today is your final examination

A picture I made based on the novel "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card.

I wanted to capture the intensity and emotion of the book, but I had to take a few liberties involving the character designs and the events of the scene I portrayed.

As for the starships depicted in this picture, I made sure they didn't fall victim to the 2d thinking of most classic sf ship design, where they have all the guns and interesting things on one side of the craft, like a naval vessel! It makes no sense. So, the ships at the top of the image are symmetrical on 6 sides, and the other ships are symmetrical on 4 sides. They only have a front and a back, not a deck and a hull.