Ender's War

Chapter 5 - The Game Plan

"Ho, Ender!" Han tzu took it upon himself to greet his former Jeesh commander with the familiar BattleSchool slang.

"Ho, Han tzu", Ender replied before approaching his longtime friend, and wrapping him into a quick embrace.

His presence was shocking to say the least. Nonetheless, Ender was relieved to have one familiar face amongst the group of army captains. At least one of them would be on board with his risky, and somewhat dangerous plan.

"I look forward to being part of your new Jeesh." Han tzu commented as he broke their hug.

Ender only smiled, and gestured for his friend to take a seat. This is good, Ender thought to himself. Han tzu had been one of his most trusted in his fight against the Buggers, and had trained under Ender himself. But despite Ender's relief, he could not help but wonder. Why was he here of all places? Should he not be in China where his family was? If anything, Ender expected him to be a part of their military, not the United States'. Either way, he pushed the thought into the back of his mind, and continued with his meeting.

"Attention!" Ender hollered just loud enough to startle everyone in the room.

Han tzu was the only one who stood with ease, and very easily held his hands behind his back. Ender had to hold in a smile at this, since he missed his very compliant original Jeesh very much. With them, Ender had earned their respect. It was not easy, and it took a while but he did. And now most of them were still undyingly respectful in his presence. Han tzu included.

For a moment, the young Chinese man was the only one who stood, as Ender waited. So he decided to say it again. This time, with more force to his voice.

"Attention!"

The rest soon followed, some with looks of confusion. Others, like Peter, were only smirking, as if challenging him. Though, like everyone else, Peter eventually obliged.

"Now listen up!" Ender shouted just as equally loud. "As you know, I have taken over as your new Commander."

Ender started to pace around the room, his eyes still on his soldiers.

"And you will follow me without any questions asked."

He emphasized that sentence directly toward Peter, who in turn, grinned at his little brother.

He then continued. "So far, under my brother's orders you have not advanced, and are no where close to even winning this war!" He paused, thinking about their losses. "And, you even managed to lose two very young, and capable former BattleSchool students who fought the Formics along side me. Those people were very important assets! But you just dumped them in a war zone without any rational thought?!"

The Generals stood in silence, as Ender ranted. He knew, just by seeing the expressions on their faces that they were no longer used to being put into their place. It was strange, considering Peter of all people was leading them before. Anyway, Ender needed to make sure that they understood that they were not in charge. Hopefully that would prevent any sort of rebellion happening.

"I expect all of you to use your brain, starting now to end this war for us! No more mistakes, and petty little assaults! This is war, and we are going to hit them with everything we have got!"

Ender let his last words hang in the air for quite some time before taking a seat himself. "At ease." He said calmly. "Let's begin."

* * * * * * * *

Tap....Tap...Tap. Tap.

That was the only sound Valentine could hear illuminating from Ender's quarters, as she reached the doorframe.