A Peacekeepers' base was a military facility that trained and housed Peacekeepers who were assigned to serve in a particular district. Rebels were also held in detention on base.
Description[]
There was presumably at least one base in each of Panem's twelve districts, but the only confirmed locations were District 2, District 8, and District 12.
District 2[]
Entire mining villages scattered across the mountains were eventually devoted to the training and housing of Peacekeepers instead. The district's main town had a mountain at its center that later came to be known as the Nut. The Capitol established a new underground military base there in the passages and caverns that miners had cleared out inside. A train tunnel carried personnel from the base out into the town square.[1]
District 12[]
In District 12, the base was located an hour's walk away from the train station,[2] and twenty minutes from the Hob on foot.[3] In The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, it was enclosed by a security fence and guarded by armed Peacekeepers. Its facilities were comprised of "nondescript gray buildings", which held the barracks, mess hall, latrines,[2] clinic,[4] and gymnasium.[5] There was a desk at the front of the barracks,[6] and each room had four sets of bunk beds and eight lockers. There was also a field where fitness training took place.[2]
History[]
Before the First Rebellion, District 13 was the center of the Capitol's nuclear weapons development program, and they had a "substantial underground facility" that had been built over centuries as "a clandestine refuge for government leaders in times of war[,] or a last resort for humanity if life above became unlivable."[7] Due to its military ties, it is possible that District 13 could be considered a former Peacekeepers' base.
Hunger Games era[]
Following the supposed destruction of District 13 during the Dark Days, District 2 became the new seat of the Capitol's military power.[8] Its mining villages eventually served the function of military encampments, with one major base of operations concealed within the Nut.[1]
Around the time of the 10th Hunger Games, the commander on base in District 12 was Commander Hoff. He oversaw a new cohort of Peacekeepers, including Coriolanus Snow and Sejanus Plinth.[2] After the execution of Arlo Chance, Lil was taken into custody and held at the base. Her brother Spruce planned with Billy Taupe Clade and Sejanus to break in, free her, and escape from the districts altogether; however, Snow leaked word of the plot to Dr. Volumnia Gaul using a jabberjay, so Sejanus and Lil were hanged for treason.[9]
Decades later, several weeks after the Victory Tour for the 74th Hunger Games ended, Bonnie and Twill told Katniss Everdeen that one of the rebels' targets during the uprising of District 8 was the Peacekeepers' base there. Either they or Katniss referred to it as the Peacekeepers' Headquarters.[10]
Second Rebellion[]
During the Battle of District 2, rebels were keen to seize the base inside the Nut from Capitol loyalists, as it was the last major holdout in the country. However, after multiple failed attempts to storm the entrances, they resolved to strategically bomb avalanche paths and bury the base inside the mountain instead.[1] They left the train tunnel open for survivors to flee into the town square and surrender.[11] This strategy wiped out a significant portion of the Capitol's air force, shifting the tide of the war in favor of newly united district rebels.[12]
Trivia[]
- The term Peacekeepers' Headquarters was only used once throughout the entire trilogy, in Catching Fire.[10] In The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, the base in District 12 was consistently referred to as "the base" or just "base".
- At the time of the prequel, it was relatively common for Peacekeepers on base in District 12 to go by nicknames. For example, Coriolanus was given the nickname Gent,[2] while Sejanus was known as Bull's Eye.[4]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Mockingjay, Chapter 14
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Chapter 21
- ↑ The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Chapter 23
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Chapter 22
- ↑ The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Chapter 29
- ↑ The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Chapter 25
- ↑ Mockingjay, Chapter 2
- ↑ Mockingjay, Chapter 13
- ↑ The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Chapter 28
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Catching Fire, Chapter 10
- ↑ Mockingjay, Chapter 15
- ↑ Mockingjay, Chapter 18