Ender's War

Chapter 15 - Fun and Games

Crazy Tom nodded, looking solemn for a moment, as if recalling a tragedy that Ender knew nothing about. "It has."

Petra came up behind the red-haired boy, somehow reading his negative energy, and gave him a pat on the shoulder. "It's been rough, but we made it here. And now we have the world's best commander leading us again. How could we lose?"

That caused the rest of the small group to holler and whistle, and it made Ender smile. He'd missed them. All of them. And even though most of them never considered him a confidante, only their commander like he trained them to see him as, he loved them all equally. And he knew that with their help, it was the best damn chance they had at stopping the Warsaw Pact.

"Attention!" Ender rose his voice, and couldn't help but grin as his army immediately complied.

He didn't want to admit it, but he was home. By home he didn't mean Battle School, he meant with his teammates, and after all of the time he'd spent being tossed around after the Martial, he came to realize that these people were all that mattered. As long as they were safe and he could keep them that way, he would be happy. Hell, he could die and the rest of the world could burn, but as long as his Jeesh and his Valentine were still alive, he'd be content.

"This isn't going to be like the old days." Ender continued, as Valentine stood about a foot behind him to his right.

"There are only five of us on each side. We aren't big enough to split into toons, or to have separate groups. In order to win, we only need one soldier to place their helmet at the gate while an unharmed soldier makes their way through."

Ender paused here, turned around to Valentine, and held out the small silver coloured Hook that had been used so many times before by Major Anderson. She looked at it sceptically, but then took it anyway, grasping it in the palm of her hand.

"My sister Valentine will control the Hook." He turned back to face his small army. "Once one army wins, she'll thaw everybody. There'll be no superiority between groups, and in the end, this is only for fun."

At that, he earned some full tooth smiles, and 'yes sirs' from the group, and Ender knew that they were looking forward to this just as much as he was. They were eager to play the game that had dictated so many years of their childhood. But this time, they'd be the ones controlling it. There would be no more manipulation on Graff and Anderson's part. At the end of the day when all of this was over, they'd all still be friends, fellow soldiers, and most of all, a part of the Jeesh that ended the Third Invasion. They were bonded forever because of that, and that bond was something that grew beyond a manipulative children's game. It was something else entirely. Something sacred.

"I talked to Dink, and we decided that there'll be no formations, and no deadlines. We only use each other, and the Battle Room. Any questions?" He opened up the floor for once, and saw some raised eyebrows.

"No, sir!" The response echoed the corridor, and Ender smiled holding up his right hand, bunched into a fist.

"Wait for my signal." He said, and made his way to the door.

It was still closed, but he had set it to open at exactly 16:00. Right now, it was 15:59. The game would start any second...

Silence filled the hallway, the only sound being the click of the helmets as the Dragon army soldiers secured them to their heads. Ender could hear his heart pounding anxiously in his chest with anticipation. He'd been out of the game for so long. He'd left hating it with every ounce of his being, but now he was willingly jumping back in. They all were...and it was only now, right before they were going into battle, that he was wondering whether or not it was a good idea.