Spacemon: Frontier – Chapter 41: The Troyva Job

Welcome to another exciting installment of Spacemon, the tale of a Pokemon TRPG campaign! This is a spinoff of the sci-fi space epic played using the Pokemon Tabletop United (PTU) system, this time GMed by yours truly. You can get caught up on the entire Spacemon saga here!

“Pardon me, Governor. You’ll be coming with us.”

Gaster watched from the safety of the alleyway as Mikhail Yong’s guards aimed their rifles at Team Vogue. “What is the meaning of this?!” the former smuggler heard the governor demand. “Just who do you think you are?!”

“My name, Governor, is Freya Frost,” Team Vogue’s leader introduced herself. “The leader of Team Vogue. We are here to collect you and deliver you to someone who is quite interested in your activities.”

“Who put you up to this?” Governor Yong asked. “The Xiannus? The Koscheis?”

“I’m afraid I am not at liberty to divulge that information, Governor,” Freya Frost said.

“Very well,” the governor replied. He raised a hand, signaling his men to open fire. 

The sound of gunfire rang out as Yong’s bodyguards unleashed a salvo of laser blasts. Moving with surprising speed, the Steelix Team Vogue rode in on moved its tail to deflect the incoming fire, shielding the four bounty hunters from harm.

“How pitiful,” Freya Frost said dismissively. “Schwartzenpanzer, deal with them,” she continued, turning to the large muscular man with the mechanical arm.

“Vith pleasure,” the man said, taking a step forward. “Güterzug, Eisenschweif!” he then barked at his Pokemon in German. Heeding the command of its trainer, the Steelix took a swing at the governor’s guards with its massive tail. The two men dove out of the way as the Pokemon’s tail flew over them and smashed into the wall of one of the warehouses.

As a firefight broke out, Gaster glanced back at his crewmates. “What’s our plan here?” he asked.

“Let’s keep an eye out for an opportunity to make our move,” Cyrus said as he signaled to his Talonflame perched nearby. “As soon as there’s an opening, we take it.”

“That Steelix might be a problem,” Axel said.

“Don’t worry about it,” Taraka said. “I’ve got this.” With that, the monk threw up a protective psionic barrier.

“Oh, I’ll worry about it,” Axel said, grabbing a pair of Pokeballs off his belt. “My Pokemon will melt that thing if it gets too close,” the mercenary continued as he released his Gyarados and Vanillish. “Saika, use Sunny Day.”

As Axel’s Gyarados began to build up solar energy, Gaster sent out a Pokemon of his own — his trusty Cinccino, Lulabelle. He then leaned out from the alleyway and readied his rifle.

Looking down the sights of his weapon, Gaster took stock of the situation. Despite being outnumbered, Team Vogue had Governor Yong and his men — as well as the three gangsters he had been meeting with — pinned down. The woman who had introduced herself as Freya Frost and the man in the long black coat had also released Pokemon to back them up: a Dewgong and an Absol, respectively.

“Kyla, Glaciärvåg!” Team Vogue’s leader commanded her Pokemon in what Gaster was pretty sure was Swedish. Riding along a sheet of ice that formed in a wave in front of it, her Dewgong bowled through one of the governor’s guards and one of the gangsters, sweeping both off their feet.

“Lucifer, Night Slash!” the man in the black coat then ordered his Absol, his thick English accent quite apparent. His Pokemon moved swiftly to strike the two men before they could get up, but both somehow managed to clamber to their feet just in time to get out of harm’s way.

“Francis, you must hit the targets!” Freya Frost snapped at her subordinate.

“What do you think I’m tryin’ to do, ma’am?!” the man replied.

“Make sure your Pokemon understands the price of failure.”

Taking advantage of this spat, Governor Yong’s men popped out of cover and opened fire, landing several hits on the Dewgong and the Steelix. Neither Pokemon, however, seemed particularly bothered by the laser bolts striking them.

“You vill need to do better zan zat,” the man called Schwartzenpanzer taunted the men, taking another step toward them. He grabbed one of Yong’s guards and attempted to put him into a chokehold behind his metal arm, but the man managed to slip out of his grasp.

“Now looks like a good time to make our move,” Gaster heard Axel say behind him. “Maybe we can make it look like we’re trying to rescue the governor or something.”

“You know, that’s not a bad idea,” Gaster said, glancing back at his crewmate. “Cover me, I’m going to try something.”

“You got it, pal,” Axel said, giving Gaster an encouraging slap on the back.

Stepping out into the open, Gaster fired off several shots at Team Vogue, halting their advance. “This way, Governor!” the former smuggler called out. “We’ll cover your escape!” In the chaos, it was hard to gauge the governor’s reaction, but Gaster hoped his years of lying for a living would be to his advantage.

“Peregrine, use Flame Charge against that Steelix!” Cyrus commanded his Talonflame as he stepped out behind Gaster. His Pokemon flew at the massive metal serpent, coated in flames, but was unable to land a hit.

“Güterzug, Eisenschädel!” Schwartzenpanzer ordered his Pokemon, ignoring the Talonflame and instead directing it after one of the governor’s bodyguards. The Steelix barrelled through the guard, knocking him into the warehouse wall.

“Flame Charge again!” Cyrus called out. His Talonflame dove at the Steelix again, this time landing a hit, but it didn’t seem to do much.

“Lucifer, Night Slash!” the man called Francis commanded his Absol again. The Pokemon found its mark this time, cutting through two of the gangsters with the blade on its head, splattering blood onto the ground.

“Saika, use Thunder on that Dewgong!” Axel shouted, emerging from cover with his Gyarados. The large serpent fired a bolt of lightning at Freya Frost’s Pokemon, which then arced to the two nearby gangsters who had just been critically wounded by the Absol. The Dewgong seemed surprisingly fine, but the two men were not; both collapsed to the ground, dead.

“Alright, Lulabelle, your turn!” Gaster called to his Cinccino.

“Getting in the way, I see … as I knew you would,” Freya Frost said, turning her attention to the members of the Maverick’s crew. “Kyla, deal with them. Snöstorm!” Team Vogue’s leader then turned back to the governor and his men and fired off a shot from her pistol, dropping one of the bodyguards.

As Lulabelle moved past Axel’s Gyarados, the Dewgong unleashed a blast of ice and snow, striking both Pokemon. Saika took the brunt of the attack, but luckily Taraka’s psionic barrier managed to absorb some of the impact. Unfortunately, it could not prevent the Gyarados from freezing over. Lulabelle was shielded from the attack by Saika’s large form and remained relatively unharmed. However, Gaster wasn’t about to send her forward into danger until he saw a proper opening.

“You’ll pay for that!” Axel shouted. “Spice Cream, use Flame Burst on that Dewgong!” Emerging from the alleyway, the mercenary’s Vanillish shot out a burst of flames, which collided with Freya Frost’s Pokemon and exploded in a fiery blast. Once again, however, the Dewgong seemed fine.

Meanwhile, Schwartzenpanzer advanced past the fallen bodyguard and attempted to grab Governor Yong. “Oh no you don’t!” Cyrus called out. “Peregrine, hit him with Flame Charge!” Enshrouded in flames, the captain’s Talonflame dove at the hulking man, driving him back and allowing the governor to move away.

Seeing his moment, Gaster commanded his Pokemon to action: “Lulabelle, get in there and use Sing!” Darting forward, his Cinccino positioned herself between all four members of Team Vogue, then let out a deafening wail, causing them all to collapse to the ground.

Letting out a deep, rumbling roar, Schwartzenpanzer’s Steelix slammed itself down on the ground, causing a small quake that snapped the four bounty hunters to alertness once again. “Damn it!” Gaster cursed. He had been sure that plan would work. He hadn’t accounted for such a well trained Pokemon.

“Lucifer, Night Slash!” Francis ordered his Pokemon as he got back to his feet. Dodging incoming fire from the last two armed men standing, the bounty hunter’s Absol got in close, then slashed through the governor and the gangster he was hiding behind. The gangster fell to the ground, dead, and Governor Yong was left with a nasty wound.

“Control yourself, you fool!” Freya Frost berated Francis. “We are here to capture the governor, not kill him!”

“I didn’t kill him,” the man replied, a wicked grin on his face. “I just hurt him a bit.”

“Well, do not hurt him further,” Freya Frost warned as she began moving toward the governor. “Otherwise you will be the one hurting.”

“We need some more firepower or they’re going to get away with the governor,” Taraka said before sending out his Zebstrika. “Blitz, hit that Dewgong with Shock Wave!” the monk then commanded his newly sent out Pokemon. The Zebstrika shot off a bolt of electricity at the durable Dewgong, and this time it finally seemed to be showing signs of weakening.

“Such a nuisance,” Team Vogue’s leader said, turning her attention to the Maverick’s crew once more. “Kyla, Glaciärvåg.” Her Dewgong then fired off another wave of ice, which moved along the ground, hitting Axel’s frozen Gyarados and Taraka’s Zebstrika, taking the latter down.

“Gaster, watch out!” Taraka shouted as the ice wave continued on toward Gaster. The monk focused what remained of his barriers on the former smuggler, shielding him as best he could.

“Thanks!” Gaster called out to his crewmate. “I owe you one!”

“Don’t mention it,” Taraka replied.

“Spice Cream, get in there and use Heat Wave!” Axel commanded his Vanillish, continuing to push the offensive. Getting right up into the fray, the mercenary’s fiery ice cream cone unleashed a huge blast of flames upon the two men of Team Vogue, the Steelix, and Governor Yong’s sole remaining bodyguard.

When the smoke began to clear, Gaster could see the guard lying still on the ground. Francis, Schwartzenpanzer, and the Steelix remained standing, if a little worse for wear.

As Gaster moved to line up a shot, a large shadow suddenly appeared over him. Looking up, he could see a Salamence swooping down. As the large dragon Pokemon descended, the former smuggler spotted Lars Rickets riding on its back. Before Gaster could react, the Salamence scooped up the governor with its front claws, then lifted back into the air.

“Shit!” Axel shouted in frustration as the Salamence flew away.

“Looks like they’re headed for the spaceport,” Gaster said, tracking the flying dragon with his rifle.

“Kasey, the Red Riders have the governor and they’re headed your way!” Cyrus said over the comms. “Look for the Salamence in the sky. See if you can cut them off.”

“Got it,” Kasey’s reply sounded over the comms. “I’m on my way.”

“What do you need me to do, Captain?” Ace’s voice then asked.

“Stay on the ship in case they make it to the spaceport,” Cyrus instructed him.

“Alright,” Ace replied. “I’ll be ready.”

“Let’s get moving,” Cyrus then said, turning to the present members of the crew.

“C’mon, Saika, we need to go,” Axel said before punching his Gyarados, shattering the ice encasing her. The mercenary then recalled his Vanillish and hopped up on Saika’s back. “Let’s go!” he called to the others. “We need to beat the Purple Pricks there!”

Glancing over at Team Vogue, Gaster could see they were already on the move. “What are we waiting for?” the former smuggler asked.

Kasey could feel her adrenaline pumping as she sprinted through the streets of Zolotaya’s Old Harbour District. Moving as fast as her legs could carry her, she maneuvered around the obstacles and pedestrians in her path, all while keeping an eye out for the Salamence in the sky.

Rounding the corner of the street, Kasey finally caught sight of her target. Flying just above the rooftops was the dragon Pokemon belonging to the leader of the Red Riders, Governor Yong clutched tightly in its claws.

As she thought out her next move, Kasey saw an Ice Beam attack streak through the sky from the ground somewhere behind the building below the Salamence and strike the large dragon on its wing. As soon as the attack landed, the Salamence’s wing froze over, causing it to crash to the ground.

Without a moment of hesitation, Kasey took off in the direction the Pokemon had fallen. Coming around to the far side of the building, she spotted the Salamence picking itself up off the ground, shattered ice falling off of its wing, and Lars Rickets pulling the governor to his feet. Looking to her right, she could see the members of Team Vogue closing in. Dead ahead, her fellow members of the Maverick’s crew came into view from around a bend.

Running forward to join her crewmates, Kasey grabbed the Pokeball containing her Fraxure off her belt. She tossed the ball out ahead of her, then issued a command as her Pokemon emerged: “Huntress, use Dragon Claw!”

Gaster gripped his rifle tightly as he charged forward. He had just seen an Ice Beam take Lars’s Salamence out of the sky. That had to have been the work of Freya Frost’s Dewgong. Now was the time to grab the governor, and Gaster was going to make damn sure that he got to him before Team Vogue this time.

As the former smuggler and his crewmates rounded the corner of a building, he caught sight of where the leader of the Red Riders had crashed. Lars Rickets stood beside his Salamence in the middle of the street, holding onto a clearly distressed Governor Mikhail Yong. Team Vogue was closing in on the left, while Kasey was coming up from behind Lars. Kasey soon released her Fraxure and ordered it to attack. The smaller dragon rushed forward and struck the Salamence with her sharp claws while it was still shaking off the crash.

Team Vogue was still a ways off, so Gaster kept his focus on the governor. After releasing his Milotic, he raised his rifle to line up a shot, then fired, hitting Lars in the leg with a well-placed laser shot. The Red Riders’ leader immediately let go of the governor and dropped to one knee. He then drew his heavy pistol and returned fire. Gaster quickly dove for cover, but he didn’t make it to safety before taking two shots to the back. At this moment, the former smuggler was feeling very glad with his decision to purchase a reinforced trench coat back on Insipia.

“Looks like we need more protection,” Taraka said as he joined Gaster behind the safety of the concrete barrier he had taken cover behind. The monk proceeded to throw up a new psionic barrier to keep them all a little safer.

After taking a moment to catch his breath, Gaster peeked out over the top of the concrete barrier. He lined up another shot as Axel moved up with his Gyarados. “Saika, use Thunder!” the mercenary commanded his Pokemon. The Gyarados roared as it let loose a bolt of lightning at Team Vogue’s Pokemon as they closed in. The attack struck Francis’s Absol, then arced to Freya Frost’s Dewgong and, finally, to Lars’s Salamence.

“Redwing, use Fly!” Lars commanded his Pokemon in response. With a beat of its large wings, the bounty hunter’s Salamence shed the last of the ice and lifted off the ground. Lars then fired off several shots as he fell back, pulling the governor with him.

“Spice Cream, hit that Steelix with Flame Burst!” Axel called out as he sent his Vanillish back out. The Pokemon immediately shot some fire at the Steelix as she emerged from her Pokeball, but the shot went wide.

Meanwhile, Team Vogue closed in and fanned out. “Kyla, Vattenpuls!” Freya Frost commanded her Dewgong, directing it toward Axel’s Gyarados while she and the rest of her team went for the governor. Her Pokemon shot out a jet of water at Saika, taking her out of the fight.

As the rest of Team Vogue’s Pokemon got close, Kasey pulled out her pistol to engage them. “Huntress, hit that Steelix with Dragon Claw!” she commanded her Fraxure as she opened fire on the massive Pokemon.

“Güterzug, Schmiedezahn!” Schwartzenpanzer commanded the Steelix, ignoring Kasey and her Pokemon, whose assault deflected harmlessly off its metallic body. The giant serpent moved along the ground towards Axel’s Vanillish, and all the while its fangs began to glow red hot. Once in range, the Steelix snapped at Spice Cream, taking a nasty bite out of her. The Vanillish, however, had a nasty surprise of her own, leaving the inside of the Steelix’s mouth burned.

Finally spotting an opportunity, Gaster readied his rifle to fire. “Francisca, use Aqua Ring,” he issued a command to his Milotic before squeezing the trigger. Gaster fired off several bursts of laser fire, landing hits on the Absol, the Dewgong, and Lars.

The leader of the Red Riders was quick to return fire, forcing Gaster back into cover. Luckily Cyrus began shooting back at Lars, taking the heat off the former smuggler.

“Peregrine, hit that Absol with Flame Charge!” the captain then commanded his Talonflame. Gaster poked his head back out to see the flaming orange bird divebomb Francis’s Absol. It was a direct hit, leaving visible scorch marks on the Pokemon’s white fur.

“Deal with that pest,” Francis barked at his Absol in response. “Night Slash!” With a well-placed slash, the bounty hunter’s Pokemon took Peregrine down in one shot.

“That’s one powerful Absol,” the captain said as he recalled his fainted Pokemon. He then took a few potshots at the Absol before diving into cover as Francis began unloading his pistol at him.

“We need to deal with that thing fast!” Gaster called out to his crewmates.

“Well, just in case we can’t …” Taraka trailed off before pouring more of his energy into his barriers. “That should soften its blows a bit.”

Just then, Lars’s Salamence dove down from the sky, striking Freya Frost’s Dewgong at high speed and drawing blood.  “Kyla, retirera!” Team Vogue’s leader responded. “Vattenring!” The Dewgong quickly slid itself back from the Salamence, then shrouded itself with a veil of water.

Smart move, Gaster thought. He didn’t like that the enemy was fighting smart, but at the very least Freya Frost had given some ground, allowing Axel the opportunity to move up and recall his Gyarados.

“You’re up, Ritsu!” Axel shouted as he sent out his Charizard next. “You know what to do, Ritsu! Sunny Day!” As his Charizard spit out a new artificial sun, the mercenary issued a command to his Vanillish: “Spice Cream, Heat Wave! Get that Steelix!”

The fiery ice cream cone moved forward, then unleashed a huge blast of flames that exploded on Schwartzenpanzer’s Steelix as well as Lar’s back. The Steelix let out a pained roar, while Lars let go of the governor and dropped to the ground, attempting to put out the flames burning on his clothes.

“Boss!” a voice called out. Gaster recognized it as belonging to the Red Rider known as Floyd. Aiming his rifle in the direction of the bounty hunter’s voice, the former smuggler saw Floyd as well as the other two Red Riders, Jim Bob and Bobbie Jo, moving up behind Kasey.

“Kasey, watch out behind you!” Gaster called out to his crewmate.

Turning, Kasey saw the three bounty hunters approaching. In the face of this new threat, she ran to where Governor Yong lay on the ground, grabbed him, then began falling back toward the rest of the Maverick’s crew.

Gaster then turned his attention back to the Steelix. It had just taken a big hit, and he wasn’t about to let it recover from it. “Francisca, hit that thing with Hydro Pump!” he commanded his Milotic, pointing to the Steelix.

Using her powerful tail, Francisca propelled herself forward, then spit out a pressurized jet of water at her target. The water pelted the Steelix, driving it back into the wall of the building behind it, but, miraculously, the metal serpent stayed standing.

“Marie, now is the time for healing!” Freya Frost called out, glancing over at the other female member of Team Vogue.

“Right,” the pink and purple haired woman replied, a smooth French accent rather apparent. She then pulled a Pokeball off her belt and released an Aromatisse. She proceeded to issue a string of orders in French: “Chérie, utilisez Vibra Soin et Cœur Soin sur Güterzug, puis utilisez Mur Lumière!” The Aromatisse proceeded to shoot the Steelix with a healing pulse that both restored its energy and cured its burns. The Pokemon then projected out a protective barrier not unlike Taraka’s.

“Goddamnit!” Axel cursed in frustration, his work having been undone.

“Kyla, Vattenpuls!” Freya Frost then commanded her Dewgong, pointing at Axel’s Charizard. The Pokemon fired off a jet of water at Ritsu as she flew overhead, landing a direct hit. Fortunately, Taraka’s barrier kept her protected. Despite the extra layer of defense, it still did quite a number on her.

“Güterzug, Eisenschädel!” Schwartzenpanzer followed up with a command of his own, fiercely barking out the words at his Steelix. “Verwenden sie die Angriffsrüstungstechnik!” The Steelix barrelled forward at surprising speed, plowing right into Francisca, leaving the Milotic dazed and badly injured.

“That thing needs to go down now!” Gaster shouted. Another hit like that and his Milotic would be dead.

“You got it!” Axel responded. “Ritsu, hit it with Fire Blast!” the mercenary ordered his Charizard. Swooping down from above, Ritsu touched down, then spewed out a huge volume of flames from her mouth, heating every inch of the Steelix’s metallic body to a red hot glow. The Steelix let out an anguished roar before collapsing, unconscious.

A moment of silence followed, the members of Team Vogue all looked at the fallen Steelix with genuine expressions of surprise on their faces. “Don’t you wish you weren’t a dick to me now!?” Axel shouted in their direction.

“Nice work,” Gaster said, giving his crewmate a thumbs up.

“Huntress, hit that Absol with Dragon Claw!” Kasey ordered her Fraxure, taking advantage of the situation as she continued to fall back with the governor.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t the only one to capitalize on the opportunity. The recently arrived members of the Red Riders began laying down suppressing fire on Team Vogue, giving Lars a window to chase after Kasey. With her Fraxure having moved off to engage the Absol, her flank was left open and Lars managed to snatch the governor from her grasp before Gaster could warn her.

“Shit!” Kasey cried out in surprise as Lars began retreating back toward his Salamence.

“Lucifer, hit that Milotic with Night Slash!” Francis commanded his Absol from cover. Ignoring the Fraxure, which took a swipe at it as it moved to attack, the Absol rushed Francisca and slashed through her, delivering a nasty wound. If not for the protection of Taraka’s barriers, she surely would have been killed.

“That Absol needs to go next!” Gaster called out as he recalled his Pokemon.

“On it!” Cyrus responded. He then fired off several shots at the Absol.

“Detect!” Francis shouted from cover.

“Spice Cream, Ice Beam!” Axel ordered his Vanillish in response.

The Absol used its senses to avoid the shots from the captain’s pistol, but it was left open to Spice Cream’s attack from behind. Gaster breathed a sigh of relief as the dangerous Pokemon fell to the ground. He then recalled his fainted Pokemon and sent out his Shuppet.

With the immediate threat dealt with, Cyrus sent out another Pokemon, his Victreebel. “Nepenthe, use Acid!” the captain commanded the newly sent out Pokemon. The Victreebel sprayed her digestive acids at the two Pokemon Team Vogue had left. The Dewgong didn’t seem to mind much, but that was not the case for the Aromatisse.

“Chérie, Touche Bénie!” Marie commanded her Aromatisse in response. Her Pokemon began to glow with energy, which it passed on to the Dewgong beside it, healing some of its injuries.

“Kyla, Glaciärvåg!” Team Vogue’s leader immediately followed up with an order of her own. Her Dewgong fired off another icy wave, which passed over Cyrus’s Victreebel and Axel’s Charizard. The former was knocked out immediately, while the latter was left encased in ice.

“Redwing, use Dragon Tail!” Lars commanded his Salamence while the rest of the Red Riders had them pinned. In an explosion of concrete, the large dragon swung its powerful tail through the barrier Francis was hiding behind. The barrier crumbled under the force of the blow, but Francis managed to dive away.

“Nice try,” Francis taunted the Alliance bounty hunter as he hopped to his feet. He then began returning fire on the Red Riders as he fell back toward the rest of his team.

Returning focus to more pressing threats, particularly Freya Frost’s Dewgong, Gaster issued a command to his Shuppet: “Clara, use Curse on that damn Dewgong!”

“Huntress, hit it with Dragon Claw!” Kasey followed up with a command of her own.

The Shuppet inflicted a curse upon the Dewgong to prevent it from healing from the veil of water surrounding it, then the Fraxure swiped at it with her razor sharp claws, doing a real number on it. Once this Dewgong was out of the way, Gaster knew he and his crewmates would have a clear path to Lars. He only hoped the Red Riders didn’t escape with the governor before then.

While Gaster’s and Kasey’s Pokemon and the Red Riders had Team Vogue occupied, Axel and Cyrus took the time to recall their incapacitated Pokemon. The captain then sent out a new one, his Braviary.

“Aguilo, use Slash!” Cyrus commanded his newly sent out Pokemon. The Braviary flew at the Dewgong and the Aromatisse and ripped through them with his powerful talons.

They were making real progress now, but it was about to not even matter. Looking over to Lars, Gaster watched him throw Governor Yong onto his Salamence’s back, then mount up himself. With a beat of its wings, the dragon Pokemon was in the air again.

Just as it seemed Lars was about to escape with the prize, the bounty hunter and the governor suddenly went flying off the Salamence’s back, as if thrown by an invisible hand. Then, a figure dropped down between the Red Riders and Team Vogue. Gaster could hear an inhuman, piercing screech echoing inside his mind as a wave of psychic energy erupted out from the newcomer in all directions, propelling Francis, Schwartzenpanzer, and Lars’s Salamence backwards.

“What the hell?” Gaster muttered to himself as he watched all this unfold down the sights of his rifle. That kind of psychic power could only belong to a Pokemon, but this figure, armored as it was, had the distinct shape of a Human — a Human female, to be exact. Gaster had never seen anything like this before.

Several seconds passed, each seeming to stretch on for hours; no one made a move. All the bounty hunters had stopped shooting to look at who or whatever had just attacked them.

Finally, Francis got to his feet and began firing on this psychic-powered woman. Suddenly, the sound of gunfire filled the air as all the members of Team Vogue and the Red Riders began lighting her up. However, the shots all seemed to deflect harmlessly off some sort of barrier.

“Redwing, Thunder Fang!” Lars grunted out an order from where he lay on the ground. Electricity sparking out of its mouth, the bounty hunter’s Salamence lunged at the psychic assailant. It clamped its fangs down around her arm, putting a dent in her armor before she blasted it away with a psychic blast.

“Cover me!” Bobbie Jo then shouted to her fellow Red Riders. Floyd and Jim Bob began firing on the newcomer again while Bobbie Jo grabbed the rocket launcher off her back and began setting it up.

Turning to face the Red Riders through the dark visor of her helmet, the psychic woman took a step toward them. She then lifted a hand, and Jim Bob rose into the air. The woman then made a pulling motion and the pins on all the grenades on Jim Bob’s vest flew out. Then, continuing to display such incredible psychic power, she tossed him up into the air like he was nothing. The poor bounty hunter then exploded, causing bits of shrapnel, clothing, and flesh to rain down.

“Jim Bob!” Floyd cried out in horror. “You’ll pay for that!” he screamed as he began uncontrollably firing his rifle.

The psychic killer said nothing and took another step forward, ignoring the shots deflecting off her psychic barrier. She reached out, then squeezed the air in front of her. As she did this, Floyd’s left arm crumpled and contorted in the most unnatural way imaginable. Floyd screamed in pain and fell to his knees. The woman then tossed him aside with pure psychic energy and took another step forward.

“Eat this, bitch!” Bobbie Jo shouted, hefting up her loaded rocket launcher onto her shoulder. The rocket hissed as it flew out of the barrel directly at the psychic killing machine tearing through the Red Riders. The psychic woman remained unfazed; she simply brushed the rocket aside as she continued her advance. Propelled away by psychic force, the rocket spun wildly out of control, nearly hitting Team Vogue before impacting the building behind them in a fiery explosion.

The deadly psychic moved ever closer, extending her arm out towards the last Red Rider standing. Bobbie Jo cried out in pain, her rocket launcher dropping from her hands. She reached up to grab her head as she doubled over. Then, she went flying backwards, launched away by her assailant. She slammed into the building behind her, then slid to the ground, unconscious. With the Red Riders disposed of, the killing machine of a woman turned to face Team Vogue.

Gaster didn’t know who this woman was, but he knew one thing for sure: he and his crewmates needed to leave or they would end up like the Red Riders. “We need to get out of here!” the former smuggler shouted to his crewmates before running out from behind cover.

While Team Vogue was preoccupied with the psychic-powered woman, Gaster ran to where Lars and Governor Yong lay on the ground. The leader of the Red Riders appeared to have passed out from his injuries, while the governor was keeping his head down. “C’mon, Governor,” Gaster said as he approached. “We’re gonna get you out of here.”

“Da! Da!” the governor exclaimed. With all the chaos raging around him, Governor Yong did not seem to question the motives of the man claiming to be his rescuer.

“Get him out of here!” Axel shouted to Gaster, throwing out another Pokemon as he did. “Ryner, keep them protected!” the mercenary commanded his Alakazam as he emerged from his ball. “Light Screen!”

“We are leaving!” Gaster heard Freya Frost tell the rest of Team Vogue as he began retreating with the governor.

“What about the governor?” Francis asked her.

“Forget him!” Team Vogue’s leader said. “No bounty is worth suicide! Fall back!”

“Captain, those Purple Pricks are getting away!” Axel shouted as Team Vogue began retreating.

“We’ve got more important things to worry about!” Cyrus replied. He fired off several shots at the deadly psychic as she turned toward the Maverick’s crew and began advancing toward them. She simply deflected them away as she slowly drew nearer.

Fortunately for the crew, some time was bought for them when Lars’s Salamence took a swing at the psychic assailant with its long tail. Seeming to see the attack coming before it even happened, the woman gracefully maneuvered out of the way, then moved to engage the Pokemon.

Sadly, the dragon seemed to only be a momentary distraction for the woman. She quickly brought it down, then set her sights back on the Maverick’s crew and the governor. As Gaster moved past Axel’s Vanillish, he saw an aura of glowy energy envelop the Pokemon. Spice Cream slowly turned around, then unleashed a torrent of flames upon Axel’s other Pokemon. Fortunately for the Alakazam, the psychic barrier it had created kept him safe.

“What the hell, Spice Cream?!” Axel cried out in dismay.

“She’s controlling it somehow!” Kasey shouted.

“Then we need to get the hell out of here now!” Axel replied, recalling his Vanillish.

“I’m going as fast as I can!” Gaster shouted. “Taraka, send out your Aerodactyl so you can fly the governor out of here!”

“On it!” Taraka replied, sending his Pokemon out.

“Clara, use Will-O-Wisp!” Gaster commanded his Shuppet as he began moving toward the Aerodactyl.

“Help out, Ryner! Use Icy Wind!”

“You too, Aguilo! Aerial Ace!”

The crew’s Pokemon began barraging the psychic woman with attacks, holding her off long enough for Gaster to get Governor Yong to Taraka. “Get him out of here now!” the former smuggler shouted as he helped the governor mount the Aerodactyl behind the monk.

“Fels Vogel, let’s go!” Taraka commanded his Pokemon. With a thrust of his wings, the winged Pokemon lifted off into the air and began to fly away.

Ignoring the Pokemon attacking her, the psychic killing machine sprinted after the Aerodactyl, then jumped into the air. Suddenly, she blinked out of existence, only to reappear on top of Fels Vogel. Gaster watched helplessly from the ground as she grabbed the governor and threw him off the Pokemon’s back. Propelled by a psychic push, Governor Yong rocketed toward the ground. Gaster looked away as the governor impacted the concrete.

With the governor dead, the killer leapt from the Aerodactyl’s back. She landed gracefully on the nearest rooftop, then sprinted away, disappearing from Gaster’s sight.

Notes: Oh boy, I’ve been looking forward to this chapter for a long time, and now it’s finally here! Picking up right where we left off, we get into the rest of the content from session 32. Throwing Team Vogue at the party in combat was very exciting. DragonStorm and I put together some really nasty builds together for them that synergized super well. They had some trouble for sure. We did have some issues here with unknown’s power going out, but with mobile Discord he was able to let us know what actions he wanted to take on his turn. Thankfully, the power came back before his next turn. The session ended with Lars swooping in on his Salamence, a good cliffhanger to end on. We were running late at that point so it was a nice way to end things for the evening.

Moving onto session 33, unfortunately Novi wasn’t able to attend, but Alec was back to make up for it. I just had Taraka give them some blessings at the start and then had him sit in the background until needed. And then Kasey was called in to bring Alec into the action. I gave the party some time to figure out what they were doing, then moved things to the next stage by having the Salamence get shot down. After some more combat, it was time for the main event. The real plan we had for this session. The psychic assassin was designed to utterly terrify the party, and we certainly succeeded. The violence inflicted upon the Red Riders saw to that. Jim Bob’s death is one of the most gruesome ends in all of Spacemon.

Especially towards the end of this chapter, I continued playing around with ways to spice up combat and make it flow better. I added fun bits of combat banter, rearranged some details, added some extra combat actions and turns, and played up or downplayed damage to tell a better story. I’m so happy with how this chapter turned out and I absolutely love the tonal shift it introduces into the story. We’re about halfway through the series now, and this serves as a perfect transition into the second half. The way I see it, if Frontier was a TV show, it would be four seasons long and this chapter would serve as the season two finale. There’s a whole lot more fun to come, so stay tuned!

Post-Chapter Challenge: Team Vogue may be a bunch of pricks, but you can’t deny that they have style and talent. Frederic Schwarteznpanzer acts at the group’s defensive tank, Francis Grimm is the team’s star damager, Freya Frost fills in secondary damage and battlefield control, and Marie Meringue rounds out the squad with healing and support; the four of them together function like a well-oiled machine. We’ve done character challenges before, but this time design a team or a squad of characters who work together to function as a unit. The ideal party size always seems to be three to five, so come up with a handful of individuals and fighting styles who mesh, and, of course, a team name.

That does it for this chapter. As always the Spacemon gang and I will be monitoring the comments to foster discussion and answer any questions. Feel free to give feedback and critiques of the writing so I can improve it for the future, or just leave a comment with what you think about what went down in this chapter or what you think might happen next! You can also revisit past chapters, check out the rest of the Spacemon saga, join the Spacemon Discord server, or like our Facebook page to stay updated on all things Spacemon! Click here for the next exciting installment of Spacemon: Frontier!