Part 4: Panzer Dragoon Saga

Edge’s body had plunged into a deep pool of water on the very bottom floor of the ruins, where it continued to float, completely still. After some time, a mysterious ball of white, glowing light descended from above, and it entered into him. Gasping for breath, Edge awakened; he struggled out of the water, confused.

In the room beyond the pool, Edge searched for a way to begin his ascent towards the far-off surface. He discovered an Ancient Age gun in a storage capsule, which he took with him, and he couldn’t help but notice an enormous carving of a dragon mounted high up on one wall. It was an ancient dragon crest, an artefact like the one Lagi’s spirit had entered into at the end of Panzer Dragoon Zwei, but of course its significance eluded Edge: he was more concerned with activating an elevator that he had found nearby.

Edge soon succeeded in unlocking the elevator, but it took him up to a high platform where he was confronted by a legion of pure-type monsters. Edge drew his newly-acquired weapon, but when he tried to fire the gun he found that it was malfunctioning, as only clicking noises emerged from its ancient casing. The beasts lumbered ever closer, emerging out of the darkness all around him. To Edge’s surprise though, it seemed that his life was destined not to be ended by those monsters’ claws; massive shafts of energy shot down from above without warning, and the approaching horde was annihilated.

The monsters closed in on Edge but his ancient gun malfunctioned.
The monsters closed in on Edge but his ancient gun malfunctioned.

Edge found that his life had been saved by a dragon, which landed on the platform to greet him. Although Edge of course knew nothing of these things, this dragon was guided by the Heresy Program, the renegade entity that had been ejected from the Ancient Age data network long ago.

Looking into his mind, the dragon communicated with him, causing strange visions to float through his consciousness: visions of the future, as Lundi had seen all those decades ago. Vaguely understanding the dragon’s wish to reach some kind of towering structure on a far-off island, Edge climbed up onto the creature’s back; together, they ascended out of the darkness.

The dragon guided by the Heresy Program.
The dragon guided by the Heresy Program.

Edge made his way back to the place where his companions had been attacked by Craymen’s men, and there he found his Captain; the man was still alive, if barely so. It was him that told Edge of Craymen’s identity before he finally passed away; angered and horrified by the murder of his friends, Edge vowed to hunt Craymen down to find vengeance for their deaths.