"Good evening. This is Lan Dather and I'm here with you tonight from Luthien, the capitol of the Draconis Combine. For over a week Luthien has been in enemy hands, specifically House Davion. In addition, and even more horrifying, the Bloody Clans, those murderous destroyers of any and everything decent in the Inner Sphere, have had free rein on the planet.

However today Comstar forced all units thoughout the Inner Sphere to relinquish the planets they held within enemy space and return to their own space. What hell hole the Bloody Clans was forced to return to is anyone's guess, but all Kuritans are grateful to see them go most of all. We are here on Luthien at the Imperial City witnessing the return of the Draconis high command.

Luthien itself, for the most part, has been laid waste. Cities everywhere have been burned or destroyed by enemy mechs and infantry. Aerial attacks of every sort have also constantly taken place. The sort of destruction we have seen can not even be described in words. Additionally, the carnage and deaths of countless thousands of Kuritans, both military and civilian, have been discovered everywhere. This sort of insane slaughter and havoc can only be attributed to the Bloody Clans. This is yet another of the black deeds that have caused their names to be cursed throughout the Inner Sphere.

However...a puzzling thing. We stand outside the Imperial Palace itself and it, alone of everything else in sight, stands untouched."

**Lan turns to his rear and the camera sweeps out and up, encompassing the entire front of the Imperial Palace. Its facade is both stately and beautiful. Carvings and frescos can be made out adorning the entire front of the building. Fountains, currently empty, dot the grounds in front of the entrance. Everything appears immaculate. The camera comes back to Lan who is again facing the audience.**

"As you can see, the palace itself seems untouched by all the destruction around it. No one knows right now just why that is. Is there some meaning to it? Is this a message somehow being sent by the Bloody Clans, who seem to delight in particularly horrifying and disgusting spectacles they call messages? We will soon find out more. We are currently waiting for the power to be turned on in this area, in particular to the palace itself since it's just getting dark here. We will......wait....I'm being informed the power to the palace is about to be turned back on."

**Lan again turns to the palace and the camera sweeps out to view the front of it. There is a flicker of powerful floodlights and then they come on full force and the building is suddenly brightly lit. Interior lights can be seen flickering on at the same time. There is a gurgling sound heard from the front of the palace, apparently from the fountains. The camera stays on the front of the building while Lan's voice continues in a voice over.**

"As you can see, everything appears normal and we will soon be allowed to enter the Imperial Palace itself. I can tell you that..."

**Lan's dialogue is suddenly interrupted by several nearby screams. The screams are followed by several hoarse yells from off camera. The camera is jostled and the view of the palace jumps around. The sound of the fountains coming fully on can be heard. Another sound, almost like sprinklers, can also be heard starting up. The camera settles down and suddenly zooms in on one of the fountains. A dark liquid can be seen spraying up from it. It's unclear at first just what it is. Then its reddish color can be clearly made out in the lights...blood red. The interior and sides of the fountain are soon blood red also. More screaming and gasps from all sides. Lan's voice again comes in a voice over while the camera remains on the bloody fountain.**

"Oh my god! Is that...? No it can't be! Oh my god, this is horrible! The fountains appear to be spraying out blood rather than water. All of the fountains seem to be doing it! Oh...oh...now the smell has hit us! Yes! It's definitely blood! Oh my lord! Wait....what else is this I see on the front of the palace itself now?"

**The camera pans up to the ornate carvings on the front of the building. It's suddenly apparent that they are all starting to be covered by a reddish color that must also be blood. Small jets at the tops of the walls can be seen spraying out blood which is now dripping down the carvings and frescos and gathering into small red puddles at the base of the walls. The figurines on the walls suddenly become garish and nightmarish covered as they are by streams of red blood. The camera even zooms in on several and a smile on one becomes a bloody leer, the supplicating hand on another becomes a bloody threatening hand. Screams continue to be heard in the background. Sounds of retching and gagging can also be heard. The camera is suddenly pointing straight down. Concrete rockets towards the viewer as the camera is dropped. The screen covers with static.**

"Oh God....oh God...I can't take much more of this. People all around me are getting sick or covering their eyes and turning away. My cameraman has just fainted. This is Lan Dather coming to you from the Imperial City on Luthien. We'll be back in a few minutes with our live broadcast."

**Screen fades to black.**

"This is Lan Dather back with you live from Luthien, capitol of the Draconis Combine. There has been a series of not just disturbing but downright horrifying events here at the Imperial Palace. Security has been clamped down by the ISF on all broadcasts. For the time being we will not be able to bring you further live shots of anything outside our temporary studio here. We do have some updates however.

Some hours ago you may have seen our broadcast from the front of the Imperial Palace. The Bloody Clans apparently once again staged one of their vile spectacles that they claim are messages sent to the Inner Sphere. This time they actually were so depraved as to fill most, if not all, of the plumbing of the Imperial Palace with human blood. They are truly monsters out of your worst nightmares. They also installed sprinklers at the tops of the front walls of the palace which sprayed blood down the walls, turning the beautiful carvings there into visual horrors.

A note from the Bloody Clans was found in the throne room of the palace. I might add that the floor of the throne room was literally covered with nearly 3 inches of congealed blood. There is no end these inhuman beasts calling themselves the Bloody Clans will not go to in order to put together their horrible spectacles. We have a copy of the note's contents. It reads as follows."

**Here Lan looks down and reads something in his hands.**

**Lan looks up with an even more strained look.**

"I think that's all from Luthien tonite. Look for an update when more information is available. This is Lan Dather signing off."