Mark Cruz

Dr. Mark Cruz was a veteran Colonial Marine who worked for the Weyland-Yutani Corporation as a xenobiologist at Pala Station.

Biography

Early life

Mark Cruz grew up in a ghetto of storage containers on LV-223, a Weyland-Yutani Corporation distribution planet that doubled as an intergalactic trash dump. As a child, Cruz's parents struggled to feed him, which drove him to get off-planet to have a better future. When he was old enough, he managed to stow away on a ship, only to be discovered and jailed at his destination. He was then given a choice—remain in prison, or join the United States Colonial Marine Corps.^[1]

At marine training, he'd enjoyed turning his body into a killing machine and learning how to use the pulse rifle. He'd enjoyed bringing down an insurrection from a planet just like his own and people just like his own on his first and second deployments. He'd seen, from the other side, the squalor in which people like his own family were forced to live.

Skirmish at LV-832

On his third deployment, his squad had been assigned settlement protection on LV-832 where the colonists had encountered carnivorous moose-sized critters with tentacles that violently attacked and killed every one of his comrades. The forward observer died first, then Snyder, Schnexnader, and Correia were slain. Cruz decided to save himself, and ran from the attack.^[2]

Arrival at Pala Station

Later in life, Cruz managed to parlay military service into a collegiate opportunity, finished with a graduate degree in xenobiology, and went to work for Weyland-Yutani at a classified research facility on LV-895 called Pala Station in 2199^[3]. Weyland-Yutani gave Cruz the opportunity to research the effects of a pathogen of unknown origin on living creatures, indigenous to the jungle planet on which they were stationed. It was with this pathogen that Cruz was able to develop a prototype for acid resistant body armor, securing his place in any Wey-Yu lab in the known systems.

By January 12, 2202, Cruz was testing environmental effects on a pathogen infected specimen called Rat-X when he was introduced to Dr. Timothy Hoenikker, recently arrived. He explains him the pathogen allows the creature survive temperatures below zero.^[4] Dr. Mark Prior called him the resident psychopath, Cruz stated it's not a psychopathic torturing creatures which want to kill them. He also explains to Hoenikker that the pathogen is rumored to have been found in a ghost ship floating in space.^[5]

Cruz was using test subject, Rat-X, looking on more ways to neutralize the xenomorphs acid blood, and making them easier to kill with conventional weapons. Suddenly, he had flashbacks of his failed mission at LV-832 and blacked out in its containment room. He regain his senses just in time to subdue his subject with fire before it escaped.

Later, Cruz arrived at the lab in time to warn Hoenikker and Dr. Erin Kash about Rat-X, which escaped its enclosure by spitting acid to the glass and out of the lab thanks to Mansfield, who opened the door in that moment. Cruz finally managed to kill the creature with a flamethrower he had previously stored there, but not before losing one man.^[6] Following the incident, Thompson, the station's deputy commander, restricted experiments due to lab staff not followed the protocols and Cruz used the compromised containment unit as an improvised shooting range, and taught Hoenikker how to use a weapon.

Despite the ban on the projects, Cruz continued administering Leon-895 with irradiated pathogen. He want to develop an stealth armor for the colonial marines by increasing the natural camouflge abilities of the creature. As an unintended effect, the monster grew five times larger and an extra set of legs.

Xenomorph experimentation

Events came to a head when logistic specialist Steven Fairbanks was exposed as a mole, and released the Leon-895, Chief Commander Crowler and Deputy Thompson were relieved from command by the new commander Vincent Bellows. He put Cruz in charge of the lab and orders placing two synths there, He tell the rest of the scientist the synths are ordered to destroy every single specimen in case of another incident.^[7]

Twelve xenomorph eggs from the orbiting refinery Katanga were delivered in stasis containers. Cruz explained to his staff that instead of working with the plagiarus praepotens, Bellows wanted adult specimens. When the staff protested about using humans to breed xenomorphs, Cruz assured them Bellows had access to a caché of criminals who had signed an agreement with Weyland-Yutani in exchange for some favors.^[8] Cruz along with Rawlings, helped Hoenikker to talk with Test Subject #3, whom he had recognized as Monica Enright, his ex-girlfriend from college.^[9]

Cruz and security hunted the still missing Leon-895, who had atacked and killed an operator. He and Hoenikker found it in one of the corridors and he was finally able to wound it while Hoenikker finished it.^[10] Cruz observed as Seven, a human-shaped albino droneprompted the rest of the xenomorphs to attack the glass until he punished Seven with fire. He was upset by the fact Seven's influence had reached even another specimen of Leon-895.

The situation went awry when a heavily mutated Fairbanks rampaged though the station killing anyone on its path. Bellows orders the xenomorphs destroyed, despite Cruz's pleas that every alien is in its containment room. The Synths managed to destroy subjects #1, #2 and #5 before the rest managed to escape.^[11]

Cruz had a flashback of his squad being decimated back in LV-832 while hiding in a closet. He decided to help his surviving staff escape to the San Lorenzo in a shuttle. He retrieved his prototype acid-resistant armor and a M240A1 Incinerator unit from the lab and later found Étienne in a corridor and Kash and Hoenikker inside the latter's room. Cruz revealed them there are no hopes in contain the infestation as possible hundred more eggs were brough down to Pala from Katanga. Their only hope is save whoever they can and escape.

Death

Cruz died when he made a one last charge against Seven and eleven juvenile xenos, dousing the creatures with fuel from his flamethrower. He ordered Hoenikker to fire at the tank on his back, exploding and killing them.^[12]

Legacy

When speaking with the United States Colonial Marine Corps about the Pathogen, Dr. Hoenikker explained to them that Mark Cruz had originally thought that the Pathogen unraveled telomeres in the DNA.^[13]

Behind the scenes

In Aliens: Infiltrator, Mark Cruz is said to have grown up on LV-223, described in the novel as a Weyland-Yutani distribution planet that doubled as an intergalactic trash dump. This description contradicts the nature of LV-223 as presented in Prometheus and Alien: The Roleplaying Game.

Appearances

• Aliens: Infiltrator
• Aliens: Fireteam Elite (mentioned only)

References