Austin Buckell: Marker Ops Scientist

Austin Buckell was a scientist on an EarthGov Marker Ops research team aboard Keyhole Station, recruited from the Corps of Engineers of the Earth Defense Force. When Jacob Danik and the Circle brought the station down in flames, he threw in with Ellie Langford's expedition toward Tau Volantis, and he died of his wounds on the frozen world.

Marker Ops on Keyhole Station#

Years before the expedition to Tau Volantis, Austin Buckell was recruited from the Corps of Engineers of the Earth Defense Force into the Marker Ops program. He came to carry a rare understanding of that program and of military history, with a particular grasp of the Sovereign Colonies' part in it, and he served as a scientist on an EarthGov Marker Ops research team stationed aboard Keyhole Station.

When a Necromorph outbreak swept the station, Buckell and the group around the researcher Jennifer Santos rescued Ellie Langford from a swarm of the creatures after she had been cut off from Robert Norton and John Carver.

The expedition to Tau Volantis#

Seeing that Jacob Danik's bombardment and assault on the station would not relent, Buckell joined Ellie on her mission to Tau Volantis in search of an answer to the Markers. Thirteen days after the group left Keyhole Station, they were found sheltering inside the CMS Roanoke, Buckell and Santos both carrying injuries from the loss of their ship or from the creatures they had faced. He seemed to hold some respect for Isaac Clarke, and was glad to find him aboard the Roanoke. During the effort to repair the CMS Crozier, Buckell helped Isaac recover spare parts and weapons from the derelict flotilla, the two trading advice as Isaac worked through the wrecks.

Death on the planet#

Once the Crozier was made to fly, the group attempted to re-enter the planet's atmosphere along a recovered flight path. The shuttle took heavy damage on the way down and broke in two. A wounded Isaac later came upon Buckell alone at a waystation, where Buckell explained that he had volunteered to stay behind, since there were no more cold-weather suits left, and had grown wary of what might wait in the bunker below. Moments after speaking with Isaac, Buckell succumbed to his wounds and to the cold.