Inferno Kilgannon

Inferno Kilgannon is the brother of Coheed Kilgannon and the uncle of Claudio & Josephine. He, along with his brother and his brother's wife Cambria, are IRO-bots that were created by Dr. Leonard Hohenberger and made up the three member team, KBI before it was disbanded to send Coheed & Cambria into hiding to live as normal humans. He was involved with Mariah Antillarea and the rebellion she started against Wilhelm Ryan which allowed him to continue KBI's original fight against him. He also began to create other IRO-bots with the knowledge he gained from Hohenberger. These creations viewed him as their father, though he objected, and included Chase and Sizer, among others.

Early Life
Kilgannon was constructed shortly after the appearance of The Black Rainbow in Heaven's Fence's skies by Dr. Leonard Hohenberger, a scientist with a specialization in biomechanics, with the help of two other trusted doctors, Inaid & Stockmeyer. The first of three, Hohenberger conceived Kilgannon using cell samples from himself. An accelerated growth hormone was applied to him and upon waking, he had a relatively mature look; early twenties. Coming online, Kilgannon knew nothing, not even his name, but quickly understood the situation due to sharing many similarities with Hohenberger. He was assigned the code name Inferno, and primarily went by this name all the way up to his death. Hohenberger gave him this codename as he knew that he would send his creation into the inferno of battle.

Together with Coheed and Cambria, the IRO-bots were made to form the private special operation force known as KBI. He was designed to act as a mainframe or mission control for his counterparts, Coheed as a close-combat ground unit and Cambria as a long-range ground unit. He had a keen sense of strategy and a scientific mind. For almost an entire year, KBI performed covert operations against Supreme Tri-Mage Wilhelm Ryan, the de facto ruler of Heaven's Fence, in rebellion of his reign. During this time, Kilgannon acquired a ship known as The Grail Arbor from an off-world race called the Agostis that allowed him to act as aerial support as well. As a team, KBI gathered intelligence and sabotaged Ryan's forces, or even engaged them head on. The team was officially disbanded upon the capture of Hohenberger's wife Pearl, who was held for the ransom of Coheed and Cambria, and the completion of Ryan's Monstar Virus. Hohenberger did as requested, but split the virus between the pair and concealing the activation specifications.

Shortly after this task, both he and his wife perished. Kilgannon came to the Hohenberger's residence to seek answers and found a video message that activated at his voice. Hohenberger explained what he had done, how it worked, and that he had also created an antidote in another IRO-bot that did not have the growth accelerant administered. This child, named Josephine, would have to be safe guarded until her 23rd year. Following this, Kilgannon broke Coheed & Cambria out of House Atlantic, but powered them down. He suppressed all their memories and then replaced them with false ones, dropping them off on the planet Hetricus with the infant Josephine, he left them to live a normal life in Valley's Hill with the understanding that they were a married couple with a newborn daughter. He would keep watch from afar and they would only know him as "Jesse"—presumably a name he gave himself. He did adopt their given last name of Kilgannon for himself, however, and subsequently used it with regularity.

Work with Mariah Antillarea
Still trying to accomplish the late doctor's mission of taking down Ryan, Kilgannon travelled around Heaven's Fence, built up a team, and explored many other rebellious factors. Eventually he met with Mariah Antillarea, a mage born of Immaculate Conception and raised by monks. She is believed by the largest faction of rebels to be God's chosen one, the Messiah, and so the people follow her. Kilgannon not only earned her trust and decided to work with her, but also became apart of her life; the two developed a relationship.

He was with Antillarea on Dil-Ariuth IX in the Tra-Nuvis monastery, when the Prise visited her. Kilgannon, who had (presumably) previous encounters with the winged race and was known to them as "The Prise Fighter," addressed them specifically, blaming them for allow Ryan to feed the Keywork unnecessarily for so long. Antillarea calmed him down and the encounter proceeded. Shortly after this concluded, it was found out that one of the monks betrayed them to Ryan. This betrayer informed Kilgannon that his master was going to present him with a gift drenched in his brother's blood. This sparked him to check for Red Army transport ships leaving the sector the family was hidden in and, after being confirmed, to take off to intercept it.

Upon arriving on scene, Kilgannon discovered that Coheed and Cambria had already commandeered the ship, but were unable to actually control. He had no choice but to inform them that if they couldn't stop the Gloria vel Vessa, he would have to, blowing it up if he had to. By this point, the pair had their memories back and address him as they used to which really touched him in a way he hadn't expected. He suggested they attempt to rewire the ship, but gave them only an hour to accomplish this task since he still had obligations with the rebellion. When the time was up, he would have to blow the ship up. During their attempt, the Notting-Vezzer arrived and began to attack the Grail Arbor and seized the vel Vessa. Coheed and Cambria agree to blow the ship up from the inside themselves, while Kilgannon dealt with the attack.

The vel Vessa is subsequently boarded by Admiral Vielar Crom who begins engaging the pair in battle. Kilgannon, feeling compelled to help, gets in the LEO (Long-range Exploratory Orb) as a transmission from Antillarea came in. She told him that the rebellion forces were being attacked on Dil-Ariuth IX, and many people have fled or been killed. Kilgannon asked her to salvage the forces she could and meet him on Paris: Earth as he would need her to help him enact the counter measure to the Monstar's transformation if Ryan truly knew how to activate it. Just before they ended their call, the two exchanged "I love you"s. Having made it onto the vel Vessa, Kilgannon joined the pair in fighting Crom, bringing back many memories of them as KBI. Unfortunately, Crom was able to spear Kilgannon through the gut and knock out Coheed and Cambria. Paralyzed by the bar in his stomach, Kilgannon can't do anything as they are taken away in the Notting-Vezzer. Antillarea attempted to message him while he was fighting but he couldn't answer. Now, he contacts her back only to confirm that the mission is still on track—they'll meet on Paris: Earth.

As an IRO-bot, it would take more than this to kill him, so he picked himself up and got back in the LEO to return to the Grail Arbor and head to Paris: Earth where Antillarea was waiting, and where the Kilgannon couple was detained. He warned his crew to be ready for anything. He was in orbit when The Monstar and White Ruineer were already on Star VI. After The Monstar depleted the star's energy, the nine planets in Sector 12 separated, including Paris: Earth. The White Ruineer reignited the star, which allowed for the loose planets to be pulled into an orbit around this new star. Still, the intense changes for the planets caused them to go into a kind of shock and earthquakes throughout Paris: Earth left Kilgannon unable to land. This left Antillarea to fend for herself, and unfortunately her strength was no match for Ryan's wit. She was killed by his General, Mayo Deftinwolf.

Leader of The Rebellion
After this shocking event, Kilgannon spent several years wandering the galaxy, building support here and there. He suffered from nightmares about these loved ones he lost. After probably six years, he began creating more IRO-bots but if they had defects or malfunctions, he would destroy them, and use the data to create more. It seems that some of the first entities he created was Chase and Sizer, who were actually made from his own DNA. He created them at the same time, but while Chase was incubating, she responded to his presence in such a way that Kilgannon requested she not be given the accelerants for her mind and body (though he claimed it was just to have a control group). Unfortunately, she had already been given the mind accelerant, but was not given the growth accelerant as a result of this request.

He began boxing remaining Prise under the moniker "The Prise Fighter Inferno," which he presumably did before joining Antillarea. Before or after doing this, he was contacted by Ondria, the current leader of the Prise, who requested sanctuary with him and Grail Arbor; lying low and seeking any more Prise that may have been out and about. During this period, Chase and Sizer came online; Chase had the appearance of a little girl (maybe 6 years old), and Sizer looked like a boy who was maybe a few years older (perhaps 8 or 9 years old). They became acquainted with the ship and its inhabitants, including other IRO-bots. One IRO-bot that Chase became attached to was called Longcindia, but unfortunately he had to be destroyed. This thoroughly upset Chase, and subsequently upset Sizer who had a very protective love for his sister. She did not understand why Kilgannon felt the need to "kill" Longcindia, even when Kilgannon tries to explain that Longcindia, as an IRO-bot, was never living, and therefore could never be killed. He further explains that there was no room in their "family" for malfunctions and mistakes are for humans, not IRO-bots.

Four years later, Chase was about ten years old and barely looked it, and Sizer (who was, of course, the same age) seemed more like eighteen or even twenty. While Chase, who of course had her mind accelerated, was a relatively mature being, Sizer was more rash. Many people on the crew called the two Inferno's children, and though Chase readily accepted this truth, Sizer fought against it, as did Inferno himself. He was hesitant to send the two into battle—tried to convince himself that it was due to their lack of experience in combat—but truthfully knew that they were special to him, and couldn't find it in himself to convey that to them.

Hiding out in the deep waters of the planet Donar, they were found by the Red Army, lead by Ryan's right arm General, Mayo Deftinwolf. Kilgannon immediately went into battle mode, destroyed the scout ship, and took offensive action. Over the course of several years, Kilgannon had developed bioships that looked like dragon heads. He called them the Sea Dragons after a legend about that on Donar. Ultimately, Deftinwolf ordered his Jackhammer to dive into the water and engage its pulse cannon that not only destroyed several Dragons, but also punctured the Grail Arbor ' hull, flooding several sectors. The Prise who were hiding out on the Arbor were released into the waters (they did not need to breathe), bypassed the force of the Jackhammer, and damaged the ship.

They fled to Silent Earth: 3 to hide out and fix the damage from the battle. Ondria and the Prise carefully returned to him and gave him the news that Deftinwolf was able to escape. She also tried to get Kilgannon to be kinder to Chase and Sizer, but he dismissed this, so she simply demanded that he protect them. It wasn't long before Deftinwolf, along with a whole host of the Red Army, was hovering in the airspace above Silent Earth: 3. Kilgannon ready his troops, this time, including Chase and Sizer. Two other prominent IRO-bots he'd made (Hack and Many) were also included. After Kilgannon gave out the orders, Sizer interjected with "Please." When questioned, he explained that if Kilgannon was going to ask them to risk their lives, he should probably say please. Chase attempted to get him to stop being so obstinate and defiant, but he stood his ground. Kilgannon simply threatened him to do his job, or be disassembled.

Capturing & Tring Ryan
Suiting up, their small force left to meet Ryan's Red Army and Ryan himself, who had appeared above the battle on a cliffside. Against Kilgannon's orders, Sizer broke rank, turning into a giant, red, hulking beast. Carrying just a shield that could withstand the beams from the Red Army's guns, he used his free hand to strike at the soldiers, declaring triumph for Kilgannon. Kilgannon viewed this as "vainglorious idiocy." All of his notable creations performed admirably, but they were severely outnumbered and quickly overwhelmed. Kilgannon found himself backed into a corner, and drew his blaster on himself—preferring to be dead than captured. But Ondria and the Prise unexpectedly joined him on the battlefield, and with Chase's help, they not only multiplied, but began making quick work of Ryan's forces. Chase, whose power was completely spent and exhausted, but asked Kilgannon if he was proud of her. He reluctantly said he was. Her affectionate reaction left him out of his element and he was unsure of how to respond. Shortly after this, the Prise was able to subdue Ryan himself and Kilgannon's forces took him into custody. But in the aftermath of the battle, Kilgannon could not find Sizer anywhere. He set his team to track him, left Chase who was drained with the Prise at their request, and he continued on.

Meeting with the Eurocons and various representatives of Heaven's Fence, Kilgannon stressed that Ryan needed to be tried for his crimes, not simply killed or detained. They decided that the trial would be held on the Agosti Securum which was a space station by the Agosti (the race that made the Grail Arbor) who fled Sector 11 when it was taken over by Ryan, only to be wiped out by him anyway. Seventy-eight people were chosen, one person from each planet to oversee the trial, while Kilgannon played the prosecution and Ryan solely defended himself. It was decided that if the people were at an impasse, the Eurocons would come to a unanimous decision. The chosen representatives were cloaked for anonymity but Ryan interpreted it as fear of his retribution and asked them to decide then, before the trail got underway, to release him and he would spare them. Kilgannon held firm, and when one representative suggested they vote, just to see, Kilgannon threatened them to either sit down or get shot. Kilgannon began his questioning.

The majority of Ryan's defense was simple: I am a god, therefore, like floods, quakes, or flash fires are acts of god and people don't try god for that, he shouldn't be tried for any of his actions, and that if there were a God other than him, he questioned why this god didn't stop him. Kilgannon argued that it was possible that the real god simply gave them the strength to enact judgement against him themselves. The trial continued on in this manner for 473 cases in just two days before Kilgannon realized it may go on for at least a whole month. So instead, he called for the vote. All but one person voted to condemn Ryan. This last man showed his face and announced that as Ryan would surely kill them all, he was out, and left. Under Kilgannon's supervision, Ryan was taken to a device that would accelerate Ryan's molecular structure to execute him. Ryan continued his nonchalant attitude and all but begged Kilgannon to get on with it. Kilgannon said goodbye and flipped the lever.

He was sick afterwards, the scent of burning insides and out being unbearable. He never wanted to discuss it again. Shortly after this, he was informed that Sizer's tracker was still scrambled, but his life signs were terminated. He put up a tough front in front of his subordinate, but angrily broke a table upon the soldier's leave. He didn't get any reprieve as not a minute later, another crew member came running to him to report that Ryan's body had disappeared. He immediately made his way to where the sarcophagus rested, and found many hooded figures were prostrated before the room where the soldiers indeed were standing guard. They explained to Kilgannon that there had been a sudden flash of light—quick and silent—and when the light cleared, his body was gone. Kilgannon concluded it was a stunt by some of Ryan's supporters and not to worry—dead was dead.

The next morning, Ryan broadcasted live from House Atlantic to show he was indeed alive. He declared war on the nonbelievers, and Kilgannon declared that Ryan used them to further display his power. He demanded his team contact the Prise and retrieve Chase—they are going to attack House Atlantic. As they approached the planet Omega, they detected a massive power readout. Kilgannon didn't want to wait to see why and set a course for House Atlantic. Chase tried to object but Kilgannon shut her down saying he called her back for her power, not her opinion. When she insisted, Kilgannon called her disrespectful. She called him rash and said he would regret not listening to her, but he walked away anyway.

Battle at House Atlantic
They landed on the outskirts of House Atlantic, and Kilgannon was determined to drag Ryan out himself and shoot him point blank, to be sure he could never come back. Ryan immediately released Red Army forces to meet them, both in the air and on the ground. Kilgannon was focused and seemed unstoppable in this battle, but lost his footing when soldiers broke up the ground he stood on. They immediately took advantage of this and tried to fire on him, but Chase jumped in front of him and absorbed their blaster fire, turning it back on them in a wave that disintegrated various aspects of their persons without discrimination.

She collapsed to the ground after, needing a bit of a rest, and Kilgannon caught her. She asked him if he only cared about her because of her power, and he admitted that he cared because he cared. They both noticed a blasted ship they didn't recognize from either side overhead, and Chase claimed it was Crowing as the Prise also joined the battle. Holding her against him, they made their way to where the ship crashed. Kilgannon recognized the face of a figure outside the ship immediately: his nephew Claudio Kilgannon. Chase again confirmed this was The Crowing. Just as they looked to the Prise hovering around House Atlantic, the stronghold emitted a light that completely disintegrated the Prise, leaving only their screams behind. Then, the stronghold morphed into a giant sentient robot of some sort.

Kilgannon wouldn't back down though and, leaving Chase with his newphew, continued to not only fight himself, but encourage his men to keep up their assault. While stubbornly refusing to retreat, a severely burnt figure came up to him to convince him to do just that. It turned out to be none other than Sizer. He actually took Sizer's words to heart and decided to heed them. He came upon Ambellina who also wanted to stay to avenge her sisters, but used Sizer's words to convince her to stand down. Sizer helped them clear a path, and at Amberllina's praise of him, Kilgannon confirmed that, "That's... my boy," albeit a bit awkwardly. Just as they were about to board their ships, the transformed House Atlantic formed a giant energy blast headed right for them, but Claudio was able to use his powers to not only shield them from the blast, but send it right back to the robot, destroying it. The rebels were able to escape successfully.

Support of The Crowing
Back on the Grail Arbor and with Sizer, Claudio and Ambellina joining them, Kilgannon got Hack and Many back online, and fished for information about how Ryan's forces were handling their defeat. A few days later, Kilgannon requested his all crew members to report to the bridge to be debriefed. He told them the new intel they had on Ryan: Deftinwolf sets up a planet-wide blockade with all off-world traffic grounded and a strict embargo on commercial ships. House Atlantic was also reported as still being operational. Claudio was in shock and blamed the outcome on Kilgannon, but Sizer interjected that it was his call, as he had influenced Kilgannon to do so. Kilgannon brushed the dispute off and continued, informing them that House Atlantic was generating an unusual amount of energy. He had determined that given their defeat and new personnel, they should strike a killing blow before Ryan had a chance to breathe. He orders everyone to get some rest and declared they would head out in the morning.

The crew seemed uneasy, and Claudio, exasperated, declared that they could just drop him off at Valencine, rather than join in the suicidal mission, which caused a commotion among the crew. Kilgannon, angered that he was getting push back, especially from his own family, got right in Claudio's face and after being taunted with Mariah's death, he even legitimately tacked him. Claudio was able to become intangible and pin him against a wall in response, calling him a terrorist "just like [his] parents." Regaining a bit of composure, Kilgannon ordered everyone but Claudio off his bridge. He explained to Claudio that he thought it was time his nephew knew the truth.

Kilgannon invited him to sit down, and asked him to tell him convey exactly what Claudio believed about his family. He explained how he saw the reports of his parents being terrorists, destroying Star VII, but before all that, they were super normal, and felt like it was all built on bullshit; like his childhood was a lie. Kilgannon explained that he and his parents were IRO-bots created as a force to defend the Keywork from threats. Claudio was rightfully skeptical, but Kilgannon asked him if it was harder to believe that truth than that they were terrorists. Claudio admitted he didn't know what to believe anymore. Kilgannon continued to flesh out the details, such as who created them and why. Claudio interrupted with a family anecdote, and asked if everything they told them about them was made up. Kilgannon said that what they told him was the truth as they knew it; how he had implanted false memories in them to allow them to live a normal life. He confessed that he thought if they were aware of the real truth it would create bigger problems. He then explained about the Monstar Virus and the antidote that resided in his IRO-bot sister, Josephine, and how Deftinwolf lied to Coheed. Claudio was flabbergasted that Coheed could have believed Deftinwolf so easily, Kilgannon reminded him that they had none of the information that they do to believe otherwise and expressed regret that he didn't better equip or prepare them.

Claudio was still a bit distraught at it all, and Kilgannon attempted to relate to his disbelief and even skepticism by admitting that he wasn't much of a believer himself, but it seemed too logical to him that everything added up: Claudio was The Crowing and it was his fate to defeat Ryan. But Claudio argued that "Fate" was something people blamed when they were too afraid to make a choice. He asked Kilgannon to believe that he had faith in him to make the right choices and believe that people had free will. Kilgannon likened his stubbornness and intensity to his father and mother respectively and agreed that he believed in him and free will. Claudio then asked if he could visit his childhood home once more before they left for House Atlantic and Kilgannon agreed.

Stealing The Terrene of Anonymity
Kilgannon's team had been working on finding Hilmgore, the hidden planet of the Narrows. He explained that the planet was kept hidden with an ancient shamanic orb called The Terrene of Anonymity. Kilgannon wants this orb to bypass the lockdown on Omega. Using Sizer's memories of his encounter with the race on Godder Damm, Kilgannon calibrated a honing device to find the hidden planet and devised a strategy for getting the orb. Sure enough, just a few days later the Grail Arbor successfully landed on the Artic planet. They split up into three teams; Kilgannon would lead the main party to secure the orb, Many would prepare for the ensuing battle of their return, and Hack would make the necessary modifications to the Arbor to house the orb. Upon their advancement to the main citadel, the Narrows, who were invisible at first, ambushed them and a skirmish began until Gibney, their leader, arrived.

Gibney and Kilgannon had history so he ordered them to be detained and brought them into the citadel where he taunted and intimidated Kilgannon, Chase, Ambellina, Sizer, and even an unconscious Claudio. Notably, Gibney refers to Kilgannon as "Jesse" rather than Inferno, even when others (such as Chase) refer to him by his usual name. Eventually, many of Kilgannon's normal men are killed, but Kilgannon pleas with Gibney and the key people (mentioned before) are locked up instead while Kilgannon is kept to be tortured. Somehow, the others escaped their prisons and came back to free him. It's a rough ride back with many men pursuing them, but with Claudio's power able to cut them off, they make it back on the Grail Arbor and leave Hilmgore.

Death in Kalline
Immediately heading to Omega to fight Ryan one last time, Kilgannon used the Terrene to cloak the ship and began his descent into the nearby City of Kalline. Successfully undetected, they crossed the city and picked up a tail of Narrow ships. Sizer accused Kilgannon of getting them to tail them on purpose, to which Kilgannon admitted that they needed an army and he got them one. The Narrow ships were detected by Red Army forces who fired on them as they fired on the Arbor, easily able to detect it with their already established technology. This revealed a portion of the rebel ship to the Red Army who fired on it and brought it down close to the border between Kalline and Apity Prime. Kilgannon ordered Claudio and Ambellina to use the LEO to go straight to House Atlantic while his own crew prepared for the immediate battle that would ensue when they crash landed. Kilgannon was struck with debris upon impact which caused a huge gash in his chest, but he simply covered it up and took Chase and Sizer aside to tell them three things: He was certain that today was the day he was going to die, he was sorry he hadn't been a better father to them, and that he loved them and wanted them to make him proud—to become hell. After which they did just that, even Chase, who had tears in her eyes.

With everyone now in the thick of battle, Kilgannon made his way through the outskirts of the battlefield, nursing his wound as he determinedly made his way. Eventually, he came across Deftinwolf in his Juggernaut-like armor, and just as he was about to fire on an exhausted Sizer on the brink of passing out, Kilgannon fired on him and tackled him to the ground. Deftinwolf used a voice command to disengage with his armor and the two fought hand-to-hand. Deftinwolf was able to take advantage of Kilgannon's wound, and taunted him. As a cyborg, Kilgannon knew that he, like all his own IRO-bots (a type of cyborg), Deftinwolf had a USB-like port in the back of the neck and inserted some media just as Deftinwolf cut Kilgannon open further with a knife and ripped out his heart.

Uploaded to Deftinwolf
The media Kilgannon inserted caused Deftinwolf's programming to crash and reboot. Upon rebooting, Deftinwolf made his way to the Grail Arbor which was in self-destruct mode. Deftinwolf deactivated the sequence and was scanned by the system who determined he was none other than Inferno.

Gallery
To be added...

Trivia

 * Also known by Mainframe and The Runaway Bomber, it is unknown exactly how he got these monikers, though both may be related to his role in KBI as the group's air-bound force.