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Ben Hislop is a human mercenary who worked with Jack Harper and Eva Coré. Ben fought in the resistance effort against turian forces on occupied Shanxi during the First Contact War.


Background[]

Ben signed up to fight turians after his brother was killed during the aliens' bombardment of Shanxi's settlements. A master of munitions, he was a perfect recruit for Jack's prohumanity movement. Eventually he, Jack, and Eva formed a mercenary trio conducting guerrilla warfare under the employ of General Williams, and he served as Jack's right-hand man.

Shanxi[]

Ben's unit ambushes a turian patrol on one of the burning cities. Ben personally tussles with Desolas Arterius, a turian general, and manages to take him prisoner with Jack's help. Incensed that the aliens apparently intend to loot the ruins, Ben considers executing Desolas on the spot, though Jack convinces him to keep the general alive for interrogation.

On a mission to locate the artifact that Desolas was searching for on the planet, Ben continuously antagonizes him with a gun while Jack hatches a scheme to defeat his subordinates. The scheme works, and Ben leans out of the Mako with an M-100 Grenade Launcher pointed at the aliens. While cuffing the turians Ben expresses revulsion at how even their women look like Desolas.

On the way to check out the turians' artifact inside a cave, Ben reflects on Eva's concern for her team, though Jack interjects that it's only Ben she's worried about. Ben notes he would've liked it to evolve into something more but they have nothing in common other than losing people and signing up with Jack. Jack jokes he might not survive their romance, though Ben claims he'd die happy.

When Ben and Jack reach the artifact, Ben thinks it is impossible to drag such a heavy-seeming object into the cave. Before long though, the duo are ambushed by hooded figures that are revealed to be strange cyberized turians. They go down after lots of gunfire, and Ben notes how freakishly strong they are when one easily lifted him up.

Due to interference preventing Jack from reporting to General Williams, Ben approaches the artifact thinking turning it off might solve the problem. As soon as he touches it, however, he is electrocuted. Jack pries him off but he's also affected by the energy, leaving both incapacitated. Desolas and his unit seize the opportunity and take the humans prisoner, with Desolas ordering Ben's body be taken for careful study.

Illium and Palaven[]

Ben mutated by powers unknown

When Harper and Eva pursue Desolas to Illium, they discover that Ben has fallen victim to the artifact. He is still alive, though mutated and garbed in the same manner as the "meta-turians" inside the cave. The turians left Ben for dead in the cave, but when they tried to move the artifact known as the Arca Monolith, Ben arose.

Though completely synthetic, Ben still retains some semblance of his identity. And he follows orders from Desolas and his brother Saren in a strange alien language to bring the artifact to Palaven. There, Desolas has the artifact brought to a temple where he tries to figure out how to replicate the circumstances that gave Harper enhanced abilities without being reduced to a mindless husk.

While Desolas is starting what he considers to be an "evolution" of the turian race via the artifact en masse, Ben is commanded by it to excavate the lower levels to uncover a second artifact, which would help accelerate the transformation across Palaven and beyond. Realizing the extent of his brother's madness, Saren attempts to contain the meta-turians. In the midst of the fighting, Eva tries hauling Ben out of the temple, believing that they could attempt to reverse what's been done to him, but Harper seriously doubts it. Therefore, Eva attempts to destroy the artifact, only for it to command Ben to slam her head against a wall.

Coming to his senses, Ben becomes horrified with what he had done. As he cradles Eva's body, he then grows angry and charges at Desolas and rams him into the artifact, just before he could shoot Harper. Saren manages to tear Desolas away from it. The energy released from the artifact instantly kills Ben from prolonged contact with it. Ben's body is later vaporized when Saren orders an orbital bombardment strike on the temple. Harper will later include both Ben and Eva's names in his manifesto as he takes on the persona of the Illusive Man.

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