Beetee sighed as he read the lasted encrypted email from Boggs. Beetee, I am sending this from the Holo, so I forgive the typos. Katniss is indanger. Coin will not back down per my request for Peeta to be transferred to another unit. He would do fine in the large rebel messhall on staff serving rations. However, Coin insists he is qualified for Squad 451. We will try and keep her safe.
"Well that's it then." Beetee muttered as he typed away on his keyboard before looking to a small tablet that Wiress had refurbished as yet another monitor at their workstation. "Katniss is online in three...two...one..."
"Ugh, Cress, I have an impossible knot - are you sure you can't trim -" Katniss' voice came from the tablet as the tech crew cheered. A lower resolution video feed from Katniss' Mockingjay outfit showed Cressida walking toward her with a comb. They heard the girls talking while detangling Katniss' hair.
"That's why I carry conditioner - SHUT UP, POLLUX JUST BRING ME MY BAG!" The crew heard Katniss chuckle as Cressida told Pollux off for his teasing.
"The feed is working." Beetee said. "I can turn it off and on. With this, we can monitor Katniss' progress and ensure her safety."
Over the next few days, the tech crew watched as Squad 451 came closer to the City Center and turned off many of the pods or at least made them less intense. Wiress monitored the email and radio communication between Boggs and District Thirteen. Even with all these safeguards, they knew they could only help Squad 451 for so long until someone discovered their unauthorized presence in the Capitol.
"You are going through the pods quite well." Coin said in a the nightly telephone call between her military leaders in District Thirteen and Boggs. The Teslas listened in and took notes to brief the tech team. Thanks to Beetee's skill, they managed to tap Bogg's phone line.
"We are, madame president." Boggs said proudly as Beetee and Wiress smiled at each other. "We have good sharpshooters on our team, The Victors and soldiers are performing above and beyond my expectations."
"You can thank the Teslas for their help when you speak to them next." Coin said in a voice that chilled the Teslas' blood. "I had my engineers trace the pod deactivations to them. After my special brand of questioning, their closest engineers informed me of their defection from District Thirteen. Patch me through to the Tech unit in the Capitol." Coin said addressing someone else in District Thirteen.
"Madame President -" General Boggs began. "I assure you that the Teslas left District Thirteen with every intention to help the rebellion -"
"Silence, General Boggs." President Coin snapped. "Beetee and Wiress Tesla, come in."
"This is Beetee Tesla, Madame President." Beetee said activating his microphone by his computer.
"Turn on the video feed." President Coin ordered glaring into the screen. The Teslas grasped hands before Beetee typed a command into his computer. "You have deactivated some of the pods."
"Yes." Wiress said. "We wanted to help Squad 451 get to the City Center, ma'am."
"On whose orders?" President Coin snapped as Wiress' large eyes glared into hers.
"Yours." Beetee said surprising everyone. "Your plan was for the Victor Rebels to get near the Presidential Mansion."
"That was my plan." President Coin said coldly. "I have changed my mind. Platoon 31!" Coin ordered into a radio. "On my orders!" The doors of the Tech headquarters burst open as a team of Rebel Special Forces shot through the locks.
"Everyone freeze!" The leader of the team called. "Teslas, if you come now, we hold our fire. If you resist, we will use all firepower at our disposal."
"Let's go." Wiress whispered taking her husband's wheelchair and wheeling him toward the door.
"C'mon, Tesla." Another Special Forces officer roughly pulled Beetee to his feet and half carried half dragged him to an awaiting humvee. Wiress gasped before she was shoved into the vehicle onto a bench next to her husband.
"We're going back to the Rebel Headquarters." The leader of the Platoon 31 said before the humvee drove down the streets of the Capitol.
The Teslas were quiet for the whole ride. They knew showing any evidence of dissent was dangerous. However, they worried about Coin's plan for Squad 451.
"You will watch this." Coin said over speaker phone in the rebel headquarters. The Teslas sat cuffed to chairs around a monitor with helpless looks on their faces. "As you know, we can take the feed from the surveyllance cameras in the Capitol. This is my plan." The Teslas were puzzled at Coin's remark until Boggs stepped on an unmarked pod that exploded blowing off his legs.
"NO!" Beetee yelled straining against the cuffs around his wrists and ankles. They gasped as Katniss dragged Boggs into the nearest apartment.
"No!" Another rebel soldier yelled as Kattniss dragged Boggs into a nearby apartment. The other rebel soldiers in the room watched in silence as Boggs passed the holo to Katniss as his last act as General. One of the special forces leaders smashed the phone in there conference room with end of his gun silencing the speakerphone connecting them to District Thirteen. "Unlock them!" He commanded with fury. "Unlock the Teslas, we have to do something!" The Teslas glanced at each other in momentary surprise as the soldiers unddid their bindings.
"This wasn't supposed to happen - we weren't supposed to lose Boggs, put the Mockingjay in danger. Something is wrong. We must protect them."
"I will hack the video feed back to District Thirteen. We felt the pods go off near this building, so we can say communications are down -" Wiress began before she humed and began typing on a computer. Her husband was already working two computers at once. "Dear, let me fix your set-up. Does anyone have an extra monitor and some cords -"
"Now, don't unplug anything, dear -" Beetee paused staring into large eyes that gave him an exasparated look from under the table.
"Beetee Tesla, I recall rebuilding half your laptop screen while you insisted on working on half -"
"I know dear." Beetee muttered. However, he gave Wiress a sound kiss once he had three monitors and the two modems connected. To top it off, he had two keyboards attached to the display so someone else could work alongside him on the same system.
"They're settling in."Beetee called looking from the camera installed in Katniss' Mockingjay suit. "They don't know we're monitoring them, so we can't communicate with them."
"Shall we begin fixing weapons in case they need backup?"
"Yes." Wiress instructed. "We can repair and test some equipment now while they rest. My husband -"
"WIll work on how to slow the pod system down without completely blocking everything. Coin will want most pods active." Wiress followed a soldier to a neaby shed where they began repairing portable radar dectectors, surface to air missles, and small firearms.
"We can't deactivate any pods. We can only slow them down." Beetee muttered when Wiress returned to the main Rebel Headquarters building. Suddenly the Capitol broadcast came on the flatscreen TV along one wall of the conference room where Beetee and Wiress had their computer stations set up. He sighed and slouched in his chair staring dejectedly at two monitors filled with code.
"And the Capitol thinks they're dead." Another soldier pointed out as the Capitol broadcast began. As if on cue, a propo broke in from District Thirteen.
"I taught them well." Beetee beamed with pride imagining the engineers in the Special Weapons tech room working on breaking into the system.
"Yes, I wrote the manual as you went through the steps -" Wiress began as Beetee gave her a questioning look.
"So you trained them." Another soldier said grinning at Wiress.
"I just wrote down what my husband said -" Wiress grinned before Beetee hushed everyone. They were quiet as Coin gave Katniss' eulogy and encouraged the rebels to fight in her memory. Just then, the phone rang. Through the duct-tape, Beetee pushed the button answering the call.
"Rebel Headquarters, this is President Coin." To everyone's surprise, Beetee answered.
"Yes, Madam President?" Beetee asked.
"The Mockingjay is dead." President Coin said. "You will stay in rebel headquarters following orders from the military officers in command."
"Yes, ma'am." He and Wiress took notes as Coin directed the rebel commanders to position their troops around the capitol.
"Is that feed working?" A soldier asked quietly once Coin was off the phone.
"Feed - oh -" Beetee nodded as Wiress showed him her tablet. Beetee took it and typed some quick commands. He shook his head and motioned for silence after his test reavealed the room was bugged.
"They're resting in an apartment." Wiress said watching a window on one of the monitors. "I have a GPS on her suit -" She smiled as she typed a command to scramble the Panem News Network broadcast.
"You think of everything." Beetee replied grinning. "And you're disrupting the news to give them a break." Wiress nodded. The rebel soldiers watched in awe as the Teslas worked at their computer stations.
"Mr. and Mrs. Tesla, we are at your command." One of the rebel generals said.
"Since The Mockingjay and her group are getting some rest, we should too." Beetee directed. "Everyone except the guards around this building. We will discuss strategy when we all wake."
A/N: Well, KTstoriesandstuff had a major case of writer's block. The battle scenes won't be as intense as in the book because the Teslas are behind the scenes. Thanks to all who continue to follow the story and/or series!