{"id":11386,"date":"2026-04-08T10:00:44","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T09:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/?p=11386"},"modified":"2026-04-06T20:28:48","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T19:28:48","slug":"the-labyrinths-of-mars-coming-to-salute-53","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/2026\/04\/08\/the-labyrinths-of-mars-coming-to-salute-53\/","title":{"rendered":"The Labyrinths of Mars coming to Salute 53"},"content":{"rendered":"
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There are only 4 days to go before the big wargaming show Salute 53<\/a> this Saturday 11th April.
\nThe society will be there with this years show game ‘The Labyrinths of Mars<\/strong>‘, we are at stand GD10 so if you are at the show come and have a game.<\/p>\n

To set the scene the games creator Marcus will tell you a tale …<\/p>\n

The airboat glided low over the shimmering fringes of the Toonolian Marshes, the whirring propellers thrusting the craft forward, slicing through mist that shimmered with a faint bioluminescence. The turgid waters\u2014a foetid and heady brew of rot and decomposition breathed below. A vast, swampy expanse where the air itself seemed heavy with memories much older than Barsoomian civilization older than Helium.
\nAhead rose the blackened silhouette of the stronghold of the mastermind of Mars, Ras Thavas. Or what remained of it.<\/p>\n

Sections of the high perimeter walls had collapsed outward, as though struck not by outside force but by violent upheaval from within. Stone lay in jagged heaps among half melted metal structures. While a handful of towers remained standing, even these were badly damaged The ugly scent of the marshes diminished as the air filled with the smells of scorched alloy and bitter chemicals.<\/p>\n

Kael Torm stood behind Paxia on the flier\u2019s narrow deck, one gauntleted hand gripping the rail. A mechanical left eye, secured from Ras Thavas himself many years previously by Paxia\u2019s father, clicked faintly. It adjusted focus, scanning the silent ruin. \u201cLady Paxia,\u201d he murmured, \u201cthe walls were not breached. They were shattered by an outward blast.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paxia nodded once, guiding the craft forward. \u201cThere were many scientific marvels in that place. Things unimagined by most. Just like your own eye Kael. We should be cautious.\u201d Kael said nothing. He trusted her insight more than his own instincts.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

They were just around the height of the walls, passing between their jagged remnants, when it happened. A sensation, a subtle shudder, passed through the hull. The airboat did not lurch or buck. Instead, the resonance of the engine slid out of harmony. Paxia felt it in her fingers before she heard it\u2014a shift in weight, a quiet correction not her own.<\/p>\n

Kael stiffened. \u201cSomething from the past just woke up.\u201d
\nA thread of pale blue light drifted upward from the ruins below. Or did it actually appear to flow back from the craft, drawn down like an insect to some stimuli. It did not strike like a weapon. It caressed the hull, spreading in delicate geometric patterns\u2014flickering filaments that appeared only for a moment before dissolving, as if ashamed to linger.
\nThe airboat slowed.
\nThe controls deadened beneath Paxia\u2019s hands. Not dead.
\nDirected.
\n\u201cNot something built today,\u201d she paused. \u201cNot even by the Mastermind himself.\u201d
\nKael nodded grimly. \u201cIf Ras Thavas had discovered it, he would have studied it, controlled it and used it, not left it slumbering.\u201d
\nThe descent, understood or not, was deliberate\u2014almost courteous. The craft spiralled downward in a slow arc. Paxia glanced another flier for an instant. \u201cWe are not the first to investigate the beacon.\u201d She pointed an abandoned vessel out to Kael as their craft landed in the inner courtyard with such precision that it could have been guided by a careful pilot.
\nThe pale light vanished as if nothing had occurred.
\nKael scanned quickly. \u201cNo structural damage. No heat deformation, but it drained the power.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Paxia dismounted, staring at a faint etching now marking the flier\u2019s underside. \u201cSomeone told the system to bring us here. And not just us.\u201d
\n\u201cAnd that someone?\u201d Kael asked.
\n\u201cLet us find out.\u201d
\nShe did not say what both now suspected\u2014a relic system of Thern origin and unknown antiquity.<\/p>\n

They approached the broken entrance leading beneath the stronghold. The carved archway had bowed inward, its supports cracked but still standing, as though the building refused to surrender its secret integrity.
\nThe interior passages sloped downward almost immediately. Their was little left above ground except rubble. The air cooled. Shadows deepened into long, uneasy shapes cast by flickering power crystals. Paxia and Kael moved carefully, past glass vats burst like monstrous eggshells and restraints torn from their housings.
\nPaxia crouched beside a burn mark spiralling toward a cracked drain. \u201cDeliberate venting,\u201d she murmured. \u201cSomeone freed these things. Whatever they were.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kael scanned the dark. \u201cIt seems unnaturally quiet.\u201d
\nThey continued downward into a labyrinth crafted from Ras Thavas\u2019 unique combination of science and eccentricity. Corridors twisted in mathematically unsettling patterns, forcing constant reorientation. Paxia touched the wall lightly\u2014an instinct for pattern whispering to her.
\n\u201cWe are being directed,\u201d she said softly.
\nKael frowned. \u201cDriven?\u201d
\n\u201cNo. Welcomed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

They emerged into a vast subterranean gallery.<\/p>\n

Here, the ceiling soared high, supported by angled pylons cracked with strain. Broken control tables lay overturned, cables sprawled like lifeless tendrils. A single shimmer of light flickered across the far wall.<\/p>\n

And there stood a figure. Four grotesque hulking creatures accompanied it. The brutes stood around her in ritual formation, their faces and bodies a pastiche of regular beings. Each held heavy swords and daggers, silent, and alert. She, the figure, and one of striking power and grace, was examining her reflection in a fractured mirror panel while her hands worked some unknown controls.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are punctual,\u201d she said as they approached. Paxia observed the woman and her white skin. \u201cTo what end have you wrought this havoc, Thern?\u201d<\/p>\n

The woman turned. Recognition flared\u2014followed by something more unsettling.<\/p>\n

Curiosity. \u201cYou may address me as High Priestess of Issus. I inherited that title from my Father.\u201d Paxia\u2019s brow furrowed. \u201cPhaiador died falling when she jumped from a flier. I heard that story from John Carter himself\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cA shame he is not here to see this. I had hoped the beacon might bring him. But the daughter of Paxton will suffice.\u201d \u00a0Kael\u2019s sword was held only at the ready, honour-bound until threatened. Pistol resting at his hip. \u201cMy followers found me broken and brought me, barely alive, to Ras Thavas. He healed me. But I am Phaidor, I could not be less. He used synthetic flesh to rescue my body. But it was not\u2026enough. After he met your father, Ras Thavas became interested in travel between worlds, particularly between Barsoom and Jasoom. He was intrigued by those who had travelled like Paxton, Carter and the others.<\/p>\n

\u201cOthers?\u201d Now Paxia was as intrigued as she was shocked by the revelation of Phaidors existence. It explained so much of the Thern resurgence. But other Jasoomians on Barsoom?<\/p>\n

\u201cFew, to be sure, but Thavas tracked them down. I assisted him. I had my own designs. Eventually, he found what I wanted.\u201d Phaiador paused, almost as if she expected Paxia to grasp the meaning immediately. And indeed the enormity of the truth struck Paxia even before the words were pronounced. \u201cThis body.\u201d At that, Phaiador leapt. An outstanding leap. An un-martian leap to a platform above. She laughed and jumped again. Half-way across the cavern! To a platform, onto machinery, and on.<\/p>\n

\u201cRas Thavas\u2019 stronghold is in ruin,\u201d Paxia shouted to her. \u201cWhat happened here?\u201d<\/p>\n

Phaiador tilted her head and paused, knowingly. \u201cI am now truly the High Priestess of Issus! She paused again. \u201cThe Mastermind of Mars overreached himself. He believed knowledge could be held in chains. His chains. His power. I removed those chains. And I took the power.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Paxia had almost forgotten about the creatures. It was clear now what they were, although she had only heard the stories. Synthetic men. Kael had not forgotten. One shifted subtly\u2014its smallest motion enough to draw Kael\u2019s attention.<\/p>\n

Phaiador smiled.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd now, Paxia of Helium, I\u2019ll pose you a test\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

The blade was in her hand before Paxia saw her draw it, and she was in the air before Paxia knew what was happening.<\/p>\n

The leading creature lunged toward Paxia but she had moved a moment earlier.<\/p>\n

Kael however acted the instantly.<\/p>\n

His rapier blurred and the creatures, acolytes of the Priestesss, who had been encroaching stealthily backed off as that first fell. \u201cNo, she is mine!\u201d cried Phaiador as she landed, graceful and powerful as a banth before Paxia, slashing at her. Paxia drew both swords in a single fluid motion as the chamber erupted into chaos. Instinct honed by training with the Warlord of Mars himself drove her to respond without thought. But, the impact of the blade on hers, when it came, was terrible. Stunned, Paxia staggered back. Phaiador\u2019s strength was immense. \u201cThis body was a warrior on Jassoom too. Something known as a Viking. I like the sound of that name. High Priestess Phiador, Viking Queen of Mars!\u201d She bounded forward again, madness in her eyes. Paxia sprang aside, gasping at the speed of Phaiador\u2019s attack. She felt the blade scythe past her cheek.<\/p>\n

Kael charged into the midst of the followers wielding his sword in a flashing arc, slicing the nearest creature deeply as he stepped to guard Phaiadors flank.<\/p>\n

The remaining bodyguards advanced recklessly, also shifting to shield Phaiador. Now, as fast as she had been the aggressor, she withdrew with a bound toward a descending corridor which appeared even older than the rest of the stronghold.<\/p>\n

And now Paxia noticed the creatures stirring in the side passages\u2014shadows with too many limbs, the half\u2011made and the newly awakened drawn by sound and movement. They did not attack; they followed Phaiadors direction like congregants following a priest. More synthetic monsters. Like gruesome dolls thrown haphazardly together with no account for form, function or proportion.<\/p>\n

Phaiador, leaping back among them paused at the threshold of the deeper passages of the labyrinth.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou were brought here for a purpose, Paxia,\u201d she cried. \u201cHelium and her allies believe in destiny. Let us see how much of that belief survives what is coming.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her eyes glinted\u2014not with madness this time but with terrible clarity.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou will follow. You must. The Labyrinth beckons.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then she vanished into the ancient dark as Paxia and Kael ran toward her and the followers. \u201cWhat of Ras Thavas?\u201d Paxia shouted after her. Phaiadors voice could just be made out, \u201cHe awaits you\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

And the corridor sealed itself with a double rumble of some carefully planted explosives, narrowly missing Paxia and Kael, cutting off immediate pursuit.<\/p>\n

Kael exhaled slowly. \u201cSomething has driven her from sanity. Could it be the synthetic flesh? Is that why those creatures did her bidding?\u201d<\/p>\n

Paxia sheathed one sword, keeping the other ready. \u201cThe synthetic flesh, the trauma of her injury. Her hatred of the red race\u2026 But she wants us alive. She wants us down here. Or down there. Otherwise she would have continued her assault.\u201d She paused, \u201cI could barely hold her off for all my training.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kael nodded. \u201cYou did well, whatever you think Paxia. That was no ordinary test of your skills and you know it.\u201d \u201cWhat did she mean, the Labyrinths beckon?\u201d<\/p>\n

Paxia stared at the boulders covering the passage Phaiador had taken.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause of whatever lies down there,\u201d she whispered, \u201c\u2026she has some foul scheme in mind. That has not been changed by her new body. She is drunk with hatred\u2026and ambition. We must thwart her scheme\u201d<\/p>\n

Above them, the marsh mists thickened.<\/p>\n

Below them, the old machinery still hummed faintly, as though remembering its original purpose.<\/p>\n

The descent had only begun.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are only 4 days to go before the big wargaming show Salute 53 this Saturday 11th April. The society will be there with this years show game ‘The Labyrinths of Mars‘, we are at stand GD10 so if you are at the show come and have a game. To set the scene the games … Continue reading “The Labyrinths of Mars coming to Salute 53”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":11387,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-maidstone-wargames-society","category-public-show-games"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/marsheader.png?fit=1000%2C446&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9A5LG-2XE","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11386"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11386\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11389,"href":"https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11386\/revisions\/11389"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}