Preston Cole: Difference between revisions

In [[2525#February|February 2525]], the UNSC lost contact with the Outer Colony of [[Harvest]] and [[Battle Group 4]] was dispatched to the [[Epsilon Indi system]] to discover the reason for loss of contact. Upon arriving at the system, the battle group quickly discovered that Harvest had been [[Glassing|glassed]] by the alien [[Covenant]]. The battle group was [[First Battle of Harvest|attacked]] by [[Covenant cruiser]] ''[[Rapid Conversion]]'' and only the badly damaged {{CMAShip|Heracles}} was able to return to Reach with word of the incident.<ref name="for117">'''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]''', ''pages 117-126'' (2010)</ref> In response to the alien [[Human-Covenant War|threat]], Central Command moved to create a battle group of forty [[warship]]s to retake Harvest. Cole was ultimately selected by CENTCOM to lead this force; a "fallen hero" that lived a scandalous retirement, Cole served as an easy scapegoat if CENTCOM's counterattack on the Covenant failed. Additionally, Cole was considered to be a brilliant commander during the Insurrection that was willing to sacrifice himself and anyone under his command to complete his task.<ref>'''Halo: Evolutions''', "The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole", ''pages 458-460''</ref> On [[2525#November|November 2, 2525]], ONI had Lieutenant Commander [[Jack Hopper]] and Lieutenant [[Demos]] visit Cole and convince him to lead the battle group. Reinstated as a vice admiral of the Navy, Cole was given command of [[Battle Group X-Ray]] in [[2525|December of 2525]],<ref name="timeline">''Xbox.com'': The Halo Timeline (defunct, [[Archive:Xbox.com/Halo/Timeline|Archived]])</ref><ref>'''Halo: Evolutions''', "The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole", ''page 461''</ref> conceived as the largest assembled fleet at that point in human history.{{Ref/Reuse|for117}}<ref name="enc299">'''Halo Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Halo Universe''', ''page 299'' (2011)</ref><ref>'''[[Halo: The Essential Visual Guide]]''', ''page 88''</ref> By [[2525#November|November 12, 2525]], Cole had begun preparing himself for the battle by reviewing data and reports from previous encounters with the Covenant at Harvest and [[Chi Ceti IV]], and realized that Covenant [[energy shielding]] would prove to be troublesome in battle. With the {{Class|Valiant|super-heavy cruiser}} {{UNSCShip|Everest}} serving as his [[flagship]], Cole requested numerous modifications to the cruiser. He ensured that his crew was battle-tested and competent,{{Ref/Reuse|he462}} and [[artificial intelligence]] [[Sekmet]] was chosen as Cole's shipboard AI on ''Everest''.<ref name="he465">'''Halo: Evolutions''', "The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole", ''page 465''</ref>

On [[2526#March|March 1, 2526]], Cole and his battle group arrived at the Epsilon Indi system and the [[Battle of Harvest]] began, in which the forty ships of Battle Group X-Ray engaged a single vessel, a {{Pattern|Rasus|interdictor}} in orbit over Harvest. The Covenant ship's superior weaponry and technology overwhelmed the fleet, and Cole's adjutant commanders suggested a full retreat. However, with the use of intelligence gathered during the [[Battle of Chi Ceti]], Cole realized that Covenant energy shielding technology was vulnerable to massive, concentrated fire. Cole ordered all ships in the battle group to simultaneously focus their fire at the Covenant ship, with salvos of MACs first, followed by [[Archer missile]]s and [[Shiva-class nuclear missile]]s. This last-minute tactical inspiration worked; the super-destroyer's shields were overwhelmed, allowing the UNSC battle group to fire their remaining armaments into the super-destroyer's hull, destroying the Covenant ship. Although Battle Group X-Ray managed to destroy the super-destroyer, thirteen UNSC ships were destroyed during the battle.{{Ref/Reuse|Genesis}}<ref>'''Halo: Evolutions''', "The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole", ''pages 462-467''</ref>

Cole would return to Harvest in [[2531]] with the UNSC Navy's [[Third Fleet]] under his command,<ref>'''Halo: The Essential Visual Guide''', ''page 188''</ref> removing the Covenant forces that had [[Harvest campaign|encroached]] on the Epsilon Indi system for the last five years.{{Ref/Reuse|Genesis}}<ref>'''[[Halo Wars]]'''</ref> Near the end of battle on January 3, Cole received a message from Commander [[Orez]] saying that the {{UNSCShip|Prophecy}} needed assistance. This led Cole to send the {{UNSCShip|Spirit of Fire}} to aid the ''Prophecy''. He approved the ''Spirit of Fire'' traveling to [[Arcadia]] in the [[Procyon system]] in February of 2531 on Captain [[James Gregory Cutter]]'s request after the [[Relic (location)|relic]] pointed towards Arcadia as the Covenant's next destination.<ref>'''Halo Wars''', campaign level, ''[[Arcadia City]]''</ref> Cole and his fleet then traveled to [[Arcadia]]  to assist UNSC forces on the world after the planet had been [[Battle for Arcadia|attacked]] by the Covenant. After a brief battle, Cole's forces were able to repel the Covenant invaders from the planet.<ref name="journal">'''[[Halo: Reach]]''', ''[[Dr. Halsey's personal journal]]''</ref>

By [[2535]], Cole had finished writing United Nations Space Command Emergency Priority Order 098831A-1, better known as the [[Cole Protocol]]—a law to prevent the Covenant from finding the location of Earth or any other human population center. Essentially, the Cole Protocol was an order forbidding the Covenant to gain any opportunity to retrieve data regarding the location of human population centers, and forbade retreating vessels from setting a direct course towards Earth, the Inner Colonies, or any other human population center, as the Covenant were able to track slipspace vectors and use them to calculate the destination. The policy also stated that if escape is impossible in order to prevent capture, any UNSC or civilian vessel was to self destruct after wiping all data matrices in order to slow the advance of the Covenant.{{Ref/Reuse|Genesis}}{{Ref/Reuse|timeline}} Following the [[Battle of the Rubble]] in 2535, Lieutenant [[Jacob Keyes]] evacuated one million people from [[the Rubble]] to [[Falaknuma]]. Some other UNSC officers were anxious regarding Keyes' evacuation, as a large portion of the refugees were insurrectionists. However, Cole called Keyes' accomplishment a victory, stating that men like Keyes would win the war, and then skip-promoted him to commander. Afterwards, Cole provided [[Spartan-II]] [[Gray Team]] with a [[prowler]] to allow them to combat hostile forces in Covenant space.<ref>'''[[Halo: The Cole Protocol]]''', ''pages 351-354''</ref>

==Gallery==

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File:UNSC FlagOfficer Origins2.png|A possible appearance of Preston Cole in ''[[Origins]]''.

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