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This fanfiction article, Argo 'Varvin, was written by Distant Tide. Please do not edit this fiction without the writer's permission. |
- "And I don’t like being killed by Spartans. Yes, I think I am starting to like this ship."
- ― Argo to a bickering Chancer V crew in 2559.
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Argo 'Varvin, formerly Yrgo 'Varvinee, is a Sangheili mercenary and assassin in service to the human Office of Naval Intelligence after the end of the Covenant and Human-Covenant War. A former special operations officer-turned-refugee, he bargained off his military skillset and knowledge of Covenant society in return for safe passage to Sanghelios at a date of his new employer's choosing.
As a commonborn Sangheili youth, Argo had little legacy and like many non-aristocratic Sangheili turned to the Covenant military and the ongoing war upon humanity to find prestige and honor. As a member of the Covenant's elite Fleet Security division, Argo served in specialized Storm units and briefly as an attaché tracker for dedicated Demon-hunting forces. However, the chaos from the Great Schism and Flood invasion of High Charity left him stranded until his unfortunate recovery and detention by ONI Security forces. He was moved to embattled Mars where he fought alongside UNSC Special Forces in the failed Martian defense and recovery of Bless-G189.
His faith shaken and search for honor numbed by the Great War's end, Argo embraced working for ONI to investigate post-war criminal activities including the Iskander Syndicate. The spy work was inconsistent but offered excitement and challenge to replace his lost purpose. With the outbreak of the Created conflict, he broke deep cover and joined Stray's Kru'desh Legion to protect Andra-D054 and continue his adventures. As Stray's new spymaster, his faux-assassination of the rogue Spartan commander during the Battle of Archangel's Rest turned the pivotal battle in the Kru'desh Legion's favor and cemented his place with the legion.
Gallery[]
 A profile of Argo in a red Spec Ops Sangheili harness.  Despite his sarcastic personality and dry wit, Argo was a consummate assassin. ![Argo pulling security with human weaponry near Rio de Janeiro.[1]](/wiki/File:DT_Argo_Cliff_Overlook.png "DT Argo Cliff Overlook.png (7.92 MB)") Argo pulling security with human weaponry near Rio de Janeiro.[1]  Argo in scavenged-together armor on the frontier. |
Commonborn Sangheili turned tracker and special forces assassin. May have assisted in saving a San'Shyuum princess during the Great Schism during a brief ceasefire in the face of the Flood invasion of High Charity. Watched his entire squad die to the Flood but barely escaped with his life only to be captured by the Office of Naval Intelligence inside the High Charity debris field. Participated in the Battle of Mars alongside UNSC Army Rangers and Spartan-III Bless-G189. Continued to work with ONI in exchange for promises of getting home after clearing his "debt" of sorts but found himself extending his service in exchange for good pay and excitement, and on a more selfless side to help Sangheili refugees on Earth get home. Coordinated with ONI during the Swords of Sangheili house crisis when two rival houses proclaimed guardian stewardship over Earth and the Voi Portal in the name of the Arbiter and Swords of Sanghelios, the inter-house violence risked human-Sangheili relations until the UNSC prepared to threaten the Swords embassy in Dar es-Salaam if they did not intervene and leave Earth to human affairs as they could both protect themselves, wished no part in alien politics, and to stem the post-war alien pilgrimages to the portal to the Ark. Argo at some point changed his name from Yrgo as he found it more recognizable to humans. Continued to operate in the southern Earth hemisphere, particularly in Rio de Janeiro mediating the tense and fragile politics between the alien asylum seekers/radicals and human extremists. Encountered Jefferson Korn and was privy to details regarding his escape from Earth. Lost contact with ONI who came to increasingly ignore his activities in Rio until he was forced to allow fellow Sangheili to blow up the old ONI base/Colonial Security office in Rio as a wake up call for ONI to the increasingly dangerous political situation on Earth - threat of the Iskandar Syndicate in the shadows and the growing political instability created by crime waves between both humans and aliens. After being cornered by Team Boson in Rio, he was exfiltrated by ONI and redeployed off-Earth to the colonial frontier in pursuing the Syndicate further as ONI became more aware of their growing threat posed to Earth's power in the colonies and their fragile hegemony. Encountered Simon-G294 at some point to get on name-basis. Embedded with the Syndicate as a spy, was Andra-D054's contact during the Transcendent Passage mass thermobauric incident and failed Asphodel Meadows' raid. David Kahn broke his cover as they both escaped the Syndicate with Andra in tow. He joined the Kru'desh Legion out of selfish guilt in trying to protect Andra before finding a place among them as Simon's new spymaster, participating in the Battles of Le Havre, Archangel's Rest, and the fall of Asphodel Meadows.
Character Assessment[]
Personality[]
Physical Description[]
Personal Effects[]
Nicknames and Callsigns[]
- "Argo the Rat": With stranded Sangheili on Earth picking up on human euphemisms, Argo earned this moniker for being an abject outsider even among his fellow vagabonds and refugees within the alien slums of Rio de Janeiro.
- "ALTER EGO": Argo's informant designation while in Naval Intelligence employ, codified as "Codename: ALTER EGO."
Quotes[]
- "I just don’t want to throw my life away for a failed cause, but since we’re being honest with each other, I do want to get out before they decide to open up my head for one of their re-education projects. And you? Tired of playing their games?"
- ― Argo opening up to David Kahn on leaving the Syndicate.
- "I do prefer to be on the winning side, but I confess that I dislike these Created and their machine servants. The prophets of the old Covenant were bad enough with their ridiculous devotion to the Forerunner relics. I am not keen to discover what new dangers your human ingenuity warps those relics into."
- ― Argo let go of his religious faith for cutthroat pragmatism and opportunism.
- Argo 'Varvin: "As much as I dislike how Kahn pushed me into this, I have no desire to let these Created rule my life. But I am less than interested in getting killed in some futile resistance, which leaves me in a bit of a…cucumber, as you humans say."
- Zoey Hunsinger: "It’s pickle,"
- Argo 'Varvin: "Pickle, cucumber, they both taste disgusting to me."
- — Argo struggling with his predicaments, human euphemisms, and food.
- "Regardless of species, we do not choose our families. On my world, bloodline determines everything. I did not know my father, yet had I been born to a different mother I might never have been permitted to lay hands on a weapon, much less leave the planet. I dislike many of my people’s customs, but I acknowledge the benefits of certain elements I grew into. I do wonder how many feudal traditions the Created will try to do away with, given their human approach to these matters. Perhaps it will make my brethren think twice about submitting to such masters."
- ― Argo considering his own culture in the face of the Created conflict.
- "It was then, as we were falling back and had yet to consolidate our new defenses, that the Parasite renewed its attack, and I learned that my lord Alcyonius made one key mistake.
He had thought that the Parasite would deceive us.
He had thought that the Parasite would subvert our communications and lead the legions astray with false orders and deceptive reports.
But the Parasite did not infiltrate. No. At the moment of our greatest vulnerability, every transmitter in the dome of High Charity opened up, and through them the Parasite spoke to us.
In the voice of the High Prophet of Mercy, it denounced the faith of the Covenant as a sham, and mocked us for the high crimes of heresy and deicide. In the voice of the High Prophet of Regret, it spat cruel slanders against the Forerunner and the Holy Rings. In the voices of thousands of saints from the Golden City, clerics and generals and scholars and statesmen all, it spouted insidious lies and deceptive truths mingled together so skillfully that not even the wisest among us could have separated the one from the other. All of them blaspheming the faith, urging us to lay down our arms and embrace the horrid fate that the Gravemind called salvation.
Forerunner preserve us, we did not know what we discovered within the second Ring. The scriptures warned us, but how could we have believed? We thought that we were fighting a plague with a mind, but we were matching wills with a carrion god.
Many radio operators took their own lives, rather than live with the blasphemies they heard. I know this to be true. But as the Parasite spoke to us, we spoke back. I and many other radio operators began singing hymns, and we were joined by many thousands of clerics and bishops with their sermons. Even the warships around the Mendicant City opened up with their own proselytization arrays. The Gravemind did not go unanswered. We shouted our defiance back, and the communication bands all about High Charity decayed into an incoherent, staticky mess.
It could not be helped. Our communications failed when we needed them the most. Just as many legions were falling back, deaf and blind, the Parasite's second wave arrived. The Parasite had exhausted all of its aircraft, and so the second wave had to advance on foot. These were scalded things, their skin scarred and blackened by the steaming waters at the base of the Firebreak, and hardened into armor. They were without number, and they overran our legions effortlessly.
I myself only saw this last action at a distance, and even I barely survived. I doubt that even one in a hundred and forty-four who saw the Firebreak breached lived to see the end of the day, so complete was our destruction. To those lost souls, those brave warriors like Captain-Major Alcyonius who martyred themselves to deny the Parasite, we owe so much. If anything remains of them, they shall be comforted, for a thousand grateful generations will raise prayers in thanks for their sacrifice." - ― Leleb the Scribe, Annals of the Moesian Legion (2556)[2]. A favored text belonging to Argo 'Varvin on the fall of High Charity.
Relationships[]
Andra-D054[]
Andra-D054, a young Spartan who lost her way. After the failed Asphodel Meadows raid, Argo felt responsible for ensuring her safety.
- Main article: Andra-D054
- "But I must admit, I do have a bit of an obligation to that obstinate little Spartan down in the cargo bay. Unpleasant as she can be, I am somewhat responsible for her current predicament. Even an outcast like myself has to do a little to preserve my honor."
- ― Argo resolving to protect Andra-D054 out of personal obligation.
Andra and Argo met under coincidental circumstances born of a turbulent security apparatus in human space but their paths continued to intertwine as it became harder to find people to trust in a evermore dangerous galaxy. At first they served the same side but on opposing teams as part of the ongoing Naval Intelligence operation in Rio de Janeiro following the 2554 Swords of Sanghelios jurisdiction dispute and the growing risk of radicalized refugees in the Low Benefaction ghetto. Andra's team was sent to Rio in early 2558 to investigate and exfiltrate Argo, however, the increasingly complicated stakes benched the team from further participation as things escalated into a nuclear terrorism threat. While little more than begrudging acquaintances then, the new Created uprising evolved the two turned into lukewarm allies brought together by abandonment, betrayal, and isolation.
Argo made it his personal mission to keep Andra out of trouble while with the Cleansing Fire and Kru'desh Legion after finding her stubbornness and steadfast loyalty to past ideals a endearing quality and something to protect. He also felt responsible for failing to prevent the demise of Andra's special forces group in the Asphodel Meadows assault as their informant inside the Syndicate. By watching over her, he regained some sense of personal honor lost after the Great Schism and while in human employ. After shepherding her back to trusted friends and away from the fight against the Created, he finally felt absolved of his failure and willingly parted ways with her. Through the Created and post-Created era, the Sangheili mercenary and rogue Spartan would have run-ins as their personal affairs often intersected. While still uncertain of one another and their motivations, the unlikely duo proved reliable allies through their younger wartime years.
Bless-G189[]
Bless acquired Sangheili energy daggers from Argo for use during her time in Rio de Janeiro.
- Main article: Bless-G189
Argo and Bless first made their acquaintance during the Battle of Mars. Argo and his UNSC Army Rangers escort found Bless separated from her Spartan team in the battlefield chaos. Forced to work together to survive, it was the first time either Sangheili spec-ops officer or Spartan supersoldier saw each others' type as an ally and equal. ONI took note of their brief alliance after the war and sought to capitalize on itover concerns that other Spartans were less comfortable with working in close proximity to aliens.
Transferred from her Spartan unit, Bless joined Argo under the ONI Department of Colonial Security to investigate threats to Earth's security by Covenant loyalists stranded on Earth and Mars and the potential danger posed by the new Swords of Sanghelios peace procession as Arbiter Thel Vadum's requests for the 2553 ceasefire proved a complex issue for the Unified Earth Government. Argo and Bless were professional through their working partnership, cautious around one another but able to do their job as the 2554 Swords of Sanghelios jurisdiction crisis threatened a civil war in Earth's skies. Despite learning and relying on each other, neither Spartan nor Sangheili thought of themselves as friends. The Covenant War's stigmatism did not get in the way of their work but it did with regard to their feelings. Lulls between missions devolved into directionless arguments over ideologies and vindictation as their distrust reflected the same misgivings between the UNSC and the Swords of Sanghelios.
Even after wrapping up the jurisdiction dispute in Dar-es Salaam, Argo and Bless scarcely interacted with one another at their shared Rio de Janeiro assignment with exception to intelligence reporting and other operational concerns. Their animosity would continue as a cultural fixture as Bless's Aurora 6 unit and Argo's startup Chivomengro often had hostile run-ins in the understreets of Rio. Argo expressed some guilt upon learning of Bless's severe injuries in the DCS Rio Station bombing, especially given his own failure to force ONI to act on his reports of rogue nuclear weapons in the posession of Low Benefaction Covenant refugees.
Chivomengro[]
Argo and his Chivomengro operatives patrolling the jungles beyond Rio de Janeiro.
DCS Rio Station[]
- Main article: DCS Rio Station
Simon-G294[]
Working in Stray's Kru'desh Legion was one of the most rewarding jobs Argo took since leaving the Covenant.
- Main article: Simon-G294
Chancer V[]
- Main article: Chancer V
See Also[]
Notable Links[] |
Literary Appearances[]
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References[]
- ↑ Source Filmmaker artwork for Argo by KingOfYou115.
- ↑ Quirel: Not All Who Wander, Chapter 11