From: Longbow Agent Hamilton
To: Longbow Intelligence
For almost a year now I've been assigned to monitor this "Argon Shadowstar" and report my findings. Now, it's publicly known that this man, who appears to be very much human, is actually an alien, an alien human that is. According to the official information on him, he was the ruler of a distant galactic empire in a galaxy his people called Koronis (our own astronomers have not had enough information to locate this galaxy, however.) The official report claims that he was a benevolent ruler whose attempts to protect his people from the Rikti invasion of Koronis was met with suspicion and ultimately rebellion by his ignorant populace. Of course, this all comes directly from Argon himself, and there are numerous individuals who suspect that he was a tyrant, but as with so many things surrounding him, there is no evidence of any wrongdoing on his part. Now, we know that he escaped the rebellion just before the militant General Whitestar of the Rebels captured him and would have certainly executed him, but the particulars of his escape are mysterious. Argon only mentions a strange "anomaly", some kind of wormhole that transported his escape shuttle to Earth. Argon does not seem to know why this occured so conveniently in time to save him, or why he ended up on Earth. Of course, after his arrival, he was hauled off to the Ziggurat under the orders of a mysterious government official whose connections have now been revealed to have been false - reportedly the actions of a rogue group (or operative) of the Rikti operating from somewhere within the Rogue Isles. Unfortunately, this has all come to light years after Argon was liberated from the prison by unknown forces assumed to be under the control of Arachnos.
My report will shed some light on many of the questions we have about the true nature of this mysterious alien, the man who has, since coming to earth, founded the Argon Labs Corporation and has made it what it is today.
During the first week of my investigation, I was engaged in routine covert monitoring of his activities, at least as much as I could without attracting the attention of Argon Labs Security and Arachnos Patrols who are thick as thieves (no pun intended) in the Rogue Isles, where the corporation is based. This would have been fairly routine except during one of Argon's many visits to Mercy Isle, a place he seems to visit regularly in order to interview and recruit "independent contractors" for various unspecific activities which are always conveniently obfuscated by Argon Labs' vast army of lawyers. What was so unusual about this particular visit was not Argon's activities, but rather the presence of an unusual individual who seemed to be covertly following him much as I was. In fact, it was only by chance that I even spotted the individual at all. He was a strange person, human but definately not a local. Dressed in a simple brown robe, like a monk, this individual displayed amazing feats of speed and acrobatics, though his manner allowed him to blend in with all the other bizarre denizens of the Isle to a degree. The thing that made him stand out to me, was that we were both tailing the same subject. After a while, I lost track of him, and Argon did nothing conspicious the entire time. Later that evening, after Argon had withdrawn back to the safety of Argon Labs, I encountered the mysterious robed individual from before, this time meeting in a dark alley on Mercy Isle with a Malta Gunslinger! This was certainly an unusual occurance. I took the opportunity to listen in on thier conversation but they spoke in strange code. The only thing I could make sense of in thier conversation was when the Gunslinger referred to the Robed man as "Koronis Acolyte". Unfortunately, I could discern little more information, leaving me with more questions than answers.
Several weeks later, I came across some information from sources that indicated that Argon had personally liberated some Rikti technology from a Rikti base somewhere in the Rogue Isles. It is fairly well known that Argon harbors an intense hatred for the Rikti and they could be considered, in many ways, his greatest rival, unless you count the militant Koronisians who overthrew him. Unfortunately, I could not ensure that proper procedures for the handling of such technology were enforced by Argon as the Rogue Isles are under the jurisdiction of Lord Recluse. According to Argon Labs' official statement on recovered Rikti tech: "We make every effort to comply with local laws and regulations regarding the discovery, collection, and proper allocation of Rikti technology". Recluse seems to have no quarrel with Argon Labs, and thus one must assume that Argon's acquisition of the technology was handled lawfully. But personally, I have my doubts, especially in light of the corporation's recent advances.
It is no secret that Argon Labs is in direct competition with Crey Industries. Indeed, in my second month I bore witness to several incidents where employees of the Corporation were involved in heavy fighting with Paragon Protectors and various related individuals. However, as in the past, the Countess disproves Crey's affiliation with these "rogue groups" and Argon Labs defends the actions of its employees as "neccessary security measures". The fact that all of this chaos is defended by top-notch lawyers, isolated entirely within the Rogue Isles, and sanctioned by Arachnos, means that there is nothing we can do overtly to stop it.
In my third month I followed Argon on several trips around the globe. Most of these were mundane business meetings, but at one in Germany I observed what I believed to be a Malta Operative secretly videotaping one such meeting. Unfortunately, the operative acted quickly enough that I was unable to confirm my observation nor produce evidence of his involvement. Argon also visited Paragon City in this month, around the time of a rash of major bank robberies in the city; Robberies which left a massive amount of damage in areas very near Argon's visits. It was then that I hoped the truth about Argon Shadowstar would be revealed. I recieved an emergency call to head off a group of "high-tech paramilitary soldiers" who were raiding a warehouse nearby. I rendezvouzed with other Longbow Agents and proceeded to the warehouse. When we arrived, we found the soldiers rushing down a hallway. We pursued and immediately engaged the soldiers, and saw Argon Shadowstar standing next to the surprised-looking owner of the warehouse, ahead of the soldiers. A firefight ensued, during which Argon and the factory owner took cover. Chaos erupted as Nemesis soldiers joined the fray. I was hit and went down during the fighting and when I awoke later in the local hospital, I learned that my team had fallen during the intense fighting. Fortunately, I had managed to snap some incriminating photos of Argon's presence with my cameraphone, which I was sure would be definitive proof that Argon Shadowstar was up to no good. I hoped that it would prove that these bank-robbing soldiers were in fact on the Argon Labs payroll and that we would finally have justice. Unfortunately, all my efforts were for naught. The photos were dismissed, the warehouse owner testified that Argon simply had purchased space in his warehouse for storage, and that Nemesis troops had raided the warehouse just before the unknown paramilitary force arrived. The case was dismissed when the attention was drawn away from Argon by the fact that the paramilitary force actually stopped what would have been a clean-sweep by the Nemesis soldiers, and Argon walked free of charges. The mysterious soldiers were never caught and thier identities were never discovered. Following this, Argon was suspiciously sighted in proximity to several disturbances surrounding bank robberies in Paragon City, but there was never any solid evidence against him.
Two months later, I encountered the mysterious Koronis Acolyte again, and again he was meeting with a Malta operative. But this time the two were not so friendly. Apparently what had started as a working relationship had degenerated into a conflict. The Acolyte defeated the operative with surprising ease, and I have not seen him since. However, later on while following Argon on one of his mysterious trips, I came across a pair of Knives of Artemis who mentioned the Koronis Acolyte, referring to him as a "distant brother". Thier involvement raises even more questions. Furthermore I have witnessed Argon in battle, defending himself against ambushes from various groups who have, for one reason or another, chosen to become his enemies. He is no mere mortal. Although I do not think that he has "super powers" as such, his knowledge of advanced technology from his homeworld is evident in the many devices he uses to protect himself when he is attacked. Though, most often, he is surrounded by a large squad of the Corporate Security Agency (the Argon Labs CSA). These mysterious, though high-tech and very capable mercenaries very closely resemble the paramilitary forces spotted in Paragon City bank robberies in the past, but with no definitive information on thier actual identities, we have no evidence to act on.
Recently, Argon has had several discreet run-ins with the Circle of Thorns. This seems to have occured after he acquired some mysterious scrolls from a hero known as the Last Ninja. Although it is assumed that he took them by force, as usual there is no evidence, and the Last Ninja appears not to remember the incident. After aquiring the scrolls, it is assumed that Argon is attempting to research them, and has delved into the arcane arts to do it. This is something very unusual for Argon, and I have noticed a marked change in him since this began. His reliance on technology has begun to give way to something darker and more sinister. I cannot put my finger on it, but he is definately up to something, and I fear that we may never have enough evidence on him to bring the facts to light.
And then there's the matter of Radon Whitestar, supposedly related to the infamous Lucien Whitestar, General of the rebellion that overthrew Shadowstar's reign in Koronis. But if that is so, why is Radon Argon's sycophantic second-in-command? But that is another story altogether...
