Chapter 1 - WARZONE

Cade and Sazh soon managed to catch up with the impatient and determined Lightning, who had ceased to stop and wait at all for them. She ran towards a small patrol of PSICOM soldiers the moment both of them landed on the ground.

"Fixing to ditch us already, are you?" Sazh said "Are you sure we can get through here?"

The former soldier said nothing. Her face remained stoic just like back on the train. She drew out her gunblade and attacked the soldiers. Despite of them being well-armed, they fell pretty easy the moment they touched her blades.

While Sazh was awed by the former GC's skill, Cade smirked. She was as good as Fang in a fight. He wondered who would win if they fight.

Speaking of skills, Cade's eyes fell onto his shoulder. On his left shoulder blade, hidden under his shirt was his Pulse l'Cie brand. If he used magic out here, it would raise suspicion. And if they find out, he could kiss his chance to meet up with Fang and Vanille goodbye. Best to stick with his scythe for now.

The three proceeded down the road. Lightning took point with Cade following behind and Sazh watched the rear. They fought squads after squads of PSICOM, and they fell down very easily despite of being Sanctum's private army.

Cade chuckled. Those guys at Euride Gorge plant were much more of a challenge than these ones.

The group stopped just behind a rubble. In front of them was a single PSICOM soldier, who was standing near a portal. Said soldier seemed to be doing something with a device on his wrist.

"Not wanting to get purged I get it, but taking on trained soldiers?" Sazh asked.

"Better to die than get sent to Pulse. It's hell without a brimstone" the former GC replied.

Cade didn't comment. He was well reserved when it came to Cocoonians insulting his homeworld.

"Yeah well hell's not sounding too bad caused this place ain't exactly paradise." Sazh said, looking at the chaos around them.

Suddenly, the portal flashed, forming two feline-shaped creatures. "Bioweapons" Cade muttered, recognizing them as Pantherons.

"Domesticated peacekeepers" Lightning reassured, although her voice lacked the caring tune. "Nothing to worry about"

"Maybe not for a soldier girl but - hey!" Before Sazh could finish, Cade and Lightning had already ran forward to engage the enemy. It was an easy fight, regardless. Pantherons were more of a scout than a fighter. They fell much easier than the PSICOM soldiers.

After a while, they came to a bridge. However, an airship suddenly descended down in flame, crashing into it. The bridge soon collapsed just before the group, sending any who were unfortunate to be in the wrong place at the wrong time down into the water below. Out of all three, only Sazh was knocked down by the blast.

"Well, now what?" Cade asked.

"Do we turned back?" Sazh mentioned. The gap between their side and the other was far too long.

"There's no time" Lightning said. She walked up to the edge of the now destroyed bridge.

"So what do we do?" Sazh asked.

"Quiet" Lightning shushed him. She then flicked her finger, activating her AMP switch that would allow her to jump across easily. Her body was enveloped in some kind of barrier, and began floating.

Realizing that she was about to leave them here, Sazh ran up and held onto her, trying to pull her down. "Hey wait! No no! Don't leave me!"

"Let go!" The former soldier shouted, trying to break free from Sazh's hold.

"Hell no! You are my only way out of here!" the pilot cried, still refusing to let go. Now the pilot and the pink hair woman were fighting each other.

Cade watched the scene with a smile. Even in a warzone, there was always an entertainment around the corner.

The fight came to an end with Lightning kicking Sazh before punching him to the ground. However, the damage was done. She snapped her fingers multiple times, but the barrier didn't form. She gritted her teeth, thinking about beating the pilot into pulp for breaking her AMP and stopping her from getting across.

"Hey" Sazh spoke out as he stood up "That might get us across." He was pointing at a air bridge that was coming towards them. "Right?"

"Looks that way" Lightning replied, still angry with what he did.

The group ran toward the edge of the road and jumped onto the air bridge. However, they weren't alone, as they spotted a squad of PSICOM soldiers. However, one stood out from the grunts, dressed into a Marauder uniform.

"This is not our lucky day" Sazh said.

"Clearly not since we got on the train" Cade added.

"Deportees, are we?" said the Marauder in a taunting manner "Weapons down. I don't want things to turn ugly"

"Uh… 'turn ugly'?" Sazh was confused. What was this guy talking about?

"And you expect us to surrender without a fight?" Cade shot back "You guys had been killing us left and right"

"He wants to kill us without a fight" Lightning spelled it out. Her hand was already on her gunblade.

"Time's up!" The Marauder declared, starting the fight. Lightning fought him while Sazh and Cade dealt with his enforcers. Once they were dealt with, they turned attention back to the Marauder. Even with Cade and Lightning's attacks, this Marauder managed to put them on defensive for the most of the fight. In the end, Sazh was the one finishing it with a bullet from his gun.

With the bridge clear, they walked up to a terminal. Sazh stood just in front of it before breaking the silence. "So, Cade... What's your angle?"

Cade folded his arms. "I'm looking for someone. Someone who got caught in the Purge" he answered. However, from the look of it, he won't be meeting the other Purge survivors any time soon.

"Right… and you, soldier…?" Sazh now asked Lightning. He called her that because he had yet to know her name.

Silence was the answer.

"What, is it some classified military info? You quit, didn't you? You think I'm just gonna go out there and tell everybody your secret - ?"

"The Pulse fal'Cie"

Cade's grip on his arms suddenly tightened. This woman was coming after the Pulse fal'Cie within the Bodhum Vestige. The Vestige that he, Fang, and Vanille woke up in.

"What?" Sazh asked, surprised by the given answer.

"My 'angle'" Lightning explained. "I'm after a Pulse fal'Cie" She walked toward the terminal and activated the bridge, causing it to move. "Still happy you tagged along?" She then walked toward the edge of the bridge, watching the war unfold.

Sazh looked down to himself. His face expressed sombre. In his mind, he recalled the reason why he 'tagged along' with them. "Didn't have a choice" he murmured.


At the Resistance Front, it was a massacre. PSICOM troops were gunning down all Purge survivors, both armed and unarmed. They were following orders given by Sanctum to eradicate every single Purge deportees. The former Bodhum civilians, meanwhile, were fighting for their lives and freedom, not wanting to go to Pulse or to die. Under the leadership of a group called No Obligations, Rules, or Authority, NORA for short, they stood strong and held fast against PSICOM troops and their bioweapons.

So far the battle was a stalemate. Echoes of gunfire, shells trickling on the ground, and dead people flooded the air of the battlefield. This was followed by an announcement from the primarch of the Sanctum Galenth Dysley.

"On behalf of Cocoon's citizen, I would like to thank our brave Pulse pioneers and express our best wishes for a successful relocation. Your noble and selfless sacrifice ensures the continued safety and peace of our society. Were it not for this remarkable gesture, every resident of Cocoon - your family, your friends, your neighbors - would be exposed to the dangers of the world below. By choosing to leave Cocoon, and participating in this migration -"

Snow Villiers had heard enough. The NORA leader stomped his foot on the speaker, crushing it and shutting it up for good. He was a tall blond man with five o'clock shadow. His hair were mostly hidden by his black bandana. He wore a black t-shirt under a blue zip-down and cream-colored trench coat with grime, black pants and a pair of boots. He also wore a pair of biker gloves. Blue scarf hung from the belt of his pants. Hanging from his neck was two pendants. Strapped to his left arm was an AMP that enhanced his physical strength, which would allow him to punch metal like punching flesh. His AMP was called the Wild Bear.

"'Migration'? More like 'extermination'" Snow turned to his right, looking at the speaker of the quote. It came from a teen with blue hair, wearing the latest fashion from Eden. He was holding a loaded submachine gun in his hand.

"Yuj, you stay here" Snow addressed the teen.

"Sorry" Yuj apologize "I didn't mean to -"

Snow shook his head. "These people need heroes!" he explained, making a fist. He then straightened Yuj's hold on his gun "You keep your cool, and they will too" He gave the teen a few pat on the shoulder. "Got it?"

"Got it" Yuj nodded, understanding what Snow meant.

"What's our motto?" Snow spoke up.

"The army's no match for NORA!" Yuj answered with a grin.

Snow smiled, giving Yuj a thumbs-up. "Attaboy" he said, and messed with Yuj's hair. He then moved toward the front, where the fight was going on. He had a battle to win, people to rescue, and a fiance to save.


"Aw, this is crazy" said Maqui, a blond teen with goggles on his head.

"Then take a nap!" Said a muscular man with orange mullet. His name was Gadot.

"Really, can I?" Maqui asked, excited.

"Sure! And when we take a dirt nap, you can save 'em all!" Gadot replied, continuing to fire at PSICOM troops.

Maqui now lied on the ground. "Aw, that's even worse" he whined.

Snow arrived on the scene, taking cover beside Maqui. "No dirt naps today. We're all in this together!" he said. With that, Maqui suddenly got up and randomly shot his gun at the enemy. He shrugged it off, but kept firing.

"Our enemy's the Sanctum! Their dreaded PSICOM no less" Snow continued.

To his right, a teenage girl sat on the floor, armed with a rifle in hand. Her name was Lebreau. "What's the dread? PSICOM's nothing but a whole bunch of bluster and bullying. They've got nothing on NORA"
"Well, we're heroes after all" Gadot pointed out, standing up firing his gun.

"Let's prove it!" Snow stood up, rallying the group. Maqui and Lebreau got up as well.

With a cheer, they began moving out from their cover and pushed forward.


"We've gotta clear the path outta here" Snow told the other. They were hiding behind some debris, looking at a squad of soldiers up ahead.

"No more…" Maqui moaned, his back leaning against the debris as he fell to the floor.

Lebreay sighed at the sight. "There are soldiers everywhere"

"Yo boss, what's the plan?" Gadot asked the NORA leader.

At this, Snow stood up. "Charge in, guns blazing" he said casually.

"Hey! That's not a plan!" Maqui pointed out.

Lebreau grinned "Real heroes don't need plans"

"How about this?" Snow said "We hit 'em hard, and hit 'em again"

"Better" Maqui replied as he got up and followed him.

Gadot gave out a small laugh as Snow charged forward. "Don't you kids go fallin' behind now!"

"Yeah, yeah" Lebreau muttered.

The gang attacked the soldiers, clearing their way toward the currently detained deportees. All it needed was a lot of bullets, and a couple of punches by Snow, and they were through.

Gadot was on guard duty. Maqui and Lebreau started collecting the dropped guns. They checked the ammo as Snow was addressing the civilians.

"You all okay?" he asked. Then he saw Maqui dropped the guns on the ground.

"Hey, careful with those" he scolded the goggles wearing teen.

Snow's attention then returned to the deportees. Their morales were low. He needed to motivated them, to reassure that they will survive. "Don't worry. No one's moving to Pulse today. We'll clear a path outta here, so be ready to -"

One of the deportees stood up and shouted. "Wait! Let me fight with you!"

Another one, still in the robe, was the next. "Yeah, you can't expect us to just sit here!"

Soon, more and more volunteered themselves to fight. Snow turned to Gadot, and said, "Could help"

"Yep" Gadot agreed. It might even the odds of people getting out of here alive.

The deportee who spoke first continued. "Please, let us help" But before anything could be done, an explosion rumbled, causing fear and panic among the deportees. Snow look back, seeing that the explosion took place from where NORA gang came from, judging by the hint of orange he could see from the distance. Clearly, the way back won't be as clear as how they got here.

"Okay then. Volunteers front and centre" the NORA leader announced. One by one, half of the deportees grabbed the guns handed by Maqui and Lebreau.

Among the deportees, Nora Estheim was staring at the scene. She was a woman in a cream-colored clothing with silver hair. She then looked down on her son Hope Estheim, who was crying in fear of both dying and being deported. It was decided for her. She would fight for her son.

When she stood up, Hope immediately grabbed her arm. "Mom…" he cried, not wanting her to go.

"Don't worry" She reassured her son before leaving him behind. She then walked up to the NORA leader, holding a gun in her hand.

"You sure?" Snow asked.

"Yeah…" Nora replied "Moms are tough"

"Right…" Snow said, didn't take the word in completely.

Gadot then came over, holding the last gun. "It's the last one, boss"

Snow took the last gun, and held it out of the rest of the deportees. "Last one, somebody take it"

At the sight of the firearm, Hope backed away from it. "No… I can't"

A girl, who was still in the robe, then walked up and opened her arms, accepting the gun with a cheery smile. This was Vanille, a Pulse l'Cie from Gran Pulse. She boarded the Purge train, thinking that it would take her home. She took the gun, seeing that Hope was terrified seeing it.

Truth be told, Vanille didn't want it as well. She had no intention to fight, or kill. All she ever wanted was to go home, to be free from her burden, her Focus.

"Here!" she said, waiting for the gun.

Snow handed the gun to her. "When push comes the shove, keep 'em safe"

Vanille held the gun in a firing position, and pointed it at Snow. "Bang!" she imitated the shooting sound while moved the gun as if it was shooting.

Snow also played pretend as well, giving her an expression of being shot.

Her first impression of Snow: all talk.

Snow then started to attend to those who were not volunteering to fight. "All right. Lay low and you'll be fine. We'll clear out the area. We're going home together!"

Not one single person stood up. They were too depressed to do so.

"Come on everybody up!" Lebreau encouraged. This time, they were getting up.

"Right" Gadot said, ready to move out "New recruits - on me!"

The group then moved out into the battlefield. Nora followed, but stopped to look at Hope first. He was still sitting on the ground. Lebreau then pulled him up and escorted him with the rest to safety. Certain that her son will be safe and sound, she gave him one last glance before joining the fight.


Back to the NORA gang, Snow, along with Gadot and Lebreau, led the spearhead charge with the volunteers supporting from the rear. It was a clean sweep until they reached the end, where PSICOM had unleashed one of their bioweapons, a massive Beta Behemoth. It was the only thing standing between them and their goal.

"Heroes don't run from fights" the NORA leader said, assuming fighting position as the massive bioweapon charged at them.

The fight lasted longer than any other fights so far. This bioweapon was very strong, able to withstand a lot of damage. Despite the focusing fire given by Gadot, and Lebreau, the Beta Behemoth was still strong enough to heave them. Snow had to take most of the brunt of its attack, some literally sent him flying in the air. Still, nothing a potion couldn't take care of.

Finally, the Beta Behemoth was brought down. PSICOM troops began falling back. However, a PSICOM airship flew in, its turrets aimed at them. It then rained down fire on them, killing those who couldn't get to cover in time.

"Snow! We got trouble!" Gadot shouted.

"No kiddin'..." Snow muttered. He looked forward and found a rocket launcher lying out in the open. He turned to Nora and told her to stay down before running up to get the weapon.

He dived forward, dodging the incoming bullets. His hands touched the rocket launcher, but he lost the grip on it when he rolled over. It remained a few good meters out of his reach. He then looked up. The airship began powering up its giant cannon, preparing to disintegrate them all into dust.

At that moment, Snow gritted his teeth. He cannot die here. Not now. He had promised her. He had promised her to be there with her. He cannot fail that now.

Before the cannon was fired, an explosion hit its hull. The airship then lost its altitude, flying away from them. Snow turned to his side to see Nora holding the used rocket launcher. She dropped it to the ground before lending him a hand. "I told you, didn't I?" she remarked. "Moms are tough" With her assistance, Snow got back up on his feet.

But the moment did not last. In its final moment, the airship cannon fired, hitting the bridge. The blast sent shrapnels flying, one of them embedded into Nora's back. Nevertheless, the two were knocked down by the blast.

It must have hit a critical structure or two since the bridge began to sagged down and split apart. When Snow came to, he was hearing screams and cries. He got up to sitting position, with Nora in his arms, and watched the other side as it collapsed. People on it were falling from it, either by sliding down, or being pushed over by things and people that were sliding down.

"No…" Snow said in horror as he slowly backed away from the edge. Those people… he brought them to their death. He was supposed to save them. And now…

His thoughts were broken as the floor shifted, causing them to slide off the edge. Snow managed to grab on a piece of metal that stuck out of the bridge, with the other hand holding Nora.

As the NORA leader held on, Nora wasn't doing well. She was losing blood. She knew she will die here, but at least Hope was safe. She was sure that Bartholomew would take care of him despite of how distant he was from their only son, and how much Hope despised him for it. In her dying breath, the mother looked up to Snow and pleaded to him, "Get him home… please..."

"Hold on!" Snow shouted, determined to not losing another person.

Nora smiled. Her head then went limp. Snow was losing his grip on her, or rather, Nora no was no longer holding his hand. Tried as he might, her hand then slipped away, falling down along with the others.

"No!" The NORA leader cried out, watching her fall.

He remained there, frozen. He glanced at the very hand that held onto her. He couldn't saved her… He couldn't...

And then, he fell. The structure gave away again, causing him to slip off and descended.

And he wasn't the only one who cried at the sight of Nora's death.


"Ah!" Hope cried, watching as the only person he held dear fell down into the abyss below. His hands reached out, as if trying to reach her.

Traumatized, he stood there. He was about to cry. His tears were about to leak. Why did she have to die? Why? He wanted to blame someone. He wanted to. Someone had to pay for his mother's death.

Beside him, Vanille pulled his arm. "Come on!" she yelled. When Hope didn't respond, even when there were aircrafts firing around them, she slapped him to his senses. "We have to move!"

"Right…" Hope nodded.

Vanille then grabbed his hand and ran back to the rest of the deportees along with Hope. Deep inside, she wondered with a heavy heart. What this their fault? Her fault? That these innocent people have to die just because of her being a Pulse l'Cie?


Back on the air bridge, Sazh and Cade watched as the war raged on in front of them. To Cade, it was nothing much. To Sazh, however…

"It's an out-and-out massacre…" he quoted "Those people won't even live long enough to die on Pulse"

"That was the idea" Lightning added.

Sazh turned to the former soldier "What?"

"Sanctum logic" Lightning explained. "They conjure up the Purge to eliminate the threat. I mean, why carry the danger all the way to Pulse? Why not just stamp it out here?"

"Execution masquerading as exile." Cade added, understanding what she meant

"Yeah. That's all the Purge ever was" Lightning agreed.

Sazh gave himself a nervous laugh. "'Relocation to Pulse'. How does the government get away with putting crap like that?"

"Maybe because they were the one putting it up" Cade guessed, making a shrug.

"And you" Sazh now focused on Lightning. "You knew this was gonna happen?"

"The Purge was PSICOM" Lightning informed the old pilot "Private Sanctum troops, not the Guardian Corps"

"PSICOM. Guardian Corps." Sazh said. "Soldiers are soldiers, aren't they"

"Not really" Cade clarified. "The GC guys are more like a police than military. They handled domestic affairs. PSICOM deal with Pulse and all that related to them."

Sazh continued from where he left off. "Pulse fal'Cie, and their l'Cie are the enemy of the state. Tell a soldier to kill an enemy, and you really think that this is gonna matter what uniform he's wearing" He pointed at a corpse of the PSICOM soldier from earlier.

"Might have matter to that one" Lightning replied. "Couldn't shoot. Got himself shot instead"

Sazh walked up to the former soldier. "How about you?" he asked. "Order to say shoot, you pull the trigger?"

Lightning didn't answer. She was deep in thoughts of her own sister. Serah… her sister, and a Pulse l'Cie… Lightning literally shunned her away on the day her younger sister told about being a l'Cie. She pushed away her own sister the day she needed her the most. Now she regretted what she did.

Damn those orders. She came here for her and will take her home. She will protect her unlike that blond idiot had failed to do so.

With her not answering, Sazh gave up. "Fine. Forget I asked"

Cade looked at Lightning. Judging from how she didn't answer, she must've met a l'Cie before. Whoever it was, she seemed to hold them dear to her.

Suddenly, a siren alarm rang out through the entirety of the Hanging Edge. Sazh looked head, pointing at the said direction. "Whoa. What's that?"

Cade and Lightning looked forward, and they recognized what it was.

The Bodhum Vestige, a derelict from Pulse, also known as the Lowerworld, being hauled in by PSICOM.