Exclusive footage from the Aztechnology Pyramid incident finally released
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Date: 2082-10-04 By: News Van Dan
News Van Dan here. I've been sitting on this one for a while now, making sure everything is genuinely what it looks like - and far as I've been able to tell, this is the chip truth, folks. I got a one-of-a-kind hookup that gave me a call just in time to get drones on site back during that disaster in Downtown a while back, and chummers, you won't believe this drek. I'm gonna save my commentary for after the clip, but you won't wanna miss this.
The attached clip is a multi-view trid recording, presumably from a trio of C^3 camera drones given the clarity and high angles. As the drones crest over the nearby buildings to get into position, they're just in time to catch sight of a grey-scaled dragon with outstretched, leathery wings, presumably having just perched on top of a van parked below. Further down the street, in the same direction the dragon is facing, is the imposing facade of the Aztechnology Pyramid arcology - though, at the moment, it's looking significantly less pristine than usual. A massive scorch mark mars the arch above the entrance, bodies and bloodstains litter the surrounding area, and from the looks of it, evacuation of civilians is currently underway. Closer to the dragon, a crowd of clearly armed metahumans continue to make a fighting advance towards the Pyramid. Gangers in sickly green, yellow, and silver make up the rabble of the first wave, while a team of far more coordinated Shiawase grab teams use them as cover to exchange fire with a dwindling team of Jaguars overseeing the evacuation efforts. In the middle of the action, a trio of blurred, presumably human figures stand atop a golden crane spray-painted onto the asphalt near a scorched, blue corpse: One taller one with a recently-fired rocket launcher, one with a bulky shotgun and a set of heavily padded off-brand security armor, and one seemingly wearing just a red, orange, and brown armor jacket with a shotgun slung over his shoulder. Instead of the obvious response of fleeing from the dragon that's just landed like many of the other combatants, they instead charge forward, discharging small arms and engaging the dracoform in melee. The next few seconds happen almost too quickly to track. Interestingly enough, the dragon actually seems to recoil at a number of the attacks made against it, and quickly goes from mere arrogant disinterest to actively defending itself against the people swarming it. A swipe with one of its enormous talons is stopped dead in its tracks by one of the trio while the other two spread out to get different firing angles. A fourth figure in matte black combat armor rounds the street corner from behind the dragon, slicing a katana across its scaled throat just in time to force it to drop the unarmed individual currently moments away from being crushed by the beast's jaws. In short order, a number of things happen; an industrial forklift peals out from its place on a transport truck to slam into the dragon's side, a rocket sails in to detonate on its back from out of view, and the taller human opens up full auto between the dragon's legs after a failed attempt to charge it with a sword. The last thing two of the cameras capture is the unarmed figure taking a running leap and slamming a foot into the side of the dragon's face, forcing it to the ground. Abruptly, two of the feeds cut of simultaneously. The last is able to tilt its camera up just long enough to observe the culprit: A slowly-descending meteor of immense size falling down directly onto the scene of the combat. It is, unfortunately, too slow to evade the fate of being plastered against the underside like the other two drones. The recording ends.
I'm gonna be honest with you, folks, this is big. I've been sitting on this for ages double and triple-checking my sources, and I'm still trying to wrap my head around what all it could mean. This has runners written all over it, but who was this dragon? Why was there a Shiawase team working with a bunch of gangers from Loveland, and why were they headed to frag with the Aztechnology Pyramid of all places? Were they working for the dragon, or was the dragon coming after them? If the latter, did that dragon have Aztechnology on its payroll - or did Aztechnology have it on their payroll? Strange times in the Emerald City, my friends, strange times indeed.
If you've got a lead on further information about all this, I'm gonna tell you this right now: Drop me a line. The public deserves to know what sort of crazy drek is happening right outside their front doors, and I can promise security and anonymity for my sources.
For now, I'm News Van Dan, signing out.