Plot Summary
The main story of Panzer Dragoon Orta takes place several decades after the events of Panzer Dragoon Saga, and is told through ten Episodes. The Empire has risen to power again, and has utilized technology from the Ancient Age to create genetically-engineered dragons called "Dragonmares", that they may rule once again with an iron fist. The dragonmares quickly cause widespread chaos and terror, separating the nations and people governed by the Empire.
The player learns through an opening narration that a young girl, Orta, has lived all her life imprisoned in a tall tower in a mountainous region near Yelico Valley. She is kept there by the Seekers, people who fear that she is a harbinger of doom. One night, a pack of Empire-led Dragonmares invade the valley; they destroy much of the city and make for Orta's tower. However, before the Dragonmares can harm her, a mysterious Dragon appears and eliminates them.
Frightened and confused, Orta quickly flees the Valley on the Dragon's back. Evren, a general in the Imperial Army and leader of the attacking Dragonmare Squadron, follows Orta and surrounds her. She is saved again, this time by Abadd, a renegade former Imperial Drone. He flies away, cryptically hinting at Orta's importance. Orta asks the Dragon to follow him. In her search, Orta meets Mobo, a friendly but reckless member of the Wormriders. Mobo leads Orta through a river valley and a sea of ash before returning to the Wormriders' village, built upon a gigantic hovering creature called a Lathum. The Empire quickly attacks the Lathum with their capital fleet, and in the ensuing battle to drive them off, Mobo is shot down. Evren's squadron reappears and engages Orta in a fight, and the Dragon defeats them. Though Evren is defeated, his Dragonmare self-destructs in a volatile explosion, sending Orta and the Dragon down to earth.
Though the Dragon is severely injured in the blast, its wings badly torn and useless, it can still run. The Dragon carries Orta across a snowy land long into the night, where its wings regenerate. An Els-Enora, a graceful flying predator, attacks the pair, and Orta wounds it in self-defense. It finally begins to fly away, and Orta sees its children fly up to it. She expresses sorrow for her actions, but Abadd suddenly reappears and kills the Els-Enora and its children with a single laser volley. Orta is hurt by Abadd's emotionless deeds, but is compelled to follow him, as he claims to know information of her birth.
The trio descend into the ruins of a Tower, and from there gain access to the ancient information network known as Sestren. Deep within this network, Orta finds a hologram-like, left behind by her mother, revealed to be Azel from Panzer Dragoon Saga. She mentions that Orta is the child of a drone and a human, implying that Edge, Saga's protagonist, is her father. As the hologram ends, Abadd manifests himself inside the network. He has learnt Azel's secret of reproduction, and intends to use Orta's body to replicate himself infinitely, thereby ensuring that drones will be able to live forever. Orta manages to defeat Abadd's avatar and discovers that he is heading for the Cradle, a gigantic monolithic artifact of the Ancient Age suspended above the Imperial City. Orta orders Sestren that she be transported as close as possible to the cradle.
The Cradle becomes activated and Orta and the Dragon find themselves in an Imperial research facility. After destroying several experiments such as a captured Catharp (found in Episode 3), a room full of dragonmare embryos, and an improved assault carrier Vermana, the facility soon collapses. The pair escape only to encounter the new Emperor in an Imperial defense unit called the Burchusha. The Burchusha is destroyed and the Emperor dies within the explosion. The Cradle, which has been tied by wires break free destroying several Imperial ships and making the Dragonmares go berserk and attack the Empire fleet.
A fight erupts above the Imperial capital as the Dragon heads for the Cradle. The Wormriders, led by Mobo, attack the remnants of the Imperial fleet at the City, leaving Orta to fly towards the Cradle. After finishing off the last of the Dragonmares, the Dragon destroys the Cradle's outer shell. A metallic cocoon-like object emerges from the Cradle's core, and Abadd's voice can be heard from within it. The cocoon erupts into a fearsome dragon, which Orta defeats after a long and dangerous battle. Abadd and his dragon slowly vanish into nothingness as he repeatingly says "Orta...I...need...you." The dragon, severely wounded, flies slowly to the ground and collapses. Orta whispers to it in tears as the credits roll.
In a final post-credits scene, we learned that the Dragon has died, and the war has come to an end. However, the narration explains that the Dragon left behind an heir. The camera pans across a vast and lonely grassland. A baby dragon accompanies Orta as she silently walks toward a range of mountains in the distance, to an unknown destiny.
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