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Classified communique from Admiral Harold Stanforth to

Captain Preston Cole \ June 13, 2503 (Military Calendar)

UNITEDNATIONSSPACECOMMANDTRANSMISSION 08871D-00

ENCRYPTIONCODE: RED

PUBLICKEY: FILE /ALBATROSS-SEVEN-LUCIFER-ZENO /

FROM: ADMIRALHAROLDSTANFORTH, COMMANDINGOFFICER,

UNSC L EVIATHAN / USNC SECTORTHREECOMMANDER/

(UNSC SERVICENUMBER: 00834-19223-HS)

TO: CAPTAINPRESTONCOLE, COMMANDINGOFFICER, UNSC

G ORGON(UNSC SERVICENUMBER: 00814-13094-BQ)

SUBJECT: TROUBLE

CLASSIFICATION: EYES-ONLY (BGA DIRECTIVE)

This is bad, Preston Sit down if you‘re standing

There are new orders co to like the to Reach

Let

The wo a relationship with for the last seventeen ency Hell, she‘s not a part of it; she‘s a high-rankingone of their ships

ONI has all the details I‘ve seen their intelligence reports, and I believe those

usually-lying-through-their-teeth SOBs They‘ve been tracking her insurgent alter ego for a long time and just discovered her civilian identity

It‘s si to co you for classified ship patrol routes and technical infor to play out:

1 New orders are being transmitted in three hours from Reach CENTCOM

2 You will be confined to quarters on the Gorgon with no access to coe of Umbra arrives in system

3 The Umbra will then transport you to Reach where ONI will put you through the debriefing of your life

4 After that--what happens is anyone‘s guess I‘ll wager ONI can‘t court-ly collaborated, because they built you into a oing to do--it ain‘t going to be pretty

I‘ you this because I don‘t believe for a hot second you would have gotten yourself deliberately involved in this--or that you‘d be stupid enough to divulge ship locations or technical secrets to soot three hours Find Lyrenne before ONI gets her Bring her in yourself That‘ll go a long way toward clearing your na this

Good luck

Harold

Personal letter from Captain Preston Cole to his brother,

Michael James Cole, July 6, 2503 (Military Calendar)

to follow up on that last quick note, Michael I need to let you know, in case things end up going badly

Everything Stanforth said was true

I got to the bar on Roost and Lyra was gone Everything she owned in our room had been

taken--except one paper she left It was a printout froon and the captain of the Bellicose --soo Lyra should have never known about it

One part of that exchange she circled in red: ― We’re a good ht consider working for the good guys"

It was a souvenir She was the captain of the Bellicose , Michael

All this ti me for information? That doesn‘t make sense I never leaked any classified data

And thealmost died out in the sector since we met

So is Lyra a spy? Or someone like me? A ship captain who fell in love and wanted ?

I have to find out, Michael I have to find her --P

{Excerpt} UNSC After-Action Report: Battle Group Tango

AI-enhanced battle summation and casuality reports attached

PRELIMINARY:Battle Group Tango, coent-controlled frigate in the Theta Ursae Majoris system January 2, 2504 (Military Calendar)

Two UNSC destroyers heavily daent vessel known as the Bellicose (aka the UNSC Bellerophon ) lost control, was caught in a gravitational pull of the gas giant (ref ID: XDU-OI-(1)), and lost with all hands

ANALYSIS

History looks upon this time as an unfortunate (and perhaps inevitable?)between Earth and her colonies, but those of us fighting for the last decade also realize that it was thepiece of blind fortune the human race has ever stuht in spaceould have happened in the years that folloe faced an enemy a hundred times worse?

Oblivion, no doubt

For Preston Cole it was a time when he tempered his brilliance and flexibility into an i style, a time of ascendancy when his deeds propelled hin) into one of the eneration

On a personal level, however, Cole lost the woman he loved, suffered, found a second chance at love--and lost it all again

At the debriefing ONI officers read hi the BellicoseI can only believe they thought Cole actually colluded with her and this tactic was designed to break his spirit

( Note to self: find these fool interrogators and transfer them to Kelvin Research Station on Pluto) And it did break Cole, but not in the way the debriefing officers expected For any otherbecause the lady in question was dead For Cole, however, Lyra‘s honor had to now be preserved at all costs Cole remained stoic and silent and utterly stubborn, just as he had when he was a cadet at the Acadeh he faced a