Anders Benoit

Anders Benoit
Age	44
Born	March 5, 2315
Died	November 2359
Status	Deceased
Race	Human
Planet	Earth
Title	Commander
Affiliation	Phantom Talon Corp
Appearances
Game(s)	Killzone: Mercenary
Voice Actor	Corey Johnson

"My strategy for this war? Get rich and get out."

―Anders Benoit

Anders Benoit was the commander and co-founder of the Phantom Talon Corp. He serves as one of the two main antagonists (alongside Vyktor Kratek) in Killzone: Mercenary. A well-informed, well-connected and totally money-oriented mercenary, Benoit participated in the Second Extrasolar War solely for monetary gains.

Biography

Born on Earth on March 5, 2315, Benoit enlisted in the United Colonial Nations' Army's Special Forces. Years later, Benoit eventually left the Army to become a successful mercenary, alongside his business partner and fellow soldier, Oliver Adamska. In 2344, they founded the PTC on Earth. Using close ties to the UCA, Benoit and Adamska recruited elite ex-soldiers, and secured lucrative contracts from the authorities on Earth.

The PTC became involved in a number of minor corporate and colonial disputes, in which they sold themselves to the highest bidder. This led to tensions between the materialistic Benoit and the patriotic Adamska. This inner conflict came to an end when Adamska was killed in action on assignment in 2348 under unclear circumstances. Upon Adamska's death, Benoit quickly expanded and restructured the corporation, and establishing two new affiliates on different colonies, Skull Knight Enterprises and Eclipse Forces.

Diortem

In 2357, the Helghast had started their conquest of Vekta. Following the invasion, the ISA contracted PTC and requested two mercenaries, Arran Danner and Damian Ivanov, for an extraction mission in Diortem. Throughout the mission, Benoit guided Danner and Ivanov step-by-step as they saved Admiral Alex Grey, the head of weapons tech research in Diortem, from the Helghast Colonel Vyktor Kratek. Soon after, the ISA requested Benoit's aid in retrieving transmission codes from a crashed Helghast ship. Once again, Danner and Ivanov carried out the mission with Benoit instructing them along the way. Unfortunately, an unexpected complication ultimately resulted in the death of Ivanov. Nevertheless, Danner still managed to carry out the mission, further gaining the respect of the ISA.

Operation Archangel

Two years later, Benoit once again enlisted Danner, as well as another mercenary named Carrell, for a demolition mission on Helghan, at the request of Alex Grey during Operation Archangel. The mission revolved around the destruction of the Helghast Arc Cannons, which were preventing ISA reinforcements from entering Helghan. While the mission was a success, Anders did ultimately lose Carrell, who was one of his most experienced mercs.

Shortly after, Grey once again requested Benoit for an extraction operation on Helghan. This time, Danner was sent to the Vektan Embassy to extract Vektan ambassador Sepp Harkin, along with the rest of his family. Unfortunately, Danner didn't arrive in time, resulting in the death of the ambassador and his wife. Despite this sidestep, Danner still managed to save the ambassador's son Justus Harkin, escaping via an embassy boat.

After being separated from Danner in the confusion, Benoit made his way to a small fishing village, where Danner and Justus arrived. Here, Danner was tasked to track down Helghast defector Doctor Mandor Savic. Eventually they recovered Savic and learned the existence of Kratek's bioweapon derived from Admiral Grey's Project Eschaton. Justus and Savic escaped the village with Grey, while Danner stayed behind to ensure their escape. Benoit eventually extracted Danner from the scene via Intruder.

Retirement Plan

Since learning about the virus, Benoit plotted to steal and selling it to the highest bidder, and retire as a very rich man. To achieve his ends, he continued to work behind Grey's back in which he manipulated a paranoid Grey into believing Danner will betray her by selling Savic back to the Helghast, and as well being deemed a liability for knowing about the bioweapon. Benoit and Grey made a plan to kill Danner, but only after one last mission. Benoit once again enlisted Danner for a demolition mission on a Helghast Petrusite refinery controlled by Kratek. Benoit aided Danner in destroying the refinery's reactor. With only a minute until the refinery blows up, Benoit left Danner for dead. However, Danner was rescued by Kratek.

Death

Benoit later interrogated Savic into revealing the location of the virus, which was at a Helghast research facility, Facility X01, and traveled there for one last contract with Grey. At the facility, Benoit made a secret deal with Kratek following Grey's death at the hands of Danner, agreeing to trade Justus (who contained the plasmid trigger for the virus) and the virus for the right amount of cash. He and Kratek ambushed Danner, who was currently in possession of Justus and the virus. But Benoit betrayed and killed Kratek before revealing to Danner of his plans on selling both the virus and Justus. Benoit attempted to offer Danner to join him in his scheme, but Danner refused in which Benoit led waves of PTC mercs against his former partner. But Benoit ultimately failed to fulfill his scheme, and only to be killed in battle by Danner.

Quotes

• "This war is gonna end soon, and end badly. Just gotta work the angles, make it PAY."
• "Did you grow a conscience, or did someone cut you a deal?"
• "As usual, we get to clean up the ISA's mess. Still, as long as the paychecks there."
• "Shit. Hig sons of bitches actually did it, nuked their own city rather than surrender. There's only one thing worth fighting for in this life!"
• "I figured you'd want to do this the hard way, so I brought along a few of the guys!"

Gallery

Anders in the live action trailer.

Benoit's VAN-Guard icon

Anders riding on an Intruder.

Benoit watching the destruction of the arc cannons

Anders flying over a Helghast refinery.

Anders and Kratek.

Anders confronts Danner.

Anders being interrogated.

Trivia

• Benoit is voiced by Corey Johnson, who previously did voice work for ISA soldiers in Killzone 2.
• Players can get a "Up Close And Personal" trophy should they successfully melee Benoit in the back. 
• Benoit is one of the few characters in Mercenary to appear in the live action trailer, the only others being Blackjack and Justus Harkin.
• If the player successfully melees Benoit in the back two times, he will be incapacitated and can be interrogated.
• If interrogated, it is revealed that he owned multiple businesses including Skull Knight Enterprises, all of which were taking advantage of the war.
• In one version of Benoit's death, he offers Danner the Phantom Talon Corp, in exchange for his life.