Description
After the disaster at Capella, the GTVA scours its systems for any other inactive Knossos devices. When three more are found, including one in the Capitol system of Beta Aquilae, the Security Council approves a Recon in Force of the adjoining system, with the purpose of sealing any Knossos portals on the other side leading back to Terran-Vasudan Space. What the 2nd fleet finds, however, is completly unexpected.

Storyline:
In a post Capella setting, the author sets up the story well with a nice lengthy command and mission briefing, effectively using main-campaign animations to support the storyline. You get a sense of mystery right off the bat in this mission; a feeling that is intensified by plenty of in-flight messages. This storyline has good potential to develop into an interesting campaign. One small nit-pick is that Alpha and Beta wings are shown as single fighters in the briefing, instead of fighter wings, but a larger nit-pick is the fact that Alpha is shown as a Myrmidon instead of the mission default Erinyes, and Beta is shown as an Ares, instead of a Perseus.

Balance:
This is one of those missions that is hard the first time you play it, and relatively easy after that. The reason for this is the lack of informative in-flight messages. Now, there are plenty of messages, however, few of them are of any tactical assistance to the player. For example, when the GTCv Spitfire first comes under attack from Shivan bombers, the player gets no notification of the incoming bombers. However, aside from this, the balance is pretty decent, given you have a strong fighter with lots of firepower such as the Erinyes. In the second half of the mission, after the GTD Imperator arrives, there is no real threat. Not from the SD Torment (since the Imperator becomes invulnerable at 10% hull,) or from the few bombers that attack the Imperator.

Design:
The first thing I want to point out about the design is the fact that the author used waypoints and fire-beam directives to orchestrate capital ship combat, instead of simply issuing the ai-chase goal for the capital ships. This is a nice touch, since the ships behave much more realistically instead of awkwardly circling each other, or performing "the wobble." Although there is no single serious design flaw in "Operation Oracle," several small design flaws add up. A lack of informative messages leads to a lot of them. For instance, I nearly got rammed by the incoming GTCv Spitfire and later the GTD Imperator, because I had no idea they would be jumping in. A rather funny design flaw is the lack of what's been known as anti-frustration beam-lock directives when a capital ship is about to be destroyed. When the SD Torment was destroyed, its beams were still firing, leaving two floating beams emanating from empty space. On a side note, the background is pretty nice looking, using nebulas and suns together to achieve a look of colored gasses burning off a star.

Gameplay:
If you enjoy intense combat, shooting down lots of fighters, bombers and their bombs, then you'll like "Operation Oracle." It's a good thing that you can fly the Erinyes and use UD-8 Kaysers, because without heavy firepower, this mission would be very difficult. The player definitely makes the difference in the first half of the mission - your actions in protecting the GTCv Spitfire are essential. The second half of the mission, however, after the GTD Imperator arrives, is really just for show. The outcome of the destroyer battle is scripted, and the Shivan bombers that arrive are too few and far away to pose a threat to the GTD Imperator.

Other Thoughts:
The special warp effect made by ships exiting a Knossos looks so cool...