Cortez was ostensibly a member of Sathen’s Snipers, captured by the Monkeys in a clash with that infamous unit. However, the real story is a little more complex. Seeking to rebuild their forces on Luthien, the commander of Sathen’s Snipers began recruiting members from the local yakuza. Cortez was a low-ranking street enforcer in Imperial City, but was growing disillusioned with his craft and decided to join ther Snipers. Surprisingly, he tested into the mechwarrior corps.

Although Cortez fought tenaciously, he never developed much loyalty to the actual unit and became increasingly troubled by the damage to his homeworld of Luthien. When he was shot out of his mech by the Monkeys and taken prisoner, he quickly offered his services to this new unit. The Monkeys were initially suspicious of his quickly shifting loyalties, but Cortez slowly gained their trust by identifying underground suppliers for the military parts they needed. Eventually, he was released and given a position as an “alternate” mechwarrior. With the expansion of the Monkeys for the Cyborg Monkey unit headed by Desiree Shiekh, Cortez got his chance to be a mechwarrior fighting for his homeworld of Luthien.

Cortez grew up on the rough streets of Imperial City where he learned not to trust anyone and that problems can usually be solved by violence or the threat of violence. He can still come off a little “hard” and rub people the wrong way, but is slowly learning to adapt to the misfit family ethos of the Monkeys.