International Fleet

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The International Fleet (I.F. or IF) is a fictional space military organization in the Ender's Game series by Orson Scott Card created to protect Earth from the alien Formics. The International Fleet was formed by the governments of Earth immediately following the First Formic invasion. The Fleet was created in order to represent a united front against the Formics and mount a defense against another possible invasion.

The Fleet has two commanding officials, the Polemarch, head of the Fleet and in control of ship movements, and the Strategos, at the head of the department of strategy.

[edit] Leadership and purpose

In Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow, the responsibilities of the Fleet include the active recruitment of child leaders for Battle School. These children are taken to Battle School and molded into leaders for the International Fleet's armies in space. The Fleet implemented a system of monitors that were mounted on children's necks in order to watch their activity and determine whether they were eligible for Battle School.

[edit] History

Following the success of Ender Wiggin and his fellow recruited commanders in destroying the Formics, the International Fleet lacked a purpose and the Polemarch attempted to take over the Fleet and take all of the members of Ender's jeesh, his battle comrades, into custody. The coup proved unsuccessful due to the efforts of the two writers working under the pseudonyms of Locke and Demosthenes as well as jeesh member Julian "Bean" Delphiki.

Shortly after the attempted coup, the office of Strategos was abolished and former Strategos, Admiral Chamrajnagar, became the new Polemarch. The Fleet adopted a non-intervention policy on Earth except when the sovereignty of the Fleet is threatened or attacked.

The Fleet sent all of the members of Ender's jeesh to their respective countries on Earth. Political writer, Locke, warns that the Fleet should not send Battle School grads home for fear of nationalist wars breaking out between countries with armies led by their Battle School graduates or one country attempting to kidnap and hoard all of the Battle School graduates for their own army. However, only Ender, the leader of the jeesh, was not sent home but was instead sent to colonize one of the first of the former Formic homeworlds. Following their victorious return to Earth, the members of Ender's jeesh, except for Bean, are all kidnapped by Achilles de Flandres working for Russia. Admiral Chamrajnagar garnered most of the blame for not heeding Locke's warning. In return, the Admiral threatened to reveal the true identities of Locke and Demosthenes but later rescinded that threat.

Achilles attempts to kill Bean, and the Greek military then puts Bean and his family into hiding. Admiral Chamrajnagar, realizing that Peter was right, calls on Hyrum Graff to take a contingent of Fleet Marines and take Bean out of Greek protection. The I.F. then puts Bean into the care of Sister Carlotta and sent them to hide from Achilles.

Bean manages to free all of the jeesh members except Petra Arkanian with the help of Peter Wiggin, now revealed as the writer Locke. Achilles then flees to India with Petra and begins to form plans for war against India's neighbors, Burma and Thailand. Admiral Chamrajnagar, more loyal to his native India, has passed on information to Indian Battle School graduates and even tried to resign and join the government of India. Peter Wiggin, hearing of this, stops the Admiral and convinces him to rejoin the Fleet.

Achilles, lifted out of a Chinese prison convoy on Peter's orders, is brought into Peter's small Hegemony complex. Achilles then takes over the compound and forces Peter and his parents to flee. The Fleet offers them safety in the old Battle School until a plan to take out Achilles is made. However, a spy in the Battle School sends messages to Achilles telling him where Peter is. Hyrum Graff intercepts these messages, becomes aware of the spy, and informs Peter about him.

The spy is caught while sending messages to Achilles. The Fleet, using the information the spy gives them, sends a shuttle to Earth supposedly containing Peter and his parents. Achilles attacks and destroys the shuttle, which is Fleet owned. This attack on the Fleet gives the Fleet legal permission to interfere in Earth-side activities. The Fleet quarantines the Hegemony compound in Brazil. A tense standoff leads to Achilles death at the hands of Bean.

Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game series
Anton's Key | Battle School | Command School | Dragon Army | Formics Free People of Earth | Hierarchy of Alienness | International Fleet Molecular Disruption Device | Pequeninos | Philotes | Philotic Web | Stark
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