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  • Subject: Had Admiral Cole Never Fought The Covenant...
Subject: Had Admiral Cole Never Fought The Covenant...

Posted by:ScubaToaster
Posted by: HipiO7
This man, this man right here put it so eloquently that I actually cancelled my own 2000+ word long post.
/slow clap for respect


:)
The person who said participating is important, not winning, obviously never won anything.

Title for Reference.

So, last night I was re-reading ''The Impossible Life...'' from Evolutions by Eric Nylund, and one part of called my attention especially.

In the book(I dont have it at hand at the moment, so I cant say page) they say that without Cole fighting the Covenant all over UNSC space and actually winning pretty much every engagment, the Covenant would have obliterated the UNSC in three years and would have made it to Earth.

Do you think this would have been true? Or were they just exagerating. I personally dont belive the Covenant would have been able to cut through the UNSC defenses in merely three years time. Without Cole, if anything, I'd say around 8-10 years aproximatly.

What do you think on this? Cole obviously was the most important human hero of the war at the moment of his death, and probably of the whole war, but do you think without him the UNSC would have fallen so fast?

Discuss.

[Edited on 04.11.2011 12:28 PM PDT]

  • 04.11.2011 10:13 AM PDT
Subject: Had Cole Never Fought The Covenant...

No, I do not agree with that assessment either, I think humanity would have lasted just about as long as they did considering the Covenant would have had to find all the human worlds first. And someone else probably would have thought up something similar to the Cole Protocol even if Cole never did.

Cole was definitely one of the most important heroes of the war, but I do not think that the Covenant would have steam rolled every single UNSC world and refuge almost instantaneously if Cole had never fought them.

  • 04.11.2011 11:25 AM PDT

Whilst they may have thought up something similar to the Cole protocol, I doubt it would have been created as early as Cole had the foresight to write his, and thus most colonies would have been lost in the few months after Harvest.

  • 04.11.2011 12:53 PM PDT
Subject: Had Admiral Cole Never Fought The Covenant...

Cole won the battles because he outnumbered the Covenant at least 5 to 1 in every battle. In one battle he outnumbered the enemy 9 to 1. Even so, he ended losing 3 ships for every Covenant one destroyed. Any admiral could certainly do the same, probably even better.

Posted by: Wolverfrog
Whilst they may have thought up something similar to the Cole protocol, I doubt it would have been created as early as Cole had the foresight to write his, and thus most colonies would have been lost in the few months after Harvest.
The Protocol was created in 2530.

[Edited on 04.11.2011 2:05 PM PDT]

  • 04.11.2011 12:53 PM PDT

Are you sure? Cole went to Harvest twice, and I thought it was the first time he made the Cole Protocol.

If I remember Halo: Genesis right.

  • 04.11.2011 3:19 PM PDT

Posted by:ScubaToaster
Posted by: HipiO7
This man, this man right here put it so eloquently that I actually cancelled my own 2000+ word long post.
/slow clap for respect


:)
The person who said participating is important, not winning, obviously never won anything.

Posted by: Mutoid Log
Cole won the battles because he outnumbered the Covenant at least 5 to 1 in every battle. In one battle he outnumbered the enemy 9 to 1. Even so, he ended losing 3 ships for every Covenant one destroyed. Any admiral could certainly do the same, probably even better.


Indeed. But as also said in the book, CENTCOM kept pouring him with virtually unlimited resources, hoping we wouldint snap from the pressure of seeing so many dead under his command.
They stated that any other battlegroup would have been reassigned and the CO giving shore leave.

Cole endured everything, probably something almost no admiral at the time could take.

  • 04.11.2011 4:36 PM PDT

Posted by: Wolverfrog
Are you sure? Cole went to Harvest twice, and I thought it was the first time he made the Cole Protocol.

If I remember Halo: Genesis right.
You don't. Its after the Battle of the Great Bear and the capture and interrogation of an Elite that he creates the protocol.

  • 04.11.2011 11:11 PM PDT
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they say that without Cole fighting the Covenant
No Cole, no Cole Protocol. There goes Earth after just a few engagements.

dont belive the Covenant would have been able to cut through the UNSC defenses in merely three years time.
Slipspace called, they want their phasing through solid objects and directly attacking Earth back.

Without Cole, if anything, I'd say around 8-10 years aproximatly.
I would say without Cole, even disregarding the lack of the Cole Protocol, it would have only taken 4-5 years at most. Cole led a giant fleet against the Covenant and kept them at bay for a long time, at the cost of a huge amount of ships. A lesser man would have led the UNSC into an early grave.

  • 04.11.2011 11:21 PM PDT

The covenant had an uncanny ability to follow unsc ships through slipspace and arrive at their destinations before they even did.

Were it not for the cole protocol, earth would have easily been doomed in a few years max.

  • 04.12.2011 1:54 AM PDT
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He must have been an extraordinary man. Just imagine the mental stress of losing three ships for every one ship you take down. Good commanders care about the men and women serving under them, and the fact that the UNSC was doing so badly would have made many commanders despair.

  • 04.12.2011 3:42 AM PDT
Subject: Had Cole Never Fought The Covenant...

In memory of those fallen in the defense of Earth and her colonies.

March 3, 2553


Posted by: OrderedComa
No, I do not agree with that assessment either, I think humanity would have lasted just about as long as they did considering the Covenant would have had to find all the human worlds first. And someone else probably would have thought up something similar to the Cole Protocol even if Cole never did.

Cole was definitely one of the most important heroes of the war, but I do not think that the Covenant would have steam rolled every single UNSC world and refuge almost instantaneously if Cole had never fought them.

  • 04.12.2011 4:56 AM PDT
Subject: Had Admiral Cole Never Fought The Covenant...

Posted by:ScubaToaster
Posted by: HipiO7
This man, this man right here put it so eloquently that I actually cancelled my own 2000+ word long post.
/slow clap for respect


:)
The person who said participating is important, not winning, obviously never won anything.

Posted by: MMO
No Cole, no Cole Protocol. There goes Earth after just a few engagements.

Slipspace called, they want their phasing through solid objects and directly attacking Earth back.

I would say without Cole, even disregarding the lack of the Cole Protocol, it would have only taken 4-5 years at most. Cole led a giant fleet against the Covenant and kept them at bay for a long time, at the cost of a huge amount of ships. A lesser man would have led the UNSC into an early grave.


But I agree with Coma. I'm pretty sure Cole wasent the only person that would have been able to come up with such orders and protocoles to avoid detection of human colonies. It would have eventually been done, the UNSC would have noticed their disadvantage against Covenant hegemony and dictaded the law.

Slipspace dosent really help if you cant find the exact location of the human colonies. A similiar protocole would have been created when CENTCOM would have noticed the Covenant's interest in NAV data.

The UNSC would have had those ships in battle nonetheless. They probably woudlint have won all the battles Cole won, but I'm sure they would have lost them all either. And I'm sure Cole wasent the only men capable of it. Yes he was the best for it, but I'm sure Whitcomb or even Stanforth would have been able.

  • 04.12.2011 3:36 PM PDT