Jack of Harts

Hello, my name is Jack. This is my story.
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Jack of Harts

Featured Post
by Medron Pryde on January 19, 2024 at 12:02 am
Posted In: Diaries

We found hyperspace in 2105 and the Great Space Race began. Alliances, nations, corporations, and religions reached out for the stars and humanity spread beyond the Solar System. We learned the answer to one of the oldest questions of all time in 2205. Are we alone? They brought medicines with them that nearly wiped out diseases, and extended the human lifespan into the centuries. They helped us study advanced technologies, and we expanded our colonies hundreds of lightyears from Earth. It was a golden age that many thought would never end.

Jack grew up in a world at peace, his only interests, partying and girls. But then an alien sneak attack killed millions of Americans, and wiped out almost everything and everybody Jack knew. He volunteered to serve and kick the alien scum back to the other side of the galaxy. But the Marines wanted more than people looking for revenge, and cybernetic partners demanded a far higher commitment. If Jack wanted to earn his commission as a Marine Corps fighter pilot, he had to grow up. He had to let himself be forged into something stronger than he’d ever wanted to be. He had to live up to the name of his squadron.

The Republic of Texas Marine Corps Fighter Attack Squadron 112. The Cowboys.

 Comment 

Self Defense

by Medron Pryde on June 5, 2026 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

I recently learned that self defense is not a valid reason to do a thing in Great Britain. If in fact you do anything for the reason of self defense, you are considered to be an aggressor in any conflict that occurs. Legally. The legal recourse for a subject of the British crown is to, as the old parody goes, “Run away!” from any conflict. I used to think that was supreme comedy. A real life parody. That appears to be actual law in Britain if I have been told correctly.

The recent boy who was murdered did exactly what he was supposed to do under British law. He ran away from the man stabbing him. And in an ideal world, that would have been an end to the conflict. But the man who wished to kill him chased him down and kept stabbing him. And then his family came and did not seek to save the boy’s life. The stabber’s father picked the boy up by this throat and held him against the fence. His mother took the murder weapon home and cleaned it. His brother told him to say it was self defense.

And when the British police came, they listened to the murderer’s claims that the boy had attacked him with racist language. And when the boy asked for help, saying he had been stabbed, the police said “we don’t think you have, mate” and arrested and handcuffed the boy and dragged the boy around until he lost consciousness and later died. An ambulance was not called in to save his life. He was stabbed, chased down and stabbed again, and he was assaulted by the stabber’s family, and he was handcuffed and dragged around by the police when he asked for help from the police.

Every single person who came into contact with that boy in the last minutes of his life did contributed with their material actions to his murder and they all should be charged accordingly.

But back to the law. British law requires that people “run away!” from conflict. This presupposes the idea that if everyone runs away from conflict, there will be no conflict. And in a civilized world filled with civilized people, this law could actually work. Britain tells its subjects that they must do this. It tells them that preparing for their own self defense is in fact an aggressive action that will send them to prison if they do it.

As an American, I find this idea to be somewhere between ridiculously naive and reprehensible. We recognized centuries ago that there are monsters. There are people who wish to kill us. That it is our duty to provide for own self defense. And our own rights to self defense are enshrined in our laws. In any court in the land, a man who kills another can be declared innocent of manslaughter or murder if the jury agrees that it was self defense. There are some exceptions obviously. And if you live in an area controlled by Communists and happen to kill one of their favorite criminals who was trying to kill you, they will try to put you in prison for it. But even there, a good and costly lawyer and a jury that recognizes the facts will set you free. In areas controlled by rational adults, they won’t even detain you. The officers will come over, see that you defended yourself, say “have a nice day,” and take the body away. Now if later evidence suggests that it wasn’t self defense, there will be a change in your circumstances rather quickly.

This is a difference between the American and British cultures that I find very hard to understand. I KNOW in my soul that any right thinking adult would prepare to defend themselves from attack. In a world of monsters, the only way to keep the monsters from attacking you is to be ready to defend yourself from them. In my 50 years of life, I’ve never had to defend myself against a monster. Not physically at least. I have seen monsters. I have talked with them. I have watched them try to start a fight with me. But one is not required to join every fight you are invited to. I have so far been able to avoid every fight a monster has tried to start with me.

I have not avoided those fights by running away. That invites them to attack me while my back is turned. Most monsters are inherently cowardly after all. They attack when they see weakness. I have avoided every fight with a monster in my life because I faced them. Because I have had a weapon within easy reach. Sometimes I’ve been holding a weapon. I have been ready to defend myself against their actions should they choose to attack me. I have never once in my life held a weapon in a threatening manner against a monster. I have never raised a weapon against another human being outside of a sparring or training session. There is a legal term for that called “brandishing” a weapon that is one of the exceptions that can get one in trouble with the law. I don’t do that. But every monsters who has sought to start a conflict with me has recognized that I will not go quietly into the night without a fight. And so they have walked away from me as they go in search of easier victims. Like the 60 year old man or woman they can stab in the back or throw down the stairs or toss in front of a moving train. Or stab as they are running away like the most recent monster in Britain did to that boy. I have called the police on such monsters when I can, but as the old saying goes, when seconds matter, the police are minutes away. Still, in my town, the police actually do something about monsters.

I fear for the people who live in places like Britain or large Communist-controlled cities where the right of the people to defend themselves is not recognized when they are hunted by the kind of monsters the politicians import and make certain are free to walk in the streets to terrorize their populations. I hope the people can find a way to change their politicians. To defend their civilization. But I’m very much afraid we live in a prequel to “Escape From New York” and it will soon become a reflection of the reality we all live in. And I’m very much afraid that Britain is a preview of things to come.

 Comment 

BattleTech Alpha Strike Demo

by Medron Pryde on June 4, 2026 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

I will be running a BattleTech Alpha Strike Demo on Friday at 5PM at the local Gamez & More in Rochester, Minnesota at Northern Lights Business Park on North Broadway.

If you want to come by and check it out, Friday will be a good day to do it. Hope to see you there if you want to come.

 Comment 

The Rainbow

by Medron Pryde on June 3, 2026 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

“I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.” Genesis 9:13

Never forget that the rainbow is the sign of God’s covenant with us that there will never again be a flood that destroys the earth and all who live upon her. It is God’s promise, God’s rainbow. Never forget.

 Comment 

House of Sand edit

by Medron Pryde on June 2, 2026 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

I got House of Sand edits back, after some quick messages back and forth, I did a fairly major edit to see if the editor would like that version. I had a feeling that I had too many characters in it, and the editor agreed. So I tried completely removing one character. The end result was I think I better story.

It goes to show that no matter how much you love a character and want to show them off, you have a story to tell. Anything that does not further the story must be sacrificed if you want the story to be as good as possible. We will see what the editor thinks of the new version. I look forward to seeing the final result in print, whichever way the editor goes.

 Comment 

Writing Progress

by Medron Pryde on June 1, 2026 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

I submitted two stories this weekend, started work on a third, and have gone over edits to an earlier story that is approaching publication.

House of Sand is the story I went over edits on. I’m particularly fond of this story, as it takes place in a place I’ve never written in before. The desert. Which of course means completely new enemies to face. And taking place in 1917, it will be only the second Captain William Carter story placed in the 20th century that will be published. And that means he’s carrying modern firearms. πŸ˜‰

The two stories I submitted are “One Night in No Man’s Land” from the 1870s and “The Battle of Cypress Swamp” from 1815. “One Night in No Man’s Land” is the first Wyrd West story I ever wrote, and has been through a number of drafts over the years. I’m hoping this draft will be good enough to get picked by a publisher. We all love our first born, and I do hope others do as well. “The Battle of Cypress Swamp” was born of a song. Johnny Horton’s “The Battle of New Orleans.” There’s a line in there talking about taking an alligator and going another round. That ridiculously whimsical line has lived rent-free in my brain for decades, and when Raconteur asked for odd little wars in their Wyrd War 3 open call, I realized I wanted to tell that story. Or at least a story that could have been twisted into that song decades later. It was a lot of fun to write and tickled both my serious and my funny bones in a good way.

And the story I’m working on right now is a Jack of Harts story. I’m taking an old story I wrote for Raconteur long ago and just rewriting it. Taking the original placement scene that I love and going in an entirely different direction. This is one is going to be a pure dogfight story, with Captain Jack doing his thing with starfighters and bringing the bad guys down in a hail of gravitics… oh… wait… most of the battle will be taking place inside a planetary atmosphere, and using gravitics inside a planetary ecosystem is a Bad Idea. So… no gravitics. That will be fine… right? πŸ˜‰

I hope you will get to see all of these stories soon.

 Comment 
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2304 - Forge of War

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2307 - Angel Flight

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2307 - Angel Strike

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2307 - Angel War

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2309 - Wolfenheim Rising

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2309 - Wolfenheim Emergent

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