The night was still, silent, only the soft sound of armored feet against the pine needles piercing the dark.

Above them stars and sky stretched out endlessly, telling nothing of the struggle about to begin, a war for the very survival of the planet they watched over.

She took a deep breath in and let it out, following close behind Mirage. Desertfox and Moonshine were to her left and right, the others close behind.

Oracle looked to either side, seeing soldiers moving through the trees, their forms just shadows, phantoms, ghosts.

Light shined through the boughs of the pines around them, the sounds of the sleeping city reaching Oracle's ears.

No one knew what was coming, they couldn't. All the people of Hyperion knew was that their city was taken by an enemy they couldn't fight.

As they got closer the warehouses and stacked crates of Hyperion's southern Storage District came into view.

Mirage held up a fist, telling them to stop.

"Our mission is to clear the shipping containers and warehouses. Once that is done we can set up a command post here. That will make taking the city easier."

He turned to Oracle, the soft orange light reflecting off of his visor.

"Take your team of snipers and take the roof of that warehouse." He said, pointing.

"From there you'll be able to see out over the shipping yard. I'm going to need you to be our eyes."

Oracle nodded, checking her assault rifle.

"Moonshine, Desertfox, Phoenix, Thorne and the others are with me. We will wait for your signal before moving on. Am I clear?"

"Yes, sir." They answered in unison.

"Oracle, lead the way."

She took a deep breath, closing her eyes. When she let it out she opened them and motioned for her team to follow her.

They approached the warehouse quietly, the pine needles softening their footsteps. Oracle switched to TEAMCOM, the channel used only to communicate with her sniper squad.

Oracle came up to the door and listened. She didn't hear anyone, but she knew there were most likely soldiers inside.

She tried the door, hearing movement inside. It didn't budge, and she heard someone say something from inside. There were definitely soldiers guarding the warehouse.

Oracle backed up and ran at the door, kicking it with all her strength. The lock broke and the door burst open, revealing the dimly lit interior of the building.

In that moment all hell broke lose, the soldiers inside scrambling into action. Oracle shot two and ducked behind a metal container, bullets ricocheting off the metal.

The others came in behind her, the metal walls echoing their back at them. Oracle took aim at the soldiers above them, taking out three or four before they retreated from the edge.

Deadshot and Ghost moved up to the second floor, Oracle and Sharpshooter taking the first. They cleared the first section and then moved on, finding several more soldiers hiding amongst the boxes.

When they were done Oracle stumbled upon a table with a map on it. Blood stained one corner of it, making the writing impossible to read.

The other words were written in a small, legible hand, marking the places of what seemed to be other small command posts like this one.

"Clear the roof," she said, motioning for Ghost, Sharpshooter and Deadshot to go.

The nodded, disappearing into the maze of boxes. Bloodmoon stayed with her, keeping watch.

"We found an outpost," she said, switching to Echo Team's COM channel.

"Any useful information?" Asked Mirage.

"The locations of other outposts like this one." She answered.

The locations could be useful. We could take them as our own.

She paused as she heard Ghost shout "Clear!" at her from the rooftop.

"We're moving to the roof." She said, switching her assault rifle for her sniper.

"Good. We are coming in behind you, don't shoot." She heard Mirage say in her helmet.

Oracle climbed up to the roof via a ladder, going towards the corner of the warehouse. She settled there, setting her sniper on the small lip of the building.

She switched the scope to thermal, scanning the crates.

"You're going to have to clear the shipping containers." She said.

"They're hiding inside them."

"Copied." Said Mirage.

Oracle trained her rifle on men moving towards Mirage's squad.

"There are men moving towards you from the north, permission to engage?" She asked.

She heard gunshots from somewhere to her right, still tracking the group of men with her scope.

"Permission granted." Said Mirage.

Oracle smirked, moving her finger to the trigger. She waited and then took her shot, hitting the man in the knee.

She quickly reloaded, zeroing in on the men again. Oracle moved targets as Ghost picked one off, killing the man behind him.

She heard the sound of the other squads engaging farther away, heard the sound of voices drifting up from inside the warehouse.

She heard Mirage and Moonshine conversing, trying to decide on what to do about the outposts. Oracle ducked as a sniper round bounced off the roof beside her, backing up.

"We have another sniper on the roof!" She called.

"Where?" Asked Deadshot.

"To my left!"

Oracle peaked her head out from behind the lip of the building, searching the rooftops for any heat signatures.

She found one, a lone man on another warehouse. She flinched as another round pinged off the metal, silently cursing.

Oracle took aim, steadying her shaking hands. She took her shot as the man was reloading, hitting him in the shoulder.

He went down, not getting back up.

"Sniper down." She said.

"There's a group of twenty to thirty men coming from the northwest." Said Bloodmoon.

"We can pick them off, but they'll reach us before we can kill them all."

"There might be more in the maze of stacked crates," Deadshot added.

"We need to get on their level, and notify the other squads."

Oracle nodded, pausing to talk with Mirage.

"Mirage, there's a larger force moving up on your location." She said.

"How many?" He asked.

"Twenty men, at least."

"You need to notify the other squads that there's a potentially large force heading this way."

"Take out as many as you can before they reach us here. I'll notify the others." He answered.

"Understood."

Oracle focused on the man who seemed to be the leader, aiming slightly ahead of him. She fired, watching his yellow and orange form crumple to the ground in her scope.

She moved on to the next men, who had scattered behind crates. Oracle waited for them to peek their heads around the side, shooting at them as they did.

Rounds started hitting the metal and Oracle ducked retreating from the edge. Ghost, Bloodmoon and Deadshot did as well.

Bullets continued to pepper the roof and Oracle knew that it wasn't safe anymore. They would have to go down and confront them on the ground.

They came back into the warehouse, walking to where Mirage was with his team and two other squads.

"We can't use the roof anymore, they know where we are."

Mirage nodded, thinking.

"So we're going to have to play a game with them then." He said.

Mirage stood there for a second, his mouth set in a thin line, contemplating his options. A few moments passed before he turned to the thirty or so men gathered with him.

"Gather your strength," he said, "you're going to need every ounce of it."

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The battle had begun! This will be a fun section to write. Hope you enjoyed!

~~Nightfury107