[JOURNAL] Talon Beauregard (Irridecent_Puddle)

[PuddleInk]

Journal of T. Beauregard


----- Contents are not subject to filtering, nor would the images be subject to filtering if there were any. Glue donations would be appreciated.-----


In gaining a new Zoid, one must first read through the manual. Or, if one is familiar with the model, get to know the AI. And if one is familiar with the AI, the question would be can you cope with this being?


This is sort of a record of what happens to keep myself sane through this entire experiment the officials are no doubts doing. One of these days, I do hope to rank amongst them so I can retire with class and style. And get back to my humble work of art that probably lay in ruins on my abandoned studio floor. Until then, I'll keep these accounts simple, to the point, and entertaining.

Notes will be made about my team mates and those that I meet along the way. This is sort of a world according to me. Got a problem with that?  

[PuddleInk]

------------ A sketch was pinned into the journals pages. It was the Green Tyrant in pencil and shading. ---------


A routine scouting mission turned into an interesting lunch date with a rather amusing--if not naiive-- Republic Solider. She was interesting in the fact that she didn't shoot me down , considering her ZOID was a lot more powerful than my beloved Tyrant. Ligers, especially Blade and Sheild, are a little too well endowed in the armor and weaponry if you ask me. Glad she saw things the same way.

And I have to say, Republicans make awesome sandwiches! Best I've tasted since my mother made my lunches in elementary school. A little sad, but nothing ever topped those yummy bites of stars and moons and ... that rather odd attempt at a Gordos.

Anyways, she turned out to be able to draw rather well..and naturally, I had to offer an exchange. Cannot have a doodle without giving one?

The doodling put me behind schedule, but I would have imply said I got caught in the sand...or distracted by something shiny and had to investigate. See..I wouldn't have been completely lying. Just fudging the truth...not that I would lie in the full report I would right up. ( Still did... Rules are rules you know. I like watching the paper monkeys groan when they see my reports. Its worth the hours at the keyboard.)

I have to say, those Republic folks aren't all bad. Their General is a hoot... I rather liked the bloke. Unfortunately, that's about it. I know next to nothing about him other than he was oddly not supposed to be there when he was since he had been injured in the recent Republic Formal Shindig. A certain someone would have probably blown a gasket knowing that a General hid from his own doctors.

Two days later, after filing my report and cleaning the Tyrant head to toe by hand and power hose, I get this mysterious crate and letter from the Republic. There was also something from the Superior Officer about how proud he was of me in my handling of the situation...as well as something about the Emperor being thrilled. And a Republic Turkey Sandwich. Guess which one I was more thrilled to see! I dare you!

I digress. The little MRZ, Surprising as it is, is awefully hepful. I haven't figured out a good name for it yet, but for now I call it Moe. Moe is a playfull bugger that is really laid back and easy to keep around. Doesn't bother me at all. In fact, he enjoys the attention and seems to love fetching and retrieving sticks, lost paperclips, and to the annoyance of the secretaries, pens from their desks. I, on the other hand, am completely and utterly amused by all of this. It also gives killer massages.

Moe is a winner! I'll go write up a thanks letter later...first I need to dislodge Moe from the air vent. He seems to think that he can climb in there... ...

------------the writing trails off with a huge streak across the page. Obviously, Talon had to be elsewhere and quickly...-----------  

[PuddleInk]

------- A pizza napkin from the local joint 'ZEEKS' was stapled to the page. It looks to have been slobbered on as well as chewed. There is a bit of dried sauce on it as well --------


The cooling units were just about to go out on the Tyrant. I figure there was some issue with it with the first place. Either way, it needed to be replaced. My guess was that it was faulty, or someone tried to sabotage my beloved Rapter. Whoever it is that is doing that will face me and my angry self... This time I really do mean it.

And Moe would help of course.

Met a new person today. Their Zoid is also of the Rapter class, a white and black one. Red details make it pop out and what not, but then again, its not so bad. A little tacky, and the guy seems to want a Saix instead. I cannot imagine why.

( Though in all honesty, I'd love the AI of Tyrant transferred into one of them fancy Ginosaurers... Really, really expensive though. I don't have that kind of funds and I doubt the military would approve of such silly transfer. I'll send in a request after I save up some more, yeah? Yeah! )

Something seems off about this person named Roy. I mean really off. Hardly any interest in global politics! Shameful. But then again academy bums seem to think that if it isn't in the local paper, it isn't worth knowing. Or something like that.

Either way, I managed to get him to think that he needed to bribe the mechanics with food. I'm sure Mal and the gang are rolling in their break room laughing at this green horn. I'd be there myself if it wasn't for the fact that Moe would most likely eat all of their pizza and chew on the empty beer cans. Or run amok.

And speaking of Moe, he's currently curled up on a dog bed snoring rather loudly and contently. I swear...he's amusing to no end. Odd programing, but still awesome.  

[PuddleInk]

----------Incoherent sketches are on these pages. They mostly look like doodles of things seen from a distance.---------

A funny thing happened recently. Aside from some rookie messing up the entire cooling system of the Tyrant, I managed to meet quite a few different folks. By quite a few, I mean I'm trying to wrap my head around all the different personality types. And so far, Moe's been pretty tolerant of everything. I'm starting to like having this blighter around. He brings me good luck ( not that I don't already have a lot of it already, I'm just not counting the chickens before they hatch quite yet. I'm not even sure I have any chicken eggs to count even! )

The best place to start on this zany adventure would be probably when the new Redler pilot came into town. Now, I'm not normally one to go out of my way to meet someone, but when someone seems to insult the mechanics, or has that air of ' Holier than thou' It kinda makes me want to roll into action. And so I did! ... On the back of Moe. Moe didn't mind. He rather enjoyed it. Though, I'm thinking back now, instead of meeting that rather interesting Nobelwoman, I should have been paying attention to whom was handling the Tyrant.

Don't worry, I've issued a formal complaint. Give it a couple of months and I'll get a letter back saying that they've received the complaint and will be looking into it. Meanwhile, I'll be almost halfway to my goal of saved up cash for the Zoid Core recovery program Doc Fox has.

Anyways, back to the girl. Lady...woman thingy. She's actually not all that bad. I had the distinct impression that she was trying to get rid of me. Didn't work really. Next time she's around I plan on bothering her something fierce. Maybe randomly send her flowers just because I'd love to see her reaction to that. And to figure out who the hell her fiance is so I can figure out why there's a Hush with a capital ' H' around her file on that.

Yes, I'm feeling slightly nosy towards that. Doesn't happen often. But hey! Might as well have some fun.

Anyways, a couple weeks after that I go on leave for a month. I had vacation stockpiled from previous missions and I pointed out that it was in my contract that I am allowed to take a month break. My superiors weren't too thrilled that I did manage to read the entire contract and fine print in one day. Needless to say, it was around the same time as that Republic solider's death. I could understand why they weren't too thrilled, but hey! It wasn't like they needed me!

Hind sight I probably should have stayed.

I wouldn't have had to stop in several places just to figure out some rookie screwed with my cooling system. Nor would I have met some rather interesting.... er.... rogues.

First one I met was this oddly perplexing guy called Ryn. Annoyed the hell out of me until he suddenly apologized after I called him on it. Couldn't place a finger on why he was so familiar until after I left. I'm still rather shocked and minorly afraid of talking to Jacob about this. I'll be sure to bring a flack jacket and swat shield whenever I do. It won't be pretty.

The second was an encounter with someone who also obtained an MRZ. Also was a decent fellow. The Lightning Saix was somewhat familiar, but I didn't bring it up. That would have been rude. But this 'Blade' character managed to diagnose poor Tyrant. I was thankful, frustrated, and ready to turn right around and go on a rampage in the mechanical terminal here. That wouldn't have solved anything. But hey! Moe had fun. Moe probably would like to run around the freelands and play with the MRZ's out there. Gods know he needs the interaction with his own kind.

Anyways, the entire trip took a week or two to get to the small free village where my family used to have their Zoid shop back when the Zoid Battle Committee was in charge and the Republic and Imperial folks were at peace. Took me a couple of days, but I did manage to fix Tyrant up good and feierce, even optimized the cooling. A little unorthodox, but I don't want him overheating in the heat, nor suddenly going cold in the winters here.

And that scrap piece of metal found by Maelthera and Moe did great to buy my way into using old Zee-Zee to get a couple of parts. I can tell you that Zee-Zee was glad I was back, but Tyrant was a little unsure. They got along fine, aside from the obvious welder's torch attachment.

The trip back was quicker... though I did have to have Tyrant run most of the way. We avoided most of the settlements and even danced in and out of the Republic territory to get back to our stationed base. Nothing to report on our way back. But I did give my superiors an earful about properly trained mechanics.

And I'm all ready for some missions that don't involve me playing diplomat. Tyrant too. Moe, on the other hand, doesn't care as long as he meets people. Sigh...  

[PuddleInk]

---------Confettii and a rather torn photograph is pasted to the side of the pages. Lots of dirt is also smeared here, though the dirt looks to be mostly accidental.
Paw prints of a mechanical nature is also seen, like some animal decided to sit and walk over the journal as it was being written. -----------






There was a mass celebration earlier in the week.

The infamous imperial traitor was killed by some unknown guy. Some guy named Shun something or other. The name sounded familiar so I did some research... The guy got his Saix stolen, and suddenly ends up a hero for taking down a dangerous criminal that was the best of the best? Yeah... Doesn't sound right at all.

And the story presented just doesn't make any sense either. But, hey! If the big whiggs believe it, it must be true, right? Yeaah...

I'm sure there is an investigation going on behind the scenes, and from the looks of it, anyone that doesn't believe that story and vocalizes it ends up with hard labor and a nationalism check.

It is times like these that make me want to go rogue. Or at least go on a long, long vacation for at least several years. That is unlikely to happen, so I decided to go scout out those ruins and chambers I ran into a while back. Some hard digging and cataloging for the name of fun is sure to keep my mind occupied so I don't have to deal with the higher ups. And I'm sure they'll be thrilled I won't be in the offices questioning their filing system for the nth time.

. . .

------ It seems like the rest was written here and there.. as well as a sketch of what seems to be a statue of somekind... and an oil blotch or two. ---------

My plans for a relaxing dig was cut short, I'm afraid. I don't think I want to explain everything that happened. However, I have acquired a new minion. It likes to investigate everything. I've had to pay for several new clipboards, chairs, stools, and I think a few computers since it arrived. Oh. It would be a cuttlefish.

Well, not a real one, silly! It has lasorbeams and inks when it gets frightened. ( That's how one of the laptops was shorted out... Funny story actually, but for another time.) Moe and this thing seem to get along okay. Moe's actually happy that Cuddles --as I've grown to call him-- has its own little aquarium it likes to stay in at night and when it wants to just chill out.

I should be talking more of the adventure...

ANYWAYS! SOO! We did meet up with this rather nice woman that threatened to kill me when we first met. ( That's okay. Lots of people do that. Usually it's to tell me to shut up and stop babbling like an utter moron. ) I could understand. Moe and I stumbled in on an unknown chaimber and awoke her from her nap... Which the chaimber turned out to be a plaster floor maze set above spikes... Almost killed myself on that one. Well, wounded me terribly.

Then, we almost got squished by walls and ceiling...then electrocuted by this FACINATING system of electrical rods and water... Which around that time Cuddle's decided to attach itself to me. At the time it was annoying. Anyways, the woman lady person thing also got herself a cuddler, golden of sorts, adnd they had this rather nice conversation over something or other... Which lead to us heading down a scary corridor and such and yeaaaah!

Almost got scewered there too. Met also some crazy lady in a mask...She's pretttty creepy if you ask me. Then again, said something about not dying just yet. So I suppose that's a good thing?

Blah...Kinda foggy that memory.

We came across this rather nifty chamber though. Had a small opening to the sky above. Must have been really deep underground. Birds appeared. No. Not flesh and feathered birds. Mechanical and ill tempered carrion eaters. Absolutely beautiful creatures. Scary as all hell when they're diving at you. Apparently Cuddles' kin and them bird folk don't like each other all too much. There was this laser war and what not tha thappned ...Say...I think that's when nice lady vanished and scary mask lady appeared...something about ' Judge' ... witt ... calamari... carved ... cruel sense of ... boulder... Atelius...

---- The words are impossible to read due to an ill fated ink stain no doubt caused by Cuddles. ---

So yea... Funny how my hunch proved to be right. Next time I have a theory like that, I'm going to have a romance movie marathon and get some paperwork done. ... Meh... Wonder if Seekers like the color ' blue' ?  

[PuddleInk]

-------------------------- There appears to be many scratched out words in the next couple of pages. It seems the author of the journal was having difficulties getting his mind onto the paper. Something must be bothering him.------------------------------



For a while nothing happened. I was getting used to not only babysitting a mechanical cat sized saurian, but a rather curious mollusk too. Most recently there was another run in. It didn't really go well. Or, well it did go well in the beginning.

I've come to be acquaintances with the 'hero' of the Empire. For a while I've had a hunch that there was more to the eye than appeared with him, and a reluctant hero he is. Its strange how small the world is and how quickly it becomes even smaller.

During a small standard vacation of a weekend, I stumbled across Shun and his friends. Well, friend. Bent-Tail, the small rat organoid, is sweet, kind, adorable, and seems just as troublesome as my Moe. He too is entrusted with a free agent. Though, not as smart as mine. Raptorish and possibly dumber than a stump, and something a shredder would spit up would be Zutnik. Blasted thing keeps insulting my intelligence and my very being. Clearly that dented head of his crushed some common sense of not insulting someone that has access to lots of fire power.

At least he's entertaining at times. Thankfully he and Atelius keep out of sight. Occasionally I catch peeks of him and the shadow of the Seeker, but I'm again thankful that they get dismissed as either organoids running errands for the miltary, rogue gnomes, or vultures enjoying the updrafts.

Enough of that, there has been a major overhall with my entire Zoid as well as a plot twist. well, not plot twist. Its more like someone decided to throw a huge ginosaur into the machine. Our Zoids, under the heavy influence of the Black Mist and Judge, along with some fusion between the striker and seeker, have --for lack of a better term-- evolved. Tyrant is not as fast as he used to be, but he makes up for that with major firepower upgrades and increased scanners that possibly could rival some of the flyers we have out there.

Shun's tiger got an upgrade as well... looks sharper and resembles the blighter Zutnik with the addition of more spikes.

You can imagine that our superiors were quite upset when we returned with our report from the small incident in the desert.



And another thing: the Chimera is back. Thankfully on our side. Our being the side not of the Judge.


The activity of that mad monster has been increasing, I'm afraid that without a proper general, the Imperial forces don't stand a chance. I hope that the next one knows what we're up against and knows how to deal with mythical forces that are real. And they better damn well have a sense of humor. I don't think I can write another report sans humor before I end up writing two reports. Humor for me.... dry for them...


Ugh. Can't focus on this right now. I'm gonna go take Cuddles for a walk. . .  

[PuddleInk]

A mandatory celebration for the appointment of an unknown general is today. I managed to keep one set of my formals clean and out of the reaches of Cuddles and Moe....I'm taking moe since he's cuter and used to these large croud situations. I don't want to have to spend the entire socializing time explaining to Cuddles how the cork of the champagne works.... Ugh....

I'll write about it when I get back.

--- Rushed writing and loopy scroll... Talon must have been in a hurry.--

It was fantastic to see the country celebrating something wonderful--the inaugeration of our new General. Moe had a fun time as well as he enjoys just chilling on my shoulder the entire time. His constant hooting and squeaking until I managed to get a grape from the guarded table. though, was rather annoying.

But a plot twist played. More on that story later. Weather's at Five o'clock.

Others that I knew were there. Oh, some local folks from around the place that managed to get an invite, but more importantly Private Kudora and Ranee were present. I got to have a small chat with the nice girl for a couple of moments before the ceremony happened.

Can't do nothing there but look sharp and pretend I know what I'm doing. Oddly enough, that happens more oftend than not. Its troublesome. I must look into it.


Anyways, I'm getting ahead of myself here again. The appointed general, Amadaeus something or what not, declined. Instead the pretty woman that looked rather hawklike was granted this esteemed honor instead. In hindsight, I think that was a fantaastic decision. Though, it is going to take a while to get used to actually following all the little nitpicky protocols I read about in my really down time. ( Cleaning guns, running tests, and polishing Moe and Cuddles only takes up so much time before you have other things to do...and it's not like I'm going to pick up Darning or something like that. PSh... I'm not an Infantry man! ) The shocker to this eveneing is the forming of a group of the three of us. Kudora, Ranee and Myself will be guarding the General from everything it seems.

Pretty much we get the unofficial status of 'Honor Guard' without the health benifits and pay raise. Not that I'm complaining about this at all. It puts me one step closer to figuring out about that Roulette wheel I think is in the Emperor's chaimbers...somewhere.



And my first impression was a terrible one. Moe helped... I managed to spill champagne all over my clean formals! Blasted createn! He's not coming for the breifing...and the only clothes that I have of uniform that are clean(ish) are my piloting coveralls I use for quick pointless missions...this time I think I have a bit of oil on them from checking gears in Tyrant's joints... But I don't have time to deal with that right now.


---- It seems that there was some time in the passing of entry's. The author's handwriting is delicate and calculated... sadly, there are no lower case letters. It seems his mind has defaulted to legibility rather than rules of handwriting.---

From the meeting with the General Pendragon ( who is a very nice lady with too much on her plate) there are more problems than anyone knows. Anyone in the higher ups as well as the general public and fleet of the military. Atelius and Zutnik have been well in their hiding, but not perfect. In fact, photographs of them --no doubts in the middle of who's sack of meat is smarter debate-- together and out in the open ( somewhat) were presented to us. I'm upset and have to tell Atelius of this, and ask for advise on how to deal with this new situation.

Deal was, if I remember, if we told anyone about them, death. Not just to ourselves, but to our entire country and everyone we hold dear. Its a sobering thought at that.

With Ranee demanding to know everything, and I stressed from this reveal of marvelous photographs by the General's personal MRZ, I might have snapped at her. But the kind of nobel that doesn't know her place to shut up in a tense situation like that needs to learn manners. Hell! I'm of middle blood! I know manners. YOu don't ask questions to folks that have been just shoved information they never wanted to share. I know I'll probably take a reputation dive from it, but just the questions were something I couldn't, and didn't want to deal with. If she was smart enough, she could figure it out for herself. I left loud enough hints.

. . . I still remember that temple place. It was fantastic! Well, not fantastic. It was a nightmare. But oddly, I find myself recalling it and remembering details more and more. The stone carvings were frightening, but just how much time did they spend on creating all of those complex traps? what did it look like when it wasn't hundreds, if not thousands of years out of disrepair? Are there more creatures like Atelius, Maximus ( ...scary bloke... stuck with Ye Olde Chimmera Gang Leader if I remember correctly), and Zutnik? Cuddles? Does Cuddles have mechanical bio-relatives?

Bah...I'm getting off track.

. . . Looming death is on the horizion. I don't want to put anyone that doesn't know how dangerous the situation is into this. If I could, I'd find Ranee's father and explain that as fatastic of a solider she is, she would be safer here. At the base. Worrying about promotions and not the death of a general, let alone possible treason charges if she does one small move.

But as one with minute qualities of noble blood ( ...family trees... No clue. Have to ask my living Aunt about it.) . . . Hell, I'm common. I wouldn't be heard unless I was high rank, and that's not likely to ever happen.

I plan on scheduling a meeting with the General to tell my story as well as show off my findings of the temple crawl I was in... She wants in on this, she's going to have to deal with a lot more than she barganed for. Bah... I think I'll take Tyrant for a run around the city a couple of times. I'd find ruins and explore, but I can't stray far with my new duties.


My money is on the Judge.

Creators save us all.  

[PuddleInk]

--- Entry was found written on the back of a very clean cloth that could be mistaken for a handkerchief. It is not Talon's writing, but a more mechanical calligraphic writing. Perhaps the Ancient Tarantula wrote it for him?--

Tacker, getting this? You are? Great! See! I knew that filling that well of yours with ink was a good thing. Don't give me that look! Oh, you've already started. ... Umm...


Let's start from after the point that the dashing Nick saved our asses, then that confounded lizard of evil pretty much doomed me into using some old a** saberfang that probably hadn't moved since the dawn of the days, and that really, fricking scary machine that I swore was going to rip my Tyrant in two. No? Why not! That's a good place to... Okay. I should mention how I got to have a very fantastic secretary:

The new temple was just as amazing as the last one I was in. Except this was like the nexus of all the temples. All of them. Central thing and what not. Symbols of the ancients and new and exciting traps laid in wait for us--Us being Ranee and Shun along with Zut, Atelius, Moe and Bent-tail-- and we didn't even know what was going to happen. Well, Shun and I did have some vague idea. Poor princess was brand new.

Boy did she have a shock when she met Nick. I was afraid there was going to be some sort of clash of the womanlyness. Then again, isn't Nick half machine? She looked far more banged up than last time. Haggared even. Hurried. And those fire monsters...Salamders? No. Obliterators... Don't 'derk' me! Back to transcribing!

Anyways, in all that ruckus, and chaos... I'm now heading to who knows where, with Tyrant sending frantic messages to me, and Atelius pretty much letting me know that I should probably just stick this one out and expect some sort of honorary return or something or other. I'm making a huge guess here that I need to make friendly with the locals and gain their support for me--not the Empire nor the Republic. Just plain ol' me.

I might see if I can't find Anders and pick his brain, see to learning how he hides his zoid in plain sight and maybe using a bit of my side funds for the proper gear to fix up Tyrant for proper combat in the Wastes. As he is now, he's a little too colorful for the landscapes out here. I don't want to just repaint him, as I love his coloration. Perhaps I should purchase just some temporary cloth coverings. It'll be interesting to see what I come up with...

No, Tacker, you won't have to draw the plans out. I'm capable of doing that.

But I do hope that Shun and Ranee got out okay...and I hope that they are alive. That shadowy Zoid.... Scared me to my core. I can only hope they got out unscathed or at least with their entire mind. And I hope that this impromptu vacation at least grants me overtime cause that canvas is going to be expensive!!!!