ONI Field Report ZZ-DE-009-856-841

ONI Field Report ZZ-DE-009-856-841 was a report filed by Office of Naval Intelligence agent Lieutenant Commander Jack Hopper in 2525. It detailed Preston J. Cole's reaction to his recruitment from retirement by the UNSC.

An excerpt of the file was included in the report Historical/Psychological Analysis of Cole, Preston J., sent by Codename: SURGEON to Codename: USUAL SUSPECTS in 2552.

Contents

{Excerpt} Field Report ZZ-DE-009-856-841 Office of Naval Intelligence

Reporting Agent: Lieutenant Commander Jack Hopper (UNSC Service Number 01283-94321-KQ) \ November 2, 2525 (Military Calendar)

As ordered, Lieutenant Demos and I went to offer Vice Admiral Cole reinstatement to active duty and the job command of the fleet to retake Harvest.

The admiral's general state when we arrived on his doorstep was one of indifference. He answered the doorbell in his bathrobe and did not bother to return our salutes. He looked much older than I thought he would. His hair was silver and gray as was his complexion. Gone was the spark in his eyes that I had seen in videos of this legendary man when I was a child. It was as if I'd found the ghost of Admiral Cole, and not the man.

He did, however, read the situation report with interest, not flinching when he got to the part about the UNSC Heracles and how easily the enemy destroyed her counterparts.

Demos suspects he was drunk - a supposition supported by several empty bottles of Finnish black vodka in his living room.

I believe Cole's mind is as sharp as ever, though. Everywhere on the premises there were stacks of books (real paper books) on military histories and naval battles and the biographies of Xerxes, Grant, and Patton - and theoretical mathematical monographs on slipstream space and other mathematical esoterica that frankly I have a difficult time even understanding the titles of (like Reunification Matrices of Hilbert Fields Within Spiral Unbounded Singularities).

After reading the situation report twice, the admiral poured himself a drink, and offered one to Demos and myself. For politeness's sake we took them.

Cole then said, "Three divorces, a cloned liver, two heart attacks - not much left of me, boys... Like anyone can help with this slice of Armageddon. But okay, I'm in."

He set aside his drink, untouched, and added, "I think you need me as much as I need this." He got up to get dressed.

When he emerged from his bedroom he was in uniform and clean shaven - transformed from the shade of a man we had seen before. He seemed taller somehow, and tougher.

By reflex, I suppose, Demos and I stood at attention and saluted.

Cole took command - issuing orders, asking what capital ships were available, rattling off the specifics of the staff he wanted, AIs he would need, and then requested all the intelligence reports ONI was holding back.

Just like you said he would.

List of appearances

• Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe
  • The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole (First appearance)