Chapter 8: Getting Stronger
Lightning scouts ahead. She transformed her Blazefire Saber into gun mode and hides behind a branch from a near by tree. No one is in the way and she motions for Jake and Hope to get in.
Hope leans close to Lightning, "Can't believe we made it." The doorway behind them closes.
"That'll slow down pursuit." Lightning said.
"But aren't there troops on this side?" Jake asked. "We can't relax just yet." He couldn't help being a little worried.
"Right. We press on." She scans a look at Jake and Hope. "I'll take point. You two watch our backs."
Lightning turned around. "Actually…" Hope began to talk. "Why don't you let me take point?" Lightning and Jake give him a surprised look.
"Can you handle it?" Lighting asked.
Hope takes lead and turns to his two partners. "It's not a question of can or can't."
Lightning smiles a little bit at Hope. It seems he was listening after all. "Now you're learning." She nods at Hope and he returns the nod. Hope turns around and begins to take the lead. "Keep your eyes front. We'll watch the rear."
"Got it." Hope said. He continues onward.
"That boy is something." Jake added. "Who would have guessed you would make an excellent coach." Jake follows Hope. Lightning smiles at the comment and looks back gun blade held ready.
Hope led his group through the Gapra Whitewood. "Don't stray too far." Hope was advised. The woods were bright and the trees were tall and slim with branches the seemed more like blades on a slant pole. It does seem like somebody would get lost in these woods.
"Be wary, but don't be afraid." Hope nodded at yet another advice he remembered from Lightning's lessons. He led the party to a small band of slug like enemies. The group quickly dispatched them and kept on moving.
Lightning sees light coming from the ground. "We can use the lights as a guid to lead us in the right direction."
The group ends up facing yet another group of monsters only this time, they were PSICOM wolves. "Don't go chasing after enemies." Jake warns. "It's a surefire way to get ambushed." Again, Hope successfully dispatched the monsters. Hope is feeling a lot of confidence and is hoping that Lightning sees that he is progressing in strength.
Hope stopped and asked Lightning a question. "Have you ever been here before? On duty, I mean."
"No, I haven't." Lighting walks pass Hope a little bit. "This area is covered by the Woodlands Observation Battalion." She turns to Hope, "You scared?"
Hope lets out a small gasp. "Not really." He said trying not to sound scared. "I'm ready to fight if I have to." Hope walks on.
Lightning stops Hope and hands him a small knife. "What's that for?" Jake asked in surprise.
"It's to keep you safe." Lightning said avoiding Jake's question. Hope takes the knife without hesitation but in his mind he was thinking that it wasn't a good idea. He twirled it a bit in his hand, inspecting and studying the size and weight of the small knife. "I'll want it back." Lightning said heading towards the elevator. Jake glares at her for a moment.
"Lightning." She turns around to meet Hopes eyes. Hope steps a little closer to her. "I'm glad I followed you. By myself, I would've had no chance." Lighting nods at him and steps on the elevator with a patient tom already to go. Hope then gets on the elevator himself and starts it with the only button on the back of the elevator.
The party made good use of their powers to fight against the woods monsters. Hope was getting a good vibe from both Lightning and Jake. He knew this was going to be tough but he needs to move forward.
Hope hears something and stops. "What is it?" Lightning asked. She turns and sees that Jake had the same reaction as Hope.
We need to hide!" Jake warns. Hope takes Lightning's arm and pulls her under one of the trees branches. Jake hides just in time before a group of PSICOM soldiers was able to catch them as the soldiers flew pass by. Jake got a good look at them before he got out. "It doesn't seem like they're even looking for us. I mean, we're l'Cie and we're on the loose."
"PSICOM is keeping it all under wraps." Lightning said with a little hint of anger. "They don't want their failure publicized. Better to loose us than their pride."
"So the other soldiers don't know about us, right?" Hope asked.
"Right. They don't know anything about any fugitives." Lightning said very sarcastically.
Hope is growing even more tired from the battles. He nags himself to stay alert and focus. Jake can see that Hope is pushing himself to his limits. "You alright?" Hope gives the tom a nod.
"That's one of the bulkhead fal'Cie. Stay on guard." Lightning warns.
The three get close the bulkhead. Hope is panting and sits down on the platform. He releases a couple of breaths. "I wonder how the others are doing." Hope said.
"Sazh, Vanille, and Chance? Who knows?" Lightning answered. "Even if they got away, they'll get caught eventually. Then they'll have to choose: resist or surrender." Jake winces at what Lightning just said.
"Surrender…" Hope's anger begins to rise. "Do you think he's still alive?"
"You mean Snow?" Lightning turns to face Hope. "He's too stubborn to die." Lightning turns back around and scoffs. "And that's his best quality. He's arrogant and chummy from the get-go. He thinks he's everybody's pal. Never liked him much."
She folds her arms across her chest. "He leads around a bunch of kids-gang called 'NORA.'"
"Where'd they get the name 'Nora'?"
"It's a stupid acronym. Their little code." Lightning releases a sigh. "Stands for 'No Obligations, Rules, or Authority.' Must be nice." The bulkhead behind her glows and the path is open.
Jake and Lightning are ready to keep going. Hope gets up. "It's irresponsible." Hope passes between them. Jake and Lightning share a worried look, but cast it aside to press on.
The ride to the bottom of the woods was fairly quick. One good look here and Jake new Dr. Viper would gush over the monsters and the environment. "This is an army facility for turning wildlife into weapons." Lightning said. Jake now thinks that Dr. Viper would kill to get here.
"Civilians aren't allowed in here, are they?" Jake asked.
"We'll have to be sure and tell them if we see any." Lightning jokes. "This area is filled with feral creatures. They're a lot different from the military breeds so be careful." Hope and Jake nod.
Hope sees that something is blocking their path. "How do we keep moving? There isn't another path around it."
"Those fences are for containing the animals. If we take care of our pen-mates, they should power down." Lightning said.
"Right." Hope said to himself. "Let's rid of these monsters."
Lightning was right about the feral creatures being different from the military weapons. The Silver Lobos were causing a lot of trouble to the party. It would breathe out a poisonous gas and poison the three fugitives. After they vanquished the hoard of wolves, Lightning quickly takes out three small vials of antidotes to cure the poison.
Just like what Lightning said. The gate that blocked the path disappeared. Hope led the group through a painful process of opening the gates that were blocked. The three ran into an open area and the gates closed behind them. The lasers blocking their path had them caged.
"Caged like the animals." Lightning said in annoyance. A feral behemoth lands in front of them. The behemoth lunges at Light and she quickly dodges. Hope orders to Paradigm Shift to Hero's Charge. Jake changes to Commando, Hope to Synergist, and Lightning to Medic. Hope quickly cast Protect on himself and his partners. Then Hope orders to switch to Variety.
The behemoth was being weakened by Jakes Deprotect and Deshell. Jake even managed to infect it with poison to slowly kill the monster. The Feral Behemoth claws at Jake before he could even cast out Imperil. Lightning cast several fires and thunder spells but it doesn't seem to be doing a lot of damage.
Hope uses Libra to study the monster. To his surprise, it's strong against Fire and Thunder, but weak against Water. "Let's wrap this up!" Hope orders the group to Paradigm Shift to Relentless Assault. Lighting is back to Commando and the other two are Ravagers.
Hope knew that Jake learned how to cast Water and this was a good shift. The behemoth was beginning to glow as it nears its death. One last barrage of waters and steady slashing staggered the behemoth from changing into its more dangerous and bigger form.
Lightning launches the behemoth in the air and slashes it in mid-air. Jake and Hope work together to juggle the behemoth in the air. Lighting jumps back up and sends the behemoth crashing to the ground. The feral monster doesn't move. The laser gates disappear. They have won.
"We've tripped the security alarm. The Observation Battalion will be coming." Lightning warns Hope.
"Let them come." Hope said continuing to lead the group.
Hope leads the group somewhere they can rest for the time being. "Take five." Lightning said as she noticed how tired Hope has gotten. Jake looks around from to see how far they have gotten. Hope sits on the ground fiddling with the knife Lightning lent him.
"What's eating you?" Lightning asked. Hope was surprised that she didn't even look back. Jake pretended to not be interested and kept looking forward, but kept a good ear on them. "Okay, I can tell you're hung up on something."
Hope doesn't answer and keeps fiddling with the knife. "Is it the l'Cie thing?" Lightning asked. She turns around and puts on a serious tone. "It's Snow, isn't it?" Hope quickly looks up. Jake tried not to gasp out.
Lightning sees that Hope looked away. "What happened with him?" Lightning pestered on.
"You wouldn't understand." Hope said to quickly.
Lightning leans a little closer to Hope, knowing that Jake is eavesdropping. "You and I are partners, Hope." Jake flinched on what she said. A phrase he is too familiar with.
Hope releases a long sigh. "My mother was killed. Because of him." Hope sees images of his mother falling to her death. "It's his fault." Hopes tone deepens. He unsheathes the knife in his hand. "And he needs to pay for it. I'm not ready yet, but I will be. Soon." Hope flips back the blade into its case. "That's why I followed you." Jake leaned a little closer to listen. Hope got up and walked pass Lightning. "Snow dragged us all into this. You, Jake, and me; your sister Serah…" Jake listens to him and forgets he was eavesdropping. "He's gotta pay."
Lightning releases a quiet gasp. She looks at Jake. Jake looked away and was hoping Light wasn't mad for being nosey. Lightning just kept on walking. "You coming kat?" Jack rubbed the back of his neck and followed Lightning.
Lightning decided to take point. Hope was tired and taking rear would help him rest a bit. Lightning led the group out of the thick woods of feral creatures and back to the path of platforms. The path was blocked by a branch and she cuts it down with her sword.
"Could I use one of those?" Hope asked Lightning.
"Looks a bit too heavy for you kid." Jake said as he placed an arm around his shoulder and messing up Hope's hair with his other paw.
Hope gets free and looks back at Lightning. She agrees with Jake. Hope looked disappointed and he took out the knife.
Lightning stared at the knife. She reflects on the day she got it. The last day she saw her sister.
Day 12- The Seaside City of Bodhum
"You became a l'Cie, so now you're gonna marry this idiot? And you think I'm gonna by that?" Lightning glared at her sister Serah. "Full points for originality." She said sarcastically. "But don't forget. If you really are a l'Cie, it's my job to deal with you."
Serah looks at her sister with shock. "Sis…"
"This is ridiculous. Worst birthday ever." Lightning said.
Serah begins to cry and runs out the house. "Wait! Serah!" Snow tried to catch her but Serah has already gone out. Snow turns to Lightning and scolds her. "Why won't you believe her?"
Lightning quickly turns to Snow and gives him her icy glare. "You kidding me? She gets made a l'Cie, and you pop the question?"
Snow slams his hands on the table. "Lightning, stop it!"
Lightning slams her hands on the table. "No, you stop it! Get out of my house."
"You're shutting her out. She's your sister." Lightning backed away from Snow and turned her back on him. Snow backs away from the table. "Fine." Snow walks off. "I'll do it. I'll protect her." Lightning sighs when Snow left the kitchen.
Lightning was finishing up cleaning the kitchen. She walks towards the table and sees the gift left for her. Lightning removes the ribbon and opens the lid. She stops to see the knife in the box. She picks it up and unsheathed it. "How practical."
She heard beeping sounds coming from the big flat screen T.V. We interrupt this program to bring you an urgent Sanctum bulletin. Lightning quickly turns to listen to the news woman on the screen. Late last night, officials confirmed the presence of a Pulse fal'Cie inside the city of Bodhum. Acting with fal'Cie Eden's approval, authorities declared a state of emergency. The entire district will be quarantined in response to this crisis. This is a Sanctum bulletin. Lightning gasped at what she just heard.
Lightning was walking slowly. "Serah, I should have listened to you." Lightning said to herself.
"What's wrong?" Jake asked. He was worried that Lightning wasn't saying anything for quite a while.
"Oh. Nothing Jake. I'm fine." Lightning clears her head and leads the group onward. Lightning made good pace fighting off the monsters. The fights were now faster with her as leader. They haven't seen any soldiers yet. Lightning wondered what could have happened.
Soon the group made it to another elevator and rode it. Now there are no more monsters and now its back to fighting the PSICOM domesticated weapons. Jake decided to scout ahead. He saw some figures on the ground. When he got close to it, he gasped at the sight of dead soldiers. "What happened here?"
Lightning and Hope came up from behind. "Bad luck." Lightning said. "They came looking for us, and found something worse."
Jake feels a heavy weight of guilt. "We can't just leave them like this." Jake said. He motioned to help the soldiers.
"Don't touch anything!" Lightning pulls Jake away from the corpse. "Control your emotions. If you want to survive, you forget about sympathy."
Jake looks away from Lightning's stare. He should know that by now on his own. He had experienced this kind of emotions before and but that was when was tricked. This is real. He is one of the causes of these soldiers death.
"How can I explain?" Lightning thought for a moment. Then she comes up with an idea. Lightning gets in Jake's view. "Think of it like a strategy." Jake gave her a confused look. Hope was listening carefully "Focus on your ultimate goal and shut out everything else. Still your mind. Move on instinct." Lightning gets up. "Let doubt take over, and despair will cripple you."
Hope helps Jake gets back up. "Strategy. Good. I'll take anything to help me get through this." Hope said. Lightning was giving Jake the advice, but it seems Hope took more of a liking to the advice. Jake just went through his head sorting the things Lightning said. It sort of the same thing Chance told him when he 'injured' someone on his own world.
Hope took a couple steps away from the others. "I'll call it 'Operation Nora.'"
"NORA?" Lightning asked.
"My mother's name." Lightning was surprised by Hopes answer.
"Your revenge?"
"Yes." Hope said in a soft voice. "Don't tell me." Hope raised his voice, "I know getting revenge on him won't…bring her back." Hope turns around to look directly at Lightning, "I know that!" Lightning and Jake flinched when he yelled out. "But 'sorry' won't cut it."
Hope then begins to walk on. "Snow didn't kill your mother. The Sanctum did." Lightning said. Hope turned around and glared at her.
"Whose side are you on?" Hope yelled.
"The side of Truth." Lightning said.
Hope pulls out the knife Lightning lent him and pulls back the blade. "Fine. I'll fight the Sanctum with you. I'll learn to survive." Hope walks on. Jake slowly follows behind. Lightning sighs and follows behind the two males.
The party was silent. They have encountered some soldiers in the way but they were very few and easy to dispatch. Lightning and the others got a giant platform. Lightning started the platform to begin to ascend to the top. Once the platform comes to a stop, another PSICOM weapon appeared. This one was huge and looked like a giant plant. Hope took out his boomerang. "This is it. Operation Nora!" Hope advances and is ready to fight.
Lightning orders to shift to Hero's Charge. Jake is Commando, Hope is Synergist, and Lightning is Medic. The Aster Protoflorain strikes at Jake and dodges. Jake runs towards the plant and lands in some powerful punches and kicks to its head. Hope finished casting Protect and Shell, so Lightning orders to switch to Diversity. Jake switched from Commando to Ravager, Lightning from Medic to Commando, and Hope from Synergist to Medic.
Aster jumps back and launches a big bomb like attack. Hope was hit hard when it made contact and was blown back. He was tossed off the platform and Jake quickly grabs his hand. Jake pulls hard to get Hope back on the platform. The lean tom looks back and sees that the plant monster is running towards him.
Lightning quickly jumps in the way, but the plant monster stops. It opened the bud on its back and began to spin it like blades. Lighting was hit and tossed to the side. Jake was able to Hope back on the platform on time before the Protoflorain came after them for another attack.
Lightning staggers to get up. "Steady now!" Hope launched a couple of Cure spells at Lightning. Jake casts some Fire attacks. The plant them glowed bright red. The bud on its back seemed to look like it was on fire. "This plant seems to change elemental attributes." Jake pointed out.
"Focus on casting its weakness Jake!" Lightning ordered. "I'll help by distracting it on me." Lightning ran towards the plant. She slashes the plant on the face. The Protoflorain tries to slash her, but Lightning makes a back flip, transforms her blade into a gun and fires it before she lands on the ground. Her gun turned back into a blade in seconds.
"Take this!" Jake swings his right arm and casts a barrage of Water spells. The Protoflorain screeched in pain. It glowed again. The bud on its back seemed to turn back to normal.
"Quick Light, launch it in the air!" Hope suggested.
Lightning nodded. "Let's turn the tide!" She ordered to switch to Relentless Assault. Hope changed to Ravager. Lightning launches the plant in the air, makes a couple slashes and falls back down. Aster Protoflorain is descending back down. Hope and Jake juggle the plant in the air so they can stall to give Lightning some time to jump back up and attack.
Lightning jumps back up and slashes away. Before she falls back down, Lightning slams on the plant monster and sends it crashing to the ground. Protoflorain hit the ground hard and had trouble getting back to its four feet. Then it just suddenly stops and falls back down.
Hope closes his boomerang. "Step one of Operation Nora, complete." Hope walks on to the bulkhead.
Lightning and Jake wait beside Hope for it to open. Once through, Lightning sees a town up ahead. "So we finally make it."
"My hometown. Palumpolum." Hope said. "Or our first step into Eden."
"Hey Hope," Hope turns to Jake. "Don't you have a dad?" Jake asked.
"Yeah. But he would never take me in." Hope fisted his hands.
"You have to tell him." Hope looks at Lightning.
"She's right. You have to tell our old man what happened to your mom." Jake pointed out. Hope didn't respond. "I'm sure your dad will listen."
Hope let out a heavy sigh. "Alright." Hope said softly.
