Part 14
Update 14: The Umbrella School of Pokemon Design (Polsy) Music
Forever Fugitives
Bestiary
Datalogs
quote:
Operation Nora
As Hope reaches out a hand to a fallen soldier, Lightning stops him with a harsh reminder: they have chosen the path of war. They will face many soldiers on the way, and it's kill or be killed. If you allow yourself to be controlled by compassion, if you allow yourself to falter, then you are lost. Lightning teaches Hope a strategy for removing hesitation: decide upon a goal and shut out everything else.
Hope takes these words to heart, and comes up with Operation Nora. Named after his dead mother, it is the means by which he will exact his vengeance upon Snow.
Though he knows it won't bring his mother back, it's nevertheless something he needs to do.
Lightning soon realizes her mistake. Her lecture to abandon compassion was intended as a warning against the hesitation she fears will be his undoing, but he has clearly interpreted it as a cue to hurl himself headlong into harm's way.
Regretting her words, Lightning continues in through the Whitewood.
quote:
Driving Forces
Hope now concentrates all his efforts on Operation Nora — his plan for taking revenge against Snow.
Though she feels responsible for his newly acquired recklessness in battle, Lightning finds herself unable to say anything. She is afraid that if she prevents Hope from fighting, he will lose the drive he needs to keep going, and succumb to despair.
Not knowing how to reach Hope, Lightning rescinds her earlier decision and suggests they visit the boy's father in Palumpolum.
Meanwhile, Snow struggles with his conscience as he prepares to help the Cavalry track down the other Pulse l'Cie. Snow swore to do whatever it takes to save Cocoon. What has happened to make him act against that promise?
Now clear of the Vile Peaks, Sazh and Vanille approach a stretch of beautiful countryside that promises an easier road to travel.
quote:
People: Hope Estheim
Hope lives in the city of Palumpolum. However, when he visits the town of Bodhum with his mother, Nora, they are swept away by the chaos of the Purge. Nora dies in the ensuing violence, and Hope later becomes a Pulse l'Cie.
The boy blames Snow for his mother's death. Driven by his desire for revenge against the NORA leader and the Sanctum, Hope eagerly joins Lightning on her headlong charge into battle.
quote:
People: Nora Estheim
Nora is Hope's mother.
Worried about the worsening relationship between her son and his father, Nora wonders how to break down the barriers Hope has created.
Wanting to protect her boy from the horrors of the Purge, she volunteers to join the battle, but is killed during the chaotic conflict.
Nora begs Snow to get Hope home, but the NORA leader never hears the boy's name before she slips from his grasp.
Why does this only show up now? Who the fuck knows! Final Fantasy XIII, ladies and gentlemen.
quote:
The Thirteen Days: Day 12 - Taken
After announcing the discovery of the lowerworld being, the Sanctum instigated the Purge.
Before the Pulse fal'Cie could be carried away and Serah doomed to be a Cie'th, Snow had to get into the Vestige and find out what her Focus was. If they could figure out Serah's task, then maybe Lightning would finally believe them. With that plan in mind, the young NORA leader brought his fiancée back to the place she was branded.
Things went horribly wrong, and only Serah entered the Vestige as a prisoner of the fal'Cie.
Snow explained the situation to Lightning before rushing off to rescue his future wife.