The Blade Rises Dispatch
The Blade Rises Dispatch Issue #1 | June 29, 2026
Welcome to the very first edition…
A Personal Word from Chaplain Kevin G. Browne
Dear friends and fellow warriors for the light,
Grace and peace to you.
For years I carried these stories in my heart — born out of 23 years as an Air Force Chaplain walking with warfighters through both the seen and unseen battles, and out of a deep conviction that the light of Christ still shines brightest in the darkest places.
Today I’m honored to welcome you to The Blade Rises Dispatch, our regular update from the Keep. Whether you found us through the website, our Facebook page, or a friend who believes in redemptive storytelling, I’m grateful you’re here.
This newsletter exists for one reason: to keep you connected to the mission of Knights Arise: Order of the Risen Blade — a faith-driven action series about modern-day warriors who fight evil on two planes… and refuse to let the darkness win.
We don’t fight only because we hate the darkness. We fight because we love the innocent.
I pray these updates will encourage you, stir your faith, and remind you that ordinary people — cracked clay pots — can carry extraordinary light.
Thank you for standing with us.
In His service and at your service
KEVIN G. BROWNE, Chaplain (Maj), USAF (Ret)
M.Div, MACI, M.A.
Shepherd of the Blade
Knights Arise: Order of the Risen Blade
From the Keep – Project Update
As of late June 2026, the vision continues to move forward with steady momentum:
Our GiveSendGo campaign for the professional Torch Pitch Video is live and gaining supporters. The goal is $24,000 to produce a high-quality cinematic pitch package (storyboards, custom illustrations, animation, sound design, and professional narration) for submission to Angel Studios and other faith-friendly producers.
The project website at knightsarise.org is now live as the central home for updates, character information, and vision.
Our Facebook page is active and growing — thank you to everyone who has liked, shared, and commented.
Visual development is strong. The final canonical design for The Condor (the massive six-winged stealth infiltration ornithopter) and GMGM-01 “Jim-Jim” (the tracked extraction vehicle) has been locked in. These assets are ready for the pitch materials.
Writing and worldbuilding are progressing steadily. The pilot episode outline (“Innocence Redeemed”) is complete, and deeper character and equipment bibles are being refined.
We are still very much in the “building the foundation” season, but the foundation is solid.
Character Spotlight: Sergeant Jack “Tread” Jackson
Ground Assault Specialist • Primary Operator of the GMGM-01 “Jim-Jim” Callsign: Tread
The streets of Birmingham, Alabama taught Jack Jackson how to fight long before he ever learned how to drive.
Born to a single mother who worked two jobs just to keep the lights on, Jack learned early that the world didn’t hand out second chances. By the time he was ten he was already running with the older kids, fists flying in alleyway scraps. But speed was always his escape. At seven years old he won his first national go-kart championship — the youngest driver ever to stand on that podium.
At fifteen, a church youth rally in a borrowed warehouse changed everything. A guest speaker talked about a God who loved fighters — not because they were perfect, but because He could redeem even the hardest hearts. Jack walked forward that night, tears cutting clean tracks through the dirt on his face, and gave his life to Christ.
He left the city behind and headed deeper into south Alabama, chasing the only family he had left — an uncle who raced dirt-track cars. There Jack learned real mechanical work. He could tear down and rebuild anything with an engine and make it run faster, stronger, and quieter than the factory ever intended.
The Army noticed.
For the next eight years Jack became the guy who could get a broken-down Humvee moving again in the middle of a firefight… the guy who always had one word on the comms when things went sideways:
“Keep moving!”
It was during a high-risk extraction in a dust-choked valley in Afghanistan that the Order first noticed him. A heavily damaged MRAP was pinned down under heavy fire with wounded aboard. Every conventional rescue attempt failed. Jack ignored protocol, commandeered an abandoned enemy technical truck, welded armor plating on the fly, and drove straight through the kill zone — twice — pulling every last soldier to safety.
An Order operative embedded with the unit watched the entire operation from a ridgeline.
Later, in the quiet of a forward operating base, he sat Jack down and told him the truth: the fight he’d been waging wasn’t only against men with guns. There was something darker at work. The Order needed a driver who could push experimental vehicles to their absolute limit on both planes of existence.
Jack listened, prayed through the night, and gave the same answer he always gave when the mission called:
“Keep moving.”
Sergeant Jack Jackson didn’t set out to become the primary operator of the Knights’ one-of-a-kind GMGM-01 “Jim-Jim.” He just kept doing what he’d always done — taking the wheel, pushing the machine past what anyone thought possible, and refusing to let the darkness win.
From Birmingham street fighter and go-kart champion to the man who makes Jim-Jim roar.
Visual Spotlight: The GMGM-01 (aka Jim-Jim)
One of the most powerful relationships in the series is between Tread and his machine.
When the situation becomes critical, Tread can remotely activate Jim-Jim from its berth inside The Condor using a secure code followed by the voice command:
“Papa needs you.”
High above the battlefield, nestled in the armored belly of the colossal six-winged stealth ornithopter, the GMGM-01 comes alive. Her four massive electric drive motors scream to life. Tracks spin. High-intensity combat lights snap on like the eyes of a predator. She launches from the cargo ramp at nearly forty kilometers an hour and crosses terrain at a rate that belies her massive size.
When she arrives, the AI voice — calm, steady, almost maternal — speaks directly over Tread’s commband:
“I’m here, Papa.”
This is not just a vehicle. It is family. It is hope arriving in the middle of the fire.
We are currently refining the final cinematic renders of both The Condor and Jim-Jim for the Torch Pitch Video. These machines will be unforgettable on screen.
Faith & Mission Moment
“We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” — Ephesians 6:12
Jack Jackson’s story reminds us that redemption is rarely neat. It often looks like a street fighter who learned to drive before he learned to read a map… and who still carries the same stubborn faith that says, no matter how dark the road gets — keep moving.
The same God who met Jack in a borrowed warehouse in Birmingham is the same God who meets us in our own battles.
The light is still shining. The Blade is still rising.
How You Can Stand With Us Right Now
1. Pray — This week, please pray for wisdom as we finalize the Torch Pitch Video script and visuals, and for open doors with producers who value redemptive, hope-filled storytelling.
2. Share — If this vision resonates with you, share this dispatch (or the Facebook post) with friends who love strong stories and unapologetic faith.
3. Support the Mission — Our GiveSendGo campaign for the professional Torch Pitch Video is the current priority. Every gift, no matter the size, moves us closer to getting this story in front of the right people. → https://www.givesendgo.com/KnightsAriseTheMovie
4. Stay Connected — If you’d like these updates delivered directly to your inbox, subscribe using the form on knightsarise.org or reply to this email with “SUBSCRIBE” and we’ll add you to the list.
Next Issue: We will introduce another member of Golf 77 and take a first look at one of the most visually striking assets in the series — the colossal six-winged stealth ornithopter known as The Condor.
Thank you for walking with us.
The darkness is real. But so is the light.
Deus Vult. The Blade Rises.
In His service,
KEVIN G. BROWNE, Chaplain (Maj), USAF (Ret)
M.Div, MACI, M.A.
Shepherd of the Blade
Knights Arise: Order of the Risen Blade