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thearena2016-05-02 04:41 pm
etcircenses) wrote in thearena2016-05-02 04:41 pm
Entry tags:
In the hanging tree...
Who| All those on the liberation mission and all those being made to fight against them.
What| The Liberation of District 5.
Where| District 5.
When| This week.
Warnings/Notes| War, violence, death. Please warn for more in headers.
Coming in from the hovercraft, soldiers will see a vast stretch of desert going on for miles and miles. Flying in during the day is ill-advised to impossible. The sunlight reflecting off the many mirrors of the solar panels makes it difficult for pilots to navigate, and even more difficult to not be seen from below. During the night, the sky is lit not only by stars, bur a massive electric plant. Peacekeepers patrol all edges and levels, inside and out. But that's not all.
A large dam pushes waterfalls through its barriers in a booming cacophony from the massive lake it all sits at the base of. Peacekeepers are patrolling here too, perhaps more thoroughly than even the electric plant. Only though the surrounding houses (all small things made of stone, tucked into the rock wall or dug into the ground, panels on the top of them all) seem to have sparse patrol. This allows some graffiti saying Make a difference NOW and Trust In a New Panem! but there's not much.
The people of this District are divided. Some dive into their houses at the sight of anyone at all. Others are already going into the fray, either to sabotage the rebels, or assist them. It can impossible to tell which is which until it's too late. Even families are divided down the middle as fathers chose one side and sons chose the other. No one from the District wants to hurt their own, but the chance is their all the same. A hint may be the humming of a tune recently played in the rebel's propaganda.
The cold of the desert can be biting for those ill-prepared. Especially by the dam, where the air is heavy with the spray of the waterfall. Everyone is wide-eyed with either fear or desperation and resignation. Everyone knows what they have to do. The question is, when it comes down to it, will any of it be worth it in the end?
The war continues, and in the back of everyone's mind is a familiar phrase; may the odds be ever in your favor.
What| The Liberation of District 5.
Where| District 5.
When| This week.
Warnings/Notes| War, violence, death. Please warn for more in headers.
Coming in from the hovercraft, soldiers will see a vast stretch of desert going on for miles and miles. Flying in during the day is ill-advised to impossible. The sunlight reflecting off the many mirrors of the solar panels makes it difficult for pilots to navigate, and even more difficult to not be seen from below. During the night, the sky is lit not only by stars, bur a massive electric plant. Peacekeepers patrol all edges and levels, inside and out. But that's not all.
A large dam pushes waterfalls through its barriers in a booming cacophony from the massive lake it all sits at the base of. Peacekeepers are patrolling here too, perhaps more thoroughly than even the electric plant. Only though the surrounding houses (all small things made of stone, tucked into the rock wall or dug into the ground, panels on the top of them all) seem to have sparse patrol. This allows some graffiti saying Make a difference NOW and Trust In a New Panem! but there's not much.
The people of this District are divided. Some dive into their houses at the sight of anyone at all. Others are already going into the fray, either to sabotage the rebels, or assist them. It can impossible to tell which is which until it's too late. Even families are divided down the middle as fathers chose one side and sons chose the other. No one from the District wants to hurt their own, but the chance is their all the same. A hint may be the humming of a tune recently played in the rebel's propaganda.
The cold of the desert can be biting for those ill-prepared. Especially by the dam, where the air is heavy with the spray of the waterfall. Everyone is wide-eyed with either fear or desperation and resignation. Everyone knows what they have to do. The question is, when it comes down to it, will any of it be worth it in the end?
The war continues, and in the back of everyone's mind is a familiar phrase; may the odds be ever in your favor.
The Battlefield
The sun during the day is not kind to the rebels and those injured. However, the people here are clever and resourceful, utilizing whatever they can to keep their "sick bay" working nevertheless, from collected herbs for healing, to wheeled beds for quick movement or patient. People are willing to die to protect those there, and this is a very real threat, as the closer the mirror field gets to the plant, the more the fighting intensifies, the solar panels being used as quick shields to hide behind and shoot out from. But a shattered panel can result in being rained with shards.
The homes are the closest one comes to a no-man's land, but the unpredictability of alliance makes it a risk.
On the other side of this war, Capitol-soldiers are holed up in a base within the protected electric plant. They have full supplies for any type of injury, no need to move, and well-regulated temperatures. The biggest discomfort is the eerie quiet that carries through ever hall in the plant. Could make one paranoid, expecting rebels to jump out from anywhere.
Shock To The System
Those at the electric plant have everything they need to make a trap for the rebels. Capitol-soldiers will need to go out and lay down a well hidden electric net mat in the dirt or just beneath it, covering as much ground as they conceivably can before they're caught by the rebels and taken out.
Then, later, they will storm the mirror field as though to lay a siege upon the rebel encampment. This will usher the rebels to move onward, ideally into the trap. With a quick radio'd in signal, the electric-net trap will be sprung and all those upon it quickly electrified. The few solar panels affected might catch flame or shatter, injuring the rest for easy capture later-- all the while, the damage will be minimal enough that Panem will keep its power.
Of course, on the other hand, getting caught by the rebels may well ruin the whole plan, as this electric-mat was specially designed and making another one will take some time. Time that you may not have.
For Punchy
Trying to avoid capture takes Joan the long way around, skirting the edge of the battlefield, trudging over the dunes. The last time she was in a desert it was three years ago, and she was dressed in grey felt "armor" and tossed into her first arena. Her clothes are much more reasonable this time around - a tan jumpsuit - and her hair is cut short, but the heat and the give of sand with every step reminds her of that introduction to Panem. Reminds her of that kid who was one of the first people she met. The one that called her "shawty."
It seems like forever ago.
no subject
He isn't actually expecting to see her, but when he does as he crosses the line between Rebels and Capitol, defies orders just in the hopes she might be out there, everything snaps into place.
"Joanie," he whispers to himself, watching her. He slips between the mirrors, wondering if any moment now is going to turn to an electrical shock that runs from the ground through his brain. This heat and desertion is like that first encounter, before he knew that she would be his reason for persevering. He starts to move towards her, wondering if she can see him.
no subject
The movement between the mirrors catches her awareness from the corner of her eye, and she instinctively crouches down and goes still, making herself as small and unremarkable as possible. The glare of the light prevents her from making out the details, but she sees the dark outline of a figure, coming her way. It could be a Capitol soldier who will capture her or kill her. It could be a rebel soldier who will...well, possibly capture her or kill her. She is wearing a Capitol uniform, after all, even if it identifies her as a medic.
Joan decides that there's no way whoever it is hasn't seen her, so she moves, lifts a hand, shields her eyes from the glare.
"Punchy," she whispers, almost a gasp. She looks around, remembering how their last reunion had ended, making sure that there were no nearby snipers to give them both some terrible deja vu. Seeing none, she rises and begins to move toward him as well.
no subject
"Told you I'd find you. Now I just gotta find a mic to drop about it," he whispers into her hair, the dark short fuzz of it. For this dizzying instant, he can forget they're in a war zone, that any moment now they may be blown to pieces, their locations revealed by the mirror maze.
Then it snaps back in with the smell of sweat and blood and gunpowder. "We gotta bounce."
no subject
"The Capitol soldiers are laying a trap for the rebels. They're going to herd them toward an electric net buried just beneath the surface, and electrocute them all."
no subject
Those aren't mistakes he'll make this time.
"A'ight. How do we disable this shizz? You know I got my aces on a livewire."
The Bursting Of The Dam
The Dam they're located by is the greatest source of power for the Capitol in the whole of District five. To wipe that out is to black out the Capitol for a significant amount of time, in which rebels can infiltrate the city. The Capitol will be back in no time, running on back up power, but shutting that down after, however many times the rebellion needs, will be a piece of cake. Especially now that some of those in District five have taken on the work of the late District three, starting to understand their power grid and security systems in a whole new way. If done right, even the electric plant could go dark.
The District five rebels need the rebel-soldiers to help sneak in and disengage those Peacekeepers and Capitol-soldiers working on the high parts of the Dam to help keep them from getting mowed down as they cross the bridges into the inner building. There will still be a few on the bridges, but rebel-soldiers are warned that any who go out there are sure to be killed, if not by spray of gunfire, then by the flood when the dam inevitably breaks. Some rebel soldiers might be able to save a few of the five-rebels, but it will not be a mission without casualties.
And of course, of those going in there will need to be someone technically skilled enough to rig the bomb to go off once its delivery has been made.
On the other side, the Capitol cannot afford to lose this dam. Soldiers are clearly informed, if the rebels are willing to die for their mission, there can be no survivors. At all costs, the rebels must be taken down. If they aren't? Well, the broken dam will just wash you away with them. You've been given weapons you are familiar with enough to use. You are reminded the cost of failing the Capitol, even past the cost of failure in this mission. When the rebels come forth, they must be stopped in whatever means necessary.
OTA
He's acutely aware he's supposed to be on the Capitol side, but he's not certain he cares that much anymore. The only things keeping him from turning and gunning down his supposed Capitol allies is that not all of them deserve it either as soldiers on the ground, and even moreso that he would most certainly die, leaving Jet alone. Not just to accomplish their plan, but alone in the Capitol when all their family has already gotten out. He can't do it, even under pain of... whatever extra punishment the Capitol has threatened them with this time. They seemed extra serious, for all he cared to listen.
What he can do, his own little form of nonviolent rebellion, is order the D5 workers off the dam. It makes sense from the perspective of protecting resources as the people who run the dam are the most valuable, and the lights won't go out unless the rebels actually get this far. If they do, the people will be needed to fix it provided the Capitol is able to win the battle overall. If they don't? Well, they can go back to work as soon as their workplace is no longer a warzone. It's a sad little argument, but Albert's soldiers demeanor is enough to outweigh the mousy little commander's orders and allows Albert to move out onto the dam proper to do what he's set on doing if only so the commander doesn't have to deal with his bleeding heart when - he mentally quotes - "the real fighting starts."
Which is why Albert is walking the dam's highest rungs, waving civilians off with authority that's listened to mostly in that people don't want to lose their lives for anything, much less a war they didn't ask for. He calls to each of them, no gun in sight since he doesn't need to use it on these outings any longer with his original cybernetics back. He's ceased bothering to take one.
If he ends up calling to a rebel that's managed to sneak up here, or a fellow Capitol soldier, then he won't see that until they turn around.
"Hey, you, over there..."
no subject
Haruto might have been upset if he had genuinely gone and gotten himself spotted by the Capitol soldiers, but this was Albert. If they hadn't gone and mind-wiped him into a good conscript by now, they never would. Running into Albert on one of these missions was probably safer than whatever the mission task itself was. He'd gone and perched himself somewhere concealed and difficult to reach via his wind form, and then untransformed to save on mana until the time came for him to haul out the real fireworks.
But eh, he can get back up there again, if he has to... and another patrol isn't due for a bit, if Albert's the one making this pass. So he grins and hops down from his perch, landing a short way away from his friend. "I'd say we need to stop meeting like this, but I'm starting to enjoy it."
no subject
"I'm not sure how much time we have, but I do want to know how you're doing over there."
no subject
He has a vague idea of where cameras might be, but the visibility can't be that good out here with the angles and the mist. He's got the hood of his uniform up, too, more for keeping warm than anything, but if it hides his face, then good. "Me? Good as ever. The whole District? Eeeh, there was an uprising? Just a little protesting and flipping tables and threatening Coin..." He is trying to make a joke of the whole messy business, but he's aware that it's probably not working, and drops the silly grin after a moment. "...between the authorities torturing some of the Capitol hostages and a letter going around to try and convince us offworlders to get out of Panem... well. Something had to give."
no subject
"You'd better explain in more detail."
Here's hoping I'm remembering it all right
"It was a while in coming. We didn't just wake up one day and decide to cause trouble for its own sake. The Capitolites that were tortured? Coin claimed the ones that did it were acting on their own." He exhales sharply and glances off to the side, showing how little he thinks of that. "The letter was some time after that, but from what it looked like, someone who cared wanted the offworlders to get out of the way. It said Coin didn't want us having an uprising of our own, so she made arrangements for us to all leave, though we'd have to die to do it..."
He's really not sure if he's conveying the whole thing properly, and he gives his head a shake. "...the atmosphere really hadn't improved much since you left. A lot of us were frustrated. As much as all of us want to win this, we'd like to be equals in the fight. So we did it. I don't know the details, I was too busy helping block the way, but when the dust settled, Webb was in charge."
It's cool I don't remember at this point either
If Coin wanted to have every off-worlder killed in her 'arrangements' for them to leave, then he knows they had no choice. He's glad they fought it, and this sounds like the best it could have turned out, even if it's now Webb holding the reins. He sighs and drops his arms, reaching back to run a hand against the shorter hairs at the back of his head. "I suppose that's as well as could be expected, especially if you're still organized enough to take the field. Is Webb any better?"
no subject
Infiltration and extraction, and he tries his best to ignore the part where the extraction is far from a guarantee. They'd had it made perfectly clear that if you were going on this mission, you shouldn't expect to survive.
That doesn't matter. Sam's going to, anyway, and so is Bucky. He doesn't like Bucky being on what people are calling a suicide mission, but honestly, he'd like Bucky being anywhere else even less. At least here he can maintain a constant awareness of where Bucky is, and be ready to drop everything to get to him if he needs to. There's no way that Bucky would have agreed to let Sam go on this mission without him - and Sam needed to go, with his flight and durability, even if everything went wrong and the Capitol took everyone else out, he could at least get the bomb in and rig it to blow. They can't fail this one, not when they're so close.
But that's worse case scenario. Right now, Sam's geared up to save as many people as possible, even if it means flying them out himself. He's got his eyes on Bucky's six at all times, he's got Kate up in the air with her eyes on Clint, and both of them are looking out for any sign of Jet or Albert. It almost feels like he's got a handle on things - as best as he can - and after the mess his life has been for the last five months or so, he has to admit that feels kind of good.
When he catches the glint of metal on the damn, he automatically zooms in with his newly enhanced vision, and his breath catches a little as he realizes that it's Albert. He starts to swoop in, but catches himself and instead turns to the mental transmitter that Albert had used to communicate with him last time they saw each other - and Jet, too, back when they were still in the Capitol, though it's only looking back at it without being under the influence of drugs that he'd realized it - the one he and Clint have been practicing with.
'Albert?'
no subject
His head snaps up, searching the skies through the mist of falling water for his brother. It doesn't bode well, exactly, that Sam is here on this mission rather than anywhere else. He can help minimize casualties, certainly, but with the rebels' attempts here having been more brutal than Albert remembers seeing or participating in during other battles, he's worried that their marching orders have turned into victory at all costs, or at least at the cost of the expendable off-worlders, as Coin seemed to have wanted from the start.
Finally he catches sight of a glint of metal off of airborne wings. He doesn't wave, but there's a particular way in which his shoulders ease and his expression grows slightly softer that shows he's pleased to see his friend.
'How are you holding up? You sound better than when I saw you last.'
no subject
'Hell yeah. Had some time to get my head back on straight. Well. A little less crooked, anyway.'
His first instinct is to warn Albert to get away, to tell him that there isn't long before they blow the dam along with whoever's on it, but he hesitates. Sam hates that he has to, but he doesn't know what the Capitol's using to make Albert stay on their side. They could have an ear on him, or they could have gotten into his head the way they'd almost gotten to Sam's. He can't risk endangering the mission until he knows for sure.
'They gonna be on you if they see you consorting with a rebel? I don't think I can circle around here long enough to fill you in without drawing attention to myself.'
no subject
He glances around, and then up at Sam again, shaking his head. 'It's too misty up here to see and too loud to be overheard. The unit I'm assigned too is down below to face the majority of combat and stay near our extraction point regardless.
Why he's not down there isn't only his private rebellion to save lives, but also for opportunities like this. He needs to catch up, exchange information on what's going on for both sides, who they can trust, and similar things. As for the inkling of the plan he has with Jet, he's not sure he should divulge that just yet. They're not sure if they can pull it off, in any case.
'You're safe to land, at least for the moment. Who knows how long the dam will last.'
OTA
Then again she mused as she twirled the mallet in her hands back and forth...maybe she would have been drawn into this battle even if she hadn't become Harley Quinn back home. Maybe she was always meant to be in The Hunger Games. But it was pretty much her own fault for getting killed by that combine harvester and sent back to the Capitol for extra brainwashing.
Speaking of which, her head was throbbing as these somewhat rebellious thoughts were edging up against the mental blocks that had been practically burned into her brainpan. She took one hand off the mallet to massage her temple and cast a wary glance back towards the entrance to the dam she was supposed to be guarding. No one in or out without Capitol clearance.
This would be her second battle as Harleen Quinzel and it didn't feel any less frightening to her. If it wasn't for the constant sound of the water she would be jumping at every little noise expecting a bullet in her back every time she turned around.
And the worst part was she knew even as this timid shell of who Harleen was supposed to be, she would still be a danger to anyone on the rebellion. Wether she liked it or not.
closed to Bucky
(Sometimes he thinks that that's not any less of a terrifying concept, that Sam was one of the things that made Bucky want a future and stop planning for an inevitable self-sacrifice in the name of the rebellion, but lately, as long as it means Bucky keeps on living, he doesn't really care.)
But it means that he's got faith that Bucky will be trying his best to survive this, just as Sam is - and that they'll be doing their best to make sure each other survives this. By now, Sam's pretty sure that both of them are willing to do damn near whatever it takes to make sure the other one stays alive, that they both stay together.
Which is why Sam's got his eye on Bucky damn near constantly, even as he devotes everything in him to making sure this mission goes off successfully - as far as he's concerned, making sure Bucky gets out alive is part of making sure this mission goes off successfully.
He's just finished dropping off another rebel soldier on a high part of the dam when his enhanced vision picks up a group of Capitol soldiers heading Bucky's way, under the cover of the mist. Sam doesn't think twice before he changes course, wings angled sharply and picking up speed as he pushes to get there before the gunfire starts. He doesn't let himself feel the fear of being too late, because being too late isn't an option - and almost before he realizes what he's doing, he's slinging down from his arm.
Sam twists, sending himself into a spiral before he flings the shield ahead of him, praying he's gotten the angle right to get it to bounce off the closest soldier before going back to Bucky - and trusting that Bucky will know what to do with it if it does, until Sam can get there himself.
no subject
He'd volunteered because Sam had volunteered and, yes, going with Sam put them both in more danger than if it'd only been Sam, but he couldn't do something else, something safe while Sam was up here with a possible escape plan.
They would fight together and protect each other and make sure they both made it off this dam.
It rang as a truth in the back of his mind, a conduit for the crackle of his conviction. But his conviction couldn't keep the mist out of the air and the damp off his skin in a way that left him unsettled and momentarily unprepared, long enough not to notice the movement of the soldiers until it was too late and the mist parted to reveal the first white-clad man.
Bucky brought his gun up, but a note of dread tinged his thoughts. At least until something came darting past him and slammed into the peacekeeper with a satisfying thud. His eyes traced red white and blue and as the shield bounced off the guy and towards Bucky, he was already lifting his arm to catch it.
With the shield in front and the muzzle of his gun over the top of it, Bucky didn't hesitate, he opened fire.
Bullets bounced off the shield as his bullets met their marks, long strides carrying him towards the soldiers he didn't instantly kill; the nearest one Bucky bashed into, sending him off the edge of the dam to the dark abyss below.
no subject
Even as Bucky's in danger, and Sam pushes himself to get to him in time.
He doesn't pause to watch Bucky grab the shield and charge forward with it, but he takes it all in anyway. Benefit of really fucking good vision and the ability to process it quickly, even more now that his eyes are more or less an upgrade of his goggles, and he can't help but think damn. If this wasn't such an important mission - if this wasn't Bucky's life at stake - there might have been a moment where he'd have wanted to let himself get more distracted.
Sam wants to land down next to Bucky, to put himself at Bucky's side against the Capitol soldiers, but he knows that's not the smartest move. Instead he swoops down to the other side of the group, guns already out and firing as he does. Draw their attention to him, flank them on both sides - there's a lot of them, but he and Bucky can meet in the middle.
(frozen comment) Results
(frozen comment) Shock To The System
From the hidden watch point, the arrival of the rebels onto the electric-mat is radio'd in. There's a split second for that person to run and the rebels to realise there was an enemy in their midst. It's not enough time to escape.
The electricity snaps on and those caught, injured and healthy alike, are sent into convulsions as lethal amounts of electricity course through. Several solar panels spark, ignite fires, and shatter. The result is devastating for the rebels and a resounding victory for the Capitol.
(frozen comment) The Bursting Of The Dam