Part 9
Update 9: Managerial Initiative for Incentivizing Rapid Growth of Industrial Synergy (Polsy) A minor correction to what I say in the video - Overwhelm increases your chaining bonus based on the number of Ravagers you have piling onto the same enemy, rather than the number of Ravagers you have period.
Alternate video titles include "Global Crystallis Marketshare Saturation Synergy Consultant Quarterly", "Bespoke Synergy Solutions", "Market Leaders in Synergy Solutions", and "Promoting Synergy in the Workplace".
Music
No new music this update, but I'm going to link Daddy's Got the Blues again because it's so good (and we haven't heard Sazh's theme proper, which I actually like a little bit better).
Bestiary
Datalogs
quote:
Taking in the Trash
The War of Transgression — the conflict between Pulse and Cocoon.
A towering wreck is all that remains of a lowerworld airship shot down during the battle that took place centuries before...
At that time, forces from Pulse attempted to invade Cocoon only to be repelled by the efforts of the Sanctum fal'Cie — though not before the invaders had rent a great wound in the floating world's shell.
Though the Sanctum fal'Cie subsequently repaired the damage using debris from the surface of their routed enemies' planet, the psychological wounds inflicted by the conflict are evident even now in the Cocoon citizen's unreasoning fear of all things Pulse.
And reminders of the lowerworld threat still remain. Mechanical terrors brought in with the debris replace their rusting parts and wander the area, while government troops struggle to contain them.
The Pulse fal'Cie buried in Bodhum may have arrived in the same fashion, sleeping away the years until its eventual discovery.
With lowerworld terrors lurking in every shadow, Sazh creeps forward, doing his best to shield Vanille and Hope...
quote:
Fugitives in Futility
Lightning says little of her feelings, but Sazh senses her frustration. Despite braving the dangers of the Purge and the Vestige in an effort to save her sister, Lightning was helpless to prevent Serah's transformation into crystal. Now she is forced to flee as a fugitive — a Pulse l'Cie and hated enemy of Cocoon.
And then there is their Focus. If they don't complete the task they have yet to figure out, they face transformation into mindless Cie'th. Should they fulfill their Focus, eternal crystal slumber is the only reward.
And should they stop too long to ponder their fate, they risk capture and execution at the hands of the relentless Sanctum army.
All roads seem to lead to despair — something Sazh understands only too well. The question is: will Lightning help them find a way out of their hopeless situation?
Unbeknownst to Sazh, the answer has already begun to form in her mind...
quote:
History and Myth: The War of Transgression
Several hundred years ago, the armies of Pulse attempted to invade Cocoon in a conflict known today as the War of Transgression. The Sanctum's fal'Cie were able to repel the lowerworld forces before they breached Cocoon's interior, but not before they managed to seriously damage areas lying near the world's outer rim.
Details surrounding the clash remain shrouded in mystery, but the government's swift and decisive response to this violent Pulsian transgression minimized casualties and greatly boosted public faith in both the Sanctum and their fal'Cie.
quote:
History and Myth: Lowerworld Artifacts
In the aftermath of the War of Transgression, regions near Cocoon's outer rim were left uninhabitable due to the severe trauma they had sustained. To undo this damage, the fal'Cie gathered materials from the surface of Pulse and rebuilt Cocoon's wounded landscape using them.
Bodhum was one city so affected, and like the others, it still bears lingering traces of post-war reconstruction in the form of leftover lowerworld artifacts. The Pulse Vestige that hid a dormant fal'Cie was one such artifact.