Capitol Games: This is the next instalment following on from Purpose Meets Poison. The Games are about to begin…
Chapter 70: Battlestations
"Citizens of Panem" begins Coriolanus Snow "this is your President speaking. As you know, the new Government of Panem has decided to re-institute the Games, those Games they supposedly fought so hard to eliminate. I want you now to consider the hypocrisy of your government. This is a Government that prides itself on being "just" and they would have you believe that deposing me was the first act in their design to create a more "just" Panem. It seems rather odd to me that, for all their talk of justice and the desire to end the animosity between our peoples, they are now prepared to generate a new animosity using the Capitol's children. Your Government has lied to you. They told you I was dead. You all know that Katniss Everdeen never fired her arrow at me and it is obvious now that I was never killed...which is what you were led to believe. The Mockingjay's intentions on that day were not to liberate you, but to carry out her own inadequate form of vengeance on the people who she believed had harmed her and her family. This girl is nothing more than a spiteful product of the Games and I want you to consider what that means. She is once again encouraging violence, in order to satisfy her own need for revenge, by forcing Capitol children into the Games. I ask you to look into your hearts and make up your own minds…is Katniss Everdeen really who she says she is, or is she just a tormented soul seeking revenge, dragging you all into her sad little story. You decide".
The broadcast cuts out and Katniss is in shock. So is Peeta. It's primetime viewing and somehow, in spite of the Government's efforts, Snow has managed to hijack the Capitol's communications system in order to reveal that he is still alive. It is a master stroke. The broadcast is going to cause a major uproar as the dirty little secret that the Government has tried to keep hidden from the people is now exposed. It could be their undoing. Within minutes of the broadcast the phone begins to ring and the Mentors are called to a meeting with Paylor, Plutarch and Gale.
Katniss can't believe that Snow has been willing to expose himself in this manner, although there was little in the broadcast to help determine his whereabouts. Snow has decided to join the game after all, and this was the best opportunity they had yet to coax him out of his hiding place. But first, the Government will have to confront the full force of the people's reaction to this shocking revelation, and their deception. If the people's response is anything like Katniss', all hell will break loose on the streets of Panem, and the price to be paid could be the fall of the Government.
"Put me in another Propo" Katniss demands as soon as she sees Plutarch. Her hatred of Plutarch and her hatred of propos go hand in hand...Katniss had always hated making Propos...but this was different. There was no time to lose, and Katniss had something to say. There would be no need to put words into her mouth this time.
"Katniss, after what Snow has just said maybe putting you in a Propo will only incite people" Plutarch says.
"They need to know the truth. Snow is a liar. He is trying to make the Rebellion about me, just like he did before we overran the Capitol. It was Snow who "plucked" me from the masses when he tried to put my sister into the Games and it was Snow who turned me into the Mockingjay! No Games, no Mockingjay. That is the truth!"
The people in the room know they had assisted in that ironic twist of fate by using Katniss as the face of the Rebellion. But now she could prove more divisive. Katniss had blamed them, too, for their deception and now Snow was presenting her as a vengeful warrior, bent on destroying those who she believed had harmed her. He had painted a picture of a weak and wilful girl who had the capacity to deceive the Government and the people. The Government needed to calm the storm that Snow had created by admitting the ingenious plot of the Resistance in rescuing him, the plot designed so they could continue their fight against the new Government and the people of Panem.
"Katniss…" Paylor interjects. Katniss isn't listening. She knows what she needs to do.
"I want to challenge Snow! I want to counteract the lies he is telling about me. People still don't know why I killed Coin…"
Peeta knows why Katniss killed Coin. Katniss had been used and abused by the people leading the Rebellion and so, in the end, had her sister Prim. Coin had tried to use Peeta as a weapon again, a weapon intended to destroy her, and Katniss knew Alma Coin was no better than Coriolanus Snow when it came to her power hungry aspirations. Coin would have led Panem right back into the darkness that had surrounded Snow's Presidency, and too much had been lost to allow that to happen. It had been a desperately lonely place for Katniss, making the decision to take that burden onto her shoulders, but she was powerless to resist the urge to do what she knew was right. It meant Prim would not have died for nothing. The truth is, Prim should not have died at all.
"Katniss" says Paylor. "We will consider using you if we think that it will help to quell any hysteria brought about by Snow's broadcast. Right now, we don't know what the consequence of his Propo will be, but it is sure to have an effect. Let's see what the reaction is, and we'll call on you if we need you" she finishes.
Katniss is tired of other people deciding when she can and can't be used. She knows what she needs to do…not just for herself, but for Peeta's Tributes. They are due to enter the Arena any day now, along with Snow's granddaughter, and Snow is no closer to stopping the Games by giving himself up than he ever was. He wants to start a new Revolution and Katniss is having none of it. She is going to finish the Revolution that her handful of berries began and neither Paylor, nor Plutarch, are going to stop her.
Gale knows Katniss well enough to sense that she is not going to take "no" for an answer. Katniss is going to take control and both Peeta and Gale are helpless to stop her. The war between Katniss and Snow is on again and it is going to be an epic battle.