The Cole Protocol

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The Cole Protocol is a military term used in the science fiction storyline of the Halo series of computer and video games by Bungie Studios.

The protocol lists a number of steps that any starship at risk of being discovered by the Covenant (a group of extraterrestrial races at war with humanity) must do to prevent the enemy from discovering human military intelligence or the location of any human population centers - particularly Earth itself. This involves making several random jumps away from human worlds before, finally, jumping to Earth or a colony. Also, no AI must be allowed to be captured by the Covenant, as they usually contain information vital to UNSC war effort. Additionally, as revealed in the novel Halo: First Strike, in the event that a Covenant ship is captured, it must under no circumstances be brought to Earth, as it might contain a homing beacon or another device capable of alerting the enemy to Earth's location. If capture by any Covenant forces is imminent the UNSC vessel in question must be set to self-destruct. The first article of the Cole Protocol can be found in the book Halo: The Fall of Reach on page 135, and it reads the following:

" To safeguard the Inner Colonies and Earth, all UNSC vessels or stations must not be captured with intact navigation databases that may lead Covenant forces to human civilian population centers.

  If any Covenant forces are detected:
  1. Activate selective purge of databases on all ship-based and planetary networks.
  2. Initiate triple-screen check to make sure all data has been erased and all backups neutralized.
  3. Execute viral data scavengers. (Download from UNSCTTP://EPWW:COLEPROTOCOL/Virtualscav/fbr.091)
  4. If retreating  from Covenant forces, all ships must enter Slipstream space with randomized vectors NOT directed toward Earth,    
  the Inner Colonies, or any other human population center.
  5. In case of imminent capture by Covenant forces, all UNSC ships MUST self-destruct.

  Violation of this directive will be considered an act of TREASON, and pursuant to UNSC Military Law Articles JAG 845-P and 7556-L,
  such violations are punishable by life imprisonment or execution.ˌˌ

Two other known sections of the protocol are Article 2 and Subsection 7. Article 2 is never clearly stated, however it is implied in Halo: Combat Evolved that it refers to conditions underwhich a ship is to be abandoned, as well as prohibiting the capture or destruction of a ship's AI by the Covenant. Subsection 7 prohibits returning any captured Covenant vessel to a center of human habitation without searching for tracking equipment.

Halo: Combat Evolved begins just after the player's ship has executed the Cole Protocol placing that ship in an unknown part of space and setting the scene as the player must explore an unknown world.

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