Bloody Hands || E. Wiggin

025

"So this is it. This is the end."

"It will only be the end once we've won."

"We might not. He could fail."

"But he won't."

"How can you be sure?"

"I can't be."

.....

A teacher told us that morning that today's battle would be different. We tried to press for more details, but that was all he was at liberty to say. We settled into our seats in tense silence.

Once our headsets were pulled over our heads, Ender's voice came over. "Are you there?"

I smiled slightly at the sound of his voice. "All of us."

There was a snicker. "Late to practice this morning," came Bean. "Aren't you?"

"I overslept. Sorry."

We laughed. Of course no one believed him.

From there we began. Ender lead us in warm ups for a minute, testing out agility with our fighters. I let myself and my mind relax as my reflexes took over. Focus was key today, just like any other. I needed to gather myself.

Everyone was quieter today as we waited for the game to begin. It was odd, as if everyone knew today was different. It was true. The way the teacher talked about today's battle. Almost like this was it. This was the end.

I shook my head letting myself refocus.

When the enemy appeared on our screens,  I was stunned. There were thousands of fighters, seeming to move in random, complex formations. It made my head spin. My breath caught in my throat. There was something new. Far to their field of vision, way off to the side of our screens, was a planet. I pulled my gaze to our fleet, if you could even call it that.

We had twenty starships, one of which was carrying the Little Doctor, a dangerous weapon of high energy that could destroy just about anything. We had been training with during our past practices. Our fleet had a total of 80 fighter ships. This was a suicide.

When there were no orders to move, a voice that sounded suspiciously like Alai's came over the headsets. "Remember that the enemy's gate is down."

It was a relief for me to laugh along with the others. It was an even bigger relief to hear Ender join in.

And then Ender began to whisper commands quickly into our sets. We did as we were told, adrenaline pumping through each and every one of our veins as we got ourselves into possition.

We dodged downward at a high speed, moving randomly and crazily. Shots rained upon the bugger ships. But at one point, the enemy closed in too tight. Things got hectic. I thought it might have ended right there and now if we didn't do something. That was when Ender whispered commands again. We gathered ourselves into another formation with our remaining fighters.

It was terrific. We drew the enemy closer.... and closer....

"Now!" cried Ender, and our fleet dropped down towards the planets surface. The only thing focused on it now was the Little Doctor.

It was definitely a gamble then to see how long our fleet would last against the buggers until we were in close enough range.

But it was worth it. Petra pushed the button. A blast of energy shot towards the planet, bursting on it's surface in a sort of awe striking slow motion. The planets surface bubbled before our screens faded to black.

I tore off my headset and threw it into my seat as I shot up, cheering with the rest of my comrades. Crazy Tom, who sat next me me, even wrapped me in a hug. We had actually done it.

Only later were we told what we had really done.