It took several days for Oracle to recover enough to even get her armor on, much less fight. It was a frustratingly slow process, but eventually she was strong enough to train by herself.

She focused on the bag in front of her, repeating a series of kicks and punches, building up the strength in her shoulder.

When she was done she moved on to other exercises, making sure to keep strengthening her muscles so she didn't lose any of the strength she had.

"Is it going well?" Asked Mirage, walking in.

Oracle nodded, punching the bag hard enough to rock it backwards.

"I'm much stronger than I was before. I can fight and get my armor on. I've been training early in the morning with the other men."

"Good," said Mirage, holding up pads.

Oracle positioned herself in front of him and threw a series of punches and a high roundhouse kick.

"I can feel that you've gotten stronger." Said Mirage as they trained.

"You've certainly gotten it back."

Oracle struck the pad one last time before they switched places.

"What are you planning to do regarding the war?" She asked, readying herself.

"Separating our forces into four main groups." He said, beginning to strike the bags fast and hard.

"Each force goes to a city. Hyperion's force is around 30,000 men strong, Maklava's force is 35,000. The others are 20,000 for the smaller cities. Since Reclaimer's headquarters is there there will be more men."

Oracle blocked his roundhouse kick and lowered the bags.

"Two squadrons of fighters will accompany them, just in case we meet resistance in the sky."

"I have specific teams set aside to get civilians to smaller mining villages out away from the main cities. They will be safe there." He said.

"That is our first mission. We need to get them to safety before the fighting starts. We have a rough estimate of how many men Reclaimer has but he's kept things locked down and secret. Our scouts have either been caught or couldn't find anything."

"So you're taking an educated guess." Said Oracle.

"That's our only option."

Oracle nodded.

"So how will we move into the city then? Where are we coming from?"

"There's a section of Warehouses that would make a good Command Station. We will come up through there and spread out, moving across the city, evacuating citizens that haven't already been moved."

"For the other cities we will do the same. There is a central building that Reclaimer has his Commanders in, so we have an objective."

"What about the Underground?" She asked.

"That's where Reclaimer's men are operating from. Most of the fighting will be underground so damage to the city will be less."

"And how are you going to command four separate forces?"

"I'm not," said Mirage, "I have Yellowjacket, Stalker and Wendigo commanding the other three forces. I'm taking Hyperion's force and fighting with you. I'll be in contact with the others to give orders and receive updates.

"You will be leading our sniper team, Ghost Squadron."

Oracle couldn't help but smile. She would get to pull out her sniper for this.

"What's our job going to be?" She asked.

"You're going to be our eyes. You will be above the advancing squads, covering their movements and giving directions."

Oracle took a deep breath and followed Mirage to the armory where they both got their armor on.

Unfortunately being well enough to train meant attending meetings, and standing around speaking but taking no action.

Oracle was tired of waiting. They had waited too long and Reclaimer had control of everything at the present time. They needed to make a move before Reclaimer extended his iron grip and they couldn't fight back.

"This is our final meeting," said Mirage.

"Everyone has their assignments, everyone knows what they're doing, what the plan is."

"Good. We can't wait any longer."

Yellowjacket, Wendigo and Stalker were present along with the usual Advisers and Commanders. Mirage went over the entire plan again, getting the creases ironed out.

Once everyone was briefed on their objectives they wished each other good luck and the meeting ended.

"I wish you all good luck. You have good men by your side, make sure you keep them in check and you will have victory."

Every Commander agreed, and they said their goodbyes. Later that day Mirage was standing outside the base, watching each of the leaders boarding a ship.

They would go to one of the Rogue bases to connect with and brief their men before they moved out two days from now.

"You're worried," she said, watching him.

His grey eyes shined in the pale sunlight, his face set in a grim scowl. She saw the worry in his eyes and the way he had his arms crossed.

"I can't help but feel like I'm sending them to their deaths." He said, turning to her.

"That most of these men won't come home."

Oracle had never commanded a force like this, had never had the lives of so many men depending on her. If Mirage made a wrong move hundreds of good men would die.

"You can't save them all." She said.

"This is war. We have no choice but to send those men into battle. Not all of them will come back alive. They all know what they signed up for."

"I know," said Mirage.

"Sometimes you have to send your men to their deaths."

"You will make the right decisions." Oracle told him, laying her hand in his shoulder.

"I know you can lead them all to victory. They trust you, and in turn you have to trust them. If you don't have faith in your men you can't win a war."

Mirage didn't say anything, just watched the ships take off and fade from view.

"I trust them. I've trained with them, I've been one of them. I know they have what it takes, and I know that if I ultimately can't make the right decision my Captains, Squad Leaders, Fireteam Leaders and others will make the right call."

"They won't have to," Oracle said, "because they have you to guid them."

Mirage smiled at her, pushing away from the wall.

"We can't put this off any longer," he said, putting in the code, "it's time for us to go to war."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

First of all I'm really sorry for the late chapter. Second of all I had writer's block and this chapter needs editing, so I'm really sorry. Third of all the battle is about to begin! I'm super excited to write it and hope that you will stick around!

~~Nightfury107