- "The Nut was established directly after the Dark Days, when the Capitol had lost 13 and was desperate for a new underground stronghold. They had some of their military resources situated on the outskirts of the Capitol itself—nuclear missiles, aircraft, troops—but a significant chunk of their power was now under an enemy's control."
- —Description of the Nut[src]
The Nut is a virtually impenetrable mountain in District 2, where the heart of the Capitol's military was housed. It was nicknamed the Nut after Katniss Everdeen relayed Plutarch Heavensbee's comment about the district being a "tough nut to crack".
History[]
During the Dark Days, the Capitol's military command was relocated from District 13; its Peacekeeping force, along with a large portion of its fleet of hoverplanes, were housed in a large mountain in the middle of District 2, which was previously used for mining. Train tracks from the mountain led into District 2's square. After the mountain was thoroughly mined, the internal infrastructure was reinforced, and barracks, arsenals, computer terminals, and meeting rooms were constructed, turning the mountain into a military base and the Capitol's main source of weapons production after losing District 13.
The Second Rebellion[]
During the Second Rebellion, the rebels struggled to come up with plans to invade the Nut and weaken the Capitol. Lyme, the commander of District 2's rebel forces, guided a virtual tour of the Nut and recounted previously failed attacks. After hours of discussion, Gale Hawthorne noticed avalanche paths on the sides of the mountain and realized that an alternative to capturing the Nut would be to simply disable it; the rebels could use hovercraft to bomb the avalanche paths on the sides of the mountains and trigger avalanches, burying the Nut.
Boggs realized from examining the Nut's blueprints that its ventilation system was its weak point, as these would be blocked up by avalanches. To minimize casualties, Beetee Latier suggested leaving the train tunnel to the square open as the only means of escape. However, Gale was against such a proposal, as he was seeking retribution for the fire bombing of District 12.[1] The rebels eventually agreed to leave the tunnel intact to give the survivors a chance to surrender, but anticipating that the escapees would be armed and desperate, the rebels fortified the buildings surrounding the square with machine-gun nests.
When the Nut was bombed by rebellion hovercrafts, the resulting avalanches shut off many entrances and air vents. Initially, it appeared that the survivors did not escape through the tunnel, but suddenly two trains rushed into the station, where Katniss had started to broadcast an appeal to surrender. In the process, she was shot by an injured soldier,[2] and the District 2 workers who had escaped turned on the Peacekeepers, taking the Nut and the district.[3]
The Bombing of the Nut was decidedly the winning move for the rebels during the Second Rebellion. This event led to the loss of the Capitol's logistical capabilities, air force, as well as large numbers of ground troops. Following this, the Capitol could only put up token resistance against the rebels, and was conquered weeks later.
Description[]
The Nut was a mountain located at the center of District 2. It had a few entrances on its faces, and inside were large spaces where stone had been cut out. Large pillars and walls of stone supported the infrastructure. A train system transported miners to the center of the main town in the district. The terrain around it was plagued with mudslides, floods, and avalanches, and the exterior of the mountain had a tangle of wildlife. The Nut's ventilation system depended entirely on pumping in air from the mountainsides.[1]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Mockingjay, Chapter 14
- ↑ Mockingjay, Chapter 15
- ↑ Mockingjay, Chapter 16