//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 
// Story: Operation: UPPER CUT: Aftermath 
// by AzainInvazion 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 1

Everfree Forest

Black. That was all Jorge could see, pitch black. He tried moving his hand in front of his face but found he was pinned down by something. Pushing off the twisted piece of metal, Jorge stood up, turned on his night vision, and surveyed his surroundings. He was still in the Ardent Prayer, but it had seen better days. Wires were hanging from the ceiling, sending down a shower of sparks every couple seconds. Smoldering pieces of what used to be the ship’s walls were now on the floor in large piles. Dead Covenant bodies were strewn across the docking bay. 
Jorge continued to look around the destroyed ship when he noticed a faint stream of light coming from a hole in the ceiling. Turning off his night vision confirmed his suspicions that there was, in fact, light coming from the outside, wherever that was. Even from the floor of the docking bay, the hole seemed large enough for Jorge to fit through, the only problem was getting to it. Jorge continued to search for alternate ways out when he noticed a cluster of wires coming down from the hole in the ceiling to the upper level of the docking bay. Spartans are heavy, it’s an obvious fact. Their armor weighs half a ton. If you add that to Jorge’s 320 pounds, the chance of climbing out of there was slim to none. Still, seeing as how there were no other ways out, Jorge had to try. He slowly made his way up to the only possible place he could have reached the wire. Gripping tightly, Jorge pulled himself up the cluster of wires. He did it carefully at first, to test if it could actually hold his weight. Surprisingly, the wires held firm and Jorge continued towards freedom. 
As he was making his way towards the tear in the hull, Jorge started to think. Where was he? What would he find up there? Would there be life? If so, would they be hostile? These questions repeated themselves in Jorge’s head as the hole in the roof got closer. With one final push, Jorge heaved himself out of the hole and out of the corvette. He quickly realized that adrenaline may have played a part in his climb to freedom after he collapsed in a heap on the ground. As he caught his breath, Jorge decided to look around and survey his resting place. He was in a crater, a deep one. Jorge sighed as he thought about the task ahead. More climbing. At least this time he wouldn’t have to rely on some flimsy wiring to reach the top. After a good five minutes of panting and heavy breathing, Jorge was ready to take on the crater. He was almost at the top in no time compared to his previous endeavor, and with a sigh of relief, his hand hit flat ground. Jorge pulled himself out of the crater and found himself in a thick forest. There was a clearing around the crater due to the impact of the supercarrier, or what was left of it.
Jorge noticed a mountain in the distance and decided that it would be the best place to get a look around. He started limping towards it when he heard the sound of a stream. Jorge realized how thirsty he was now that water was within reach and he wasn’t about to fall to his death. He took off his helmet and made his way down to the water line and started drinking. The cool water running down his throat gave him some relief. However, that relief was short lived when he realized what he had done. Jorge started to panic; he had just taken off his helmet while on an unknown planet! The air could’ve been toxic or there could’ve been no air at all. Jorge quickly realized that this wasn’t the case seeing as how there were trees and water, but he still belittled himself for making such huge mistake. When Jorge had finally had his fill of water, he picked up his helmet and continued towards the mountain. But as he was walking through the dense forest, Jorge couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being watched.


Fluttershy quickly hid behind a tree before the creature could spot her. It had just pulled itself out of the crater when it stood up. The creature was massive, At least seven feet tall! It looked kind of like a gorilla except it was standing upright on two legs. It was covered in metal, like one of Princess Celestia’s royal guards, except its helmet covered its entire face. Fluttershy’s thoughts were interrupted when the creature suddenly took off its helmet and hastily made its way to the stream nearby. Fluttershy didn’t have enough time to get a good look at its face, but she saw enough to know it wasn’t Equestrian, but it wasn’t an animal. It looked almost like a pony’s face except it had a short snout and small eyes. It seemed to have facial hair like she had seen some ponies with. When it was done drinking, it put its helmet back on and started walking through the forest.
Fluttershy started to panic when she realized that it was headed for her house!
The forest was full of plants that Jorge didn’t recognize. However, he did know that if this place was anything like Earth, and considering there was water and plants, there was a good chance it was, brightly colored plants would be poisonous. With this in mind, Jorge carefully made his way around the patch of bright blue leaves on the ground.
Several minutes of walking later, Jorge started to notice that the forest was getting thinner. Branches weren’t slamming into his visor every five seconds and the vines that would get caught on his armor were becoming few and far between. Jorge’s spirits were lifted even higher when another clearing came into view. This was enough to cause Jorge to quicken his pace but he came to an abrupt stop when he came across a small cottage. He approached it cautiously.

“Oh nonononono!” Fluttershy thought as the creature stopped moving right in front of her house.

“What am I going to do? I don’t know what that thing is and now it’s going toward my house.” 

Fluttershy could only watch in horror as the creature slowly opened her door and started walking inside. Suddenly a thought hit her.

“My animals!”

The inside of the cottage was nothing like what Jorge expected. There were several bird houses and bird cages all around the living room. Pots and pans were hanging from the stone fireplace. The wooden floors gave the room a homey feel and the rug in the middle tied it all together. It took Jorge several seconds to realize that the cottage looked way too nice to be abandoned. However, he didn’t have much time to process this when a he heard a voice from behind him.

“Um… excuse me.”