Historical/Psychological Analysis of Cole, Preston J.

Historical/Psychological Analysis of Cole, Preston J. was a report filed December 30 through 31 of 2552 by Codename: SURGEON to Codename: USUAL SUSPECTS that documented the life of Admiral Preston Jeremiah Cole beginning with his early life and up through Cole's supposed death at the Battle of Psi Serpentis. The report ends on SURGEON's speculation that Cole was in fact alive living with former Insurrectionists, and potentially could be persuaded back into active service. The conclusion by SURGEON was corroborated with the AIs Phoenix and Lackluster to 89.7 percent.

Contents

 * PLNB Transmission XX087R-XX
 * Encryption Code: GAMMA-SHIFT-X-RAY
 * Public Key: N/A
 * From: CODENAME SURGEON
 * To: CODENAME USUAL SUSPECTS
 * Subject: HISTORICAL/PSYCHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF COLE, PRESTON J.
 * Classification: EYES ONLY, CODE WORD [REDACTED] TOP SECRET
 * Security Override: BLACK LEVEL-IV
 * Ghost server file-transfer protocol (EXACTION): TRUE
 * AI-touch protocol (VERACITY): FALSE


 * /file extraction-reconstitution complete/
 * /start file/


 * The purpose of this analysis is to find the final resting place of Preston J. Cole (UNSC Service Number: 00814-13094-BQ) for what I surmise to be the answer to the political, sociological, and military conundrum the UNSC now faces with the post-Covenant War situation.
 * Please spare me the plausible denials and "need to knows" about the reason for requesting this analysis.
 * I know.
 * Otherwise, you wouldn't have asked me in the first place.
 * To ascertain if such a final resting place even exists, or if the redoubtable Cole rests at all, is not a straightforward query, and I'm afraid my analysis will be less than straightforward as well.
 * Even if you pierce the veil of propaganda and discount the vast number of Cole's victories, promotions, and decorations as nothing more than engineered drama to prop up our population's then-sinking morale - Preston Cole still has an unparalleled battle record... even far and away more impressive than the legendary Spartan-IIs. He was the greatest hero in modern times, a legend before, and in spite of, our meddling.
 * I shall add commentary for historical context and psychological analysis, but these depend primarily on the available interviews, orders, after-action reports - as well as audio, video, and AI-enhanced holographic bridge and battle logs.
 * You'll forgive me if I wax long and poetic about Preston Cole. We knew him, we loved him, and finally we hated him for being the less-than-perfect military god that we had come to depend upon.
 * Cole would not approve of this report - only because he is the subject of the inquiry. He at least would have understood and, also being a cunning bastard of a military strategist, he would do the same in our shoes.
 * To quote Cole himself: "They told me to fight, and that's what I've done. Let historians sort through the wreckage, bodies, and broken lives to figure out the rest."
 * Which is precisely what I intend to do.


 * Codename: SURGEON
 * 0900 hours, December 30, 2552 (Military Calendar) \, Synchronous Lunar Orbit (far side)

Attachments
A number of files and documents were included within the report as original sources, most of which were accompanied by analysis and comments made by SURGEON for historical context. They were organized in seven sections, and constitute the majority of the report. They were as follows:


 * Cole's fifth grade report card, from Wallace Fujikawa Elementary School.
 * A confidential notice concerning an incident it Mr. Martin's pre-algebra class.
 * An excerpt from Cole's essay "The Viability of Extended Colonization".
 * An excerpt of Cole's Military Service Enlistment Application.
 * An evaluation of Cole by UCMB instructor L. P. Graves.
 * The bridge log of the for September 22, 2489 (1120 hours, high orbit over Luna).
 * An excerpt of the bi-annual personnel review of CMA Season of Plenty, November 27, 2489.
 * An excerpt of JAG Incident Report (local) 475-A (Cole's testimony before the Board of Inquiry).
 * The Certificate of Marriage for Cole and Inna Volkov.
 * The State of Mare Nubium Department of Health Certificate of Live Birth for Ivan Troy Cole.
 * The bridge log and captain's log of the for March 2, 2494, and the feeds of External Camera 6-K,  and External Camera A-4, UNSC Las Vegas  (the "Callisto Incident").
 * A letter from Cole to his wife, Inna (March 9, 2500).
 * The bridge log of the for June 2, 2501 (the Skirmish at Theta Ursae Majoris).
 * Four letters from Cole to his brother Michael.
 * September 4, 2501.
 * March 12, 2502 (excerpt).
 * May 28, 2502 (excerpt).
 * November 9, 2502.
 * UNSC Transmission 08871D-00 (Communiqué to Cole from Harold Stanforth).
 * A letter from Cole to his brother Michael (July 6, 2503).
 * An excerpt of UNSC After-Action Report: Battle Group Tango (the Battle of Theta Ursae Majoris).
 * An excerpt of ONI Field Report ZZ-DE-009-856-841.
 * The entry in Cole's Vice Admiral's Log for November 15, 2525.
 * The bridge log of the for March 1, 2526 (the Battle of Harvest).
 * UNSC Transmission 102482-02 (Communiqué from Cole to Harold Stanforth).
 * The entry in Cole's personal log for June 27, 2541.
 * An excerpt of UNSC After-Action Report: Battle Group Sierra-3 (the Battle of 18 Scorpii).
 * UNSC Transmission 116749-09 (Communiqué from Cole to Admiral Dale Kilkin).
 * The official ONI AI recreation of the Battle of Psi Serpentis.

Summary Conclusions

 * In my best estimation, Cole survived the Battle of Psi Serpentis.


 * He may be alive and healthy today.
 * By Earth-normal chronology he would be eighty-two years old, but before the Covenant War he had his liver, heart, and endocrine system replaced with flash-clone parts. Also, many of his "years" occupied with space travel were filled with periods of cryogenic suspension and minor but additional relativistic effects. Our best guess at Cole's biological age is sixty.
 * He is likely leading a band of colonists, insurgents, and UNSC defectors to build a new home far outside UNSC-dominated space. He always wanted a farm on some world where he could look up and not recognize the nighttime stars.
 * I think he did just that.

Recommendation

 * CODENAME: Surgeon
 * Office of Naval Intelligence (Section-III) Operator #: AA2
 * 2200 hours, December 31, 2552 (Military Calendar) \ UNSC Point of No Return, Synchronous Lunar Orbit (far side)


 * /end file/
 * /scramble-destruction process enable/
 * Press ENTER to continue.

Production notes

 * This report is used as the fictional framing device for the short story "The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole" by Eric Nylund. The action of the story is told solely through the report and its attached files.
 * The file name of the report, "PLNB Transmission XX087R-XX", is shared with that of "PROGRESS REPORT/OPERATION HYPODERMIC". It is not obvious if this is merely coincidental, suggests a connection between the reports, or is simply a mistake on the part of the author. If any connection were to be inferred, it would be that SURGEON's report on Cole was likely prepared as part of Operation: HYPODERMIC; however, such a supposition would be wholly conjectural.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe
 * The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole