Ender's War

Chapter 28 - Get Ready for War

One month later

"Now that we are on the ground, here are the names of the commanding officers that you will be assigned to for the upcoming operation. That way nobody has any excuse for being arrogant of whose orders they will be following. Is that understood?"

A chorus of "Yes sir!" followed by countless salutes echoed throughout the large airport hangar the battle school troops were currently occupying.

Greensboro, North Carolina. The city Ender's family had called their home for close to ten years had been chosen as their starting point back on Earth for obvious reasons. One being, both Valentine and Peter were very familiar with the area, allowing them to avoid any unwanted bouts of attention. Another was that North Carolina was located at the Far East side of North America, leaving only the ocean between them and their intended targets. It was, if Ender had to choose a word, safe. They were still on what was considered the safer side of the world for them, and there were no immediate threats. The new recruits would be less likely to make a mistake over here than if they had infiltrated Britain to use as their base of command. Instead, Ender planned to disperse a number of returning command school students into the Eastern most districts of Germany, along with Hyrum Graff, before the rest of them went on their way to Poland.

The setting sun beat down on the soldiers through the entryway of the hangar despite the fact that they had a roof over their heads. Ender could feel sweat trickle down his brow as he relayed orders, answered questions, and made sure every team knew their designated areas of attack. Finally, since he didn't want to repeat himself while on the field, he made a point of naming everyone off one by one a second time.

"Peter and I will be leading a fleet of two hundred and fifty soldiers toward the capital from Wroclaw, Alai, Han Tzu and Shen will lead a fleet of two hundred from Lublin, Fly Molo, Carn Carby and Vlad will lead the two hundred assigned to Bydgoszcz, and Dink Meeker, Crazy Tom, and Dumper will lead the one hundred and fifty assigned to Bialystok. I will be overseeing the entire Battle on top of everything else, so if any of the commanders find themselves in a difficult situation, get into contact with me immediately." Ender took a moment to look at the crowd of faces who were giving him their full attention. "Those of you headed for Lublin, Bialystok, and Bydgoszcz, go and meet with your commanders. They have orders for you. Everyone else, stay here. Dismissed."

The orderly crowd turned into a sea of moving bodies almost immediately, the aforementioned members of Ender's Jeesh to whom they belonged to, leading them outside the hangar to a destination of their own choosing. While they took the time to organize themselves, Ender turned toward Bean who was standing on his left. The shorter soldier had been eyeing Ender, and he had felt it.

"Admiral," he addressed his superior. "Do you want me to discuss the rest?"

Ender nodded without giving the suggestion a second thought. This was Bean's operation, and if the soldiers saw that they would be less likely to undermine his command when the time came.

"Attention." Bean hollered as he stepped a bit closer to the crowd. At the same time Ender made a point of stepping back to stand between Colonel Graff and Valentine. "As for the fifty command school students who have not been assigned a destination, myself, Colonel Graff and Miss Wiggin will be in command as you set up base outside of Berlin. This will be our base of operations, and it is arguably the most important point of the operation. If anything goes wrong here, every one of us is screwed. Which is why only you, the strongest command school graduates, have been chosen to be stationed around this base. We are the only ones who can prevent any Warsaw reinforcements from getting through."

Ender stayed back while Bean answered questions from his subordinates. Graff, who until this part of the briefing, had stayed silent, took the opportunity to step forward and relay additional information to the soldiers. The formation of their aircrafts, the time of their departure, and more. That left Ender standing between both Valentine and Peter. The former, standing calmly on his right, while the latter stood stiffly on his left. Ender didn't dare look at his brother. Not now. They had managed to come to a professional understanding over the past month, but that didn't mean that they were on good terms. Finally, Bean turned back to stand beside his commander.