((STORY EXTRACT))

Another shot rang out from the larger cannon, and I was thankful the helmet did at least a little to muffle the noise and prevent me going deaf. After a moment, Aerith leaned up against the corner of the muddy artillery pit with me, the shimmer of her form just barely visible against the rough stone and wooden planks. Myself giving her an invisible nod, we began to creep closer towards the lone artillery cannon. It rotated around, and rather than a robo-dragon running the gun, there was instead what looked like several large computer banks stacked on top of each other, wires running between them and some hastily-added machinery. A small orb rested atop what would’ve been the gunner’s seat in a pivot, rapidly scanning the skies and making a clicking noise as the lights on the machinery below it beeped and whirred. I felt Aerith tap me on the shoulder, drawing my attention to look down over the other side of the gun’s base.

Laying on the ground was what looked like a severely mangled corpse of a smaller robotic dragon, one that must’ve been hit almost directly by one of the shells flying about above. Much of its electronic interior had been stripped, with wires running up from the still intact power core to the device running the gun. Its head lay a few feet away, one of its eyes missing, while the other dangled from a cord lifelessly. Ooookay, so the dragons are breaking each other down into parts to make aim calculators. I can’t really decide if that’s gruesome or not. I leaned backwards, turning to face the machinery again.

The eye spotted another aircraft turning about above, the servos whirring loudly as gears began to grind and turn the gun about. As I looked up to try and spot what it’s new target was, the howl of the Valkyrie’s engines caught my ears, eyes going wide – Oh no you don’t! Opening the facemask, I reached back and pulled my umbrella off of the back of the suit, squeezing down on the handle as the prongs at the end crackled. Jamming it into the machinery, the eye spun about wildly, the gun’s servos spinning about again for a short while before it fired, causing the shell to fly up into the side of the mountain instead. With a dying whirr, the lights on the computer banks grew dark and the glow of the eye dimmed.

“Well… maybe taking care of these things will be easier than I thought.” I said, stowing my umbrella and turning to Aerith, only to find she wasn’t there… at least, I think she wasn’t there. I really wish I brought my magic goggles down here. Looking about, I spotted Aerith’s faint shimmer standing near another stairway leading below ground, on the far side of the anti-aircraft pit. I hurried over to catch up with her, and both of us descended into the second bunker. The explosions were muffled even further as more and more layers of thick stone, concrete, and earth were put between us and the surface, as we descended into the pre-war ruins.