Steve Cortez

Lieutenant Steve Cortez was the shuttle pilot aboard the Normandy SR-2 during the Reaper War of 2186, flying the UT-47A Kodiak that carried Commander Shepard and squad to their objectives. A skilled flier with a gift for procurement, he also maintained the ship's armory alongside the marine James Vega, with whom he had served before. He carried the loss of his husband through much of the war, and depending on Shepard's choices he could find a measure of peace or become the Commander's partner.

Background and loss#

Cortez was the only child in his family and had lost both of his parents years before the war. He had a husband named Robert, who was stationed at Ferris Fields when the Collectors abducted the colony. Robert, calling from the doomed settlement, warned Steve to escape his own nearby station and begged him not to come after him but to let go and move on. Cortez grieved deeply, keeping a recording of their final call. He had served in the Alliance since around 2176, first flying Tridents with the First Fleet aboard the SSV Hawking, and his talent for procurement and command made him valuable on a flight deck. Five months before the Reaper invasion he was assigned to oversee cargo bay modifications during the Normandy's retrofit.

Service in the Reaper War#

Aboard the Normandy, Cortez piloted the Kodiak that delivered Shepard's squad to mission sites and shared maintenance of the armory with his friend Vega. He preferred to keep busy, since idle time left him dwelling on Robert. Shepard could encourage him to take leave; doing so helped him begin to move on, and he passed word of old pilot friends to Admiral Hackett, supplying the Alliance with sorely needed pilots. During the search for the Leviathan, his shuttle was disabled by an energy pulse and forced to crash-land, after which he devised the means for Shepard to reach the creature beneath the ocean.

In the final assault on Earth, Cortez's shuttle was struck by a Harvester after dropping off the squad. If Shepard had drawn him out of his grief, he survived the crash and could be contacted afterward, and if the Crucible was activated he stood with the surviving crew at the Normandy's memorial. If he had been left to dwell on his loss, his shuttle was destroyed and Vega confirmed his death, his name later inscribed on the memorial wall.

A possible bond#

Depending on Shepard's choices, the Commander could find Cortez mourning Robert in the shuttle bay and offer comfort, then help him reach a sense of closure at a memorial wall raised by refugees on the Citadel. For a male Shepard, this could grow into a romance, with Cortez confessing that the past was his to carry and that no moment should be taken for granted.