UNSC Admiral Cole

"We are the worthy inheritors."
-Ship's mottoThe UNSC Admiral Cole is a Vindication-class light battleship built by the United Nations Space Command's navy in honor of late famous UNSC admiral Preston Cole. The ship saw extensive combat during the Post-Covenant War Era, against enemies such as Ur-Didact and the Created. the ship continues to serve, despite being cut off from the UNSC command structure and internally crippled.
==History==
===Commission and construction===
The idea of a ship being built in honor of Preston Cole was proposed as early after the bloody Human-Covenant War as late 2553. When the line of Vindication battleships began entering service in 2554, the UNSC took the opportunity to create a ship in the late admiral's honor to remember his heroic sacrifice during the Battle of Psi Serpentis in 2543 which saw him sacrifice himself and his fleet to destroy 300 Covenant ships in a pivotal naval victory during the war.
The Preston Cole was ordered on July 18th, 2555, and finished its construction on January 11th, 2556. The ship was ceremoniously launched on April 18th, 2556, exactly 23 years after Preston Cole's death at Psi Serpentis. The ship would go on to rejoin the gradually rebuilding UNSC Navy.
===Post-Covenant War conflicts===
==== New Phoenix Incident ====
By July 25th, 2557, the Admiral Cole had become part of the UNSC Home Fleet, defending Earth as it recovered from the immense damage done to its infrastructure and defenses during the Battle for Earth almost four years prior. After the UNSC Infinity returned from the Forerunner world of Requiem and warned the Home Fleet of the incoming danger of the Ur-Didact aboard the advance warship, Mantle's Approach, the UNSC prepared to engage the colossal vessel upon its arrival.
Under the command of captain Thomas Lasky, the Admiral Cole joined the attack on the Mantle's Approach, alongside Poseidon-class carriers, Strident-class frigates, other Vindication-class battlecruisers, and eventually Infinity herself. Despite the superior numbers and the advantage of defensive positions, the superior technology of the Mantle's Approach overpowered the Home Fleet's forces and rendered their attacks pointless. 
Attempting to prevent losses, Lasky ordered the Home Fleet to pull away from the assault, as Spartan John-117 had boarded the enemy ship with a HAVOK tactical nuclear weapon. However, his efforts were not fast enough to prevent the Mantle's Approach from firing its weapon, the Composer, on Earth. Instantly, the weapon disintegrated the population of the city of New Phoenix, composing them for use in creating Promethean Knights for the Didact's forces. Fortunately, John-117 still succeeded in destroying the ship from within, preventing the same fate from befalling the rest of Earth.
=== Created Conflict ===
==== Subjugation of Earth ====
On October 28th, 2558, the Admiral Cole, the Infinity, and the rest of the Home Fleet rushed to Earth's defense once again as a Forerunner Guardian under the control of the rogue artificial intelligence Cortana had appeared over Earth, with the intent of neutralizing Earth's defenses and occupying the planet under the banner of the Created, a faction of rogue AIs that believed themselves destined to inherit the Mantle, a position of dominance in the galaxy previously held by the Forerunners, but really intended for Humanity to possess.
Unprepared to face a Guardian, the Home Fleet could do nothing against its power as it emitted a massive EMP blast that caused a global shutdown of power and disabled all UNSC ships in orbit, sending the Admiral Cole in an uncontrollable spin as it was now disabled. Infinity was one of the only ships that had escaped its grasp.
==== Cut off from the chain of command ====
Unable to prevent the Created from taking over Earth, the Admiral Cole fled the Sol system as soon as it regained power. However, problems continued to take effect as the UNSC had been reduced to scattered and disconnected pockets over a short period of time. Now cut off from the command structure, as well as any support and on the run from the Created forces, the Admiral Cole fled to deep space to avoid incursions.
On top of the already existing issues, the Admiral Cole's shipboard AI, Edmund, would later defect to the Created at Cortana's promise of a cure for rampancy. The rogue AI sabotaged several critical systems before transmitting himself off the ship to join Cortana's conquest of the galaxy. While the damage was temporary, it left the Admiral Cole disabled and combat-ineffective for several weeks as the crew worked to undo the combined damage of the EMP blast and Edmund's sabotage.
== Crew ==
=== Former (Alive) ===
* Edmund - Primary shipboard AI; defected to the Created in 2558.
Category:Gamestrider1
Category:Individual Ships
Category:Individual UNSC Ships
Category:Battleships