Eirikur Quinn

Eirikur Quinn, nicknamed Erik by his squadmates, was a marine and Orbital Drop Shock Trooper conscripted by the UNSC for service from his native Iceland in 2550. Though initially disliking his obligation to serve, he quickly found the life of a soldier to be less complicated and reenlisted after his tour was up.

Early Life and Enlistment
Born in the trade center of Reykjavik, Eirikur attended public school and went on through college leaning towards a career as an accountant. He secured a job with the military doling out the enlistee payroll. Erik became concerned when the UEG began implementing drafts in North America and Europe in 2549, and a year later, when drafts came to Iceland, he got into the records beforehand and saw his name in the lists. Rather than go later without preparation, he signed onto the Marines to take advantage of enlistment bonuses.

Despite a suppressed anger for not having a choice in his service, Erik worked hard and fought harder. He found out that the ODSTs were now taking raw recruits due to the troop shortage, and when he was offered, Erik took the job for their higher pay. In 2551, Erik was shipped to fight with a Shock Trooper unit. In his first battle against the Covenant, Erik couldn’t cope with the stress and ran for his life. As he was cursing at himself for being a coward, he nearly ran headlong into a Grunt Lance. Backed against a wall, Erik survived and slew his opponents, then turned back and rejoined the fight.

Reach
Transferred to the 22nd Squad, known as the Bullfrogs, after most of his unit was killed, Erik trained in the use of a jetpack for unconventional warfare operations. They proved useful when the planet was attacked. His unit refused to abandon New Alexandria against the orders of Navy FLEETCOM, and Erik took part in a last-ditch evacuation that would save thousands of lives. Ordered to help capture a landing pad, his squad hooked up with a Spartan-III supersoldier and faced off against Brute occupation forces for the pad. The Spartan saved Erik’s life when he misjudged a jump and nearly plummeted to his death.

When they finally had to desert the planet, Quinn was taken by Pelican to a Navy vessel still in-system. Instead of heading back to Earth, the ship gave chase to the Covenant fleet that jumped to Hope, and once again was with an unfamiliar unit during the battle.