Author's Note: Onto another district at the heart of rebel plans, a contrast to District Two.

….

Preparations

By virtue of his age, Pluto had been part of District Three's rebel efforts the longest. He had liaised with their current Mayor, a longstanding family friend, and together they plotted his journey through the ranks to the top of District Three. Pluto had given him contacts from across the districts and gave him the knowledge to plan a democratic way forward, beyond the constraints of the Snow regime.

Thus, their Mayor had already been secretly elected to continue in Three's leadership in a post-Snow Panem and to act as their rebel commander until they broke free. The district's preparations had been decades in the making and now plans were finally coming to fruition.

Pluto himself had slowed down. He had got his people into crucial positions and when they got past the peacekeepers, they would have overall control. He now focussed his efforts on ensuring that they could finally break free, in tandem with the other districts. Of all the victors he had been the most focused on ensuring it would be a collective effort when their chains were finally untied.

Beyond Plutarch Heavensbee, Pluto had the most contact with District Thirteen. The Head Gamemaker had set up contact between Pluto and a man he simply knew as 'The Colonel' and Three's man relayed details of readiness at home and further afield and what support would be required from Thirteen.

The districts would need aerial support, that much was obvious. They could not magic aircraft into existence and even somewhere like Three with the theoretical capabilities to do so could not operate to the required capacity under the watch of peacekeepers. They would use drones, modelled on those used in the arena, courtesy of Beetee's, work and hijack peacekeeper hovercrafts. But Thirteen's manpower and weaponry would be required across the districts.

But Three did not want to rely on Thirteen and be left vulnerable to their takeover. The same went for District Four who had been working in tandem with their neighbouring district. Both had long fostered an independent spirit and made use of the connections which came their way.

The problems would be further afield. Supplies were going to become even more scarce, and it was difficult to hoard when everything was in short supply already. Thirteen would need to provide food, medicines, doctors and potentially clean water and electricity. They were going to ask a lot and Pluto had been trying to discover through The Colonel what Thirteen's price would be. Leadership and the presidency were at the top of Pluto's list, and they would simply have to navigate that when they had won. They could not afford to be picky with their allies, nobody else was forthcoming.

Three was in a relatively stable position in terms of reserve supplies. The Mayor had been fiddling with the numbers, leading to an increase in the amounts delivered. Pluto had been hoarding for years along with his fellow victors too. They had each been claiming a particular taste for Capitol dishes which could be found in cans and storing them in their basements and the other houses in the Village. They would arrange transport across the district when they were being watched less closely once the peacekeepers assigned to them inevitably got bored or were persuaded to turn a blind eye.

Pluto had long proclaimed an interest in gardening and home-grown vegetables so had been producing and then canning or freezing what he could. His other plant-based interests, for more nefarious purposes, were moved to an empty house. Plants which could produce toxins and poisons were still being harvested in Three under his watch and under the peacekeepers' noses.

He had been trying to outline a democratic pathway forward, with elections, justice and equality at the core. He had managed to persuade District Three and many of the other victors but implementation led by like-minded people was going to be difficult in his absence. Pluto himself had decided that he was not going to survive the impending war.

He had been under suspicion for so long, his activities curtailed by Snow as he consolidated his power. Pluto's 'Book Club' meetings with the other victors had had to be stopped and he gradually retired from the Capitol to avoid further suspicion. But once the breakout had taken place, there was going to be no denying his loyalties. He did not like the idea of detention and torture, so he had chosen his way out.

….

Decades of work were falling into place for Beetee too. Only now there was a somewhat unforeseen trip to the arena standing in his way. Pluto had managed to gather from Plutarch that the arena's forcefield would be based on his and Wiress' creation and so it followed that his wire would be available at some point in the arena. It was an unlikely sponsor gift, so Beetee had figured that a run to the Cornucopia now had to be on his agenda.

He hauled himself out into the Village's street first thing in the morning to practice. It was a short run and then a swift escape, but he was not as young as he once was, and he was not going to be as quick as the younger victors. Someone like Finnick or Johanna may have to be told of its importance as a backup.

There was, of course, the possibility of having to swim in the arena, perhaps to the Cornucopia itself. Water at the very beginning was not common, but statistically, they were due an arena with a higher water content and as this was an all-victors game, he could not ignore any possibilities. He had learnt to swim years ago. Coral had taught him whilst they were in the Capitol but with the increased peacekeeper presence, getting to the nearest river was too risky and it had been a while since he had last been in the water. He was going to have to trust that Plutarch would not let them all drown immediately if it came to it.

Beyond the arena, there was much to do. He was concerned about the potential to deploy biological and chemical weapons which were stored within Three against their wishes and which poisoned many of their workers. He was trying to deploy his drones to the rebel groups across the district without being caught and was heavily involved in the distribution of weapons.

Beetee had to keep up with his usual business affairs for his Capitol customers and those who were undoubtedly watching him. He had one final product launch to make in the coming weeks, some final publicity, the chance to communicate with connections and bring money into District Three through the profits he made.

His side projects would also come to fruition. Many of the products he made that had been sold in the Capitol would begin to glitch, muttations would reveal well-concealed design flaws or begin to malfunction. Trusted colleagues in Three would bolster the processes he was putting in place to hack into the security systems he had designed for the Capitol. He was going to unravel much of his old work.

Of course, there was going to be some fun too. He knew he would have to lead the arena breakout and at the critical moment, he was arranging for Pluto to be able to wreak havoc at the flick of a switch. Toasters should explode, alarms would sound, and cameras would lose focus, but it would be the least of their worries. Ordinarily, people would complain, but everyone in a position of power would have other things to worry about by that point.

….

Wiress could feel herself falling apart. The woman she had stitched together along with help from Pluto, Mags and Beetee was giving way to the girl with the head injury who left her arena. She knew she was regressing and that Halley, her own victor, had not seen her like this in District Three. Her most vulnerable side was apparent in the Capitol during the Games, but they helped and protected each other.

Now, Wiress was going to have to let Halley fly alone. She was realistic as to her arena chances. Her nerves were already badly frayed and Beetee would have to be the one to carry out the plan. She would assist where she could if she were still alive, but that was no guarantee. Beetee's life had been ranked above hers, but she could live with that.

Halley would have to cut her own ties too. Wiress had remained her mentor, a constant support and presence in her life and in return, Halley had given her so much. But the arena would turn the tides. Halley would become the mentor, and if Wiress were honest with herself, her girl was already taking up the mantle.

Wiress knew she was struggling but she would never have it the other way around. Halley would never set foot in another arena, she was too valuable at home. She had been brilliant from the moment they met and Wiress watched her girl take control of the Fifty-Ninth Games from moments after the gong sounded. Her girl was brilliant and would leave alive. Halley has never let her down since and she was so proud.

Halley was now trying to help with arena preparations and had been learning various weapons for some time in preparation for when the fight came to District Three. She was now trying to pass on those skills to her mentor, but Wiress was not a natural fighter. She was intuitive and used her instincts and surroundings to her advantage and that was her greatest strength in an arena environment.

But there were people who relied on Wiress in Three so she could not allow herself to collapse. It would not be fair on Halley and nor would it be on her people. They all had to come first.

She too was thinking of the weapons stored in Three against their will and how to counteract them. She had spent years working with the scientists, developers and factory workers who were involved in muttation production, and she was dedicated to creating ways to counteract them. She had been using her science contacts for information for decades and they had gradually become friends and rebels in their own right, under her influence. They were prepared to orchestrate acts of sabotage, cause delays to products and innovations that would be used solely in the Capitol and would pass on what knowledge they had found.

There were lots to prepare, so much to think about before returning to the Capitol and the arena and it was helping keep what was left of her together. Once her tasks were completed, Wiress was not sure how she would cope at all. She would enter the arena reliant on Beetee and that made her even more vulnerable. She was not a natural fighter and even with Halley's encouragement, there was only so much she could do in the time left.

Wiress did not want all her time spent with Halley to be focused on the Hunger Games either. She loved her victor and had been many things to her, a mother figure, a sister, a friend and now she was becoming dependent, and she did not like that. She wanted to spend their days together how they used to. She and Beetee had decided to only talk about the Games when necessary, and the subject was never brought up with Pluto. Beetee could handle that when talking to his own mentor.

She did not want to think that her days were numbered. She wanted to see and live in a free District Three and would do what she could to make it happen. But she was smart, realistic and pragmatic. This was going to be a spectacular Hunger Games. It would be followed by a war and the outcomes of both were never guaranteed.

….

Halley was going to be spared the arena. Wiress would volunteer in the unlikely event that Halley was reaped. Wiress and Beetee came as a pair and Plutarch knew Halley's value to Three's war effort, so Halley knew that there was no place in the arena for her.

She was relieved but distraught at what this meant for Wiress and more widely when she thought about the other victors. She knew Mags well enough to know that she would never let any of her girls return to an arena and that she would do all she could to protect Finnick. The Capitol did not want to be reminded of Cotton and her constant tears and still replayed moments of Cecelia's win, so one of her closest friends, the first victor from beyond District Three that she met, was going to have to return to the arena. Seeder and Johanna had no choice and Halley could not imagine anything worse.

But District Three had always been where Halley focussed her efforts and preparing her home continued to be her main priority. The other victors strengthened their contacts with the Capitol, the other districts and used their talents to further their contacts but Halley's efforts were always concerned with the success of the rebellion from Three itself.

Years previously, under the guise of an experiment ordered by Plutarch Heavensbee, Halley created the district's rebel underground command. The four victors and the Mayor had been helping stock it ever since. She had been hoarding food she ordered in from the Capitol for years and making secret distributions via schools through her talent for science teaching and performing live experiments.

Those same visits to schools and similar trips to factories saw her communicate with the various rebel cells across Three, passing on messages where she could, and more recently, weapons. But since the Quell announcement, Halley had realised she was being followed. The Mayor told her it was under the pretence of securing the safety of the victors prior to the Games. It was laughable but it did make Halley's job more difficult. She always had to shake off the peacekeeper tailing her. It was simpler when it was a fellow citizen being paid by the peacekeepers, all she had to do was beat the bribe that had been provided and Halley was not short of money.

She was busy, there was so much to do. The victors' workshop was a flurry of activity and final preparations, each of them doing all they could before journeying to the Capitol. The outhouse they had constructed for Halley's explosive experiments was now effectively a bomb factory. Beetee's drones needed something to deliver to the peacekeeper barracks. District Three could provide Halley with all the materials she needed without question and in preparation, she had been storing what she needed, ready for the right time. She would put together what she could and leave it to those she would leave behind in her trusted circle to finish the rest. She had the necessary chemicals, nails, ball bearings and equipment to finish the job. She would just need to transport what she had made carefully and without raising suspicion.

She was secretly attending meetings with other rebel leaders to ensure that when the time came, their efforts would be coordinated and cause the peacekeepers to be stretched too thin. She was regularly coordinating with the Mayor so he was aware of the victors' plans, had information about what was likely to take place during the Games and was abreast of the readiness across the district. Halley was then able to inform the rebel groups of impending peacekeeper arrivals, crackdowns and quota increases as the Mayor was powerless to stop most of the Capitol's harshness.

Halley would do all she could to ensure her home was ready and well-placed to succeed early. Three would be one of the first districts to rebel and she knew it would lead to early attention being placed on them by Capitol forces. Eight and Eleven would go earlier and forces would be diverted east but many of those retained in the west would be sure to arrive in Three. The hope was to coordinate the beginning of their revolt with action in Four to ensure forces were split across both districts. But Four was so organised after years of efforts led largely by Mags, that Halley was concerned that the larger, more disparate population in Three would not be ready at the same time.

She would need to trust that all would work whilst she was in the Capitol so she could focus on her safe return without worrying about home. She would be coming home alone too, so Halley knew she would be emotional, but she would need to keep herself in check. Three would need her and she had to get back home unscathed.