Hanging Edge



The Hanging Edge is a location in Final Fantasy XIII. It is a series of highroads and railways at Cocoon's outer rim. It used to be a bustling metropolis but was abandoned after the War of Transgression, and has since been a restricted zone. It comprises the first chapter of the game and as the Crystarium System is yet to be unlocked, enemies fought here give no experience.

Datalog
''A relic of days before the War of Transgression, the Hanging Edge is located near Cocoon's outer rim. The area was once a thriving urban center, but residents were forced to abandon the location when an attack by Pulsian forces cracked Cocoon's shell during the conflict several centuries ago. It was since designated a restricted zone and, with civilian access prohibited, soon became nothing more than a name on local maps.''

Final Fantasy XIII
Lightning and Sazh Katzroy enter the Hanging Edge on the Purge train carrying the exiles from Bodhum to Gran Pulse. They derail the train before fighting their way through hordes of PSICOM soldiers to try and reach the Pulse Vestige where Lightning's sister, Serah, is being held captive by the fal'Cie Anima.

Elsewhere, the resistance group NORA fights against the Purge, which aims to send all the citizens and tourists from Bodhum to Gran Pulse because a Pulse fal'Cie was discovered in the area two days before. Snow Villiers, Gadot and Lebreau from NORA enlist a number of volunteers including Nora Estheim. After one of PSICOM's ships blasts a highway, many fall and Nora's son, Hope Estheim, watches as she loses her grip on Snow's hand and falls to her death.

The Pulse Vestige is brought into the warzone by the Palamecia amid the chaos. Lightning and Sazh make their way to the Vestige while Snow and Gadot survive the fall and rejoin the rest of NORA. Snow sets off to rescue his fiancée Serah from inside the Vestige using one of PSICOM's airbikes. Gadot stays behind to keep an eye on the citizens, but Hope and a girl named Vanille steal Gadot's airbike to follow Snow into the Vestige. Hope plans to confront Snow about his mother's death and make him pay for it.

Lightning, Sazh, Snow, Hope, and Vanille meet at the heart of the Vestige where they find Serah collapsed on the floor. Snow and Lightning rush to her aid and Serah whispers her final wish for Lightning to save Cocoon, before turning into crystal. The group makes its way to the fal'Cie Anima and Snow begs for it to turn Serah back before Lightning attacks it in a grief-induced rage. The group fights Anima, after they are marked with the brand of a Pulse l'Cie.

PSICOM destroys the Pulse Vestige with their weapons while the party is all inside. As Anima dies the Vestige sends outs an energy wave that destroys the Hanging Edge and is sent falling towards Lake Bresha below, crystallizing it on impact.

Final Fantasy XIII Side Story: A Dreaming Cocoon Falls into the Dawn
When the Purge train containing Aoede comes to a halt at the Hanging Edge, an explosion sounds in the distance, the Purgees revolt against the PSICOM soldiers, taking their weapons and escaping. After removing her Purge clothing, Aoede leaves the train car and steps onto a skybridge, seeing the Hanging Edge turned into a warzone. She witnesses Sanctum attack ships directing their gunfire at the rebelling Purgees and realizes the Sanctum never intended to exile them from Cocoon, and that the Purge was a way to cover up their plot to take the supposedly tainted civilians to the restricted area and enact a concealed genocide.

Realizing her foolishness for plunging herself into the situation, Aoede can only stand in a daze and watch the carnage. An attack vessel locks on to her but she is moved out of the way before the pilot fires and she escapes with her saviors, the members of NORA. In the midst of their flight, Aoede sees the Pulse Vestige suspended beneath the Palamecia. Aoede focuses her camera on the Vestige and records that NORA's leader Snow Villiers is heading towards it. With her will to live restored by Lebreau's confidence, Aoede asks NORA to let her go with them and they accept her into their group. From this point on, Aoede promises herself that she will record everything that happens. Even if she sacrifices herself in the name of journalism, there is the chance her footage will get circulated and serve to shatter the public's blind faith in the Sanctum.

As Aoede runs through the battlefield, a single thought comes to mind: the Sanctum must have known they wouldn't be able to hide the truth about the Purge, and Galenth Dysley and the other Sanctum leaders had already decided they didn't care about suffering a blow strong enough to overturn their authority, whether or not they succeed in strengthening the public's fear of Pulse. Aoede believes the Purge to be nothing more but the beginning of a huge conspiracy, one in which even more people will die, something that would make the Purge pale in comparison. Guided by NORA, Aoede and other surviving Purgees escape the battlefield and take refuge in a crevice in the ground.

After breaking through PSICOM's defenses, Aoede, NORA, and a portion of the surviving Purgees escape the Hanging Edge and hide inside an ancient Pulsian building that was inserted between the layers of Cocoon's outer shell during its construction.

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
The Hanging Edge can be seen as an apocalyptic vista in the trial known as the Altar of Salvation in the Luxerion Cathedral.

Areas

 * Aerorail Trussway 13-E
 * Aerorail Trussway 12-E
 * Aerorail Trussway 11-E
 * Skybridge No. 369
 * Aerorail Trussway 5-W
 * Aerorail Trussway 6-W
 * Aerorail Trussway 3-N
 * Skybridge No. 103

Enemy Formations
Aerorail Trussway 13-E=
 * Manasvin Warmech (Boss)
 * PSICOM Warden x2 (two separate encounters)
 * PSICOM Enforcer x2, PSICOM Warden
 * -|Aerorail Trussway 12-E=
 * PSICOM Warden, Pantheron x2
 * PSICOM Enforcer, PSICOM Aerial Recon
 * -|Aerorail Trussway 11-E=
 * PSICOM Warden x2
 * PSICOM Warden, Pantheron
 * PSICOM Warden, Pantheron x3
 * -|Skybridge No. 369=
 * PSICOM Enforcer x2, PSICOM Marauder
 * Myrmidon
 * -|Aerorail Trussway 6-W=
 * PSICOM Enforcer x2
 * PSICOM Warden x3
 * PSICOM Warden x2, Pantheron x2 (two separate encounters)
 * PSICOM Enforcer, PSICOM Warden x2, Pantheron
 * PSICOM Enforcer x2, PSICOM Warden x2 (two separate encounters)
 * Beta Behemoth (Boss)
 * -|Aerorail Trussway 3-N=
 * PSICOM Aerial Recon x3, Pantheron x2
 * PSICOM Enforcer x2, PSICOM Warden

Musical themes
The tracks that play as background themes of the Hanging Edge are its eponymous theme, "The Warpath Home" and "Snow's Theme".

The Hanging Edge's eponymous theme can also be heard in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy as Lightning's dungeon theme.

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy
The Hanging Edge appears as the BMS for "Saber's Edge" and "Defiers of Fate", the latter only playable during a "Dark Note".

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Curtain Call
The Hanging Edge returns as the BMS for "Defiers of Fate", "Saber's Edge" and "Blinded By Light".

Final Fantasy Record Keeper
The Hanging Edge is the first dungeon in the XIII world. Clearing it obtains Snow.

Under rule of the Sanctum, the people of Cocoon knew peace and prosperity. The story of this realm begins as a train carrying Lightning speeds towards the Hanging Edge...

Trivia

 * Hanging Edge was the only location that existed in a complete stage in the game's early PlayStation 2 incarnation. According to the developers, a model of Yuna was used as a placeholder for several NPCs whose models were not complete at the time of testing.
 * Japanese game publications romanized Hanging Edge as "Hunged Edge".
 * The area from Lake Bresha called "A City No Longer" is possibly the true Hanging Edge, as this is the only city which is above Bresha. They also share similar architecture.
 * When the player follows Snow's Storyline for the first time the player can find a woman muttering "I will face my fear, I will permit it to pass over me" which is part of the litany against fear in .

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