||ODDS|| Newt x Reader In The Hunger Games

37. Bulletproof

The doors to the hovercraft opened and the entire crew stepped out into the land of district 2. It was a large district, as one might expect, composed of a series of villages spread across the mountains.
The surrounding environment now, however, was very similar to that of 8. Broken buildings, rubble and glass shards lay across the grounds in greeting as we stepped down from the plane.

"Welcome to district 2." A man with a machine gun in his hands greeted us. "I'm corporal Holmes. Follow me, please."

We walked along with him towards a big building, when suddenly, a loud blast shattered through the air and the ground beneath us rumbled. Instinctively, I stepped closer to Newt and took his hand in mine.

"Don't worry." The corporal said with a grin. "That's how the loyalists say 'Good morning'."

The building, which seemed to be the town hall, had tall white pillars that ran along the walls of the room, and in the centre of the ceiling hung a huge chandelier, the diamonds and ornaments on it reflected the rising sun's light in every direction.

I was admiring the ornate decorations in the room when a tall woman with cropped blond hair along with a familiar face, commander Paylor, walked towards us with a smile.

"It's a pleasure to have you all here." The former said. "I'm Ricia Lyme, commander of 2. Let me take you on a virtual tour of what we're dealing with. Come along." We went into a large room, and on the conference table situated in the middle, there were many hologram projectors. "Look out of the window. See that large mountain over there? That's the heart of the Capitol's military. You're here to help us take it down."

She then proceeded by educating us about the structure and the layout of the system inside the mountain. To say it was impenetrable was an understatement. The entrance was heavily guarded with peacekeepers and militarized weapons incase of an incoming attack.

Various ideas, suggestions and plans were thrown about the room, in trying to find a way through the mountain. I stood beside Katniss, who seemed equally uninterested and clueless about the conversations taking place in front of us.

"Put President Coin through." Lyme directed. A minute later, Coin joined the meeting, her face appearing on a large screen.

"President Coin, we are indebted to you for the reinforcements and the mockingjay. But I'm not sure that anyone outside of 2 knows what we've been up against. This is The Nut." She pointed to the hologram of the mountain. "The Capitol's headquarters for all offensive operations. It's manned by both military and civilian personnel of district 2. As you can see, the fortress lies so far beneath the bedrock, it's untouchable. Yesterday, we attempted to take the northeastern gate. The enemy countered from higher up and we were forced to pull back. We took heavy losses."

"Could we create a decoy?" Someone suggested. "Send troops towards one gate, launch a staggered attack on another."

"Whose troops do you propose as a decoy, commander?" Paylor asked, a pointed tone in her voice.

"We have the mockingjay." Coin finally spoke up. "Don't underestimate her. We could use her to erode support. She may be able to sway some of the loyalists."

"You've been underground a long time, Madam Coin." Lyme said. "This isn't like the rest of Panem. Support for the Capitol runs deep here."

"Then there is no sacrifice too great. We need to control the arsenal inside that fortress. Even with every district in our alliance, we are outgunned."

"I won't commit my people to ground assault just to pillage weapons." Paylor defended.

"Commander Paylor, your people have suffered more than just about anyone else at the hands of the Capitol."