Spacemon, Vol. 2 – Chapter 10: Dr. Armstrong, Pt. 1

Welcome to another exciting installment of Spacemon, the tale of a Pokemon TRPG campaign! It is a sci-fi space epic played using the Pokemon Tabletop United (PTU) system and GMed by fellow TAY author DragonStorm247. You can get caught up on the entire Spacemon saga here!

The Helix’s crew gathered on the bridge as the ship finished the short flight from München to the neighboring world of Parisia. Shane gazed out the viewport as Minerva brought the ship down into the atmosphere and docked in Parisia’s capital city of Calais. From what he understood, this city was one of the major cultural centers of the Geneva Confederacy. It was also the location of Belaviure University, where Dr. Armstrong was scheduled to give his talk.

“We should go to the university now,” H declared as soon as the ship landed. “We need to scout it out, come up with a plan, find seats—”

“One thing at a time,” Shane told him. “We have two days. We can take our time and thoroughly scout out the campus.”

“I’m not going,” Morgan suddenly said.

“What, afraid of paying off your student loans?” Minerva quipped. Morgan just scowled back at her.

“Why not?” Dmitri asked.

“I can’t … I won’t,” Morgan said.

“Why?” Dmitri asked again.

“When I left, I told myself I would never go back.”

“Well, surprise, here we are.”

“Look, I can’t go there,” Morgan stated emphatically. “If you have a problem with that then get over it.”

“Well I do have a problem with it,” H chimed in. “This is something that is most likely going to be very important to the progression of Humanity as a whole. You are the only one here who knows Geneva, you are the one who knows the layout of this campus, and, should anything go wrong, you are the one who is actually most equipped to deal with it because you are the only one to have worked with this university before. As such, I believe it is in our best interest, and the interest of Humanity and the future itself, for you to get over your feelings and go with us.”

“It’s exactly because I know this university so well that I can’t go down there,” Morgan told the cyborg.

“We are still going to need your help, someway or another,” H insisted. “You are getting off this ship and that is final.”

“H, don’t push her,” Shane warned the cyborg, giving him an annoyed glance.

“Why not?” H asked. “This is important.”

“If I am going to go, I’m at least going to need some new clothes,” Morgan said, reluctantly agreeing to go. “Make it as girly as possible, something unusually colorful, with glitter or something.”

Shane raised his eyebrows as he looked over at Morgan. “What?” he asked, a bit shocked by the words coming out of her mouth. Girly was very out of character for Morgan.

“Why?” Alex asked the very question Shane was about to ask himself.

“I don’t want anyone to recognize me,” Morgan explained.

“So … it’s a super secret spy mission?!” Alex asked, getting excited. “We can all dress up like Space Ninjas! And then we can sneak in and drop smoke bombs and grab this doctor guy before anyone even knows what happened!”

“I … don’t think that will be necessary,” Shane told the girl.

“Aw …”

“We’ll go pick something up,” Shane said, turning back to Morgan. “Alex, we will probably need your help.”

“Okay!” Alex enthusiastically agreed.

It hadn’t taken long to find a nearby clothing store. As a center for Genevan and Galactic fashion, it seemed that it was nearly impossible to go anywhere on Parisia without running into one. After a brief shuttle ride, the members of the Helix’s crew sans Morgan found themselves outside a fashionable women’s clothing store that wasn’t too far from the spaceport.

“So we’re gonna need your help with this part, Alex,” Shane said as the four of them entered the store.

“Oh, so just because I’m a girl you think I know about clothes?” Alex responded. “I grew up on the streets, I never had fancy shit like this.” She grabbed a girly looking top off a nearby clothing rack and held it up as an example. “And besides, I’d never be caught dead wearing something like this. Too girly.”

“Well, that’s exactly what we want, isn’t it?” Shane asked her. “So just find something you would hate to wear because chances are, Morgan would hate it too, if not more.”

“Oh, I get it … You’re a genius!” Alex proclaimed. “Alright, let’s see here … Maybe this … or … Hmm, this looks hideously pink. It will do nicely.” They spent several minutes browsing— or, more accurately, following Alex as she did the browsing—  and they eventually came up with a pink outfit that Morgan would never wear. Shane wasn’t too sure how much of a disguise it would actually be, but if it was good enough for Morgan, it would do.

“That’ll be one-thousand credits,” the cashier said as she rang up the items.

“That’s a bit much,” Dmitri replied. “Look, it’s for our friend and it’s super important,” he continued, trying to sound as charming as possible.

The cashier looked over at H, and raised an eyebrow. “He certainly needs clothes, I’ll grant you that, but …”

“No, no, no,” Alex told her. “Not him! Our other friend. She’s still on the ship.”

“Is this friend worse off than him?”

“Yes!” Alex shouted, waving her arms frantically. “Why do you think she’s still on the ship?! She’s having a total fashion disaster!”

“Poor thing … I’ll give you fifty percent off, just this once.”

With a new outfit for Morgan purchased, the crew returned to the Helix.

“Here ya go!” Alex said, handing the shopping bag to Morgan.

Morgan visibly shuddered as she lifted the pink top and skirt Alex had selected for her out of the bag.

“It’s not too girly is it?” Shane asked upon seeing Morgan’s disgusted face.

“No … It’s fine … I don’t think anyone will recognize me,” Morgan told him. She put the clothes back in the bag, then brought it to her room. She returned a few minutes later wearing the new outfit, looking quite uncomfortable.

“Ha! You look ridiculous!” Alex said, breaking out into a fit of giggles. She stopped abruptly when Morgan gave her a death-stare “Okay, shutting up now.”

The others remained silent, clearly knowing better than to risk incurring Morgan’s wrath.

“Alright,” Morgan said calmly after a moment. “Let’s go scope the place out so I can change out of this.”

With Morgan’s “disguise” all sorted out, the crew disembarked once more and made their way to Belaviure University. It was quite a ways from the spaceport, practically on the other side of the city, but they got there pretty quickly using the mag-train.

Morgan led the way to the campus from the train stop. It looked more or less the same as it had back when she was a student at the university.

“So now what?” Shane asked once they arrived.

“Well, it is a college campus; there are flyers everywhere. I’m sure one will let us know where the talk is happening,” Morgan replied. “Over here,” she added, leading the crew to a nearby holo bulletin board. “Friday at noon in Fontaine Auditorium in Lèmieux Hall.”

“Great, where is that?” Shane asked.

“This way,” Morgan told him.

She led the crew across campus and into the building question. The entrance to the auditorium was just off the main lobby. They entered into an open auditorium with a small stage at the front with a podium set up for speakers.

“This place isn’t terribly big,” said Morgan, taking a glance around the place. “We should be able to easily monitor the entrances.”

“And we can sit up near the front so, in case something does go wrong, we can easily access Armstrong and get him out of here,” Shane added.

“Alright,” Morgan said, nodding. “Let’s go pick up tickets.”

They exited the auditorium and Morgan approached the ticket office. The person behind the counter looked up at her as she walked up. “Can I help you?” he asked.

“Yeah, are there any tickets left for the Armstrong talk?” Morgan asked him.

“Zere are still quite a few left. It’s not sold out yet, but it’s quickly filling up.”

“Great. I’ll take five for my friends over there,” she told the man, pointing over to the rest of the crew.

“Alright, zat will be 50 credits each.”

“Thanks,” Morgan told the man as she purchased the tickets.

With nothing else to do at the university for the time being, the crew returned to the Helix to wait out the next couple of days. Morgan was certainly glad to get back and change into something more comfortable.

On Friday morning, the crew returned to the Belaviure campus and claimed seats up near the front of the auditorium. They monitor the entrances as students and faculty begin trickling into the room. Morgan soon noticed a pair of suspicious looking men wearing long coats enter and sit all the way in the back.

“Those guys look really suspicious,” Alex said to her, noticing them as well.

“Yeah,” Morgan agreed. “Shane, Dmitri, I think those guys back there might be after Armstrong.”

“I’ll try probing their minds,” Dmitri suggested, as he began focusing on the suspicious pair. “They seem very focused on Armstrong. I’m willing to bet they’re here to grab him.”

“Yeah,” Shane agreed. “I’ll sit near them and keep an eye out.” He made his way to the back of the auditorium and sat a few seats away from the suspicious men.

A few moments later, a man walked onto the stage. He had balding and graying blonde hair and a disheveled look about him. He looked a bit older than the picture Arlon had provided, but he was definitely Dr. Armstrong.

A professor moved up to the podium and gave a brief introduction. “Ladies and gentlemen, zank you for joining us zis afternoon,” she addressed the audience. “Today we are proud to ‘ave ze honor of ‘osting Dr. Louis Armstrong, one of ze leading experts on theoretical biology. Without any further adieu, I present to you Dr. Armstrong.”

Armstrong approached the podium, briefly clearing his throat before diving right into his lecture. He opened up with applications of biological engineering and, from there, springboarded into alternative biological models of life.

Morgan found what the man was saying to be incredibly interesting, but she was still distracted by the suspicious men and had a hard time following along with the lecture. Glancing to her right, Morgan noticed that Alex seemed even more lost. She imagined the girl had absolutely no idea what Armstrong was talking about. H, however, seemed completely engrossed in what the man was saying. As she looked to her left, she saw that cyborg staring intently at the stage.

Armstrong continued his lecture into biologically engineered models of life, creating new types of life artificially in a lab setting. He seemed to get lost in his own ramblings as opposed to actually explaining anything. He wrapped up with discussing modifying existing life into new structures, but, at this point, he seems to be a lot less coherent. Finished with his lecture, Armstrong stepped off to the side momentarily and the professor approached the podium again.

“And zat’s it,” she said. “We will now be fielding questions for Dr. Armstrong.”

“Yes, I have a question,” H said, standing up on his chair. “Do you remember anyone who could do this?!” He shot lighting up into the air and it sparks across the room, but it didn’t appear to cause any damage. “Because I remember you. And you’re supposed to be dead.”

People started screaming as they jumped up from their chairs and began running out of the room. Looking back over her shoulder, Morgan saw the two suspicious men get up and start moving up toward the stage. Shane, temporarily distracted by H, missed them getting up at first and attempted to go after them, but he had trouble because of the people starting to run towards the exits. Thinking quickly, Shane teleported in front of the men and knocked one of them over. The other appeared confused for a moment before he reached for a Pokeball. He tossed out a Mightyena, which growled angrily, baring its teeth.

Alex, meanwhile, jumped up onto the stage and attempted to get Armstrong out of the room. “C’mon, we need to get out of here!” she shouted at him. The girl tried to pull him toward the exit, but he didn’t move. He stared out into the confusion, dumbstruck by the scene unfolding before him.

“Hey! Gramps, pay attention!” Alex shouted, jumping and waving her arms in his face. “Hey, Inspector Gizmo, help me get him out of here!” she shouted, turning over to H. The cyborg jumped up onto the stage and together they were able to lead Armstrong to the exit by the stage and get him out of the room.

Seeing that the pair had made it out with Armstrong, Morgan turned back to Shane and the two suspicious men.

“K.E.Y.S., you’re up!” Shane shouted, releasing his Klefki. Morgan and Dmitri scrambled out of their seats and sent out their own Pokemon, Bellsprout and Metang, respectively.

“Barko, Fire Fang!” the Mightyena’s trainer commanded his Pokemon. Flames flickered out of its mouth as it charged forward and clamped its teeth around Shane’s Klefki, leaving the Key Ring Pokemon looking pretty injured.

“K.E.Y.S., use Metal Sound!” Shane commanded his Pokemon in response. The Klefki furiously jingled its keys at the Mightyena, but the Bite Pokemon didn’t seem to be bothered.

“Maine, Flash Cannon,” Dmitri instructed his Metang. The Iron Claw Pokemon built up a bright light and fired it at the Mightyena in a beam, knocking it into the nearby seats.

“Édouard, use Sleep Powder!” Morgan then commanded her new Bellsprout. The Flower Pokemon shot out a puff of shimmering powder at the Mightyena, putting it to sleep as it attempted to climb out from the seats.

“D.E.R.P., it’s your turn,” Shane said, recalling his Klefki and sending out his Inkay.

As Shane switched out his Pokemon, the other man, who had been knocked over, got himself up off the floor, a pissed off expression on his face. He reached for a Pokeball and sent out a Sharpedo. “Sharko, Ice Fang!” he commanded it. The Sharpedo shot forward, its teeth frozen over, and clamped its jaws around Morgan’s Bellsprout, knocking him out.

“Maine, Flash Cannon again!” Dmitri commanded his Mentang. It blasted another shot of light at the sleeping Mightyena. The force of the attack woke the Bite Pokemon up, but it looked pretty worn down.

“Go, Jean!” Morgan shouted, sending out her next Pokemon as Shane vanished into warp space.

“Sharko, Crunch that Metang!” the Sharpedo’s trainer commanded. The Brutal Pokemon charged forward and sank its serrated fangs into Maine’s metal armor. Cracks started to form as the teeth sank deeper in. Maine’s glowing eyes started flickering as the cracks spread, then they went out.

“Barko, Crunch,” the other trainer commanded his Mightyena. It lunged forward at Shane’s Inkay, but the squid Pokemon dodged out of the way and the Mightyena’s teeth sank into a chair instead.

“Jean, Volt Tackle!” Morgan then ordered her Pikachu. The Mouse Pokemon started charging down the aisle, sparking off electricity. He leapt into the air and slammed into the Sharpedo, smashing it into the seats as sparks shot along its body.

Without Shane to command him, D.E.R.P. floated over to the injured Sharpedo and attacked it of his own accord, knocking it out of the fight. Its trainer recalled his Pokemon and moved to run after Alex, H, and Dr. Armstrong. In a blind rage over the death of his Pokemon, Dmitri pulled out his laser sword and charged after him.

Meanwhile, Shane reappeared like a phantom behind the Mightyena and struck at it with his marked arm, whittling it down a little further. Confused at what happened, the Bite Pokemon lunged at D.E.R.P. and tried to crunch its fangs around the Inkay. The Mightyena’s teeth sank in, leaving the Inkay wounded.

“Jean, use Electro Ball!” Morgan instructed her Pikachu. Jean charged at the Mightyena and leapt into the air. He threw out a ball of electricity, which crashed into the enemy Pokemon, bringing it very close to going down. “Now, finish it off with Volt Tackle!” Jean landed on a seat, then sprang off of it at the Mightyena, dealing a pretty heavy blow. Miraculously, the Bite Pokemon stayed up, but the blow left it unable to move, sparks still coursing along its body.

“D.E.R.P., use Topsy-Turvy!’ Shane shouted. The Inkay flipped upside-down as his eyes flashed, but nothing seemed to happen. “Okay, now it’s my turn.” He started glitching out as he built up power. Spite just radiated out from him as he inflicted it upon the Mightyena. “Well, that’s … not exactly what I meant to do …”

Undaunted, the Mightyena’s trainer instructed it to keep attacking, “Barko, Fire Fang!” Due to being so beat up, the Bite Pokemon missed its target and bit another seat instead, setting it on fire.

“Jean, use Slam!” Morgan then shouted. Her Pikachu leapt at the Mightyena and crashed into it hard. Somehow, the Bite Pokemon still refused to go down.

“R.A.G.E., it’s your turn now!” Shane called out, swapping out to his Clefable. “Use Dazzling Gleam!” A brilliant light radiated off the newly released Pokemon and struck the Mightyena, finally taking it down.

“Shit, I’m not getting paid enough for this,” the Mightyena’s trainer grunted before recalling his Pokemon and turning to run.

Dmitri relentlessly chased the assassin who murdered his beloved Metang. Blinded with rage, revenge was the only thing pulsing through his mind. He pulled the Pokeball containing his Scyther off his belt and sent her out as he ran.

“Gigan, run him down!” he commanded his Pokemon. The Scyther flew after the man and lunged with a Pursuit attack, slashing at the man’s back.

“Agh!” the man grunted as the razor-sharp blade swiped across his back and knocked him to the floor.

“You killed Maine!” Dmitri yelled at him as he pointed his laser sword at the man’s neck.

“No! Oh my God!” the man screamed as Dmitri raised his sword to strike.

Dmitri brought the blade down, running it right through the man’s face. The killer’s lifeless body slumped down, leaving behind a smear of charred flesh along the wall. Dmitri grabbed the man’s Pokeball, then  returned to the auditorium.

Dmitri solemnly walked down the aisle toward his fallen Metang.

“What did you do?!” Shane yelled, but Dmitri ignored him. “What. Did. You. Just. Do?”

Dmitri continued forward and knelt down in front of his Pokemon, resting his hand upon its lifeless husk.

“We need to get out of here!” Morgan shouted. She and Shane ran to the exit but Dmitri didn’t follow.

“C’mon, we need to go now!”

Dmitri felt Morgan and Shane start dragging him, but he refused to let go of his Metang.

“You have to leave it or we’ll never get out in time!” Shane shouted.

Understanding the necessity, Dmitri reluctantly loosened his grip and followed after his crewmates. Tears welled in his eyes as sorrowful thoughts ran though his head.

Maine, I’m sorry.

Session Notes: Well that certainly took a dark turn … And I’ve come to the conclusion that we’re terrible people. Random Robot was initially going to kill that dude, but then he wasn’t so sure if he was gonna do it. And then we encouraged him to (out of character, of course)! Character development!

Jokes aside, we did have a Pokemon death … RIP Maine, may your memory live on with the other fallen Pokemon, F.I.R.E. and Cerberus. That Sharpedo was a lethal beast and we only made it worse. Shane’s player has feats that allow him to reroll any roll, and he used both of them on the Sharpedo’s damage rolls, and made it progressively more damaging each time! The goal was to do the opposite! And he had soooo many bad rolls this session. Damn you RNGesus!

Update 11/15/21: Not too much work needed here. Just the usual tense and perspective updates, changing or adding a few tiny bits here and there as necessary. I did cut the original opening scene into a few smaller scenes to make the transitions flow a bit better. For the combat, I redid some of the descriptions to make it a bit more polished, and I also added nicknames for the enemy Pokemon. DragonStorm suggested the absolutely dumb names of Barko and Sharko so, naturally, I just had to use them. It’s almost more insulting that Dmitri’s Pokemon died to one with such a dumb 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!