Vak Voka, disengaged from the pale simian and rushed to attempt to take the princess from the warrior who was carrying her to safety. Just when it appeared that the warrior would escape with the girl, he fell, dropping his precious cargo. Another warrior, Han Tadron, moved to intercept and engage Vak Voka. His head rolled freely upon the street and his eyes watched his decapitated body drop in a blood-spurting heap. Nantos Nan who had been carrying the princess rose to his feet but before he could once again take up his burden, Vak Voka and the simian react first. The simian charged the warrior Dav Ravo, taking the warriors focus from the Zarhoon. Vak Voka engaged Nantos Nan who stood defiantly between him and the helpless princess. The Zarhoon failed to wound the warrior but did knock him to the ground beside the princess.

Tense change, because it provides a more "you are there" feeling--or because I'm lazy and didn't want to change it.
Another warrior, Mardos Tors, wants to assist Dav Ravo against the simian but duty calls him to protect his princess. He charges the Zarhoon, wounding and knocking him down with his ferocious onslaught. Vak Voka's morale holds. Mardos Tors attacks again. Although wounded, Knocked Down, and facing multiple opponents, Vak Voka cuts Mardos Tors in two and rises victorious above bloody corpse.

Dav Ravos hears the urgent calls of Nantos Nan but the simian has seized him and he can't escape. The monster lifts Dav Ravos above his head and hurls the warrior. Dav Ravos miraculously lands on his feet, escaping injury.

  VV has the initiative. (Pictured above) - He is wounded. At his feet NN and the princess are on one side and DR is approaching from the other side. On his first activation attempt VV gets doubles, so therefore gets an extra action. With two actions to use, he elects to attack NN. NN is forced to use his Deflection Skill and his last Heroic Point to avoid a wound. VV chooses to ignore the maneuver opportunity and remain in contact; he attacks again with his bonus action. NN barely avoids a serious wound, taking a simple wound instead. NN panics and attempts to flee, giving VV a chance at a Parting Gift, which he takes, his second blade scoring another wound on the frantic man--and requiring him to take another Morale Check. The twice-wounded warrior runs for his life, leaving the helpless princess at the feet of the Zarhoon. VV uses his next action to pick up the princess. He cannot avoid DR so he moves into contact with the warrior and the initiative passes. DR activates and attacks VV. VV elects to keep hold of the princess, so will not benefit from his Two-Weapons Skill, but will not otherwise be hindered by her. He is, however troubled by his wound. DR delivers a serious wound to the captor of his princess and Knocks Down the Zarhoon. VV struggles to rise, dropping the princess and allowing DR a free attack which he blocks. VV is on his feet but no longer has the princess. DR uses his third activation to attack again. DR rolls a Stunning Success, killing the Zarhoon.

Were it not for the pale simian, Dav Ravos could escape with the princess. He is forced to drop the princess when the simian leaps, seizing him once more. After a terrible struggle, the simian flings Dav Ravos once again. The warrior is seriously injured and rendered hors de combat. No one remains to protect the princess from the simian.

After modifying the scenario specifics to boost the warriors' morale while fighting to recover and protect the princess, and playing again, the warriors did save the princess. She randomly turned up in the same location as the first time and the pale simian did not appear for the second go-round.

On the third play with more emphasis on shooting, and in which both the simian and the trap to the pits figured significantly, the Zarhoons stole the victory (and the princess) over the dead bodies of the warriors. Although he found the princess, Han Tadron could not escape from the building in which she had hidden. First the simian (see above)--which soaked up a mountain of damage before finally taking a fatal wound--blocked his way and added to the wounds to Dav Ravos and Mardos Tors.

Then Bak Badja engaged Han Tadron, the last surviving warrior, in a lengthy duel. Using his Wounded Warrior Skill, HT succeeded in wounding and knocking down his bigger opponent, but after taking another wound he couldn't hang on against the four-armed attacker. HT went down fighting for the princess.

This scenario was a great test of my skirmish rules. I did create some special scenario details to account for the four-armed Zarhoons and the simian. In addition to giving the Zarhoons the special Two Weapon Skill, I gave them a bonus action anytime they rolled doubles on an activation attempt. The simian had a similar benefit. The simian also only used the grapple maneuver option so those rules got a work out -- the grappling details are the only thing that I'm considering revising; they worked, but not as smoothly as I had hoped.

This is definitely my favorite rules set.

I may have to run a scenario from my Tomahawks and Dragon Fire series to see how the magic provisions play.

Before the cavalcade of other items which may or may not be included in today's post, let me address  ERB's The Moon Men. 

On second thought, this will be first (except for what I said above which actually came first but referred to something which will not in fact be first, except for the mentioning thereof, which was in fact first). I must say that the novel writing went exceedingly well this week. I passed the 50K word mark. More importantly, two epiphanistic* breakthroughs combined to remind me why I love writing (and the 150 copies of the books that sold this week didn't hurt either). As you may remember from last week (or not), the antagonist was locked in combat with one of the good guys. I had left the combat unresolved on a cliff hanger and moved on to the next chapter. Some things had to happen in that combat to make it serve a higher purpose. I hadn't put those things together in my mind until on my way to the shower I fell, striking my head on the toilet and had a vision of the flux capacitor had a striking idea--but not of the Psycho shower striking sort. The resolution perfectly achieved the purposes that I had for the combat and also helped me with some issues that I had puzzled about for an important moment near the conclusion of the book. Also, another string that I had not foreseen suddenly unraveled before me--and by "suddenly" I mean over the course of a few days after I had written the conclusion to the combat and had written a few other scenes; it's a very subjective suddenly. It was awesome! Truly, I was feckful in my writing this week.

*Epiphanistic may not be a word but I like the sound of it and my poetic license is still valid in all 50 states, most of Europe, Australia, New Zealand, parts of Asia, and many Pacific island nations.

Back to the promised review:

As for the matter of the cover: It bears the title of The Moon Men but the cover actually contains the second two books of the trilogy made up of The Moon Maid, The Moon Men and The Red Hawk. The scene depicted is from the third book. My review is only of the second book but I can say that the antagonist pictured is much larger than described in the book, and I don't believe the girl in the story wore such an outfit.

How did I come to review this book? You may wonder--probably not but I'll explain it anyway. It was New Year's Eve. I was exhausted and went to bed late, as is the custom. After falling asleep twice and being roused from that sleep as many times, I could not recapture the muse of restful dreams. I contemplated my volumes of forgotten lore and stumbled upon this one behind my bookshelf door. So this was the first book that I began for the new year (although I had a few others already in progress from 2018). For some reason this slender tome beckoned to my sleep deprived mind. I had read it a couple times before and thought to read it again perhaps never more. So it began; it became my breakfast reader. I finished a couple days ago.

The book has many classic ERB elements but it is set in a dystopian future--it's Burroughs' version of 1984 meets Braveheart. It appeared as a serial in 1925. The earth has been conquered by the Kalkars of the moon led by Orthis. The Americans live as a conquered people taxed more than they can bear, virtual slaves to the uncouth tyrants. The Kalkars represent the communists--the nation is divided into districts each of which is called (and presided over by) a Teivos (Soviet spelled backwards). The hero, Julian 9th, with the American flag held aloft finally leads a rebellion against the Kalkars. The hero could be John Carter or Tarzan but without the charm. The story isn't so much about the hero as it is about the state of the conquered and the conditions under which they live. As per the usual ERB formula, Julian rescues the woman that all other men, especially the Kalkars and the degenerate humans who seek their favor, covet. Naturally, they fall in love and then the ending does not climax with the destruction of their enemies and living happily ever after. Fortunately, ERB has another book in the series to correct this disappointing ending.

The setting and the warning are the real story in this book. A quote from Burroughs' voice of warning:

That is their politics; that is their religion. Hate. but the world is all hate--hate and misery.

...[T]he people didn't know when they were well off. They came from all other parts of the world to share our happiness and when they had won it they sought to overthrow it, and when the Kalkars came they helped them.

On the movie front--because the war must be waged on all fronts--I watched Wyvern. I know what you're thinking: Wyvern and surely you weren't in Milwaukee, were you? (Read those first three words of that sentence out loud, varying your pronunciation until you get the joke).

All I have to say about this movie is that I didn't hate it. I did have low expectations but I entertained high hopes. My expectations were exceeded though my hopes were left unfulfilled. I guess that isn't all that I have to say. I'll say more. The movie had some interesting characters. I would have liked to have got to know more about some of them before they checked into the flying gastro-intestinal hotel. The ending kind of killed the show for me. The hero planned the last encounter that would destroy the wyvern but the plan, it seemed to me, utterly failed to account for the fact that the beast was of the variety volant. The plan would never have worked but for an unforeseeable problem that the creature developed so that it couldn't fly away when the the metaphorical hammer came down.

Other observations:

Uhtred is D'Artagnan. I finished my vidangel view of the 3rd season of Last Kingdom.

And I forgot the other pithy comment--but it was good, really good.