thearena | Mission: Arena Liberation

Entry tags:

Mission: Arena Liberation

Who| Jade Nguyen, Roxanne Sutton, Wyatt Earp, & Carlos
What| Liberation of the mind.
Where| Abandoned section of District 5 - Outside of the arena structure.
When| January 1st
Warnings/Notes| N/A

Once the team had assembled in their hovercraft, Jade distributed their mission specifics. Their targets were Thor and Carlos, who had apparently found a weak spot within the Arena structure and would soon break out of it. If all went according to plan, the two of them, and possibly others, could be liberated from the Arena within a few hours. Of course, this was all contingent on the Gamemakers in the Capitol not disrupting their plan, which was highly unlikely. In fact, while the craft was en route, the team received word that the Gamemakers had triggered some sort of self destruction function in the Arena. Now they had an even shorter timer on their task.

Once they were dropped off, the team would need to move through the barren deserts toward the massive, looming structure which held the encased Arena. From the outside, it almost resembled a sports stadium, except more imposing and out of place in the midst of an empty landscape. While the place wasn't guarded at all, there was the Capitol seal stamped all over it along with the promise of surveillance and explosions. They'd need to be quick about it: find the weak spot Carlos and Thor had been working on, exploit it from the outside, and get the two of them out of there before the place went sky high.

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Thor and Carlos. Yeah, Jade could get why Coin would want those two at her side. Strategically it made sense to have the smartest and the strongest Tributes fighting against the Capitol, but it was a bold move to snatch them right out of the Arena. And once the Capitol was on to their plans, they would come down hard on Thirteen. Or they would if they were discovered.

"Intel says this place is unmanned. But don't get cocky. We're probably being watched." Whether it was by D13's spies in the Gamemakers center or by those loyal to the Capitol was unclear. Regardless, they had to be cautious. She checks their holo-map, green eyes narrowing. "The spot they've been working on from the inside is on the opposite side, looks like."

Jade started to walk then stopped short. "And stay alert. Our intel guys weren't sure if they'd rigged the surrounding area at all. Personally, I like my limbs. So no mistakes and no missteps. Got it?"

With that she adjusted the gun on her back and led the way toward the Arena.

Roxy gave a cocky two fingered salute, unable to turn off her swagger even when it was clear Jade wanted no nonsense to get in the way of their mission.

Her goggles strapped in place she flipped up the collar on her jacket and kept a sharp pace behind her. Her own gun felt heavy on her hip and Roxy tried to remind herself it was just another tool.

She'd never liked guns, they lacked the hands on feedback she liked when in a scuffle. But as any mechanic knows you pick the right tool for the right job and when it came to self defense a gun was one of her best options.

As a member of the propaganda devision Roxy could see where this would be a major boost to team moral. Thor and Carlos were both incredibly capable from what had been seen in the arenas and more importantly...they were gorgeous. It was one thing to get a couple of skilled people on your team but have them be good looking and suddenly your mood soars and you're willing to follow them into a burning building.

As a mechanic though her thoughts were more focused on the dome itself and how they were going to break through to help the tributes who were breaking through on their side. Of course that would require them to get there in one piece before the whole place blew up.

"I wonder if the Capitol wishes they had just blown the place up with those kids from District twelve." She mused out loud "I mean I'm not saying Thor and Carlos are the new Katniss and Peeta, but it does kinda put out that childish "I'm taking my ball and going home" vibe don't it?"

Wyatt brought up the rear, silent, gun cradled in his arms against his chest as he kept a wary eye on the sky. Watching the horizon as if he didn't trust it.

He didn't know Thor, but Carlos was a district mate. One he'd gotten on with, even if they hadn't been particularly close. He wanted to get them out, and get back.

In one piece, if he could manage it. (He hadn't even been able to tell Max. The man away, if he hadn't been sworn to secrecy.)

"Doesn't look like much from out here, does it?" he murmured. "If ya didn't know better...."

Edited 2015-01-01 23:46 (UTC)

Things aren't so peaceful within the Arena. Lightning is crackling, the countdown is sounding and whether they like it or not, Carlos and Thor have begun to break through the weak spot. Months of planning, weeks of preparing and days of fighting fear and cold feet have gone into this.

Thor, for many reasons, should be terrified. There's no proof that D13 will come for them, there's no telling what the countdown could be inferring. Everything could go wrong in a flash, this could all be for naught. However, as he stands here with Carlos as they face down everything holding them down, it's impossible to feel anything but powerful when he's aided by friendship and science.

It's been too long since he began to take the silent approach, it's been too long since he stood back while everyone around him suffered. He feels liberated of his guilt, he feels like the man he knows he should be. The intensity of his feelings only adds to the force of his powers as things begin to shatter. He's sure that they'll shut them off in mere seconds, so he treats every moment as an opportunity to charge more into the attack. He can't see Carlos for the blinding light, but he can see that they have broken through the Arena.

It's thankful timing, because he can feel his power draining like blood from his veins. It forces him to charge everything he has left into the final push, lightning bursting through the gap they've created before it fizzles into nothing. There's a moment in which he still feels strong, he feels it up until he slumps forward and his knees hit the ground with a thud. Such is the consequence of draining himself like that, he's so exhausted he can't see straight, he can't see if anyone has come for Carlos.

"Carlos." He calls out haggardly. "Go. Run." He's out of breath, it's hard to say more than that, but the urgency is clear in his tone.

Jade didn't have a ton of thoughts about the specifics of recent Games or the Arenas. She never much cared for that crap, and before meeting Wyatt and the other newbs, the only ex-Tribute she'd ever known was the guy who knocked her up way back when. She was still having a hard time feeling a ton of sympathy for them. In a lot of ways, she thought they were almost as bad as their Capitol masters. But if they were on Coin's wishlist, Jade would stop at nothing to get them.

"I'm surprised they didn't paint it to match the scenery." She snorts a little, dust somehow filling her nose in an unpleasant way. "Come on. This way. No time to stop and take a picture. We're on a schedule."

If magic is science and science is magic, Carlos is surrounded by so much science. It fills his every sense: the booming fills his ears. He smells the ozone and feels every hair stand on end. His eyes are round, his heart is racing, and of course, he is staring around at the phenomenon happening around him with the widest, dopiest grin you've ever seen.

Carlos wants to look at everything. He wants to look at the arching lightning, where it drags its fingers along the space station's walls, floor, and ceiling; he wants to watch it come from Thor, licking along his arms; but it's hard to tear his eyes away from the focal point of the lightningstorm, the device he made, that has been affixed to the wall and is slowly, slowly, tearing through every barrier the Arena's edge has. It's like a lightning rod, Carlos had explained, but much more complicated and scientific than that. Billions upon billions of volts snap into the device again and again, lighting up everything around them in flickering blue and white.

It's one of the most amazing things Carlos has ever seen. And considering the places he's lived for the past two years? That's saying a lot.

His heart leaps, when he sees the break in the wall -- we've done it, he thinks with a hammering heart, and if he says it aloud, it's lost in the thunder. Carlos does not know how far they will get, but if Thor is with him, he thinks he has pretty good odds.

Then Thor falls, and so does Carlos's face. The triumph melts away, replaced by worry, by cold fear.

He drops to his own knees, reaching out for Thor's shoulders to steady him -- a familiar position, he remembers, because wasn't this where they were at the end of the last Arena? But that memory is far-off, vague, dimmed by the urgency of the now.

"No," Carlos says, brows drawn in fear -- and in determination. "I am not leaving you. We both know what'll happen if I do." It would be an Avoxing if Thor was lucky; execution if he was not. Carlos has already lost one extremely important person to the Capitol. He can't lose another.

He tries to get one of Thor's arms over his shoulder, so that maybe, with his help, Thor can walk. "We're going to 13 together."

Edited 2015-01-02 21:33 (UTC)

Roxy doubled her pace to keep up with Jade and Wyatt. The urge to continue light hearted chatter was strong but she bit her lip to keep from blathering away. There were multiple ways to accomplish any particular goal. Sometimes you had the right tools and parts sometimes you didn't.

But if it was a three person job and you were irritating the other two people no matter what tools you were given it would make the job go longer.

While Roxy didn't lack faith in her charm or charisma she had a hunch that Jade would not tolerate too much light heartedness this early in the mission. In a way they were all untested and feeling each other out. They could only have total confidence in their own abilities and hope that the others could hold up their part of the job.

And then as they drew closer Roxy's will of forced silence was broken and she commented "I hope we don't have to carry them both out. That Thor guy looked pretty big and we might have to beat feet out of here fast."

"There's three of us," Wyatt pointed out mildly, eyes still scanning across the shifting sand and dust. His finger rested on the trigger guard of the rifle. Alert, despite the easy drawl. "Four, if Carlos keeps on his feet. If we can't manage together, they wouldn't'a sent us."

It had felt more amazing than words could describe. All of his bitterness and rage released in a storm more erratic and tumultuous than anything he's summoned before. He's never had to hold back his feelings like this before, he's never had to stop himself from roaring or protesting injustices like the ones he's suffered here.

So much of his ache and anger had been fueling him that the last leg of this is exhausting. He cannot leave Carlos now, he cannot have come this far to fall. He shakes off the moment of weakness, though his legs feel more like jelly than lead in this moment. When Carlos reaches towards him, when he encourages him, Thor meets his eyes for a long moment and finally nods in agreement. He cannot help but worry for everything he leaves behind, but if he dies or falls into the hands of the Capitol, his friends will suffer all the same.

"Together." He says breathlessly, but the irony is that he forces himself to stand on his own. Carlos doesn't stand much of a chance of lifting him, but his presence alone inspires him to try. He claps a hand on Carlos' shoulder once he can give the impression that he's steady on his feet, a tired smile pulling at his lips as he gestures upward to the break in the wall. "You do the honors." He wants to have the other man's back for as long as he can, but deep down he knows he might not make it very far.

Carlos is stronger than you would think, being in possession of screen-perfect abs and toned arms and legs made for sweatily wandering around a jungle in khaki shorts, but he is not strong enough to carry an Asgardian.

But maybe he can let one lean on him for a while. The smile he gives Thor is relieved, glad, encouraging -- Thor is the strongest person Carlos knows. They can make it.

(As a scientist, Carlos is not in the habit of ignoring facts. If this were an experiment, he would not ignore the fact that when they are out of the Arena, they will be slow. Or that they are still in Capitol-controlled territory, or that the Capitol has hovercrafts. But, for once, Carlos allows himself to believe that the facts might be misleading -- that the sheer importance of Thor and himself getting out of here alive might somehow weight the universe in a way that defies the facts. It would not be the first time the cosmic rug had been swept from under Carlos's logic -- it would not be the first time the facts had not mattered. Someone else might call it faith, this wild, hopeful defiance of fact. Carlos would call it "not having a better plan.")

Keeping one hand on Thor's shoulder -- in case Thor does need support -- Carlos nods, and climbs forward over the rubble. He reaches the breach in the Arena, a crack barely large enough for a adult, and looks out at the empty stretch of land outside.

He looks, and sees no guards.

He turns sideways, shoulder-first, and though the warped metal is still hot and tears at his clothes, Carlos pushes through, and is outside.

Immediately, he turns, to help Thor through.

They'd be fine. If Jade couldn't do the work of the three of them on her own, she wouldn't be in the position she's in now. But there's no time to debate this crap, there's a job to do. And just ahead of them at the edge of the arena, the crack becomes more visible. Faintly, there's a strange glowing light seeping out, so dim it's almost not there.

"That's it. That's the spot." She gestures for the two of them to take cover so they can play look out. "Capitol soldiers could swarm any second. Stay focused."

Jade herself remains focused on the light bursting from the little hole in the wall. "They'll come out through there, if our intel is worth a damn."

Roxy fell silent again counting the seconds before she felt it safe to ask another question without irritating the other two. Instead she busied herself scanning the direction they had come from in case trouble was trying to sneak up on them. Things were about to get fun.

...unless it didn't. The explosives in her bag might be needed to finish the job Carlos and Thor started. That wasn't entirely her call to make though, largely in part because she very badly wanted to see something blow up. She knew she shouldn't waste supplies but one of the best parts of working with the rebellion was the chance to wreck Capitol property.

"Easy, easy now," Wyatt immediately moved forward, rifle slinging around against his back as he crouched and reached for Carlos. "We've got ya, an' we'll get him too."

He moved Carlos back, gentle, but insistent, and looked to Jade.

One down.

"Are ya hurt?" he asked Carlos.

Roxy braced herself to help as well reaching down to grab the back of Carlo's outfit and use it as leverage to haul him out with Wyatt.

"We're the rescue party. Congratulations! I think this counts as winning the game." She joked casting a wary glance around for incoming trouble.

Edited 2015-01-07 23:29 (UTC)

If it's a little difficult for Carlos to pull through the gash they've created, it's very difficult for Thor. He's quite a lot bigger and his weariness is getting to him, so much so that he very nearly jerks Carlos back down to protect him from the strangers.

When he's pulled up part way, he needs to rest to catch his breath and ease the fear and concern in his heart. They aren't peacekeepers, they didn't catch Carlos, they might be alright after all. His arms are weak and it's a struggle to pull himself up more, his legs wobble and he needs to brace against the dome.

"You came for us." He states, there's suspicion in his tone as much as there is hope. Wyatt is vaguely familiar, the women are not. He casts a glance to Carlos, ignoring the fact that the ringing in his ears is becoming near deafening.

With success and completion so close at hand, Jade is reluctant to spare any time with mindless introductions and other such chatter, but she gets the impression that Carlos and Thor might not cooperate if they don't recognize that Jade and Roxy are indeed on their side. Sighing, she casts a cautious look over her shoulder, scanning the horizon for any Capitol vehicles, though even if they were coming, it'd be too late by the time they were spotted.

"We're from District 13. Come on. We don't have much time."

God, it's good to see Wyatt. It shows on his face when Carlos looks at him -- you're alive and what are you doing here and thank god you came all happen in rapid succession.

"I'm fine," Carlos breathes, looking from Wyatt to the unfamiliar women and back. "Well, mostly fine. I am a little dehydrated."

He looks around at the rescue party His disbelief is not actual resistance--in fact, he'll get moving as soon as he's told, helping Thor along with him--it's more that he's having a hard time processing that this is true.

"You -- you really came for us?"

"We're gunna get'cha out'a here." Wyatt half-smiled, mustache perking at one end, and a hand reaching down to his belt for the small canteen looped there.

He freed it and held it out to Carlos.

"Drink it slow," he coached gently. "You'll jus' make yerself feel worse otherwise." He watched Carlos for a moment, then looked to Thor. "Can ya both walk?"

The big man, he hesitated to say, wasn't quite looking up to the task.

"We've got a ride not too far from here. But we're gonna need to beat feet fast."

Leaning down she offered a hand to help Thor come the rest of the way clear along with a reassuring smile. She was reasonably sure she was strong enough to help.

"Then we'll get a hot meal in you and a nice bed under you."

The uncertainty isn't something either of them can help, thanks to the capricious and vicious nature of the Capitol. It's a slow dawn of sincere relief, though there's still a part of Thor that worries whether they're wandering into another trap.

He nods at Wyatt, though there's as much hesitation in his mind as there is in the other man's. He gratefully accepts the hand to help, but seconds after he's on his feet he's greeted by the sound of feet crunching against the ground in a rapid approach. He gives Roxy a sudden shove backward, making the small gap between Thor and the other four wider as the first peacekeeper rounds the corner and points their gun toward him.

They know he can't run, he knows he can't run. The only one liable to feel otherwise is Carlos. With Wyatt closest to him, Thor shoots him a dangerous look, but what he says is for all of them. "Run." It's not a question and he's not wasting time charging at the Peacekeeper. They might regret being the first on the scene, but more are sure to follow.

Edited 2015-01-14 14:27 (UTC)

"No!" Carlos starts toward Thor, only stopping if he's held back, distress in every line of his face. "Thor, no, don't--!"

He knows what will happen to Thor if they leave him behind. What happened to Cecil will happen to Thor, and it'll be because of Carlos. Why, he thinks, is the Capitol so bad at punishing the people who are actually at fault? Cecil wouldn't have done what he did if it hadn't been for me, and breaking out of the Arena was my idea, but the only time the Capitol's taken ME in was for Penny's murder--!

Jade grabs Carlos by the shoulder, hissing at him sharply. "This way! Don't be stupid!"

There would be no chance to argue, no opportunity to make a stand. It might be too late to get both of their targets, but she'll be damned if she leaves this mess empty handed. They needed to get out of there immediately, otherwise it wouldn't just be Thor who'd be a goner.

"Run! Run now!"

Wyatt hesitated, torn. On the other foot, he'd have done the same. He'd have refused to leave Max, Howard... He wouldn't have been able to imagine it.

But it wasn't. His people were in 13, waiting for him.

He wasn't going to die here. Not now.

Meeting Thor's eye, he nodded, regret in his eyes - and a promise.

Then he turned as threw an arm around Carlos, forcing him back.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Carlos, we can't!"

Roxy groaned watching Thor rush the peacekeepers. "Some guys get to have all the fun."

Turning to join the other two who had Carlos well in hand she kept a hand on her side arm. Thor might be able to slow them down but they'd have to move fast to make their escape.

"Live to fight another day pal!"

"We can't leave him," Carlos protests, fighting to get away -- but no match for both Jade and Wyatt. Individually, they're at least as strong as he is. Both of them have him stumbling away from the scene whether he wants to or not. "You know what they're going to do to him, after what he did! They'll kill him, or worse--!"

Carlos the scientist is not a man who cries often. It's extraordinarily difficult to make him cry, actually, with all the things he's seen. However, with his vision blurring, his eyes stinging, and his throat closing, the evidence is impossible to deny. It comes across in his voice; it's pitched higher than normal, warped with fear and half-panic.

"We can't leave him!"

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Mission: Arena Liberation

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