Chapter X: The Siege
Throughout the history of Panem, the Avenue of the Tributes had always been a place of celebration, merriment, and spectacle. Today, however, it hosted an entirely different kind of spectacle.
Instead of being populated by the who's-who of the Capitol, the spectator stands lining the street were filled to standing-room-only with Peacekeepers. And instead of chariots carrying ostentatiously-groomed tributes, an enormous plexiglass box occupied the street. Today, the television sets of Panem would not broadcast the Games, or any other sort of entertainment. Instead, they would present, in living color, Panem's largest-ever public execution.
Standing just outside the door to the box was a line of Peacekeepers, goading the condemned into the box one by one as their names were read off. Most of the condemned were former Peacekeepers, many of them having been associated in some way with Colonel Cray. However, the last three names on the list stood out above all others:
"Primrose Everdeen...Marian Everdeen...Gale Hawthorne."
"People of Panem," began President Snow as he took the podium. "All of these stand before you, having been found Guilty, on the charge of Treason Against the State. All of these either conspired personally to incite rebellion, or aided and abetted those who did.
"It is to my sorrow, and disgust, that the majority of the condemned were once members of the Peacekeeper Corps. Having taken a sacred oath to uphold law and order in the Federation, and to carry out the orders of the State, they deliberately violated that oath, abusing the powers entrusted to them by the State to subvert, undermine, and sabotage the same.
"Let it be known that we shall not be so trusting from now on, and that it will take time and hard work to regain our trust. In order to demonstrate that such authority and trust cannot be used to shield oneself from the consequences of ones actions, we are here today to carry out the sentence of Death by Gas Asphyxiation.
"The execution will commence on my command. And may whatever god you believe in, have mercy-"
Before the President could finish his sentence, a bright light consumed him from the inside out, making an eerie ringing and a "thump-foom" sound as it carried him up into the sky.
Before he could take in his surroundings, Snow found himself staring at the business end of a number of rifles and staff weapons. Two of the gunmen parted and allowed Katniss Everdeen through.
"Miss Everdeen," growled Snow. "I should have known you were behind this outrage."
"Mister President" Katniss greeted with a smile. "You are under arrest. Escort the President to the bridge."
"Eli, do we have the Everdeens and Mr. Hawthorne?" asked Scott as Katniss and Snow arrived on the bridge.
"That's affirmative," reported Eli. "They're being assigned quarters as we speak."
"Are we ready on transporters?"
"Transport macro has been loaded," reported Eli.
"Stand by," ordered Scott. "Comm, are we ready to broadcast?"
"Affirmative, sir," reported the Jaffa. "VHF signal is ready."
"Katniss, you're on," prompted Scott.
At that moment, broadcasts were disrupted, and Katniss' face appeared on every monitor in Panem.
"Do not attempt to adjust your receivers," began Katniss. "This is Katniss Everdeen aboard the earth ship Odyssey. The execution you've tuned in to witness has been stayed pending further investigation. President Snow has been placed under arrest. As of today, the Federation of Panem ceases to exist. What replaces it will be up to you. Please stand by for further information."
"Oh, that was beautiful!" beamed Eli.
"Commence evacuation," ordered Scott.
"Aye, cap'n," acknowledged Eli."Evacuation in progress."
People began beaming out of the Capitol in groups of about twenty. After about half an hour, the city was completely empty.
"Target forward rail-guns," ordered Scott.
"Forward rail-guns targeted at the Capitol," reported the Jaffa.
"Katniss," offered Scott. "Would you like to do the honors?"
Katniss looked over at Snow. "Commence bombardment."
Across the screens of Panem came images of fire raining down from the sky, leveling buildings and consuming the Capitol in flames.
"I have no doubt you could have just as easily vaporized the city in a single stroke," surmised Snow.
"Oh, absolutely," confirmed Katniss. "But this is much more entertaining, don't you think?"
"I hope you realize you've just consigned the districts to the very same fate," threatened Snow.
"We'll see about that," countered Scott, activating the comm. "Eli, what's the status of those missile defense satellites?"
"System has been deactivated," reported Eli, "We're good to go."
"Put me through to the fleet," ordered Scott.
"Channel open," reported the Jaffa.
"Mon'ac, this is Scott."
"Go ahead, Lieutenant," responded Mon'ac.
"Send in the troops."
Capitol airplanes and hovercraft issued forth to firebomb the districts, only to be met by death gliders and F-302s. Having the advantage in speed, maneuverability, and armaments, the gliders and 302s quickly dispatched with the Capitol's air forces.
Tel'taks flew low above the districts, mainly to serve as ring platforms to convey troops from the Al'kesh in orbit. Jaffa and Langarans began subduing Peacekeepers with zat fire, ringing them back up to the ships to be taken prisoner.
By the end of the day, the fighting had subsided, and the Jaffa/Langaran alliance had taken control of the districts.
"Haymitch, what's your status?" inquired Scott.
"Ready to beam down," reported Haymitch. "Anything special you want me to tell District 13?"
"Just what we discussed," replied Scott. "The people are in charge now. They can play ball, or they can be considered hostile and treated as such."
"I'll be sure and tell them," promised Haymitch.
"Send him down, Eli," ordered Scott.
The citizens of the Capitol found themselves standing around the cornucopia in the center of the arena wherein the 74th Hunger Games had taken place. As night fell, the image of Caesar Flickerman appeared in the sky.
"Ladies and gentlemen, your attention, please," greeted Flickerman. "The provisional authority has chosen me to speak for all citizens of the Capitol. They have agreed to drop the charges of aiding and abetting the crimes against humanity committed in the Hunger Games. Instead we are to be deprived of citizenship, and exiled through the device known as the Stargate, to an uninhabited and neutral planet. Where we go from there is of no concern to the authority."
After he'd finished speaking, an Asgard beam deposited the gate beside the cornucopia, where it immediately activated. At that moment, a thick gray mist began to form at their feet.
"The mist you see is a neurotoxic gas," explained Caesar. "At these concentrations, the effects are mild and temporary. However, the concentration will continue to increase until the air becomes lethal to breathe. It is therefore imperative that we move through the Stargate as quickly as possible. We have thirty-eight minutes to complete the evacuation. Good luck to us all."
"Thermal scans indicate evacuation is complete," reported Eli. "Shutting down the gate."
"Transport the gate to its temporary location," ordered Scott.
"Stand by," replied Eli. "Stargate is aboard the Al'kesh."
"Transfer custody of the prisoner," ordered Scott.
"Wait, you can't-" protested Snow.
"Bye, bye!" Katniss said as the Asgard transporter whisked him away once again.
"Helm," ordered Scott. "Find us a good parking spot."
"Aye, sir," reported the Helmsman. "Parking orbit established."
"Attention all hands," announced Scott. "This is Lieutenant Scott. Colonel Kalis has the conn. Feel free to call us if you need anything."
Eli removed the stone, causing Kalis to flinch has he returned to his own body.
That evening, Peeta came down to the Mess Hall, where he found Katniss, eating alone.
"This seat taken?" asked Peeta.
"It is now," replied Katniss, showing him to his seat.
"So...we did it," observed Peeta.
"I wouldn't uncork the champagne just yet," cautioned Katniss. "There's still a lot of work to be done."
"Tell me about it," agreed Peeta. "I'm going to be working with Mayor Undersee. He'll be the provisional Governor until we can elect our own officials."
"I assume the Langarans will be around for awhile to maintain law and order," speculated Katniss.
Peeta nodded. "For now. A lot of the Peacekeepers aren't actually bad at law enforcement, so we'll keeping an eye on them; seeing which might be good candidates for local police. They'll also be building a surface-to-orbit defense system, just in case the Tok'ra decide to make any more trouble for us."
"Speaking of which, do you have any idea what changed Mon'ac's mind?"
"I'm not sure," answered Peeta. "But I heard it was something along the lines of tyranny anywhere being a threat to freedom everywhere."
"He could take a lot of flack from the other Jaffa factions for this."
"Probably," agreed Peeta. "But somehow I get the feeling that the others might be a little less hesitant to stand up for the little guy from now on."
"I hope so."
After a few minutes silence, Peeta spoke his piece. "Katniss...about the other night-"
"I'm sorry, Peeta," apologized Katniss. "I shouldn't have been so rough on you for expressing how you feel."
"I'll take that," accepted Peeta. "And I'll also say that I understand your position. I may not like it, but this is your life we're talking about here. And let's face: not every guy gets the girl of his dreams."
"I'll tell you this much," consoled Katniss. "There are a lot of new dreams out there these days."
"Yeah," agreed Peeta. "That there are."
Katniss took Peeta's hand in hers. "I'll never forget what you did for me."
"And I won't forget what you did for me," reciprocated Peeta. "You'll always be special to me, Katniss."
"The feeling's mutual."
Shortly after supper, Katniss turned in for a well-earned good-night's sleep. As she drifted off, the nightmares did not return. For the first time in her life, she began to feel like things might actually turn out alright.
End of Chapter Ten
Stay tuned for the final chapter.