Dom Vriess (Earth-5875)

"Who were you expecting? Santa Claus?"

- - Dom Vriess to Ron Johner

Dom Vriess was the engineer aboard the smuggling freighter Betty. In September 2561, Vriess and the rest of the Betty's crew delivered restrained convicts to Office of Naval Intelligence scientists aboard the UNSC Auriga in the orbit of Pluto, which resulted in a xenomorph outbreak.

Early life
Born on October 1st, 2525, Dom Vriess would take a job as an engineering technician at a UNSC Marine Corps shipyard on Newsaka at only 10 years old in 2535, but he was dishonorably discharged in 2543 after failing to remain sober. In the same year, he became a criminal for hire and associate of Ron Johner and Gary Christie, being hired by Frank Elgyn to be the engineer of his ship, the Betty, a stolen Parabola-class tourism freighter.

Battle of Kawlang
He and the crew were present at Kawlang when the colony was invaded by the Covenant in 2544, having to fend for their lives. There, Vriess sustained paralyzing injuries after being struck by plasma in his legs, and would be unable to walk for the rest of his life, while Johner was left with a violent facial scar, courtesy of a sangheili's Type-1 energy sword while trying to help Vriess. Unable to walk, Christie then carried Vriess in his back, naming it the "Kawlang maneuver". The crew was able to escape, and in the months that followed the battle, Vriess was given a PTV for locomotion.

Skirmish on the UNSC Auriga
"You wanna check the chair?"

- - Dom Vriess to a UNSC Marine After the Betty docked with the UNSC Auriga in the orbit of Pluto on September 16th, 2561, Vriess moved to the cargo hold of the vessel to steal spare parts and supplies. He was alone when the xenomorphs onboard the ship escaped their confinment and started slaughtering the entire crew. Despite his disability, Vriess was able to defend himself against two xenomorphs with his shotgun while whistling the theme from Popeye the Sailor, before he reunited with the rest of the crew. When the few survivors of the ship were forced to swim through the flooded galley of the Auriga, Vriess was forced to abandon his PTV and was carried by Christie in the Kawlang maneuver. After a brief but deadly encounter, Christie sacrificed himself to save Vriess after having his face melted by xenomorph acid.