UNSC Transmission 116749-09

United Nations Space Command Transmission 116749-09 was a transmission sent from Vice Admiral Preston Jeremiah Cole to Admiral Dale Kilkin at the Reach Logistics Office requisitioning certain supplies for the impending Battle of Psi Serpentis.

Contents

 * United Nations Space Command Transmission 116749-09
 * Encryption Code : Red
 * Public Key : file/vegas-anaconda-mockingbird-zero/
 * From : Vice Admiral Preston Cole, Commanding Officer / (UNSC Service Number : 00814-13094-BQ
 * To : Admiral Dale Kilkin, UNSC CENTRAL COMMAND, REACH LOGISTICS OFFICE / (UNSC Service Number : 007981-63882-GE)
 * Subject : requisitions, transfers, and favors
 * Classification : RESTRICTED (BGE Directive)

Dale,

Recent prowler reports indicate a Covenant armada massing in Sector Three. I need my ships repaired, refitted, and battle-ready ASAP. Code these orders CRIMSON, and pull in favors people owe me to make it happen. You know what I mean.


 * 1) Requisition: 600 tungsten-layered titanium-A armor plates (radiation-absorption rating: 5), replacement and upgrades for degraded armor plates on Everest, et al.
 * 2) Requisition: Additional "smart" nav AI. Sealed and un-booted. Back-up for Everest. Current AI operating at 68% capacity.
 * 3) Order: Pull the Io out of space dock and tow her to my position. Too far gone to repair, but Captain Wren has an idea to use her as a fire ship.
 * 4) Requisition: Ordnance: 105 Shiva nuclear missiles (VE-3 type), 2400 Archer missiles, 45,000 blocks Helix System ammunition (see additional nonordnance supplies in Attachment A).
 * 5) Requisition: Detailed stellar survey of Section Three, sub-volume D-6. Emphasis on systems with proto-brown dwarf gas giants.
 * 6) Transfers: I can’t lead my fleet into battle when half my officers are on the verge of collapse from fatigue. List of crew transfers in Attachment B. List of requested crew replacements in Attachment C.
 * 7) Favor: I have a theoretical Shaw-Fujikawa manifold calculation that needs crunching through the ONI AI network on Reach. They’re the only ones in the Outer Colonies with the raw power to get the job done.
 * 8) Wish me luck.

UNSC Everest

Preston J. Cole

Copy to: Logistics Office, NavCOM, REACH.

Office of Naval Intelligence, SECTION-III, REACH

Analysis
In Historical/Psychological Analysis of Cole, Preston J., a report filed by Codename: SURGEON, it was speculated that Admiral Cole in fact used the Battle of Psi Serpentis as a smokescreen to escape the UNSC and reunite with his lover Lyrenne Castilla.

Each item requested by Cole in the transmission would have had a specific purpose in his upcoming battle plan. The first two points, requesting a new navigation AI and additional radiation-tolerant armor plating, are evidence that Cole was planning beforehand to make a never-before-attempted in-atmosphere Slipspace jump. In particular, the presence of two AI aboard his ship make this a likely possibility. Cole also requested access to the Reach AI network to crunch a "theoretical Shaw-Fujikawa manifold calculation", which may be indicative of his research into in-atmosphere jumps.

The ordnance he requested, including a hundred Shiva nuclear warheads and over two thousand Archer missiles, were eventually used in his final moments—the Archers to fire at the incoming Covenant fleet and the Shivas to use against Viperidae's unstable core.

The fifth bullet point, requesting a stellar survey focusing on brown dwarf stars, indicates that Cole was searching prior to the battle for a location to execute the plan used during the Battle of Psi Serpentis; namely, to cause a micronova in the star and obliterate the incoming Covenant fleet. However, he would likely have been planning for his escape at this point; thus, an unstable star could provide him with the perfect smokescreen to stage his own death.

Finally, the sixth point has Cole requesting a completely new crew for the Everest. In his report, Codename: SURGEON reports this as evidence that Cole was planning to desert and needed a crew that was loyal to him.

List of appearances

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

Internal

 * Battle of Psi Serpentis
 * Historical/Psychological Analysis of Cole, Preston J.