Maryland

"Maryland! We're coming in hot! Bugs're on backside--lay down suppressing fire! Over!"

―Henry to Maryland (from Aliens: Colonial Marines)

Private First Class Maryland was a member of the United States Colonial Marine Corps. She served as the Cheyenne Dropship pilot for the undisciplined and insubordinate crew of the USS Melville, reputed to be considered the "worst", to convoy toxic waste to Alphatech's Waste Disposal Facility "SunGun". She perished in the destruction of the Alphatech communication array.

Biography[]

Maryland was part of the highly undisciplined crew of the USS Melville, whom Lieutenant Joseph Henry was recently assigned to. Their mission was to convoy toxic waste to Alphatech's Waste Disposal Facility SunGun and to transport personnel from Alphatech to a deep space communication array for a year.

Mission in SunGun[]

Maryland detecting Dinkel, alongside and Bateman.

"Movement ! Five meters..."

―Maryland detecting Dinkel (from Aliens: Colonial Marines)

When arriving in the SunGun vicinity, Henry tried to contact the facility but received no response. Fearing a problem, Henry had Sgt Nyland wake the marines up from hypersleep. However as his men were disinclined and refused to gear up, Henry was forced to physically discipline them. Once back in line, they boarded the SunGun and explored the interior, eventually discovering that they were dealing with a Xenomorph infestation. Henry split from the group with her and Bateman to sweep the operation platform, eventually encountering sole-survivor Dinkel. After the Xenomorph assault, she managed with the rest of the group to isolate themselves in the Zero-G well, waiting with the survivors until Henry, alongside Chen, Rake and survivor Dinkel purged the Tox-bay hatch, expelling all Xenos in space. The group subsequently made a safe retreat to the Melville. In the aftermath, the Marines all congratulated their own survival, though Nyland was outraged by their naivety and lectured them before leaving.

Stopover to Bracken's World[]

"Don't sweat it... I can hold them back for a few mintutes. You secure, Alpha team ?"

―Maryland. (from Aliens: Colonial Marines)

Once on the planet, she piloted the dropship to investigate a rogue signal detected within the kelp farms. When her teammates were ambushed by members of the terrorist cult, the Bug-Men in an Alphatech listening post, she took the APC and managed to rescue them. However, the group became stranded after the APC became stuck within the kelp marshes. After Carrano was killed by an aquatic Xenomorph, the squad held out against several waves until they were rescued by Nyland and Private Vasquez at the command of the other dropship, subsequently seeking refuge in the small colony Sector 1. The next day, as Henry reluctantly accepted the colony governor’s request of dealing with the Xenomorphs, Maryland piloted the dropship for air support. However, things go awry when acid blood started to eat through the colony's stormwall. Henry and the rest of the team finally managed to pin down the Xenomorph threat with the assistance of Herk Mondo, but not without ruining the colony. After the battle, under the orders of Henry, Maryland and the others had micro-explosives planted in their neck under the guise of a medical review.

War against the Bug-Men[]

"We're shutting down! power loss to primary systems, and the frigging ramp is going down!."

―Maryland. (from Aliens: Colonial Marines)

Henry briefed the team about the comm array being overrun by Bug-Men, before revealing to their horror that he had implanted them with micro-bombs within their necks to prevent insubordination, but before Henry was forced to handle an imminent mutiny, Liston suddenly distracted them, informing them of the Melville's destruction, leaving them stranded. The squad arrived at the Joliet Mining Facility, where Beliveau revealed that he possessed a hidden weapons cache and a FTL capable spacecraft. While Maryland stayed in the dropship, the others stocked up on their new weaponry in the APC. They took leave during a Xenomorph ambush on Beliveau's Alphatech Assaultcraft, with the shop steward sacrificing himself to allow the marines safe-passage out of the facility and Maryland covering their escape.

Inside Alphatech's research station, she stayed in the assaultcraft with Dinkel while others explored the station to download all necessary data, but the ship suddenly lost all its power. However, due to the efforts of Nyland, the power drain was ceased by her, allowing the assaultcraft back online. However, Henry judging the risk too great to go back and retrieve Nyland, chose to abandon her and leave the station, as Maryland was reluctant to do it Henry asked Liston to get her out of her seat and leave the station. This action caused Maryland and the crew to despise Henry even more, creating an even larger rift between him and his men.

Final fight and Death[]

"Give this thing all you can, man."
"I'm giving it more than that. But I don't really think its going to make much difference"
"I know..."

―Maryland and Rake (from Aliens: Colonial Marines)

The Marines finally reached the Bug-Men's primary base, the famous Alphatech communication where they were supposed to be haul to. The base interior had been transformed into a giant Hive and was infested with Xenomorphs. Henry's plan was to storm the station core with everything they had. As such, Maryland was assigned to a LAV. Arriving at the station core her LAV received a direct hit making fail one of the wheel sending the vehicle in an uncontrolled roll, ejecting Maryland and crashed on the core door. After Henry killed the Father, triggering the station self-destruct sequence, Liston ripped Henry's heart to defuse the micro-bombs. Maryland, Rake, Forsythe and Liston tried their best to escape the station, but ultimately failed and were obliterated alongside the station.

Equipment[]

Beyond her military fatigues, during the exploration of the SunGun facility, she donned a comm headset and an EVA suit. She was equipped with an unidentified assault rifle equipped with an over-and-under grenade launcher and a variant of the standard issue M314 Motion Tracker.

Personality and Traits[]

Nothing is really known about Maryland except that like her teammates, she was undisciplined and had problems with authority figures. As the team's pilot, she had extensive training in military vehicles piloting, such as the Cheyenne dropship, M577 APC and even Alphatech's assaultcraft, showing that she was perhaps one of the more competent members of her squad.

Appearances[]

Aliens: Colonial Marines (comic series)

Gallery[]

↑ Aliens: Colonial Marines # 3

[1] Aliens: Colonial Marines # 3

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