Chairman Richard Prescott

"I've been in office two months. I wouldn't even be here if Dalyell hadn't dropped dead. What do I know? I know that we're all going to die if I don't pull this out of the fire now."

— Prescott after E-Day

Chairman Richard Prescott is the honorable chairman of the Coalition of Ordered Governments. He is the son of David Prescott, a former chairman, and served as a Gear but never in combat. Chairman Prescott became the overseer of the children's project, a campaign to "prepare today's children for the future". After the Locusts emerge, he became the highest ranking human left alive, which left him to make difficult and controversial decisions for the sake of the human race. Prescott’s secret keeping caused many Gears, including Victor Hoffman to lose faith in him. He is voiced by Tyler Cannon.

Personal Background (2.0)

During his time as a Gear, he never came under enemy fire or saw combat. Following his service, Prescott entered politics, following in the footsteps of his father, whose death was devastating to him. After the previous Chairman Tomas Dalyell died of a heart attack, Richard Prescott became chairman about two months before Emergence Day, where the Children's Project Campaign was his first decision announced.

After Recruitment (2.0)

Prescott's campaign for the children raised such controversy, that many citizens considered him evil. Several parents including Adam Fenix did not want their children to enlist, but due to the campaign's rules that no child could be stopped, Marcus enlisted anyway. Chairman Prescott isn't seen until after Emergence Day happens, where he announces that he will deploying the Hammer of Dawn. Prescott was determined to end the threat of the Locust, and try to save what he could of humanity. He opens a meeting in his office, including Adam Fenix and Victor Hoffman. A few hours later, everyone had arrived except for Adam, and Prescott got the meeting going. He asked everyone what his options and powers were under the Fortification Act, where member of the meeting told him he could declare martial law in part of or all of the COG territories, and a vote was needed to put it into effect. Prescott told him that there wasn't going to be any voting, as there was no time, and that he had the authority to declare martial law without consulting the assembly. Prescott wanted to know if it was legal and constitutional, and the member reluctantly confirmed it. Adam then later arrives and apologized for being late, and Prescott lets him know it wasn't a problem. He told them all he was reinstating the Fortification Act, and then asked for their opinions on the state of the war and how long they would last. Salaman told him they wouldn't last a month, and Hoffman informed him that all of their emergency command bunkers had also been overrun. Prescott understood their dire predictions, and then calmly announced to them that he was going to use the Hammer of Dawn.

Adam thought he was just seeing what everyone thought of the idea, and told him that it wasn't possible to deploy it strategically, and it wouldn't benefit the kind of war they were fighting. Prescott then corrects him, telling him that they were not fighting a war, they were losing one, and that he was not going to let that happen. Someone else points out that the Locust didn't take and hold cities, but just cleared them out and took what they could, so targeting individual cities for destruction wouldn't stop them. Prescott understood that, and told them he was thinking worldwide coverage that would deny all assets around the world to the Locust, with the only area spared being the Jacinto Plateau, which the Locust were unable to breakthrough. Adam was to plan out the stages in which they would need to use the Hammers, but he was too afraid that he was even considering using the Hammers in such a way, and told him that there was no way they could evacuate the entire population to Jacinto. Prescott acknowledged this, and three days were be given after the announcement for anyone should get to the Plateau if they want to survive. Adam continues to argue about the hammer's use, but Prescott demands he has a better idea, which he didn't, and if they had more time he'd come up with a different solution. Adam finally agrees to help, where Prescott then asks Hoffman to see his activation key to make sure it was still intact, and then told everyone that what they had discussed was confidential, and not to tell anyone about what they were planning before the official announcement.

A week before the hammer strike, Hoffman and Prescott decide to pull all Gear and Navy units to the Plateau before the three day notice in order to have a sufficient fighting force to keep the massive amounts of civilians under control, and to finish off any Locust that might survive the Hammer strike; the children would be evacuated the day of the strike. Prescott told Cabinet members that what he was about to tell them would be announced tomorrow, and that nothing would change his mind. He informed them of the Hammer strike to come in four days, and it was the only hope any of them had to survive the Locust, and that the three day warning was to allow as many people as possible to reach the Jacinto Plateau. Prescott asks for opinions about how many people they could take, and a memeber tells him that they couldn't take the entire Seran population, and that they would have no way to all reach there in three days. Prescott then told them that even if they had room, they wouldn't have the time, and that any fallout from this decision would rest on his shoulders alone, not any of theirs. They all began arguing and shouting at once, telling him that it was insane and horrible, and that they wouldn't go along with it. Only Adam argued for it, and told them all it was the last hope they had. A Justice Secretary tells Prescott that he couldn't just walk out on them, and was not going to condemn millions to death without talking about it. Prescott told him they were, and left to return to his office. Adam arrives in his office a few minutes later, telling him another solution could be to flood the hollow, but there wouldn't be enough time. Prescott agrees that it would be impossible, and asks if Adam's hesitation has to do with Marcus being in the project. Adam said that he was very worried about him. Prescott told him that he would have him evacuated from the frontline and flown back to Jacinto, and that they would need Gears like him in the coming days. Adam thanked Prescott and left his office. The next day, Prescott announced the Hammer strike during a worldwide address. He asked for forgiveness, and claimed that this was the only way to defeat the Locust.

Propganda — Propaganda of Prescott himself.

Two hours before the Hammer strike, Prescott waited in his office for the hour to come. He found himself staring at the door, expecting Adam to arrive saying he had found another solution, or with news that the Locust leadership wanted to talk terms. He realized that this was not going to happen, and just wished he knew what was going to happen in the future. Adam entered his office, and Prescott asked him if he had any miracles. Adam looked taken aback, and told him that he just had data. Prescott decided that that would have to do, and poured himself a drink.

As they sat there drinking, Adam told him that people thought he was bluffing, which disappointed Prescott, and he pointed out that there was no one to bluff. All the other COG leaders had given up, and they had no idea if the Locust even knew what was going to happen. Prescott told Adam that he knew he was conflicted about everything, and he was sorry about putting Marcus in danger, but that his weapon could be the salvation of the human race. They discussed the ethics of what they were doing, but found that there was no easy answer. Prescott met with the others in the ops room, and asked Hoffman for his activation key. After they inserted it into the activation console, Prescott put his in, and looked for a moment at the activation buttons. He then pressed them and activated the Hammer of Dawn satellites, and hoped that people would forgive him for doing what he had to do.

Personality

Prescott is a very determined man wishing to follow his father's footsteps. He's often left with difficult decisions regarding the safety of people, which makes him feel guilty about his job. Prescott has a tendency to keep things secret, including the hammer strike which causes many people including Hoffman to lose faith in him. He only wanted to make the child project for a better future.

Appearance

Prescott is a white male around "6'0" and lanky, with slicked back black hair, a goatee, and grey eyes. He wears a military dress suit most of the time.

In the original film he had short black hair and blue eyes.

Notes

In the original film Prescott was shown to be more sinister and cunning. In 2.0, he has little to no interaction with the children, and is more focused on the Army itself rather than the project.
Marcus never meets Prescott face to face in 2.0.
In the original film it seemed like Prescott was the only one who knew of Adam Fenix's whereabouts, which was not canon and obviously changed in 2.0.
Prescott stopped the fight between Alex and Marcus in the original, where instead Baird stops it in 2.0.
Prescott assigns Hoffman to Delta in the original, where in 2.0 It seems like Anderson takes care of all the assigning.
In 2.0 Prescott doesn't have visual dialogue screen time until part five where in the original he is one of the first characters to talk and be seen.
In the original Prescott and Adam flood the Hollow, which doesn't happen until Gears of War 2. This error was fixed with the true canon story in 2.0.
In Gear Babies, Anya serves a more important role to Prescott which seemed very unrealistic. This was erased for the most part in 2.0.