Not a lot is known of Petra Arkanian before Ender met her in Salamander Army. Hopefully this will be cleared up in a novel about her, but until then, that is where this biography will start...

Petra Arkanian was in Salamander Army. Her commander was Bonzo Madrid, and she was an outcast. This was partially because she was a girl, but also because she was so insubordinate. She was probably one of the few people who mouthed off to Bonzo, but she was still needed in the army. The thing was that Petra was a very good sharp-shooter, but also very good at handling tactics.

This is when Ender Wiggin came to Salamander Army. Immediately, he was grouped with Petra as an outcast, so he decided to let it stay that way. Petra started to help Ender with his shooting to begin with. She took him to the battleroom, and watched him shoot. He wasn't very good, but she gave him better techniques. Very soon, he was at the top of the standings, with partial thanks to Petra.

Again there is another lapse of no information on Petra. It can be assumed at this time she became good friends with Dink Meeker, somehow got her own army called Phoenix Army, and then got Ender to become a soldier in it. While Ender was in that army, they became one of the most flexible armies, partly due to Ender's input, but I believe it might also be because of Petra's ability with tactics.

Ender was then given his own army. The second battle his new army had was with Phoenix Army. Her army flashed 3 people in Dragon, and also disabled 9. She was very angry at how Ender defeated her. Several days later, when Bonzo and some Salamander boys were going to beat Ender up if he stopped, Petra decided to take some action. She decided that she and Ender were strong enought to take them on, so she deliberately tried to stop Ender. Unfortunately for her, Bean saw what was going on, and got Rabbit Army. Ender decided to keep going, and her plan failed.

Not very long after, Petra went to Tactical School. There Bean confronted her about why she had tried to stop Ender, and she explained. Bean decided to trust her again, and it worked out fine. This is when she went to Command School. After Ender came back as their commander and they started working on the simulators, Ender put too much pressure on Petra. She cracked under it, and most of her fighters were lost. She was put to bed for a couple of days, and when she came back she was not as reliable as before. Shortly after, the last battle was fought on the simulator (without Petra as a big part), and they won. The war on Earth and on Eros raged on, and Petra was put in the boys' bunks. When the war stopped and Ender awoke, she was one of the first there, and she apologized to Ender. Of course he forgave, and she most likely went back to Earth. Other than that, there is no information on Petra Arkanian.