Deft fingers worked to unfurl Ender's shirt sleeves, smoothing them out across his forearms. A navy blue bullet proof vest with the International Fleet's insignia was placed overtop the basic crewneck he'd been sporting since the previous night. A military grade jacket of the same colour, donning several pockets along the front was secured overtop of it. Next came a pair of tactical military gloves, some cargo pants that matched the jacket, and a pair of midnight black combat boots. A black balaclava was draped over his head, followed by a navy blue helmet with the I.F. insignia on the right side. Finally, a second vest, one with even more pockets, was fastened over-top of the jacket. This one, had a small dragon army insignia over the left breast pocket, right under a scroll of words that told everyone that he was the Commander. Admiral Wiggin was stitched in small orange lettering. It wasn't obvious enough to make Ender a target on the battlefield, but it was big enough so that those standing close to him knew exactly who he was.

After he was done with his gear, Ender took a moment to look around at his comrades. They were all in various stages of putting on the same gear, with slight adjustments depending on their team and rank, and they looked more determined than ever.

This is it, Ender thought as he moved through the crowd to stand at the hatch of his team's aircraft. I've already given them their orders. Now it's up to them.

Peter joined him a few minutes later, looking amongst the crowd of a few hundred himself. "Most of them are probably going to die."

"They know that."

"Good. They're dying for you."

Ender let out a huff of air. "They're going to die so the Second Warsaw Pact doesn't gain control of the entire world."

"It's the same thing."

The loud clash of metal on metal could be heard as each aircraft closed its doors behind its group of soldiers. Ender's door was the last to shut. It closed right behind both him and Peter after they determined that their surroundings were clear.

"Everyone is ready for departure, Commander." A young launchy addressed Ender from behind after he had finished buckling himself into his seat.

Ender looked up at the young boy. August. He'd make sure to remember that face. The young soldier probably wouldn't make it back. Ender would try to remember all of them. As many as he could. Because they trusted him, and he owed them that much.

Ender nodded once, and said a simple "thank you. He turned on his ansible and connected both himself and Peter to the I.F. network through their earpieces.

Unlike before, they both had two earpieces for this. Ender had made sure that every one of his team leaders were equipped with the same. Neither Ender, nor Peter or any of the other leaders could afford to be distracted from their communications. That alone could result in their downfall.

As a repercussion, Ender and Graff had also ensured that in each cluster of 50 soldiers, twenty-five of them were provided one earpiece. That way, if things went south on the ground and their team leader was killed, a group could maintain communication with command to relay their situation.

They had not told anyone what to do if all their coms were cut off. Both Ender and Graff knew that if a team got to that point, there was no way they'd survive anyway.

"Dink, Fly, Alai, are you there?" Ender spoke into his coms, addressing three of his team leaders.

All three, in succession answered his call. "We're all ready over here." Dink answered, his voice echoed through the line. "We will move on your command," Fly confirmed, while Alai simply said, "Awaiting your instructions, sir."

"Converge on your respective bases when I give the order."

"Yes, sir." All three responded without hesitation. That alone was why he'd assigned his jeesh members as team leaders. They'd worked under his command numerous times before. They wouldn't disobey his orders, or question his choices. They had become a well oiled machine with complete trust in him. Ender would give them a command and they would carry it out. It was as simple as that, and because of their loyalty, the operation couldn't go any smoother.

"They're such ants." Peter grumbled from his position on his left.

Ender spared his brother a glance, and was only slightly surprised to see the smirk on his face. He didn't comment. Instead, he asked him, "Are the troops ready?"

Peter was in charge of monitoring their group. He handled all communication between them, while Ender focused on the big picture. It ensured that their assault on Wroclaw wouldn't be neglected in favour of the war itself. It had been a win-win situation for Ender work wise ever since Peter had agreed to work with them.

He wouldn't have thought it possible before, but things were different now. Peter was an asset, one he was thankful to have.

Peter spoke into his own earpiece before answering. "Yes. They're waiting on your call."

Ender nodded before clicking a few buttons on the ansible control panel in front of him. The aircraft buzzed to life underneath his fingertips, and he turned to Peter. An unspoken understanding crossed between them as they both grasped their controls. They were going to work together on this. Truly. And they were going to come out of it alive together too.

"Dink, Alai, Fly. We are a go."

* * * * * * * * *

A warm hand wiped the sweat laden hair from Alai's forehead. He gazed up at the scorching sun from underneath his helmet. His chest heaved from overexertion and his hands ached from the time he'd spent gripping his assault rifle as if his life had depended on it. It did.

Someone was talking to him. He couldn't tell who it was. Their face was blocking out the sun, creating a halo of light around a dark silhouette. Alai squinted, their mouth was moving but no words reached his ears. He couldn't hear anything accept the incessant ringing from the constant cascade of gunfire. Thirty-four soldiers. The words slipped through the haze. Was that how many he'd taken down himself? He'd lost count after the first few. It had been at that point when things had started to get out of control.

They'd opted for an air assault paired with a ground approach from an elevated area. Ender had advised against any other strategy, wanting to preserve his soldiers lives as much as possible until they could overwhelm their adversaries at their headquarters in Warsaw.

It was an oddly conservative move for Ender. Alai, who had known him since the beginning, had been all too aware of Ender's overly sacrificial nature. Perhaps, the team leader had found himself thinking, Ender had become more compassionate than what he used to be. After all, people grew, and even though Alai had been more than willing to follow Ender into the depths of hell before, he found himself feeling relieved that he was now following a different, more openly humane Ender Wiggin.

The Ender before, the one who had eradicated the Buggers at the young age of 11, he had terrified Alai. That Ender had been ruthless, appeared uncaring, didn't seem to put the lives of others into consideration, and was not someone who any of them spoke to outside of a professional capacity. Since then, Alai had, when both Ender and himself were not busy, spoken to his Commander about things other than war.

And Ender...well, he'd shown him and the rest of the jeesh that he was indeed a human being with feelings. He did care for each of them, and even though he didn't want to lead this war, he was going to do it for everyone else. This Ender, he was selfless.

Maybe he'd always been selfless, but he'd never been willing to show it. Not until after they'd left command school. Alai appreciated the companionship more than he could possibly say. Ender had always been his commander, but now he had become his friend.

"Alai!" A hard smack on the side of his arm caused him to turn toward whoever had hit him.

He continued to hold his rifle tightly. They were in enemy territory and even though it seemed as though they'd won, anything could happen.

"Snap out of it!" It was Han Tzu. Alai recognized his sharp eyes as the pupils reflected against the sun. "Are your ears still buzzing?"

Alai shook his head, relieved to see his fellow team leader. He turned to address whoever had been speaking to him a moment before, but they were already gone. "Han Tzu." He opened his mouth to say more, but his companion grabbed the same arm he'd smacked, and began to lead him off the battlefield.

"Everyone else is headed to the main building to regroup. I asked Shen to check the security cameras for any stragglers just in case we missed some. But we need to get undercover, and you need to give Ender the good news."

Alai felt his entire body sweating, a dull ache throbbed in his ear drums and he was parched, but they had won. He followed Han Tzu into the Second Warsaw Pact's main communication and security building in Lublin, a feeling of joy steadily rising in his chest. They hadn't taken down their enemy yet, but if the other locations had done as well as they had, they were well on their way to doing so.

"Admiral Wiggin." Alai spoke into his coms as soon as they'd passed the threshold of the building. The corridor they stood in was quiet and would serve him well for cross country communication.

Han Tzu had went on ahead, not needing to be present for what was intended to be a short status update. "We're all upstairs." He told Alai quietly before walking off.

"Ender?" Alai tried again and was met with complete silence.

Maybe the connection is weak. The thought didn't stop Alai from feeling unsettled. Ender had told all of them that he'd be available when they needed him. Where was he? Alai reached up to remove the ear piece from his right ear. It came away easily, and he turned it around in his gloved fingers to see if the device was still functional.

A green light on the side confirmed his fears. His coms were fine.

Slipping it back into his ear, he tried again.

"Ender, are you there? Sir? This is Alai. I have a status update from Lublin. Come in, sir?"

Nothing.

Screw it. Alai held down a small button on the underside of both earpieces for five seconds. It was the emergency communication beacon. Nothing, not even a device shutdown would prevent Alai from patching through this way.

"Ender?" He dropped all formalities as he felt his heart start to pound in his chest.

A loud crash echoed through his ears, clearly on the other end. The sound was followed by gunfire, and shouting. Loud screams pierced Alai's ears so violently that he could almost picture the scene. This was not good.

"Ender! It's Alai. Come in, please!" He tried to stay calm, but if things were as bad as he feared, something needed to happen quickly.

Alai heard heavy breathing on the other end. It sounded as if someone was hurt. Was Ender-

"Alai!" A voice, unmistakably Ender's, hollered through the coms. He was out of breath and sounded frantic. "Alai, you need to tell the others. We've been ambushed! We-"

Ender's voice cut out, replaced by a loud screeching. The connection was weak. Ender's coms must be damaged. Alai could hear Ender shouting something to his comrades in the background, but he couldn't decipher what it was.

"Commander!?"

"We-" Ender was back, and he did not sound good. His voice was scratchy, and his breaths were laboured. "We're outnumbered. You need to get out of there. Tell everyone to go to-" A loud crash prevented Alai from hearing what Ender said next, and then once again...nothing.

Alai stood there, frozen. Static filled his ears from Ender's broken earpiece. There was no way he'd just heard that. There was no possible way they could have been ambushed.

Denial began to take purchase in his mind, but disintegrated just as quickly. The static continued for what felt like an eternity before Alai clicked off his own ear piece.

Ender could be dead. He could be dead and he'd told them to escape.

They needed to escape. Alai blinked. Once. Twice. And then finally, reality came rushing back. The Warsaw Pact had somehow known Ender's location. Maybe they knew all their locations and were on their way.

Ender was right. They needed to move and fast. But where? Ender's order had been muffled beyond recognition. They'd need to improvise. But first, Alai needed to tell the others what was happening.

He took off down the corridor at a run, turning corners until he found a staircase that led to the second floor.

"Han Tzu!" He yelled before he got to the top. "Han Tzu!" He called a second time as he ran face first into a very large obstacle.

The speed of the impact left him squished against whatever he'd run into, and he had to take a couple steps back until he could see what he was dealing with.

He was met with red ink, black clothes. A large mask.

"Shit!" He screeched as he recognized what it was. A Warsaw Pact soldier. Multiple Warsaw Pact soldiers to be exact, and they were all heavily armed, their weapons already trained on him.

Alai gulped as he raised his own weapon. There were at least a dozen of them and they were not part of the Lublin base. Their attire spoke of fancier origins and because of that, Alai knew, these were the reinforcements Ender'd tried to warn him about.

* * * * * * * * *

Three Hours Earlier

"We can land behind those trees." Peter gestured toward a wooded area just beyond the Warsaw Pact's property. "The underbrush will give us a good vantage point, and we'll be on higher ground to boot."

Ender nodded, using both his hands to steer the aircraft towards the area. It was an ideal spot. Peter had good instincts.

After the landing sequence was over, and all soldiers disembarked from their respective aircrafts,  weapons were disbursed amongst them. Ender gripped onto his assault rifle tightly, testing the weight of the weapon in his arms. He could feel the weight of the additional hand guns strapped to each of his thighs as he walked around the area to observe his soldiers. A black belt had been strapped to his waist holding more ammunition, and small knives were stashed on the inside of his boots.

The sun was bright, having just peeked over the horizon a half an hour before their landing. Bright yellow streaks illuminated the wooded area, and if Ender didn't know that all hell was about to break loose, he would have thought that it was going to be a nice day. Wind whirled around them, blowing the tarps that held down their extra gear, and he looked around to see that all of his soldiers were fully armed and waiting for his direction.

Peter walked up to stand by his side. At a quick glance, he was also fully armed. "Do you still trust me?" He grinned at his younger brother, leaning in slightly as to ensure the others wouldn't overhear them.

"It's a little late for me to decide against it now." Ender retorted. "Besides, by wearing that uniform, the Warsaw Pact soldiers will kill you without another thought. I'm sure they'd kill you regardless, given your history with their boss, but they'd likely draw your death out if that was the case."

"Ever the optimist." Peter's grin faltered, turning serious. "But I will stand by your side. I don't care what happens out there. We may not like each other and I have no right to ask for your forgiveness, but what I do know is that these bastards are going to try to take down everything the I.F. and the Hegemony built. And that goes against what both of us stand for."

"Which is?" Ender grimaced. He would probably never get used to having similarities with Peter. The idea continued to make him uneasy even if they'd fashioned a temporary truce.

"A world where you're free to choose who you are." The smile returned.

"And in your version, you'd be the ruler of that world."

"Well of course." Peter turned serious once again. "But the difference between me and them is that I won't be leading a dictatorship. Regardless of what you think, that's not the kind of world I want my name plastered onto."

Peter's eyes met his and their gaze held. Ender, only newly accustomed to being able to read his brother, was surprised when he saw sincerity in those pupils. They seemed to sparkle against the morning sun, and no matter how hard he tried to uncover any malice beneath them, there wasn't any.

"I believe you." Ender said without thinking, and it was the honest truth.

Peter also appeared shocked, but then brought up his hand, patting Ender on his shoulder. "Well, I guess now that that's settled, you have an attack to lead." He gestured toward the barrage of soldiers who were lining up in front of them. "What are your orders?"

_

"Peter! There's a sharpshooter on-top of the roof to your left. Can you take it out?"

"Yeah, yeah. I've got it." Peter spoke into his own coms in response to Ender's request.

Ender didn't bother replying, opting to move, as quietly as he possibly could from his crouched position behind the building across from Peter. His knees creaked as he rose, protesting against his weight. He'd been in that position for a while, and he was glad for the change.

Peering across the corner, Ender could just make out the figure on the ledge of a four story building. They were leaning against a sniper, their eyes trained on the scope as they assessed the area for movement.

Ender took in a deep breath, hoping that none of his soldiers were in the shooter's range. There was nothing he could do from his vantage point. It was, whether he liked it or not, all up to Peter. Only seconds must have passed, even though they felt like minutes. Ender adjusted his grip on his rifle and waited. A sudden crash from Peter's position drew the shooters attention. They were fast. Multiple shots rained down in that direction. Ender couldn't see if they met their target, the wall he was sidled against effectively blocked his view.

The shooter collapsed a second later. A clean shot to the skull blew the figure backwards where they fell hard onto the roof. Peter's voice could once again be heard in Ender's ears.

"You're clear. Meet me at the blue building at the end of the street. We should have some decent cover there."

"I'm on my way." Ender replied.

Leaning his head out of the alleyway, Ender scanned the street for obvious threats. When he couldn't see a single one, he stood the rest of the way up and ran across the road. He jumped over rubble and ducked underneath a fallen beam before reaching the other side. He leapt into the alleyway, knowing full well that if he was able to stick with it, it would bring him right to the building Peter had mentioned.

As he predicted, he had an easy time from there. The door of the building was left slightly ajar as he approached it. Peter must've gotten there before him. Carefully, he used his foot to nudge the door open. He trained his rifle into the darkness as he stepped inside, not willing to take any chances.

"Peter?" He whispered, as his eyes tried to adjust to his new surroundings.

There was no response, and Ender realized, almost a second too late that this was a trap. A repetitive beeping echoed in his ears, the noise way too loud to be a faulty wire or pipe.

"Shit!" Ender turned, ran a few steps, made it outside the door, slammed it behind him, and didn't have time to do anything else.

BANG

The building exploded behind him, catapulting Ender across the road and into the window of another building. He lost his rifle somewhere in the chaos, abandoning it to curl into himself as much as he could. He tucked his head into his chest, using his gloved hands to protect the back of his head and neck.

He ears were ringing. Were his coms still in them? He couldn't tell. The feeling of glass piercing his uniform and getting lodged into various places on his arms and legs caused him to cry out, and the force of the impact made him see stars. Ender held his eyes shut tightly even after he was sure the explosion was long over. He felt sick. His arms and legs were on fire and every time he breathed, his lungs were filled with smoke. It only took a few seconds for the world to fade to black.

_

"Come on! Wake up already!" A hand shoved at Ender's shoulder, causing a sharp pain to shoot through the joint.

Ender hissed out more from surprise than the pain, and slowly blinked his eyes open. It took a moment for them to focus, and after they did he was met with the annoyed gaze of his older brother.

Peter sneered when their eyes met. "How stupid are you? I said to meet at the building! Not for you to go in."

Ender coughed, tried to sit up and upon failing, was surprised when Peter helped him lean against a wall. He took a second to look at their surroundings. Broken glass was everywhere, and what furniture that had been present seemed as though it had been smashed to pieces. They were still where Ender'd landed. At least that much was clear.

"Hey!" Peter waved a hand in front of his face, trying to gain his attention. "Earth to Ender!" He tried again. "Are you there?"

Another cough made its way out of Ender's lungs before he spoke. "Yeah." His head spun. "I think I'm okay." He looked down, assessing the damage the blow had dealt. Other than getting pierced by glass, he seemed to otherwise be unharmed. He was sure he had a concussion, but based on his movement ability, no bones appeared to be broken.

"Good. We've got to go! That blast will attract more of those fuckers, and if it comes down to protecting you or getting out of here... I'd have to choose myself."

Ender chuckled. "Good to know you care." He winced as he began to pull the glass shards out of his uniform.

They left him easily enough. The tips of the pieces were coated in his blood, but the wounds weren't deep enough to be considered a serious problem. He threw them to the floor to join the others, and he looked up at Peter.

"Help me up and we can touch base with the others at command."

Peter huffed, mumbling something about having to do all the work before complying, letting Ender lean heavily on him until he regained his balance.

Progress was slow. Walking among rubble wasn't exactly easy after being caught in an explosion. They moved cautiously through heavily obscured areas, and relied on Peter's rifle when they ran into trouble. Ender's had broken in the explosion. He'd have to rely on his hand guns and knives until they could reach their supplies.

"That's the last one." Peter stated as a body tumbled over the edge of a building and onto the street in front of them. "They'll save the rest of their sharpshooters for the main building. We won't have to worry about getting taken out from above until we reach it."

That was reassuring. Peter's intel had proven to be quite useful during their planning and it had become just as beneficial on the battle field. His brother, even with all his faults, was a good asset to have.

"Brock." Ender called as they neared the aircrafts.

The aforementioned soldier turned his head in their direction, his eyes lit up with recognition when he saw who was calling him.

"Commander." He saluted, meeting them halfway. "Do you have a status report?"

"Peter and I have finished clearing out the North sector with minimal trouble. We sent our support to help out with the East. Any word from the South or West?"

Brock shook his head. Ender'd ordered him and a handful of others to protect their supplies while everyone else took on their respective sectors. If anybody other than himself knew how the mission was going, it would be the soldiers stationed here.

"Nothing for a while, sir."

"I see." Ender gave him a dismissive gesture before walking over to the supply carts.

Both he and Peter replenished their weapons. Ender grabbed another rifle, bandaged his wounds, and Peter stocked up on ammunition. They were going to go help the East squad before moving on to aid the others. From what they'd been told earlier, they were the group who needed backup the most.

Ender reached up to check his coms. They were still in tact. Thank God. Switching onto his group's channel, he checked in with each sector. Everything was going as planned. Better than planned.

He turned to Peter. "They might be finished before we get there, but we should head over anyway to make sure."

Peter readily agreed, and the two of them left the relative safety of the makeshift base to head back onto the battlefield. The trek over was slow but steady. Their forces had already cleared the area, so they didn't run into any adversaries on their way there. The biggest obstacle was the debris left from damaged buildings. They had taken heavy hits from the fighting.

"I see them." Peter said as they ascended the crest of a hill.

He was right. Ender peered over the edge. Their high vantage point allowed them to see the bulk of the soldiers down below. They were winning. From there, Ender could see that the majority of the Warsaw Pact's soldiers, aside from a few stragglers, had been taken out. They really hadn't needed backup.

"Should we go down and help finish them off?" Peter suggested. "It's not like we have anything else to do."

Ender shrugged, still surveying the situation. "Okay." He decided, and they made their way down the hill.

At the bottom, they met up with some of the launchies assigned to the Eastern team. They were covered in dirt and dust, and their uniforms appeared to be cut in certain places. There had been a knife fight.

"Are you all alright?" Ender asked, looking a few of them up and down.

He was met with the standard "Yes sir" from the lot of them, which both relieved and annoyed him. Ender wasn't sure whether they were actually fine or if they were just saying that because it was him they were talking to. Regardless, he didn't question their sincerity. He needed to find the section leader.

"Have you seen Isla?" He asked next, with Peter watching them from behind his shoulder.

"She's in the large group over there." One of them pointed to a fairly big cluster of soldiers a short distance away. Ender thanked them and walked in that direction with Peter on his heels.

He couldn't help but feel a little guilty. Ender hadn't known a single one of those soldier's names. He didn't have time to learn them. Normally, he would've made a point of getting to know them all by observing their individual strengths and weaknesses from afar. That was what allowed him to control people. But these soldiers, the majority of them on the field with him now, he didn't know a single thing about them. They were prepared to die for him and his cause and he would never know who they were.

His stomach twisted the more he dwelled on the thought, and he had to push aside the sad reality in order to focus on what was most important. Once he and Peter had debriefed with Isla, they could make their way around to the other squads. Then, they would rush the main building as one unit.

Isla was a girl of fourteen. Ender'd at least had the time to learn the names and background information of his squad leaders. She was originally from Romania and had been enrolled in the battle school when he was. From what he'd read, she'd been transferred into Phoenix army right after he went to command school. She'd remained there until the end of the war.

Ender observed her relentlessly during the training of the returning students. She'd showed promising leadership capabilities, and she wasn't afraid to make tough decisions. Because of that specific trait, he knew she would be an asset on the field, and from the state of the area around them, he hadn't been wrong.

"Admiral Wiggin." The girl's voice echoed above the small crowd as he approached. She made her way towards him. "This section is clear, sir. The few that managed to avoid our main assault have been apprehended. My second in command is dispatching them as we speak."

Ender was impressed. He put a hand on her shoulder. "Good work Isla. Gather the rest of your troops. We're going to go aid the team stationed at the South building."

She saluted, then left to do as ordered. In a few short minutes, the soldiers of the Eastern sector were assembled and making their way toward their fighting comrades.

When the group of soldiers got to their destination, they joined in on the battle. It ended pretty quickly with the extra help. The low stakes allowed both Ender and Peter to avoid close combat; they opted to fire shots from a distance. Soon enough, they were headed to the Western sector.

The fight there was even more successful. The entirety of their forces, aside from a handful of casualties each group had undoubtedly suffered, overwhelmed the enemy. Ender stood and Peter lounged idly against a rock, as they both watched the chaos ensue around them.

"If I would've known that it was going to be this easy for you to kill those assholes, I never would've tried to join them in the first place." He intended it as a joke, his teasing tone made it obvious.

Ender huffed. "I'd like to hear you say that when we get to their main base. These outposts won't hold a candle to their troops there."

Peter hummed in response, thinking. An explosion from an I.F. grenade created a large smoke cloud in the distance. His eyes followed it. "True. But we can take them."

Ender didn't say anything to that. He knew he was good at strategy and killing people, but that didn't mean he wanted to boast about it. He wanted to do the exact opposite. As he watched countless Warsaw Pact soldiers die, he wanted to lay them to rest. He hoped that they would find peace, and he certainly didn't want to act high and mighty while standing amongst their corpses. These people, the ones he had been fighting all morning, were foot soldiers. They followed the enemy blindly just as his own soldiers did. Ender wasn't about to take pride in striking them down.

All gunfire ceased from the battlefield, and the two siblings exchanged a look. Peter grinned. Ender remained passive. "I think that covers it." His older brother smirked, pushing himself up from the rock, stretching out his arms and legs. "Lets go see how it went." He urged Ender from his place, and the two embarked toward their soldiers.

They were almost there when Ender swore he could hear a low beating. A constant thumping of air. He stopped, mid step. "Peter." He said cautiously. "Do you hear that?"

His brother, to his credit, didn't throw an insult at him or tell Ender he was hearing things. Instead, he removed his helmet, lifted his balaclava to uncover his ears, and listened.

The beating continued. Ender looked up at the sky, trying to spot whatever it was he could hear approaching. All he could see were clouds. They were big, fluffy, and some were partially covering the sun.

"I can." Peter responded, securing his balaclava and helmet back into place. "Ender, I... I don't think...we need to get out of here."

Their eyes met, and Ender saw something he hadn't seen in Peter for a very long time. Or at least, he thought he saw it. Fear. Whatever it was, Peter must've seen it before. Before Ender could reply, his brother was running even further onto the battle field.

Ender ran after him, his heart thumping against his chest at a thunderous pace. "Peter!" He yelled after him, trying not to lose him.

Peter didn't turn back. He raced toward the other soldiers, and started yelling at them just as loudly as Ender'd called out for him.

"Everyone, get out of here now! We're under attack!"

The soldiers gave him a no shit look, not sure how else to respond to him.

"Not from the ground, you idiots. From the sky! Can't you hear that?!" He threw his arms up, pointing towards the clouds. "We need to run! They're going to drop bombs!" 

"Peter!" Ender was getting close now. He could see the panic in his brother's eyes from a few metres away. Peter started to turn to him. He looked like he wanted to tell him something, but he didn't get a chance to.

A loud screeching noise erupted from above, and before any of them could move, the ground shook with multiple impacts and both brothers were flung into the air.

_

Ender's breathing was laboured. He was surrounded by smoke and had no choice but to inhale it. He coughed, opened his eyes, and didn't move until he was sure nothing was seriously damaged.

He sat up slowly. His lungs hurt, his eyes burned, and he couldn't determine where he was. He tried to stand and cried out when he put weight on his right ankle. It was definitely busted.

Bean. Ender's mind, despite being riddled with confusion and pain, focused on thoughts of his comrade. If Bean had blocked their communication signals, the enemy wouldn't have been able to retaliate. Something must've gone wrong. But what?

"Peter!" He croaked. His throat was rough, and his voice cracked under the strain.

There was no answer. Ender felt himself begin to panic, but was distracted by a beeping in his ear that started to accelerate in volume. He held up a hand. One of his earpieces were still there. The emergency com system.

This was perfect. He needed to warn the other team leaders. If they weren't prepared they would all be killed.

"Alai." He answered as clearly as he could. "Alai, you need to tell the others. We've been ambushed! We-"

"Ender, we're over here!" Peter's voice came from somewhere to his left.

"I'll come to you!" Ender yelled, forgetting that he'd been talking to Alai.

As he moved, dragging his right foot for time, Ender felt both relief and anguish fill his stomach. He'd never been so happy to hear his brother's voice, but even so, he knew that their situation was bleak. None of them knew how many reinforcements the enemy had brought. They were, in all likelihood, extremely outnumbered.

"Commander!?" Alai's voice in his ear brought him back to his previous conversation.

"We-" He began.

"Hurry up, Ender! Some of these people need help! Please!" Peter called out again, and Ender knew that the situation was even worse than he thought.

"I'm almost there!" He yelled, before coughing again. If only his ankle wasn't destroyed.

But first, he needed to tell Alai.  "We're outnumbered. You need to get out of there. Tell everyone to go to the Netherlands! We have allies stationed there."

A loud crash came from behind him as he gave his orders, and Ender turned in that direction. He wanted to run. Correction. He needed to run, but he couldn't with his ankle. He frantically checked his side pockets for his hand guns. One was smashed and the other was missing.

He found both of the knives he'd tucked into his boots, held them out in front of him, and hoped that whatever happened, this wasn't the end.

A squadron of at least thirty Warsaw Pact soldiers walked through the haze towards him. Ender knew his chances. He'd brought knives to a gun fight. The best he could hope for was to take a couple out with him.

He took a deep breath in an attempt to calm his racing heart. He put one foot in front of the other, ignoring the pain in his ankle. Raising his hands, he pointed the blades at the closest soldier, getting ready to strike.

A hard blow to the back of his head prevented him from doing that, and Ender was falling.

The world disappeared without any warning. Ender's war was over, and it was clear who had won.

THE END.

-AN

So...it's done! Sort of haha. I have an epilogue I will be publishing shortly, and after that...a third book! I decided a few years ago exactly how I wanted Ender's War to end, and that in order for me to do this storyline of mine justice, I needed to write a trilogy.

This is far from the end for Ender. The third book will be considerably shorter than this one though. I'm aiming for it to be more along the lines of Ender Returns to Earth in regard to length. I have a title and a general plot worked out, but I'll leave everything a mystery for now.

The plot point I am most excited about revealing, which will begin to tie everything together, will be revealed in the epilogue! Thanks for reading this insanely long last chapter, for sticking with me since I started writing this sequel in August 2016, and for all the kind words!

Until the epilogue,

Jess xx