Morgan Kinsano

Lieutenant Colonel Morgan "Inferno" Kinsano is an UNSC Marine Corps Orbital Drop Shock Trooper, responsible for leading the Hellbringer detachment aboard UNSC Spirit of Fire. A former insurrectionist, Kinsano was a noted rebel leader in the Outer Colonies prior to the onset of the Human-Covenant War, at which point she joined the UNSC to fight against the Covenant. She currently leads the Firestorm Battle Group detachment aboard Spirit of Fire.

Kinsano was born on Reynes during the Insurrection, and in her youth spent much of her time by the sea on the planet. As a child, she often worked with her mother to operate and maintain an antiquated steamboat. As she grew up, she worked as a miner extracting key strategic minerals for the UNSC military, and spent her teenage years as one of the thousands growing increasingly resentful at the way that the Unified Earth Government profited from the fruits of Reynes' mines at the expense of the workers. These tensions eventually escalated into protests and strikes, leading to Kinsano becoming the leader of her own insurrectionist faction. At the height of her insurrectionist career, she was able to meet United Rebel Front leader Robert Watts several times and even share cigars with him, as he instructed her on how to improve her force's fighting ability against the UNSC. By the later years of the conflict, Kinsano was considered a key insurrectionist leader in the Outer Colonies.

With the onset of the Human-Covenant War in 2525, Kinsano's position towards the UNSC changed in short order. Early in the conflict, the Covenant attacked Reynes and killed many of Kinsano's friends and family, in the process also turning Reynes' insurrectionists into refugees now being resettled by the UNSC that they had fought for years. Despite her animosity for the UNSC, she felt a sense of gratitude for the fact that they had helped resettle her people and was unwilling to settle for what would likely turn into a temporary safety elsewhere in a refugee camp. As such, she instead enlisted in the UNSC to fight against their common, alien, foe.

In the UNSC, Kinsano eventually came to join the Hellbringers, the CBRN weapons detachment of the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers' Special Tactics and Equipment Group. She eventually rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, commanding the Firestorm Battle Group aboard the UNSC Spirit of Fire during its campaigns on Harvest, Arcadia, and Trove. The latter of the three aforementioned battles saw the ship sacrifice its slipspace drive to destroy the shield world, resulting in the ship's crew being placed into cryostasis for the long journey home. Kinsano joined the crew when they awoke in 2559 to find that the ship had mysteriously travelled outside of the Milky Way and arrived at the Forerunner megastructure Installation 00.

During the Second Ark Conflict, Kinsano played a key role in the fight against the Banished as the leader of the Firestorm Battle Group. On May 21, 2559, Kinsano led a Hellbringer expedition to a location on the Ark designated Site Ricochet, with the intention of ascertaining whether it was worth a full assault or not. The region had been earmarked for interest by both Spirit of Fire and the Banished due to the presence of several crashed Covenant cruisers that had been shot down in the region during the Battle of Installation 00 in 2552. As her task force arrived at the site, she noted the presence of a heavy Banished encampment beginning to deploy outposts and their requisite buildings, though the scouting mission was interrupted by the awakening of a large Forerunner defensive construct.

Kinsano is not as disciplined as her officer comrades. She was ruthless but inspirational. This made her one of the most well respected Marines on board the Spirit. Morgan is known to armor herself unconventionally and to pattern both her armor and face. She has short, black hair. In battle, Kinsano uses a modified Cyclops exoskeleton that is armed with dual M7057 flamethrowers.

Firestorm Battle Group is a UNSC strike force of ODSTs, Marines, and Hellbringers. The Hellbringers are specialized Orbital Drop Shock Troopers that are part of the Special Tactics and Equipment Group. Equipped with flamethrowers and deployed in two-person teams, they are tasked with engaging entrenched infantry while suffering a high attrition rate. The HRUNTING Mark III [B] Exoskeleton, also known as the Cyclops, is a bipedal powered exoskeleton used by the United Nations Space Command.

The United Nations Space Command (UNSC) is the military, exploratory, and scientific agency of the Unified Earth Government (UEG) and has acted as the emergency governing body of the human race. The Second Ark Conflict is a large battle fought between the isolated United Nations Space Command forces of the UNSC Spirit of Fire and the hostile mercenary organization known as the Banished in 2559, about six years after the Human-Covenant War ended on the same ancient Forerunner installation known as the Ark. After mysteriously arriving at the Ark on March 28, 2559, the long-lost crew of the Spirit of Fire were awoken from cryosleep and soon came into hostile contact with the powerful mercenary organization.

The Sangheili, or "Elites" as they are known by humans, served as the military leaders of the Covenant. The Sangheili are the only race within the Covenant permitted to build and command starships within the Covenant, though the crews are always composed of a mix of races. The Jiralhanae, or "Brutes" as they are known by humans, were the most recent addition to the Covenant, and served as soldiers and bodyguards within the Covenant military. The Lekgolo are a race of worm-like creatures that can combine to form large, intelligent assemblages called Mgalekgolo, known by humans as "Hunters". Clad in nearly impenetrable armor and armed with their trademark Assault Cannon, they served as the Covenant's heaviest ground troops. Hailing from Balaho, the Unggoy, or "Grunts" as they are known by humans, were the most common and low-ranking caste of the Covenant. They breathe methane gas, and thus must wear a large tank on their back full of methane to survive on other planets. The Kig-Yar, or "Jackals" or "Skirmishers" as they are known by humans, were the scouts and marksmen of the Covenant military due to their superior senses.

The Banished are a multi-species confederation of pirates and raiding clans. Acting as mercenaries, the organization's goals have been described as attaining power in their raids across the Orion Arm, while their killers and mercenaries plunder treasure in the name of their own free will. They were formed and led by the Jiralhanae warmaster Atriox after rebelling against the Covenant. The Banished are primarily composed of Jiralhanae and have incorporated Sangheili, humans, Mgalekgolo, Unggoy, Huragok, and Kig-Yar, as Atriox denounced vengeance between species as a petty restriction in the way of gaining rewards and treasures.