Part 11: The Ruins Of Uru (Part 1)

Edge and Roderick bid a fond farewell to Gash before taking to the air and flying north once again, back to Georgius. With the tornado dissipated and the Imperials gone, the place is eerily silent, with the only sound being the rush of air under Roderick's wings.

As Edge approaches Shelcoof, he notices that the dragon's lasers are powerful enough to start Accessing some of the pyramids that still float in the water,

and doing so releases a number of strange, glowing spheres that float through the air.

(Those spheres are made of energy. And they're going into the ship!), Edge marvels to himself.

He finds a second pyramid to the east of the airship and releases the energy from there as well, noticing as he does so that there are two pillars flanking this particular pyramid. When he and the dragon re-entered Georgius, he had also noticed that the other pyramids had differing numbers of flanking pillars - some two, some three, and one four - and wonders if it means anything.

The dragon's lasers aren't powerful enough to open any more of the pyramids, so Edge directs his friend back inside Shelcoof's "back door" - the hole the Empire made in the ship's side has been sealed shut - and wonders if he'll get any further this time.

This is the door that stopped our heroes before - and it opens! What on earth could be beyond it?

Aw, shucks. Have to come back later AGAIN.

On his way back south, Edge is gripped by a compulsion to visit the caravan, where he finds An'jou still working on his latest carcass - and dishing the latest dirt!

is fighting against the Imperial forces. Our prayers have been answered.

Edge: Is that what you think?

An'jou: Not too religious are you? Here, take this, and study.

Dragons are the Gods' only other creation. Dragons were the only creation to escape the seductive madness of killing, and the only creation the Gods did not leave behind.

At the End of Genesis, the Gods left the world. It was because the humans fought against one another, defying the Gods' wishes. Now people are subjected to judgment, and must walk the passage to death.

But a great evil began to feast on the living, denying them their rightful passage to judgment. Therefore, the Gods created a dragon, and released it into the humans' world.

The dragon is the hand of guidance, and also the eyes of the Judge. The dragon shall fly over people to display the Gods' power, fight to defend the good, and destroy to end all wars.

The arrow of light that cannot be shielded, the shell that cannot be speared, and the wings that cannot tire. These are the powers of the dragon. All things from this world are powerless before the dragon.

If you gain the dragon's grace, the arrow shall always be shot to the battlefield, the shell shall always shield the good, and the wings shall always appear spanning over the passage of hope.



Edge is moved by the elegant prose, but something just doesn't seem right about it. He begins to wonder exactly what's wrong, but snaps out of his reverie when he realizes that he still needs to deliver the ship parts to Paet. He quickly takes off again for Zoah and sprints to the corner of the Liberal District where Paet works, when...

Where were you? In reply, Edge tosses him the ship parts. Hey, what the...? Oh, right.

Paet: Kid, I know your secret. Where did you get him, anyway?

Edge: What do you mean, 'him'?

Paet: Come on! Don't play dumb. I saw you riding the dragon.

Uh oh. "Um, dragon? What dragon? That's just my pet coolia you saw me riding. I, uh, found an ancient rocket booster in a nearby ruin and shoved it up its ass." (In the actual game, Edge says nothing, and just gives Paet the evil eye.)

Paet: Now, hold on, buddy. Calm down, if looks could kill... I'm not the same as the idiots out there. Refusing to accept what you don't understand blinds you to the truth. Calling them Gods to worship them or Devils to fear them, it's all religious propaganda. Am I wrong?

Responded to only with silence, Paet tries a different tack.

Paet: Kid, you need me. I'm a great scientist! Studying and tinkering, I learned how to use the ancient tools. With this, I saw you riding the dragon at Georgius.

So, please? I need you to show me that dragon, PURELY for scientific reasons.

Yeah, right. You know who else people wanted to see purely for scientific reasons? E.T., that's who! And you know what they did when they did their scientific stuff to him? THEY KILLED HIM, THAT'S WHAT!

...oh, wait, no they didn't. Eliot woke him back up and then they flew over the cops on their bikes and then E.T. phoned home and his ship came and his finger glowed and he told Eliot he loved him and it was so happy!

Edge: Okay, one of these days...

Paet: Promise? Keep your word, okay?

That's a serious violation of personal space right there.

Having got what he wanted, Paet remembers common decency, and asks:

Paet: What was your name?

Edge: It's Edge.

Paet: Right. Don't forget, Edge? I won't say 'now'. But make it soon, deal?

Okay, okay, fine. You wanna stop holding out on us now?

...the 'Tower'... Yeah, it's about time I told you. It's located to the northeast, beyond the lake...

Finally, we're getting somewhere.

HUH??????? (There aren't enough s to express this.)

Edge: You think?

Paet: Well, I used this to photograph it, so I've never actually been there. Want to see my machine in action?

Yes, especially if it malfunctions and blows your goddamned head off.

Paet: Let's see, where did I...here it is.

Great. Wonderful. Fantastic.

...

...Edge still has a gun, you know.

Paet: You see, by watching this screen, you can see everything in the world without leaving town.

ESPECIALLY chicks in the shower.

Paet: This is my favorite reinvention! (See?)

Suddenly, the screen comes to life, showing Edge a vast expanse of water dotted here and there with ruined pillars, arches, and walls; giant plant growth coming right out of the water; massive rock outcroppings; and, eventually,

an even taller rock outcropping with what looks like a tube attached to it. As the image pans, turns, and shifts back towards what looked to be the entrance, Edge catches a fleeting glimpse of something familiar...

(...What? It's her!!)

Paet: That's all that's left of it. I guess it was attacked by the monsters. Right now, you can't get near there.

Those ruins are in Uru. I was investigating, because I heard you can get to the Tower from there. Getting to the Tower from the sky is impossible because of the fog. It's just that I was showing off the photograph I took, and people thought I knew about the Tower. I didn't mean to deceive you.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever. Edge just wants Paet to let him get the hell out of there, but before he can go, the mechanic offers at least one piece of useful advice:

Paet: I hear there's a shield protecting the ruins of Uru. You have to deactivate it in order to go underground.

Edge manages to finally take his leave of Paet, and mumbling to himself the entire way, mounts Roderick and travels northeast to Uru.

(So, this is Uru! Just like Paet showed me...let's see. He said the dragon flew to the north of here...)

Edge decides to fly east first, just to make sure he doesn't miss anything here, and while there, happens upon something in the water.

I thought these creatures were extinct. Hmm...it seems to want lots of attention.)

It also seems to want to knock down pillars, as it demolishes the one Edge found it by with a mighty swing of its tail. As Edge continues exploring, he is suddenly attacked by a Lumid Swarm.

Look, everybody, it's a palette-swapped Nanyd Swarm! Yes, not even Panzer Saga is innocent of palette-swapping, the ever-present crutch of the video game developer.

These bugs go down in the same way as their desert-dwelling cousins, and Edge moves on. Continuing to explore the area, he finds a huge structure jutting out of the water, in the middle of a group of rock outcroppings that appear to be pointing towards it. Accessing it causes a voice to ring out over the water - (The ruins are sending a message...)

for Protect Key #2.

Edge: (...Protect Key #2, huh... If I find that, I'm in. Where could it be?)

Edge doesn't get very far before he is attacked again, this time by a group of Dracolyths (who were enemies found on the first stage of the original Panzer Dragoon, and I'm pretty sure that the ruins of Uru is where that first stage takes place.)

The Dracolyths are weak from the front, so Edge charges up Roderick's gauges,

locks on,

fires,

and hits!

After a few more volleys, the Dracolyths go down, and Edge turns his mind back to exploring.

Back to the north, he finds the large rock outcropping with the tube coming out the back of it that he saw in Paet's machine. Hey...is that a hole in the rock face about even with the tube?

It is - but there's a pillar in front of it, blocking the way. Hey...is that the Kinoshita Whale - the one that liked knocking down pillars - in the water right in front of it?

It is!

The passage inside the tube mixes a technological aesthetic...

with eerie beauty. The fact that Edge finds this section of the tube underwater makes him wonder, however. Where on earth is this going?

Huh...a northern section of the Uru ruins. Paet never said anything about this...

And he certainly never said anything about an ambush by Craymen's forces!

Enemy crew: Monster approaching...with a rider?

Enemy captain: Man your battle stations.

Crew: Roger.

ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow OW!

The Annhilator's main gun, the Reaper, is able to swivel around a center mount and follow Edge wherever he goes. Fortunately for Edge and unfortunately for the Annhiliator, its entire front is a weak point...so after a few dodges to build up the gauges, the weak point is wide open for a hearty -

fuck

you

asshat!!!

Shit, there's more?

Owwwwwwwww!

The Rogue fighters, like the Annhiliator, also have a weak point, this one in the rear.

Two volleys later, the smaller ships are all down.

A second squadron follows the first, and is similarly disposed of, but Roderick is beginning to tire. When will this assault end?

We've locked onto the enemy. It's no match for the Reaper.

Not yet, obviously. This time, the Annhilator is escorted by three Inferno-class fighters, who provide a buffer against the lock-on lasers...

As well as a little extra offense. Edge dodges like crazy to charge up some gauges while avoiding the Reaper, and a moment later he sees his opening...

...or not.

To protect against the Plague Rockets, Edge decides to activate Vengeance Orbs, a Berserk power that absorbs the power of enemy attacks,

shielding dragon and rider from danger...

and firing it back at the enemy.

Thanks to Roderick's nonexistent SPR level, however, the attack power of the Vengeance Orbs is pathetic. Frustrated, Edge swings back around to the rear,

unloads on the Infernos' weak points with his gun, then swings back around to the front once the buffer ships are gone

and finishes the job.

What are they doing here!?)

Edge isn't quite sure yet, but figures that before he goes any further, a quick trip back to Zoah to gear up might be a good idea. Craymen, with this extensive ambush, has shown that he's not playing around any more.

Neither is Edge.