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.

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 CMA Season of Plenty 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 UNSC Las Vegas for March 2, 2494, and the feeds of External Camera 6-K, UNSC Jericho 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 UNSC Gorgon 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 UNSC Everest 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.

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, this 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 (First appearance)