"You both will be disguised as ordinary soldiers in the tech division, though your geniuses will give you away pretty quickly." Boggs said once the hovercraft reached cruising altitude and he was able to leave his seat to speak with the Teslas. "I will help you settle in with your squad before returning for Squad 451." He paused. "Your move will help The Mockingjay stay alive during the revolution. You can do things like break into the Capitol's phone, fiber optic, and electrical system here in ways that you couldn't in District Thirteen." He paused. "However, guaranteeing The Mockingjay's safety may be at the expense of your own. President Coin will not take kindly to your unauthorized leave of her district." The Teslas nodded.
"Once we we are assured that Katniss has secured victory, I am sure President Coin will understand our actions -" Beetee began before he was shushed by Boggs who looked around to ensure the other soldiers were asleep.
"Coin is slated to be president once the revolution is over. To guarantee the safety of those who didn't agree with her 100%, she must not lead the country."
The Teslas were silent for the rest of the flight as they studied maps of the electrical grid of the Capitol as well as reviewed their notebooks and information on Wiress' tablet. Beetee hid several hard drives in spaces underneath the cushion of his wheelchair to review once they got on the ground. After an uneventful landing, Boggs escorted the Teslas to their unit's quarters.
Wiress pushed Beetee's chair through the tent city outside the Capitol. Rebel soldiers from District Thirteen as well as other districts were stationed here. Boggs led them to a corrugated metal shed guarded by a soldier in a worn Peacekeeper's uniform with a dark blue frayed armband. "Soldier Riley, these are Soldiers Jones from District Three." Boggs introduced the Teslas to the guard.
"Soldiers Jones pleased to -" Soldier Riley paused as a glimmer of recognition passed across his face. "I - ah - The computer parts store survived Capitol bombing." He stammered as Beetee smiled recognizing the owner of the largest computer components and electronics shop in District Three.
"Well, I'm sure Soldiers Jones will enjoy the updates you have from home." Boggs said giving Soldier Riley a significant look.
"Hey Techies!" Soldier Riley called excitedly after Boggs left the Teslas with him and the door was closed to the shed. The other soldiers working on computers or rebuilding machinery looked up at their squad leader. "Their identity doesn't leave this shed, but Beetee and Wiress Tesla have joined our squad!" Soldiers from District Three cried as they hugged their victors and soldiers from other districts such as Five and Six congratulated the Teslas on their long line of inventions.
"Looks like you all are working hard." Beetee said beaming at the group. "So you better bring us up to speed on what you're doing."
The Teslas shared a tent with Soldier Riley next to the squad's shed. The three of them would pour over the rebels' positions from the previous 24 hours and the squad's progress in disabling pods close to the rebel forces. Two days into the Teslas' time with the squad, Beetee re-activated a pod killing a platoon of Capitol soldiers allowing rebel forces to take another stronghold in the Capitol. "Dear - have someone else deactivate the pods -" Wiress began as Beetee finished his third day in front of one of the two supercomputers in the tech squad's shed.
"Why, hon?" Beetee asked confused about his wife's suggestion. He logged off the machine and waved another tech soldier to his seat to take over for the night watch.
"The Capitol and Coin will recognize your methods and will know you are here." Wiress explained worriedly before an explosion shook the shed.
"We have to get out of here!" Soldier Riley gasped before bullets tore through the walls of the shed. Quickly, Beetee shut the computer down and stowed his hard drives in pockets under his uniform.
"Beetee - no time!" Wiress gasped as she picked up her rifle, grabbed Beetee's hand, and dragged him out the back door behind Soldier Riley. The Capitol soldiers firing on them were shooting at the rest of the tech squad defending the shed.
"SOLDIERS JONES TAKE COVER!" Soldier Riley yelled before specialized bullets tore through his Peacekeeper uniform.
"Let's go!" Another soldier grabbed Beetee and threw him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
"My hard drives -" Beetee yelped shifting his body as the hard drives placed in pouches under his uniform shifted. "I need to secure them -"
"No! We can't stop for any reason!" Beetee's rescuer barked before a grenade rolled in front of them. The other soldier rolled right to take cover under a pile of rubble before the grenade exploded throwing shrapnel in the air. Wiress screamed as metal shards gauged her face. However, she dove for shelter only after her husband was securely behind the rubble.
"They're here! Victor Rebels Beetee and Wiress Tesla are here! Kill them! President Snow's orders!" The Teslas cringed at a Capitol soldier's shouted orders.
"What's your name, son?" Beetee asked the young soldier carrying him on his shoulder.
"Christopher Anderson." The soldier replied.
"Ok, son, Christopher, put me down." Beetee said as Christopher ducked behind an abandoned bombed out building. "You need to go back to the squad. We'll be ok."
"We need to protect you. You're inventors." Christopher said.
"And you're the future." Wiress said. "Go back. We'll be ok. Go back." She got to her feet and helped her husband.
"The Capitol soldiers will find us. We need to stay low." Beetee said before he and Wiress made their way down a side street. They ducked behind an electric box to an office building before two Capitol soldiers rounded the corner with their guns pointed directly at them.
"I recognize him! jAnd he can't walk!" The Capitol soldier cackled before a volley of gunfire filled the air.
"NO!" Wiress screamed as bullets tore through Beetee's left leg.
"Go!" Beetee gasped as another bullet hit him in the side.
"Up!" Wiress gasped pulling her husband to his feet before a bullet hit her arm. They ran behind the electrical box before it burst into flames.
"Hey! HEY! OVER HERE!" A rebel soldier grabbed Beetee under his arms as he collapsed from pain and blood loss. "Two rebel soldiers down!" He yelled into his radio before more bullets and gunfire filled the air. "Duck down! Now!" He grabbed Wiress' shoulder and nearly pushed her down against the side of the building before they both took aim at the Capitol soldiers.
"Two Capitol scum down, let's get to the rebel field clinic before more come!" In the brief moment of calm, Wiress looked over at her husband and gasped in horror at his wounds. A large puddle of blood soaked his side and left leg.
"No - No!" Wiress gasped as she placed her hands over the wound on Beetee's side to staunch the bleeding. Her large eyes widened in pain and fear seeing Beetee's ashen face as he gasped for breath.
"Sweetie," Beetee gasped as blood trickled out of his mouth.
"NOOO! No - stay - please -" Wiress gasped through her tears.
"My love, fight for me, for our children. I will be in The Force -" Tears streamed down Wiress' large eyes as her husband's voice grew faint even as more blood gurgled out of his mouth.
"Your wife's right, pal. You're staying with us if we can help it." Another soldier hurried over to the group carrying a medic kit said before binding Beetee's wounds. "I got him. Get his feet? Arnold, cover us!" They dodged more gunfire as they wound their way through back alleys to the rebel field hospital. He and Wiress remained by his side until the medics wheeled him behind a curtain to operate on his wounds.
Two days later, the Teslas were recovering on their cots in the corner of the field hospital when they were visited by Beetee's rescuer. "Victors Tesla. We need to find a more secure spot for you two. Have you reported your injuries to Coin?"
"No." Beetee said wincing while feeling his bandages. "It's ah - a long story. Boggs knows we're here. Where were you thinking?"
"Basement of the Capitol Utilities Division. The whole building is under rebel control. The Capitol doesn't want to bomb it in case they still pull off a win. Too much to rebuild." In spite of his injuries, Beetee grinned.
"Soldiers Jones would enjoy working with the rebels." He said pulling out his dog tag that read: Ben Jones. Wiress showed the medic her tag that read: Wendy Jones.
"We'll let them know. The Star Squad aka Squad 451 just touched down, so we could use your help to get them into the City Center." The medic handed them their discharge papers and some combat uniforms to change into. "You will walk with the help of this." The medic handed Beetee a cane.
"Feels a bit heavy - oh!" Beetee gasped feeling a lever around the handle.
"Don't take the safety off. There's one clip of ammo in there. It's meant to be used as a last defense weapon. I believe an inventor from District Three designed it." He explained grinning at Wiress who blushed.
"Yes, I thought it would be useful." Wiress replied smiling as she helped her husband place his hard drives in bullet proof pouches under his uniform.
"I was wondering what those were." The medic said curiously as Beetee tugged on his uniform.
"Backups of most of the servers in District Thirteen." Beetee replied happily. "Thank you for your help."
"No, thank you. Because of your inventions and expertise, I believe we will win this thing."
Soon the Teslas found themselves in an armored jeep along with five other rebels discharged from the hospital. Though all the passengers had freshly bandaged wounds, they sat on guard with their rifles pointed near the windows to watch for any Capitol soldiers. Even in the cover of night, several Capitol units fired on the vehicle.
"Jones, how are you getting these shots?" A fellow soldier asked after Beetee took down three snipers perched in darkened third or fourth floor windows or balconies.
"Night vision and laser guided bullets in this particular model of rifle. In fact, this rifle was invented just a month before the Quarter quell and the design blueprint faxed to District Thirteen -" Everyone except Wiress did a double-take.
"Are you -" Someone began gaping at Beetee with a glimmer of recognition.
"Yes, from District Three." Wiress finished before smacking Beetee for nearly giving himself away. The armored vehicle pulled up to the Capitol Utilities Division to let 'Soldiers Jones' off. "Wait-" Wiress began before shooting a Capitol soldier attempting to break the keypad on the door. "Now." She hurried toward the entrance pulling Beetee behind her.
"Dear, we're safe. You can let go." Beetee grumbled after Wiress had unlocked the door and shut it behind them. "And what was that about in the car back there?"
"You know we're under cover for a reason!" Wiress hissed before showing her tags to the guard in the lobby of the building. The once ornate light fixtures on the wall were partially or totally broken and the carpet was burnt in places along with the walls.
"Welcome to the rebels' tech command center." The guard said grinning at the two inventors.
"I thought that was with the tech squad we left -" Wiress began before the guard shook his head.
"That was to control the pods and communications around the edge of the Capitol. This is the central communications and technology hub, Mr. and Mrs. Tesla." The guard said grinning. "Boggs contacted me and I am aware of your mission. We all are and we will keep your identities hidden.
After taking an elevator down to the basement levels and winding their way down several staircases, the guard opened the door to the main control room. Beetee's tired face lit up before he practically ran in to admire the rows of the latest desktop computers at each workstation and a main hub where two people could sit at adjacent desks each with with 3 monitors connected to a single computing unit. Flat screen monitors lined the walls to complete the room. "Wow!"
"That's what we said when we took over the building." The general in charge of the tech unit replied grinning at Beetee's excited expression. "Squad 451 is on the ground and they have the holo, but we would like to also track them on the screens and block some of the pods if we can."
"We give our all to get The Mockingjay and her allies to the City Center." Beetee replied as the general beckoned him to sit at one of the main control stations. "What do we do?"
Wiress built Beetee a new chair while he got acquainted with the other soldiers and taught them more about the computer system that he designed. They watched the propos from Squad 451 that were uploaded by the tech crew in District Thirteen and cheered when they were able to deactivate pods in Squad 451's area. Of course they were not able to deactivate every one, but they decided they were doing what they could to help win the war.
"WIRES!" Beetee yelled four days into Squad 451's mission as the crew watched Soldier Leeg 2 step on a pod to get impaled by darts. "I couldn't get past the pod program - it was like something blocking - oh -" The room fell silent as the color in his face drained.
"What is it?" Someone asked. The Teslas looked at each other before looking at the main computer monitors.
"Con's blocking us. She knows it's us." Beetee muttered scrolling up and down lines of code on his monitor.
"Why?" Someone asked. No one could come up with an answer. The following evening, they know when they review the hidden cameras on Castor and Pollux that transmitted Squad 451's position and view of the Capitol to the technology unit in the Capitol Utilities Department.
"It's Peeta -" Wiress gasped. "They allowed Leeg to die so he could replace her. To kill Katniss - to kill our Mockingjay."