Chapter 14

When the screen shows the battle area, Ender realizes that the enemy outnumbers his ships "a thousand to one." They are situated in a shifting pattern around the planet, with no obvious lanes for Ender's 80 fighters to go through. Ender realizes that this battle is hopeless. He believes that after all that he has been through, the teachers want him to fail, maybe expect him to fail.

Bean refers to the hopelessness of the battle by saying, "Remember, the enemy's gate is down," an allusion to Dragon Army's seemingly hopeless battle against the combined Griffin and Tiger Armies. This comment may be a signal to Ender to again bend or break the rules in some way or to use a similar strategy as before, and it at least inspires Ender's strategy. He quickly assigns his squadron leaders to take control of their few ships and shape them into a cylinder, pointing toward the planet. As the enemy formation closes in on them, Ender's fleet melts "into chaos," with his ships firing at any and all of the enemy ships and getting cut up themselves. After a few minutes of this feint, Ender organizes twelve remaining ships into a formation about halfway to the planet. At Ender's command, the ships drop straight toward the enemy's planet to use the M.D. Devices. At least one Little Doctor reaches the planet with its effects, because the planet suddenly begins to bubble, and within three seconds "the entire planet burst apart, becoming a sphere of bright dust, hurtling outward." Only the starships on the outer edge of the battle survive, including just two or three of the enemy ships. Gravity starts pulling the debris from the explosion back together. I'm not surprised, everything in this book was working up to this "simulation."