Halo: The Cole Protocol

***Halo: The Cole Protocol***is a standalone *Halo*novel written by Tobias S. Buckell and published by Tor Books. Canonically, the book is set after *Halo Wars*, but is set before *Halo Reach*.

The book was released on November 25, 2008, and is the sixth official *Halo*book. It follows two points of view; that of the SPARTAN-II Gray Team, and the Sangheili kaidon Thel 'Vadamee. The story follows the opposing sides as they arrive at a refugee colony called the Rubble to investigate the workings of something entirely unexpected - an alliance between humans and Kig-Yar.

## Story Synopsis

The book opens with an attack by Kig-Yar in the Rubble, an Insurrectionist asteroid base which was constructed as a refugee colony during the Covenant siege of Madrigal. The Kig-Yar are attempting to steal navigation data from Ignatio Delgado and his friend Melko Hollister. The Kig-Yar want the data because it would lead the Covenant to humanity's homeworld, Earth. Melko manages to escape the fighting at Delgado's insistence that the last remaining navigation data leading to Earth must be kept safe. Unfortunately, Melko is shot and later dies of his wounds.

 Date Released
 Price
 Length
 ISBN

While holding off the Kig-Yar, Delgado is almost killed, but is saved by SPARTAN-II Adriana-111 of Gray Team. She hands him a beacon, which will send a signal to her team to retrieve the data if he should no longer be capable of keeping it safe. She then orders him to keep Gray Team a secret from the Rubble Security Council.

Meanwhile, at the colony of Chi Rho, Lieutenant Jacob Keyes meets with Commander Dmitri Zheng and is transferred from teaching at the Luna OCS Academy to enforce the newly written Cole Protocol with the stealth frigate, UNSC *Midsummer Night*. He returns to his ship with a new pilot, Jeffries, an ONI officer Major Watanabe and Zheng in command.

Back at the Rubble, Delgado looks for clues, suspecting that someone within the Rubble Security Council is attempting to sell the navigation to the Kig-Yar, which would cause the Insurrectionists to outlive their usefulness to the Covenant. Delgado learns of the *Kestrel*, a ship under the command of Peter Bonifacio, a known smuggler who is also on the Security Council. While trying to obtain information about the *Kestrel*, he meets Adriana-111 again in a small bar, Eddie's In the Rock. They are both attacked by Insurrectionists, who overhear the questioning. After being saved again by Adriana-111, he is taken to the SPARTANs' ship, the *Petya*, to meet Jai-006 and Mike-120.

Jai-006 explains that Gray Team has been working to destroy any navigation data as per the Cole Protocol, and that they are causing general havoc against the Insurrectionists. As Delgado leaves, he is instructed to find out more about the Security Council leak.

Back on the *Midsummer Night*, Jacob Keyes attempts to enforce the Cole Protocol on a civilian freighter. When the Lieutenant and a group of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers board the freighter, the Insurrectionist captain detonates a bomb in a container, killing a number of ODSTs, including their commander, First Lieutenant Canfield. Later, Keyes and the ODSTs are forced to leave the ship by exiting through a hull breach they created because the freighter was rigged to blow the moment the *Midsummer Night*was within the blast proximity of the freighter. Keyes leaves first, taking the armor of an ODST and jumping into space, using his rifle to maneuver applying Newton's 3rd Law. Keyes is able to contact the *Midsummer Night*. However, the Insurrectionists on the civilian freighter detonate the ship to kill as many of the escaping ODSTs as possible. Keyes is eventually recovered along with most of the ODSTs, including Second Lieutenant Faison, despite the dramatic explosion.

On Sanghelios, the recently appointed Sangheili kaidon of Clan Vadam, Thel 'Vadamee lies in wait for the inevitable attack by someone with doubts as to his capability as kaidon. He soon gets what he is waiting for as three assassins attempt to dispatch him; however, he quickly slays all three of the assassins. He then orders an assembly with all of his clan's elders. He first shows the elders that the attack clearly failed as he had no scratch on his body. He then explains that he killed the first two assassins with relative ease, but lies and claims that he let the third assassin live in order to learn who sent the attack. He almost immediately noticed the stirring of one of the elders, Koida 'Vadam. Knowing the person responsible he calms down and explains his supremacy to his elders. He then confronts Koida who foolishly tells Thel that he had sent the assassins. Thel then kills him and banishes his lineage from the Vadam Keep. Thel then tells the elders that he is to be sent to a human colony, Charybdis IX, by the Hierarchs.

The *Midsummer Night* arrives at Charybdis in order to prevent a group of Insurrectionists from gaining a shipment of plasma rifles and plasma pistols. Lieutenant Keyes and Major Watanabe go planetside to meet with an ONI group in order to complete their mission. However, the mission goes bad as the UNSC group gets attacked by Insurrectionists and rioters. Major Watanabe is killed, and Keyes barely escapes the planet. As they escape the system, a Covenant fleet led by the High Prophet of Regret eliminates the three destroyers defending the planet and starts to glass the surface.

Meanwhile, Thel 'Vadamee is called to meet with Regret, who was travelling with the fleet to witness the burning of another human world. Regret shows 'Vadamee a modified plasma rifle and says that such modifications of Covenant weaponry by any other than the Prophets is heresy. He orders 'Vadamee to track down the weapons, which he believes originated in the 23 Librae system from Kig-Yar that may be trading with humans. He also tells 'Vadamee that the Kig-Yar ship, *A Psalm Every Day*, along with a contingent of Jiralhanae, will go with him on his mission. 'Vadamee is not happy about having to work with Jiralhanae but is happy that he has received the promotion and may be on the way to becoming a Fleet Master. After 'Vadamee leaves, the Prophet states that the Hierarchs did not expect that the humans would be spread out on so many worlds. This may be the reason why the Covenant lingered so long around Harvest instead of trying to find other human worlds.

After a slightly uneventful voyage to Hesiod, the Jiralhanae and the Kig-Yar shipmistress betray 'Vadamee, destroying his ship, killing his crew, and taking him and his Zealots prisoner while he was unconscious.

Aboard the *Midsummer Night*everyone was on edge as a Covenant vessel was on radar and they had to be careful of detection. They followed the *Kestrel*to Hesiod to discover that the rebels were using asteroids as a hideout. They drifted closer and discovered that they were all connected as well as Kig-Yar ships navigating through the asteroids. The *Midsummer Night*was brought up to battle ready status and began to make stealth maneuvers to avoid any patrolling ships.

Inside the Rubble, Thel 'Vadamee and his bridge crew had been captured by the Kig-Yar. Jora 'Konaree having thrown himself, unarmed, against the attackers had been wounded and asks Thel to kill him for his shame. After slamming a spike from a nearby bed into Jora's head, the remaining Zealots, led by 'Vadamee, decide to find out a way to strike at the humans from inside the Rubble. Realizing that the Kig-Yar intended to gain a ransom for their captives, Thel and his warriors decides that while the Jiralhanae wanted the credit for finding the humans themselves, they decide to go after Bonifacio whom they believe is their leader. The Sangheili trick their Unggoy guard, kill him, the rest of the guards, and escape.

On the *Midsummer Night*, Commander Zheng discovers that the leaders of the Rubble know of their presence. The Rubble begins bombardment of the ship, and Zheng orders that they head out to open space. However, the engines are taken offline via sabotage, and on the bridge Lieutenant Badia Campbell shoots Zheng fatally, and wounds Lieutenant Kirtley and Li before Keyes tackles her. She says that the Insurrectionists will win eventually before shooting herself in the head. With the engines out of commission and Zheng dead after locking down the nuclear warheads (rendering them unusable to the rebels), Keyes is forced to surrender the ship to the Rubble.

Keyes and his crew are taken aboard the Rubble and are permitted to join the population. Keyes gives a short speech urging them not to, and some stay with him, including Faison, Kirtley and Li. Many others join the population. Keyes asks Faison why a number of ODSTs are joining too, and Faison reminds him that ODSTs are first in everything, implying that they're going to be undercover in support of them.

Meanwhile, upon Delgado's return to the Rubble, he is detained by Bonifacio's private forces. The Rubble Security Council suspects him for dealing with the Kig-Yar for the NAV data, since he was the only one apart from them who knew of its location. While conversing with a guard, Delgado learns that Bonifacio's smuggling ship, the *Kestrel*, was sabotaged by the SPARTANs and its NAV data was destroyed; as a result, Bonifacio needs Delgado's data in order to continue his smuggling operations back to the Inner Colonies. Delgado is subsequently taken to meet with the Security Council, where he learns of the existence of the Exodus Project. While the Council refuses to tell Delgado what the Exodus Project is, Diego Esquival reassures Delgado that it is for the good of the Rubble and requires NAV data. This convinces Delgado to retrieve the data for the Council. Diego and Bonifacio decide to accompany him to retrieve the data from Delgado's ship, *Distancia*.

However, on the ship Bonifacio betrays Diego and Delgado. He forces Delgado to hand over the NAV data so that he can give it to the Kig-Yar, and when Delgado resists he shoots Diego. Bonifacio then makes off with the data and sabotages the ship's airlock, so that Delgado cannot inform the Rubble of Bonifacio's treachery. As his ship runs out of air, Delgado sets off the SPARTANs' beacon.

Thel and his Zealots, meanwhile, hijack a Kig-Yar ship and head down to the surface of Metisette, a methane-rich moon of Hesiod where the Kig-Yar are breeding an army of Unggoy. They are able to kidnap Reth, the leader of the rogue Kig-Yar group. However, Reth reveals to the Sangheili that he is also working on a mission assigned to him by the High Prophet of Truth, which greatly confuses one of Thel's most trusted soldiers and *de facto*second-in-command, Zhar. Reth subsequently escapes with the aid of some Unggoy which he converted.

Gray Team arrives and saves Delgado, but are too late to save Diego who dies of his wounds. They decide that with the NAV data, the Kig-Yar will no longer value the Rubble and will attack it. They need to briefly capture one of the Kig-Yar ships to find their plans. However, even three SPARTAN-IIs would not be able to capture a Covenant ship; they decide to liberate the captured ODSTs from *Midsummer Night*and use their help to secure the ship. With the help of the Rubble's AI, Juliana, Gray Team are able to liberate Keyes and many of his men from prison.

Delgado joins the main UNSC forces as they assault the Kig-Yar ship *Infinite Spoils* in an attempt to find information on the Kig-Yar's true intentions. The humans have the element of surprise and manage to capture it; however, Faison is wounded in the leg during the battle. He insists that Delgado leave him, but secretly Delgado asks for help. Keyes sends Jai-006 to rescue the ODST. Meanwhile, Thel and the surviving Sangheili also desire the Kig-Yar vessel and board it. They encounter Faison, who manages to injure Zhar with a sidearm before being killed. At this point Zhar treads on the edge of heresy by admiring the human's act of staying behind; however, they are interrupted by Jai-006's arrival. Jai-006 and Thel fight each other, with neither gaining any ground; Jai-006 leaves when he sees Faison's body. Thel himself barely survives the encounter and wonders what the human was.

During this time, Adriana-111 sneaks up onto Bonifacio in the *Distancia*and fires at it, disabling its engines and allowing her to board it. Bonifacio escapes in an escape pod, and forces Adriana-111 to allow him to escape by withholding where he kept the NAV data taken from Delgado. Adriana-111 subsequently finds the NAV data and returns to the *Petya*.

With the information from the Kig-Yar vessel, the humans determine that the Kig-Yar are in fact planning a massive attack on the Rubble with the hundreds of thousands of Unggoy he has been allowing to breed unchecked on Metisette. Reth plans to capture the Rubble and use the NAV data to take the Exodus Project, which in fact is a giant asteroid habitat planned to transport the entire population of the Rubble away from both the UNSC and the Covenant, to Earth to capture it. This would earn the Kig-Yar much more favor in the eyes of the Prophets than the Sangheili. Keyes devises a plan to stop this; while they take the recaptured NAV data to the Exodus and begin evacuating the citizens of the Rubble, the humans would also bombard Metisette, the Kig-Yar moon base, with unneeded pieces of the Rubble. To do that, however, Juliana informs them that the Kig-Yar surface defenses must be destroyed. She outlines two main objectives; an anti-air battery and a sensor station. The destruction of these will allow her to drop pieces of the Rubble onto Metisette, effectively destroying the Kig-Yar base there.

UNSC forces use a daring maneuver to drop ODSTs and Gray Team to the surface. Jai-006 and Adriana-111 aid the marines with the objectives, laying charges on the AA battery and planting a remote nuke on the sensor station. The nuke, in addition to destroying the sensor station, also damages a large portion of the Kig-Yar base and wipes out much of their fleet.

Without the sensor station or the AA battery, the Kig-Yar are powerless as Juliana systematically bombards their base with the Rubble. Reth is among the dead. Thel, aboard his ship stolen from the Kig-Yar, sees this and decides to send the last of the Unggoy aboard on an abortive attempt to capture the Exodus Project. The attack fails, and the Rubble's citizens successfully evacuate into the Exodus Project. It and the *Midsummer Night* jump into slipspace and set a course back to UNSC-held territory - the Rubble engineers realized that they would not have enough supplies to reach their original intended destination, and Keyes convinces them that for the good of the Rubble's citizens, they must return to the UNSC.

Bonifacio witnesses the bombardment of Metisette, when suddenly a massive Covenant fleet jumps out of slipspace. He attempts to hail them, and is momentarily glad to watch them turn towards him, but is horrified when a cruiser effortlessly vaporizes his pod.

Thel and Zhar meet with the Prophets of Truth and Regret, who has arrived in the system with a large fleet. It is revealed that Truth and Regret have been working seperately, leading to the confusion between Reth, commissioned by Truth and Thel, commissioned by Regret. Zhar believes that they will be executed, and activates his energy sword to attack the Prophets. Thel is horrified but draws his own sword and stabs Zhar through the neck. Regret is visibly shaken and leaves, but Truth tells Thel that he survives but will speak nothing of what he has learned to anyone. Truth then proceeds to grant Thel a ship in the Fleet of Particular Justice, hinting that he will eventually become its commander.

The Exodus asteroid and the *Midsummer Night*arrive safely at 18 Scorpii, and the asteroid's inhabitants are safely evacuated before the asteroid shakes itself to pieces while in orbit around Falaknuma.

Back on Sanghelios, Lak 'Vadamee discusses with Thel about the reorganization of the fleets and what is to come of this "strange new age."

Keyes returns and meets with Fleet Admiral Preston Cole, and expects to receive a court-martial for his actions but instead is congratulated and thanked by Admiral Cole, who promotes Keyes to Commander. Commander Keyes leaves and Gray Team enters; during the battle the *Petya*was abandoned, and they are looking for a new prowler. Cole grants them the ship and gives them new orders, describing them as more dangerous than ever, to the satisfaction of Gray Team. Delgado enlists in the UNSC Navy. Soon after, Keyes returns to his apartment and his daughter, Miranda.

## Features

### Characters

#### UNSC

* Jacob Keyes
* Adriana-111
* Jai-006
* Mike-120
* Akio Watanabe
* Dmitri Zheng
* Faison
* Preston Cole
* Jean Mawikizi
* Badia Campbell
* Rai Li
* Dante Kirtley
* Jason Burt
* Miranda Keyes
* Catherine Halsey (mentioned)
* Corinthia Hansen
* Josh Smith
* Finlay
* Jeffries
* Markov
* Canfield
* Tom Gerencer
* Dobey
* Hadley
* H.T. Ward

#### Insurrection

* Jason Kincaide
* Peter Bonifacio
* Ignatio Delgado
* Diego Esquival
* Maria Esquival
* Juliana
* Robert Watts (mentioned)
* Melko Hollister
* Eddie Underwood
* Owen

#### Covenant

* Thel 'Vadamee
* Zhar
* Veer
* Reth
* Chur'R-Mut
* Jora 'Konaree
* Saal
* Koida 'Vadam
* Pipit
* Lak 'Vadamee
* Pellius
* High Prophet of Regret
* High Prophet of Truth
* High Prophet of Mercy (mentioned)

### Species

* Doarmir (mentioned)
* Forerunner (mentioned)
* Helioskrill (mentioned)
* Human
* Kig-Yar
* Jiralhanae
* San'Shyuum
* Sangheili
* Unggoy

### Organizations

* Insurrectionists
	+ Rubble Security Council
		- Rubble Defense Force
	+ United Rebel Front
* Unified Earth Government
	+ Colonial Administration Authority
	+ United Nations Space Command
		- United Nations Space Command Defense Force
			* UNSC Marine Corps
				+ Orbital Drop Shock Troopers
					- 105th Shock Troops Division
				+ UNSC Navy
					- Naval Special Warfare Command
						* SPARTAN-II Program
							+ Gray Team
					- Office of Naval Intelligence
						* UNSC Prowler Corps
* Frieden (mentioned)
	+ Neo-Friedenism (mentioned)
* Covenant Empire
	+ Covenant Armed Forces
		- Covenant Navy
			* Covenant Fleet
				+ Fleet of Particular Justice (mentioned)
				+ Council of Masters (mentioned)
		- Covenant Honor Guard

### Locations

* 18 Scorpii System
	+ Falaknuma
		- Halkia
* 23 Librae System
	+ Madrigal (mentioned)
		- Nueva Lima (mentioned)
	+ Hesiod
		- Metisette
			* The Redoubt
	+ The Rubble
		- Eddie's In The Rock
		- Habitat Asuncion
		- Habitat Bolivar
		- Habitat Caribo
		- Habitat El Ciudad
		- Habitat Exodus
		- Habitat Greenworthy
		- Habitat Korrah
		- Habitat La Paz
		- Habitat Oaks Central
		- Habitat Pineapple
		- Habitat Tiago
	+ Oort Cloud
* Unknown System
	+ Bhuj (mentioned)
* Charybdis System
	+ Charybdis IX
		- Scyllion
			* Scyllion Warehouse District
* Unknown System
	+ Dwarka (mentioned)
* Ectanus 45 System
	+ Chi Rho
		- Bacigalupi Memorial Nature Preserve
		- Camp Patmos
* Epsilon Eridani System
	+ Reach
* Sol System
	+ Earth
	+ Luna
		- Delambre (mentioned)
		- Mare Insularum
			* Armstrong Alley
		- Mare Nubium
			* Academy at Mare Nubium
* Urs System
	+ Sanghelios
		- Yermo
			* Iruiru
				+ Vadam
					- Vadam Keep
					- Vadam Harbor
					- Kolaar Mountain
					- Vadam Valley
					- Unidentified Sangheilian Desert
* Y'Deio System
	+ Y'Deio Asteroid Belt

### Events

* Human-Covenant War
	+ Battle of Charybdis IX
	+ Battle of Metisette
	+ Battle of the Rubble
	+ Fall of Madrigal (mentioned)
	+ Harvest Campaign (mentioned)
* Insurrection
	+ Scyllion Warehouse District Riot
* Interplanetary War (mentioned)
	+ Battle of Delambre (mentioned)
	+ Rainforest Wars (mentioned)

### Weapons

#### Human

* BR Series
	+ BR55 Service Rifle
* M7/Caseless Submachine Gun
* MA Series
	+ MA5B Individual Combat Weapon System
* Magnetic Acellerator Cannon
* Rocket-Propelled Grenade
* M6 Series
	+ Señora Sies
* Shiva-Class Nuclear Missile
* SRS Series
	+ SRS99C-S2 AM Sniper Rifle

#### Covenant

* Variant Class-2 Energy Weapon System
* Heavy Plasma Cannon
* Type-1 Energy Weapon/Sword
* Type-25 Directed Energy Pistol
* Type-25 Directed Energy Rifle

### Vehicles

#### Human

* M274 Ultra-Light All-Terrain Vehicle
* M808B Main Battle Tank
* Single Occupant Exoatmospheric Insertion Vehicle
* D77-TC Pelican
	+ *Gamma 054*
	+ *Pelican 019*

#### Covenant

* Type-25 Troop Carrier
* Kig-Yar Shuttle

### Ships and Platforms

#### UNSC

* Freighter
	+ *Distancia*
	+ *Finnegan's Wake*
	+ *Kestrel*
	+ *Mighty Sparrow*
	+ *Petya*
* ​UNSC Destroyer
	+ UNSC *Armageddon's Edge*
	+ UNSC *Do You Feel Lucky?*
* ​UNSC Frigate
	+ UNSC *Ready or Not*
	+ *Stalwart*-Class Light Frigate
		- UNSC *Meriwether Lewis* (mentioned)
		- UNSC *Midsummer Night*

#### *​*Covenant

* Covenant Cruiser
	+ Covenant Cruiser
		- *Infinite Sacrifice*
* *​*Covenant Destroyer
	+ *Retribution's Thunder*
	+ RPV-Class Light Destroyer
* *​High Charity*
* Kig-Yar Raider
	+ *A Psalm Every Day*
	+ *Infinite Spoils*
* ​Kig-Yar Troop Carrier
	+ Unnamed Kig-Yar Transport

## Trivia

* *The Cole Protocol* is the only book that does not give the current military time at the start of every chapter. This makes it somewhat difficult to keep track of time when the setting shifts radically.
* This book is the only novel that doesn't feature an assault rifle from the MA5 Series. The BR55 Battle Rifle is almost exclusively used by UNSC forces in the book.
* Amazon.co.uk released *Halo: The Cole Protocol* several days earlier than the official release date.
* Before the space battle of Charybdis IX, it is stated that Cole's fleet is still near Harvest, but at the end of the book, he is back inside the Inner colonies. Due to the absence of dates at the start of chapters, it is difficult to confirm whether a great deal of time has passed, or this is just an oversight by the author.
* On page 281, Zhar uses the term "years", "units" or "cycles". This could be a transliteration of Sangheili speech. Similarly, U.S. measurements of length are used by both the humans and the Covenant in the book, whereas the UNSC typically uses the metric system.
* Unggoy are said to have purple blood, rather than blue once in the beginning of the book.
* Out of all the *Halo* novels, this book has nearly four times as many chapters as in other novels.
* It is the first canon source to call aplasma grenade a "sticky grenade", which is a common nickname for it on Xbox Live.
* The MJOLNIR Mark IV armor depicted on the cover strongly resembles the MJOLNIR Mark V "redux" seen in *The Art of Halo 3*, as both were created by the same artist, Isaac Hannaford.
* The book reveals that Mongooses can be dropped from support HEVs.
* Several times in the book Marines and rebels alike (except for Keyes) refer to Covenant species by their Covenant names (e.g. Jackals are called Kig-yar), rather than by their human-given nicknames.
* In *Halo: The Flood*, according to one of his memories while being consumed by the Flood, Captain Keyes first killed a human with a pistol. However it is revealed in *Halo: The Cole Protocol* that he first killed a human with a modified plasma rifle.
* Author Tobias S. Buckell has confirmed that the events of the *Halo: The Cole Protocol* take place in 2535.
* Multiple times throughout the book, Marines use the term "hoo-ah", which is a modern-day Army term. This is clearly a mistake by the author, because Marines in all other *Halo* media use the term "oo-rah".
* The differences in design between the MJOLNIR Mark IV on the cover of *The Cole Protocol* and the version seen in *Halo Wars*, *Halo Legends*, and the re-release of *The Fall of Reach* have led to dispute among fans, as the version featured in *The Cole Protocol* was created by Bungie, rather than by a third party. It has since been confirmed that both models are canon.
* This book, along with Halo: Ghosts of Onyx and Halo: Contact Harvest, were collected in the *Halo* Boxed Set.

## Gallery

Full cover art for *Halo: The Cole Protocol*Original pre-release cover art

## Links

### External Links

1. The announcement of *Halo: The Cole Protocol*
2. post regarding the Mark IV
3. ↑ *Halo: The Cole Protocol* on Amazon
4. ↑ Plot Teaser
5. ↑ Halo Nation:Letter - The Cole Protocol