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Benjamin 'Ben' K. Austin is a scientist at Wilkes Ice Station.

History[]

Ice Station[]

Ben Austin was working on sea snake venom at Wilkes Ice Station, occasionally using Sarah Hensleigh's assistance.

When James Renshaw apparently killed his supervisor Bernie Olson for attempting to steal his research, Austin and some other scientists managed to lock Renshaw in his room by boarding it up from the outside.

Austin led a diving team down to a cavern beneath the station where Renshaw's ice core drill had hit metal, and two previous divers went missing. After surfacing in the cavern, Austin was quick to radio to the scientists still in the station what he was seeing; an alien spacecraft. However after reporting this discovery, Austin's men came under attack from a group of mutated elephant seals, which swiftly slaughtered them. Austin was the last one to get killed, and in his message to the station, he pleaded for them to send help from the military.

When Montana, Gant, Santa Cruz and Hensleigh reached the cavern, they saw the remains of Austin's diving team, his own body presumably among them. His body would then destroyed in a nuclear strike against the station.

Skills[]

  • Expert Biologist: Austin is a capable biologist, having knowledge regarding marine biology such as sea snakes, which he studied the venom of.
  • Expert Diver: Austin was a competent diver, being able to lead a dive team into the cavern beneath Wilkes with little effort.

Trivia[]

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