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!
Ace sat at Erik’s side in the medbay as the battle continued to rage outside. Gunfire and explosions rang out all around the wreckage of the Maverick, but he tuned it all out. He focused only on his friend’s ragged breathing. Each moment felt like an eternity.
Eventually, the sounds of combat began to die down. In the silence, a sharp rapping drew all eyes to the medbay door. Ace looked over at Gaster, who looked back at him with an expression of cautious curiosity. After a moment, Gaster nodded. Ace stood up and walked over to the door. As he opened it, he felt a wave of relief wash over him at the sight of a familiar figure.
“Simon, you wouldn’t believe how happy I am to see you,” he said.
“It looks like we were just in time,” said Simon Dolohov.
“Yes,” Taraka nodded, rising to his feet.
“Where are your medics?” Gaster asked urgently. “We have several people who need attention.”
“On their way,” the Paladin answered. “Let’s get you out of here.”
Erik was not looking good.
It had been hours since Simon had brought the Maverick’s crew aboard his ship and, while the Paladin medics had managed to properly treat Cyrus’s leg and tend to the others’ injuries, Erik was showing little signs of improvement.
Ace stood at his friend’s bedside in the medbay, watching over him. It hurt him to see Erik this way, but he wanted to be there for whatever time he had left. He hoped it wouldn’t come to that, but he could feel a rising dread inside him. His mind was racing. There had to be something he could have done differently.
“I’m sorry, Erik,” Ace said, placing his hand over his. “This is my fault. I couldn’t get that generator up and running. If only I could have, then maybe …” He trailed off, unable to find the words.”
“I’m gonna be straight up with you.” Ace glanced up to see Taraka looking over at him. “I’m pretty sure it’s not your fault,” the monk continued. “I’m pretty sure it’s that fact that we got, you know, our ship busted.”
“Yeah, but that wouldn’t have been our fault either if we hadn’t … I don’t know,” Ace stammered. “I DON’T KNOW!” He turned and punched the wall in frustration, leaving a dent in the metal.
“Well we all signed up for it,” Taraka said after a moment. “You can’t blame yourself for this.”
“He’s right,” Cyrus said. The captain sat up in his bed and looked Ace in the eye. “We all knew the risks. We all made the choice. I’ve known Erik for a long time. He wouldn’t want you to blame yourself.”
Ace retracted his arm. “No, you’re right,” he said calmly. “I just wish … I just wish we could have done something … Anything.”
“We all do,” said the captain. “We all do.”
It was quiet when Erik finally passed. He went peacefully, surrounded by his friends and crewmates. Ace held onto the Maverick engineer’s hands as he slipped away.
Gaster stood brooding in the corner as a silent grief washed over the room. His sadness was quickly giving way to anger and thoughts of revenge. Someone was going to pay for this.
“You have my condolences,” Simon finally broke the silence as he entered the medbay. “I’m sorry we couldn’t get there sooner.”
Ace rose from his seat to meet the Paladin. “It’s not your fault, Simon,” he said. “It’s that psychic assassin’s fault. The next time I see her, I’m gonna kill her.”
“You and me both,” Gaster agreed.
Taraka nodded. “Count me in.”
“I admire your willingness to keep fighting,” said Simon. “I would understand if you were to walk away.”
“We can’t walk away now,” Gaster said bluntly. “Not after everything they’ve done. We’ll take down that psychic bitch, Hat Guy, and anyone else responsible for this.”
“I see,” Simon nodded. “Well some friends of yours showed up to help with that.”
Simon led them out of the room and into the corridor where they were greeted by Lars Rickets and Floyd Underwood of the Red Riders.
“Took ya long enough,” Gaster angrily spat.
“We came as soon as we got your message,” Lars replied.
“Not soon enough,” Gaster shot back.
Lars looked back at him with a stoic expression on his face. “I get what you’re going through. We’ve been there too. But don’t take it out on us. We’re only here to help.”
Deep down, Gaster knew Lars was right. He was being irrational. He let out a heavy sigh. “Sorry,” he said. “I’m just … frustrated.”
“Like I said, we get it,” Lars said comfortingly. “We’ve all lost friends to this killer and the ones calling the shots. They’ve screwed with us and treated us like pawns in their sick game. You’re right to be pissed the hell off, but let’s not take our anger out on each other.”
“You’re right,” Gaster nodded. “Let’s take the fight to the ones responsible. We’ll hunt the bastards down and make them pay. Are you in?”
“Yer Goddamn right, we are,” said Floyd.
“Well then what are we waiting for?” Gaster asked. “We scored a bunch of data on them on our last mission. Let’s use it.”
“How about getting some rest first?” Simon suggested. “After the night you’ve all had, you need it. My people can get that data analyzed for you … if you don’t, mind that is.”
“Of course not, Simon,” Ace replied. “We appreciate the offer.”
The Paladin nodded. “I will let you know when we’ve found something, but for now … please, get some rest.”
“This is everything?” Gaster asked as he scrolled through the files Simon had presented.
“It is,” the Paladin nodded. “I’m sure you’ll find the information quite useful.”
Gaster turned his attention back to the information in front of him. It seemed his initial hunch was correct. These files contained everything he needed to know about Hat Guy’s operations.
They confirmed that the Yongs had, in fact, been the ones responsible for creating the psychic assassin, and that Hat Guy had orchestrated the attack on the facility after somehow catching wind of the project. He contracted Markovic and his men to break in and steal the assassin, and Markovic had hired Gaster in turn to smuggle her out of the Union to Sector 33. All this confirmed what they already knew. More importantly, the new information they recovered more explicitly detailed the involvement of the Xiannu Family. It seemed that Hat Guy and the Xiannus had been working together to secretly maneuver against the Yongs, using their new assassin to take down key leaders while giving off the appearance of maintaining the supposed understanding between the families.
Gaster glanced back up at the others. “So the Xiannus,” he said. “They’re our target?”
“So it would seem,” said Simon. “If this intel is correct— and we have every reason to believe it is— the Xiannus have been calling the shots for this entire operation.”
“Which means they’re the ones responsible for killing our friends,” Lars added.
“Well we’ve got some real incriminating dirt on them now,” Gaster said. “We can definitely use this to our advantage.
“Do we want to let Boris know?” Taraka asked. “Or do we care about him at this point?”
“If he can get a fleet in the air to bomb the hell out of them …” Gaster mused. “I don’t know what sort of resources he has, but probably more than us.”
“And he also has the political connections to make use of the dirt,” Ace chimed in.
“True,” Taraka nodded. “Let’s give him a call. I mean, this will help him out too and if he can send something our way that’d be great because us gung-ho-ing it just now came at a cost. I’m not happy that we’re caught up in all this political science espionage stuff, but if he can help us, he can help us.”
“Yeah, it’s a big mess that we’ve got ourselves mixed up in,” Gaster said.
“I liked the simpler times when I was the assassination target,” Taraka said. The monk smirked slightly as he glanced over at Sikari.
“Oh, so you do admit it was fun?” the ex-assassin teased back. “I can go back to trying to kill you if you’d prefer.”
Taraka shook his head and rose from his seat. “Nah, I’m good. Let’s go.”
“Hello again,” Boris Yong said as he appeared on the holoscreen display. The minister wore a gravely serious expression on his face. “Natasha has informed me that you have some important information for me? Please tell me that you have good news.”
“Is everything alright, Minister?” Ace asked, sensing some distress in the man’s voice.
“I am afraid not,” Boris replied. “Since we last spoke, these enemies we have been pursuing carried out a brazen series of strikes against my family. Several key family members, some who were dear friends of mine, have been assassinated, including the current acting governor of Troyva.”
“I’m … sorry to hear that,” Ace said. “You have our condolences. They killed a friend of ours too.”
“Thank you,” Boris said, nodding slightly. “You have mine as well. But now is the time for action. What do you have for me?”
“Well we’ve acquired evidence that can directly tie the Xiannus to all of this,” Ace explained. He transmitted the data they collected to the minister, who immediately began to look it over.
“Yeah, so how soon can you get a fleet together to nuke ‘em from orbit and make them pay?” Gaster asked.
Boris ignored the question and continued to peruse the files. “I see,” he finally said after several moments. He looked back up at them and continued, “This is an incredibly bold move for them, to defy the agreement between the families in such a drastic way.”
“Well I’d be pretty drastic too if I had access to a psychic assassin,” Ace said.
“I mean, what can’t you do at that point?” Taraka commented.
“That doesn’t change the fact that the great families of the Union have an understanding,” said Boris.
“Clearly that’s a lie,” Gaster shot back.
Boris frowned. “The agreement is very real, I can assure you, but clearly they have thrown our good will to the wind and, well, let’s just say that it’s not just the Yong Family that will be disturbed by this turn of events.”
“So what are you going to do about it?” asked Ace.
Boris firmly placed a clenched fist on his desk and said decisively, “We must send them a message.”
“Does that message include a fleet that’s gonna nuke ‘em from orbit?” Gaster impatiently asked. “Look, you’ve tried your cutesy little politicking already and clearly it’s not doing a whole lot.”
Boris shook his head. “This is a delicate situation,” he explained. “Sending a fleet to, as you said, ‘nuke them from orbit’ is not going to go over well with the Union government at large, not to mention the Federation. Our next move must be precise and strategic.”
“Yeah, none of that ever works out well for us,” Gaster dismissed the idea.
Ace was more willing to hear the minister out. “What do you have in mind, exactly?” he inquired.
“We must cut off the head of the snake, so to speak,” said Boris.
“Is that the man in the hat?” Ace asked.
“No,” the minister told him. “A plan this big must go right up to the top. I’m talking about the head of the Xiannu family herself. Mira must pay for her betrayal of the peace between our families.”
“Let me guess,” said Ace. “You wanna hire us for this?”
“You are in the market for revenge, no?” Boris asked.
Ace paused for a moment to consider, then answered emphatically, “Yes.”
“Just tell us where she is and we’ll do it.” Gaster told Boris. “Can’t promise we’ll be very delicate, though.”
“I trust you are capable enough to carry out a precise strike against the head of the Xiannu family as opposed to nuking the moon of Provskaya from orbit as you suggested,” said Boris.
Gaster nodded. “Provskaya. Got it.”
“Good,” Boris said, rising from his seat. “Now, if that will be all, there are urgent meetings amongst the leadership of the Yong family that I must attend to.”
“Of course,” said Ace. “We’ll let you go, then.”
“So what’s our plan?” Gaster asked his crewmates. Now that he knew their target, he was eager for them to make their next move. “I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to just fly in and fuck shit up.”
“I’m not so sure that’s a good idea,” said Taraka. “We tried that, and look what happened. Boris was right; we should be more strategic.”
“Fair enough,” Gaster conceded. “Got anything in mind?”
“I might have an idea,” Ace spoke up. “Since we’ve got that dirt on them now, what if we tell the Xiannus we’ve got information to blackmail them with and try to organize a meeting? That might lead to walking into a trap, though.”
“Hmm, that could work,” Gaster nodded. “But you’re right. That could lead us into a trap. On a similar note, though, the way we got in with Boris worked out pretty well for us.”.
“That’s a much better idea,” said Ace. “We could pretend to be selling Boris out and tell them we have information about the Yongs’ plan for retaliation.”
Gaster liked the sound of that idea. “Oh, yeah. That’s good,” he said. “And that way, even if they did know that we’ve been working with the Yongs, it’d make it believable that we actually have good information for them.”
“Good plan.” Gaster turned in the direction of the voice to see the Red Riders standing in the doorway with Simon. “We’re in,” Lars continued as he stepped further into the room.
“I was hoping you would be,” Gaster told him.
Lars nodded. “Of course. We can take the Vermilion. There’s plenty of room for all of you.”
“That would be appreciated,” said Ace. “Thank you.”
“There’s more about all of this that I want to investigate, but if you need more help, I can have a few ships accompany you as well,” Simon offered.
“Thanks for the offer, but it might be better for us to all go in one vessel,” Gaster told him.
“Maybe,” said Ace. “But I think I’d feel better if we had those Paladin ships on standby, just in case.”
“It’s no trouble,” said Simon. “I’ll make the arrangements.”
“Well I guess this is it for now,” Cyrus said. “Thanks again for pulling us out, Simon. We owe you our lives.”
“Of course,” Simon replied, giving the captain’s hand a firm shake. “Good luck on Provskaya. I’ll make sure my knights are there to meet you.”
Cyrus nodded. “Thanks, and good luck to you as well.”
“Appreciated,” said Simon. “I have a feeling that I’ll need it. There’s something about this conspiracy … a feeling I can’t shake.”
“I’m sure you’ll get to the bottom of it,” Ace chimed in.
“If we discover anything on Provskaya, we’ll be sure to let you know,” Cyrus said.
“Thank you,” Simon nodded. “I’ll be in touch.”
And with that, the Paladin stepped out of the airlock and sealed the door behind him. Cyrus leaned on his crutch and turned to face his crew.
“Let’s go,” the captain said.
The crew made their way down the docking tube and stepped onto the UAS Vermilion, where the Red Riders stood waiting.
“Welcome aboard,” Lars greeted them.
“I hope we are not imposing,” said Taraka.
Lars shook his head. “Of course not,” he said. “It’ll be nice to have company. The ship has felt empty ever since … well, you know.”
“We understand,” Cyrus told him. “If there’s any help you need with the Vermilion, let us know.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Lars said. “But for now, let me show you around.”
“Damn. I’m sorry to hear that.”
Cyrus sighed, briefly gazing down at the floor. “Yeah, me too.” He looked back up at Gordon on the holoscreen display. “Erik didn’t deserve this.”
“I’m sorry for your loss. It ain’t easy losing a friend,” Gordon said. “If there’s anything you need, just say the word.”
“We’re going after the ones responsible, but without my leg, I’m not much use,” Cyrus told his friend. “I could use the help on this one.”
“Send me your coordinates,” Gordon said. “I’m on my way.”
“We’re with the Red Riders on Orzhova to stock up right now, but we’ll be heading to Provskaya soon to meet up with some of our Paladin friend’s men and hit the Xiannu bastards behind all of this,” Cyrus explained.
“Provskaya, huh?” Gordon nodded. “I’ll be there.”
“Alright, we’ll see you there.”
“Take care of yourself.”
As the display flickered off, Cyrus gazed out the viewport to the planet Orzhova below. The Sector 17 capital world had been on the way back to the gate, so it made the most sense to stop there to pick up fuel as well as gear and weapons for the coming mission. While the Vermilion was refueling in the planet’s orbital spaceport, Ace, Gaster, and Taraka had taken the orbital elevator down to the surface to get the weapons and supplies.
Just as Cyrus was beginning to think his crew was due to return, he heard several loud clangs originating from the medbay. He pulled himself up with his crutch, then hobbled over to investigate. As he entered, Cyrus saw Ace dumping heaps of mechanical parts onto the counters.
“What’s all this?” he inquired.
“Oh, hey Captain,” Ace said, looking up from the pile of parts. “Well apparently this planet is known for its state of the art medical technology.”
“It is,” Cyrus said.
“So I bought a bunch of high quality cybernetics to upgrade my Pokemon for the coming fight,” Ace continued, sounding a bit excited. “I’ve got medical nanobots for all of them. Well, except for the ghosts since they can’t use cybernetics. Oh, and wait till you see what I got for you, Captain.”
Cyrus raised an eyebrow. His interest was piqued now. “Oh?”
Ace walked over to a different pile of parts and picked something up. The android then turned to show him. “Check it out.”
In his hands, Ace held a rather fancy looking cybernetic leg. “I can install it for you if you want,” he offered. “I know how.”
“Wow, Ace, I don’t know what to say.”
“Sorry, is it too much?” Ace asked. “I probably should have asked first.”
Cyrus smiled. “No, it’s fine,” he told the android. “I appreciate it. Thank you, Ace.”
“Want to get started, then?”
“Let’s wait until the others get back and we can get underway.”
Ace nodded. “Alright, Captain.”
A quiet determination seemed to permeate throughout the UAS Vermilion as it detached from the orbital dock. Everyone aboard knew the coming mission might be their last, but this was a fight that they couldn’t back down from. They owed their friends that much.
Gaster stood at the back of the cockpit, gazing out the viewport as Anya steered the ship away from Orzhova and toward the edge of the system. The skilled pilot that she was, Lars had been more than happy to let her take the reins. Firing up the warp drive, Anya prepared the ship to jump to the Sector 17 gate.
As the ship dropped into warp space, Gaster thought ahead to the coming battle. Everything that had happened since he had been shot down over Venbaxxen had been leading to this. It was time for the Xiannus to pay for all that they had done.
Notes: This chapter was a nice change of pace from writing the previous one, which was a bit of a slog to get through even though it turned out great. The opening few scenes cover the last few minutes of session 67, though with lots of added improvements, but the rest is from the beginning of session 68, which was the final session of the campaign. This section was about two hours of some RP and the longest shopping spree of the campaign. Since it was the final session, the players decided to just spend all the money they had been hoarding. This included Ace spending a ton on giving his Simisear, Delphox, and Gallade a bunch of cybernetic augmentations, which I set up for at the end of the chapter, but decided that it didn’t need a full scene detailing the process. Other than that, writing this chapter was all about tying together all the various RP scenes and adding bits and pieces to make it all flow. Not much else to say here, but I think this chapter turned out great.
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!
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Oh the irony