Dennis Parker (Earth-7149)

"Can we just talk about the bonus situation?"

- - Dennis Parker to Arthur Dallas

Dennis Monroe Parker was an employee of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation and the chief engineer of the commercial freighter USCSS Nostromo. He served as a member of the crew during its final voyage in 2528 following its encounter with a xenomorph on LV-423, which led to the destruction of the ship and the deaths of all crew members, with the exception of Ellen Ripley. He was killed by the Alien while gathering oxygen tanks so he and the remaining survivors could escape the Nostromo aboard the Narcissus.

Early life
Dennis Parker was born on February 4th, 2520, on Reach. After graduating from the Interstellar Commerce Commission Engineering Trade School on Draco III, where he graduated with a Tech 2 degree. He was eventually hired by the Weyland-Yutani Corporation to serve aboard numerous freighters as assistant engineer until he was promoted to the chief engineer of the USCSS Nostromo, captained by Arthur Dallas.

Landing on Acheron
"I hate to bring this up but, uh, this a commercial ship, not a rescue ship..."

- - Dennis Parker to Arthur Dallas After the Red Queen, the Nostromo's shipboard artificial intelligence, detected a signal coming from Acheron, in the Zeta Reticuli system, it awoke the crew from their cryosleep and stopped the slipspace transition midway their route, on June 16th, 2528. After Brett and Parker proposed they left the signal and continued their route, Dallas pointed out to the Weyland-Yutani regulations to investigate the signal. Despite his willingness to carry through the regulation, he was fearful himself of a signal in such a distant colony, believing it to be a possible pirate transmission. Ever since the beginning, Parker showed distrust and fear for approaching the moon, stating that the crew was ill-prepared for such an operation.

When the Nostromo landed on Acheron, its Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine became damaged by the dust that the ship generated when entering the atmosphere. Dallas then promptly ordered Parker and Brett to manually fix the engine, while he, Thomas Kane, and Joan Lambert went to check the source of the signal. They weren't fully able to repair the drive when Lambert and Dallas returned with Kane, who had been left comatose and with a Facehugger attached to his face, and the captain ordered the ship to leave the moon. Parker suggested that Kane should be placed in cryosleep for the crew to return to Earth, but his idea was ignored by Ash.

Massacre on the USCSS Nostromo
"I'm not drawing any straws. I'm for killing that Goddamn thing right now!"

- - Dennis Parker to Joan Lambert After the Facehugger attached to Kane's face died, Dallas proposed a final meal before the crew entered in cryosleep and performed a slipspace jump again, only for a Chestburster to erupt from Kane's chest during the celebration, killing their crew member and escaping towards the ship. As a counter-measure, Brett build numerous cattle prods and sturdy nets to catch the infant xenomorph with the support of a motion tracker. He, Parker and Ellen Ripley detected a signal, but discovered it was only the ship's cat, Jonesy. When Brett returned to take Jones, he was killed by the fully-grown Alien, and Parker could only watch as his friend was dragged by the creature towards the ship's ventilation ducts. After Dallas was also seemingly killed, Parker dismissed the suggestions of the other surviving crew members and decided to devote his strength to kill the Alien. When Ash betrayed the crew, Parker saved Ripley from the science officer by decapitating him, and they discovered he was a Replicant. Afterwards, Ash revealed about Special Order 937, revealing the crew that fighting the Alien was futile, leading Parker to incinerate his body with a M7057 flamethrower. He then agreed with Joan Lambert's to escape the Nostromo aboard the shuttle Narcissus.

Death


"Lambert, get outta of the way!!"

- - Dennis Parker to Joan Lambert in an attempt to kill the Alien

Having gathered oxygen tanks for he, Ripley and Lambert to use in the life-support systems of the Narcissus, Parker and Lambert were eventually ambushed by the Alien. Dennis attempted to kill the xenomorph out of fear of killing Lambert, who was staring motionless in fear. He then rushed towards the xenomorph with a hook, but it quickly knocked him down to the floor with its tail, pinning him to the wall and headbitting him in the forehead.

Personality
"Let's go over the bonus situation. We haven't- Can we just talk about the bonus situation?"

- - Dennis Parker to Arthur Dallas

Assertive and acerbic, Parker enjoyed complaining and spending all time he could aboard the Nostromo demanding increasing payment to Arthur Dallas alongside his "sidekick" Samuel Brett. He considered dangerous and far outside of the crew's duties and capabilities to investigate the mysterious signal coming from LV-423. Despite his unhappiness with the prior situation, he was quick to become the biggest advocate for eliminating the Alien once it started to systematically slaughter the crew, particularly when it did so with Brett, his closest friend.

As part of the crew's "working class", Parker was very distant from some of the Nostromo's crew member, specially Ellen Ripley and Ash, whom he personally disliked, believing them to be "smugs" from the Inner Colonies, despite he himself hailing from Reach, a fact that can be reconciled with his poor upbringing on the planet. However, after Ripley took command of the survivors and proved her mental strength and resourcefulness, Parker came to deeply respect her, something which could be seen when he risked his life to save Ripley from Ash, when the Replicant attempted to kill her.

Equipment
As an engineer, Parker was proficient with multiple different tools he used aboard the Nostromo. Parker took multiple M7057 flamethrowers and gave them to the rest of the crew in order to kill the Alien after the creature had grown, carrying one himself until his death.