Palamecia (Final Fantasy XIII)

The Palamecia [ˌpæləˈmiːsiːə] is a location in Final Fantasy XIII. It is a PSICOM airship that serves as the base of the Sanctum Skyfleet. It is first seen moving the Pulse Vestige through the hanging Edge, and later is where Sazh Katzroy and Oerba Dia Vanille are held after being captured by Jihl Nabaat.

In Final Fantasy XIII Ultimania Omega, it is revealed that the Palamecia is a fal'Cie modified by the Sanctum military to use as an airship. On the underside of the ship, one can see the shape of a face, which is the mark of Cocoon fal'Cie.

Datalog
''The flagship of the Sanctum Skyfleet, this imposing craft is an anti-Pulse juggernaut built using the latest in military technology. The Palamecia bristles with powerful weaponry, and its multiple decks hold several dozen warships, as well as hundreds of crew members.''

During the Purge, the Palamecia transported the entire Pulse Vestige to the Hanging Edge.

Story
In the Hanging Edge during the Purge, the Palamecia transports the Pulse Vestige into the warzone amid the Purgees fighting PSICOM. Later, the Palamecia lands on the surface of the crystallized Lake Bresha, and deploys PSICOM troops to hunt down Purge survivors.

When Vanille and Sazh are captured in Nautilus, Jihl Nabaat imprisons them upon the Palamecia to take them to Eden for a public execution. Lightning, Snow, Fang and Hope mount a rescue mission with the aid of Cid Raines and the Cavalry.

During their imprisonment, Vanille tells Sazh how she became a l'Cie on Gran Pulse centuries before and came out of crystal stasis in Cocoon. Hearing of the others onboard trying to rescue them, Sazh and Vanille escape their confinement. After the alarm system passes through red, green and purple, Galenth Dysley, who is also on board, changes it to code white, shutting down the engine and allowing the Kalavinka raiders to approach ship's exterior and attack Lightning's party. They destroy one and Sazh and Vanille blast their way out, meeting up with the others.

On the ship's external shell, they defeat another of the raiders, which gives Fang an idea about how to infiltrate the Palamecia's main cabin where Dysley and Nabaat are. Vanille uses her weapon to entangle a Garuda Interceptor, and Fang subdues it. The six of them ride on the Garuda's back, evading gunfire from the Palamecia, and jump into the airship's central part.

The l'Cie reach the bridge where Nabaat confronts them. Dysley strikes Nabaat and the PSICOM soldiers with his magic, killing them and dissolving the Palamecia's roof. After revealing his ideology on humanity, Dysley assumes his true form as the fal'Cie Barthandelus and attacks the party. He resumes his human form after the battle and tells the group their Focus is to destroy the fal'Cie Orphan that sustains Cocoon and wreak destruction upon the planetoid by one of them becoming Ragnarok.

The fal'Cie Menrva assumes an airship form and the party uses it to escape the Palamecia as it falls from the sky. Dysley ensures their escape from the sinking air fortress with an arranged destination to Eden. The party is attacked by Yaag Rosch in the Proudclad before Menrva takes Lightning's group to Fifth Ark below the city of Eden.

Areas

 * External Berths
 * Crew Corridors
 * Cargo Access
 * Rotary Shaft
 * Primary Engine Bay
 * Starboard Weather Deck
 * Bridge Access

Enemy Formations
Short-field Landing Deck=
 * PSICOM Infiltrator, PSICOM Raider x2
 * PSICOM Infiltrator x2, PSICOM Raider
 * -|External Berths=
 * Deckdrone x2 (two separate encounters)
 * Deckdrone x2, PSICOM Dragoon
 * Deckdrone x5
 * PSICOM Dragoon
 * PSICOM Dragoon x2
 * Deckdrone x3
 * Deckdrone x4, PSICOM Dragoon
 * Deckdrone x3, PSICOM Dragoon x2
 * -|Crew Corridors=
 * PSICOM Raider x2, PSICOM Infiltrator x2
 * PSICOM Huntress, PSICOM Infiltrator x3
 * PSICOM Huntress, PSICOM Raider x2
 * PSICOM Infiltrator, PSICOM Huntress x2
 * Viking
 * PSICOM Raider x2, PSICOM Huntress x2
 * Viking, PSICOM Raider x2
 * PSICOM Raider, PSICOM Infiltrator x2
 * PSICOM Huntress x2
 * PSICOM Raider x2
 * PSICOM Infiltrator x3
 * Viking, PSICOM Huntress x2
 * -|Cargo Access=
 * Flanborg, Flanitor
 * Flanborg
 * Flanborg x2
 * Flanborg x2, Flanitor
 * Flanborg, Flanitor x2
 * -|Rotary Shaft=
 * Viking x3 (three separate encounters)
 * Vespid Soldier x3, PSICOM Infiltrator x2
 * Vespid Soldier x2 (two separate encounters)
 * Viking, PSICOM Huntress
 * PSICOM Huntress x2
 * PSICOM Infiltrator x3
 * Thermadon
 * Thermadon, PSICOM Raider x2
 * Vespid Soldier x2, Thermadon
 * -|Primary Engine Bay=
 * Flanborg x2, Flanitor (two separate encounters)
 * Flanborg x2
 * Thermadon, Vespid Soldier x3
 * Flanitor x2
 * Thermadon
 * Vespid Soldier, Thermadon
 * -|Starboard Weather Deck=
 * Vespid Soldier x3 (two separate encounters)
 * Viking, Vespid Soldier x2 (two separate encounters)
 * Vespid Soldier x2
 * Viking, PSICOM Dragoon x2 (two separate encounters)
 * Deckdrone x3, Vespid Soldier x2
 * Deckdrone x7
 * Vespid Soldier, Deckdrone x5
 * PSICOM Dragoon x2 (two separate encounters)
 * Deckdrone x5
 * Viking, Deckdrone x3
 * Viking, PSICOM Dragoon x3
 * PSICOM Dragoon x4
 * Kalavinka Striker (Boss, two separate encounters)
 * -|Bridge Access=
 * PSICOM Infiltrator x3, PSICOM Destroyer
 * Thermadon, PSICOM Destroyer
 * PSICOM Huntress x2, PSICOM Destroyer, PSICOM Reaver
 * PSICOM Destroyer, PSICOM Dragoon x3
 * Thermadon, PSICOM Raider x2
 * PSICOM Reaver, PSICOM Dragoon x2, PSICOM Raider x2
 * PSICOM Destroyer x2, PSICOM Huntress
 * PSICOM Reaver, PSICOM Dragoon x4
 * Thermadon, PSICOM Destroyer, PSICOM Infiltrator x3
 * -|Bridge=
 * Barthandelus, Right Pauldron, Right Ailette, Left Pauldron, Left Ailette (Boss)

Etymology
The airship's name derives from the Empire of Palamecia in Final Fantasy II.

Trivia

 * The reveal that the Palamecia is in fact, a Cocoon fal'Cie seems to contradict the official Datalog entry about the ship found in-game. The Datalog mentions that the craft is "an anti-Pulse juggernaut built using the latest in military technology" not that it has been modified or altered in any way. The reason for this apparent retcon is unknown.

Palmekia (FFXIII)