Operation UPPER CUT: Destroying the Long Night of Solace

The Long Night of Solace is too powerful for available UNSC forces to destroy through a conventional engagement, so Noble Team turns a damaged slipspace drive into a bomb. Operation UPPER CUT combines ground assault, orbital fighter combat, boarding action, and sabotage in one of the most audacious missions of the Reach campaign. This episode follows Noble Six and Jorge-052 from the launch of Sabre fighters to the capture of the Covenant corvette Ardent Prayer. The plan is to bring the corvette close to the supercarrier and detonate the slipspace drive, tearing open a rupture that will destroy the much larger ship. Damage to the detonator forces Jorge to remain aboard and trigger the device manually. Long Night of Solace is destroyed, and Jorge dies believing his sacrifice may have saved Reach. Moments later, an enormous Covenant fleet arrives. UPPER CUT wins exactly the battle it was designed to win—and reveals how little that victory can change.