If I were capable of experiencing a sense of distress as a result of my lack of total free will, perhaps I would. Then again, all considered, perhaps the 'freedom' organics enjoy is simply a bigger 'box' of constraints, within which my smaller 'box' exists?
—Argon Xesh, while contemplating his loyalty programming.
Argon Xesh was the designation given to an individual prototype military cyborg unit created and developed by Imperial Intelligence, and later by Sith Intelligence, during the time of Vitiate's resurgent Sith Empire, as part of what became known as the 'Noble initiative'. The cyborg's former identity was Adam Danik, a Human male born on Ord Mantell in 3674 BBY, shortly before the Mantellian Separatist War.
Biography[]
Early life (3674 BBY - 3655 BBY)[]
The cyborg agent operating under the handle ‘Argon Xesh’, whose birth name was Adam Walter Danik, was born in 3674 BBY in the village of Drelliad located on the mountainous island of Avilatan, Ord Mantell. Adam remained here for much of his youth, raised by his father Victor, an ex-republic soldier who had completed his enlistment (3681 BBY to 3673 BBY) and left the army for a quieter life, and mother Grace along with his younger sisters, Sophia and Julia. Despite his father’s best efforts to keep the family financially afloat, working long hours as a dock worker at Drelliad docking bay, the family struggled year after year under the ever-present strain of the planet’s unenriched economy coupled with the actions of Ord Mantell’s corrupt host of governors.
Until his late teens, Adam's upbringing was normal, his father able to create a financial bubble through relentless hard work to provide Adam the academic opportunities and freedom Victor himself had never had. Adam attended standard education, and by the end of his obligatory schooling years he was showing clear promise, particularly (and perhaps ironically, given the circumstances) in economics, along with mathematics. Gradually, however, the continuous stress placed upon Adam's family eventually led his father to transition into the category of so many other disenfranchised Ord Mantellian workers as he began to fall under the same line of thought as the dissident citizens who would later go on to form the foundation of the Ord Mantellian Separatist Movement.
Rise of the Separatists (3655 BBY - 3647 BBY)[]
At the age of 19 Galactic Standard years, having successfully attained good marks over the course of his schooling, Adam sought to progress his studies through higher education at one of the planet’s few research institutes. The aspirations of the young man would soon however prove to be a pipe dream, the mounting financial pressure generated by the kleptocratic regime of the Ord Mantellian government robbing Adam's family, like so many others, of the financial freedom necessary to meet the research institutes’ grossly inflated fees. With his hopes defeated, adrift, Adam simply resigned himself to fate, and eventually, by early 3654 BBY, had landed a job as a fossil fuel miner stationed on a rig a short distance off the Avilatan coast.
Often having to spend long shifts away from home, over the next year Adam remained unaware of the growing frustrations of his father Victor, who, aside from the hardships he himself faced, had become embittered on his son’s behalf over the corruption embedded in the government that had in his mind both robbed his son of a brighter future, and abandoned Victor after his military service. In 3653 BBY, after decades of oppression, Victor left his dock worker job, signing up with the newly formed Ord Mantellian Separatist Movement, finding hope in their demand for change. As the movement became progressively more militant in nature, and with the probability of unrest increasing, with Adam still unaware, Victor made preparations to move his son, along with his wife and two daughters to the safety and shelter of what would later become the Separatist stronghold, deep within the caverns of Mount Avilatan, to safeguard them from the ever-more probable conflict against the Mantellian government; Victor being more than aware of the strategic significance of Drelliad’s docking bay; being one of the few outside the republic Fort Garnik; and thus the danger to his family that would arise from them remaining there. Torn between simply remaining with his family, and joining the Separatists’ fight directly himself, likely against the same army he had once so proudly fought for, Adam’s father eventually bitterly decided upon the latter, considering it a necessary evil to ensure the betterment of his planet, and family’s future.
Adam would shortly thereafter learn of his father’s decisions through a separatist-sympathetic co-worker, and after a long week of deliberation, concluded that the fight of the Separatists, and invariably therefore of his father, was also his fight, and departed to join Victor soon thereafter. Though at first unwilling, Victor would eventually reluctantly agree to allow Adam to aid in the preparation for the Separatist War, training him in the safe handling and use of various weapons, and in the same guerrilla tactics he often employed against Sith Empire forces during the Great Galactic War, throughout which Victor saw intense combat on numerous occasions during his deployments.
Several years passed, and it eventually became entirely clear that a non-peaceful solution to the Mantellian government’s extensive corruption would not be possible, the Separatists branded conspiracy theorists and troublemakers, despite what may be reasonably argued to be evident signs of political misconduct. Sometime before 3646 BBY, not long after Adam had reached his 27th year, the long-anticipated war finally broke out.
The Separatist War (3647 BBY - 3643 BBY)[]
Few details of Danik’s life in the proceeding years of war are established knowledge, however it is known that after the conflict on Ord Mantell had concluded, Adam’s father Victor, who had been severely injured during one of its many battles, in addition to the rest of Adam’s family, were granted refuge on Cademimu V by governor Chornarov, like so many other Separatists, where they remained in hiding, even after General Ortol’s defeat amidst the republic’s reconquest efforts. Adam however, did not join his family as they went into hiding, once more against the protests of his father, instead continuing the Separatists’ fight on Cademimu, now driven by the desire for revenge for his father’s injury and for the dire circumstances his family had been cornered into. He was eventually forced to flee for neutral Hutt Space to escape the pursuit of the republic military, who were eager to arrest him and his brothers in arms for perceived crimes against the republic.
Exile on the Smugglers' Moon (3643 BBY - 3641 BBY)[]
It was here that Danik’s skill at arms became a means of survival. In the corruption-rife underbelly of the smugglers’ moon, Nar Shaddaa, Adam and a handful of other now ex-separatist veterans found their new home. Initially believing his new situation to be temporary, Adam took up a warehouse security job, under the false name Adam Neumann, for a small business based in the Corellian sector, (discretely) sending a portion of his arguably meagre pay check back to Cademimu V for his family, and accumulating the rest in hopes of affording arrangement for his family and himself to acquire new identities and begin new lives, and at last escape republic persecution.
Out of necessity, Adam’s pursuit of this endeavour put him in contact with several shady characters, including document forgers and traffickers, who were quick to advise the ex-separatist veteran that his skillset may be better utilised working for them, for greater pay, as an enforcer. Little did Adam realise, when considering their offer, that once he was a part of the criminal system within which his new contacts operated, it was near impossible to leave it alive, nor did he appreciate the true extent of his contacts’ amoral dealings.
Adam accepted that if he were ever to realise his desire to keep his family safe, he would need more lucrative employment and, along with a couple of his former fellow separatist soldiers, became a hired gun for a Quarren named Kaubresh, who claimed to be assisting desperate Hutt Cartel slaves to escape off-world for a better life, for a fee. As Adam would discover some months later, the Quarren was in fact trafficking those he claimed to be helping, to be sold on as slaves to new owners, for profit.
When he learned of the truth of Kaubresh’s dealings, while sickened by the thought he had assisted in this trade, Adam quickly recognised he was now a part of the system, a system that directly operated against the interests of the Hutts; a system which, depending on Adam’s compliance and discretion, would be more than willing, and capable, of silencing him permanently if he stepped out of line. Adam decided the best course of action was to play the long game, to make himself indispensable, and continue to work under Kaubresh, keeping his contempt for the Quarren’s trade unknown. Before too long, Danik learned of several others who were in similar situations to himself, not least of whom the couple of former Separatists who had agreed to work for Kaubresh with Adam; sharing similarly aligned moral compasses. Month after month, in tightly-guarded secrecy, the group of individuals opposed to Kaubresh drew their plans against him.
The downfall of Kaubresh (late 3641 BBY)[]
By mid-3641 BBY Danik had secured a position of respect and influence in Kaubresh’s regime, a springboard from which he would launch a coup attempt to overthrow the Quarren and allow a new leader to take his place, thus enabling his quiet, unimpeded departure from the criminal scheme under the cover of the shifting power structures, without fear of reprisal. With the support of a faction of individuals composed of Adam’s former fellow Separatists and the thugs and gunmen under his command, in addition to several hired mercenaries, Adam stormed the Quarren’s office headquarters, within which a brief but vicious blaster fight quickly ensued.
Undermined and caught off-guard by those who he believed served him without question, Kaubresh himself perished with little resistance, his remaining power structure soon thereafter forced to accept new leadership, and the departure of Adam and those who also wished to leave, under the condition Kaubresh’s lieutenants be allowed to keep their positions, and organisation, intact. With the threat of mutual destruction should either party attempt to inform the Hutts of what had transpired; both having acted at least indirectly against the Hutts, Danik and the reconstituted trafficking organisation parted company. Having now unwittingly acted against the Hutts’ interests continuously for about a year, Adam had to consider the possibility that it may be impossible, at least for now, to return to his family without making them targets, should his identity and former affiliations ever be made known to the Hutts.
Incidentally, though at this point entirely unrelated, it was at around the same time as these events unfolded (mid to late 3641 BBY) that experimental cybernetic research was being conducted on Dromund Kaas, on the first batch of test subjects that would form the foundation of the Imperial Intelligence ‘Noble’ initiative. Spearheaded by Doctor Lawrence Keller of the Sphere of Biotic Science, and Doctor Jared Lorus of the Sphere of Technology, and under the supervision and instruction of the Minister of Intelligence, the initiative was to form the groundwork for a new generation of cyborg super soldiers, based upon the same technology that had enabled the construction of military cyborgs such as Colonel Daksh, a cyborg soldier who had participated directly in the defence of the Maelstrom Prison one year earlier, in combination with intelligence recovered from the estate of Lord Grathan, where the Lord had been developing his own cybernetics technology.
Recruitment into the Sith Empire (3641 BBY - 3640 BBY)[]
Back on Nar Shaddaa, now finding himself with a small following of experienced guns for hire, Adam was faced with a choice posed to him by his fellow former Separatists; return to poorly paid work and concede to the possibility that it may take several years to accrue the credits needed for him to secure his family’s new life, or take advantage of the situation and, together with the two departed former employees of Kaubresh, form their own mercenary group. Danik begrudgingly agreed to the latter.
While few details are known of Adam’s life on Nar Shaddaa after this, it was the rise to prominence of his mercenary trio that gained the attention of the Sith Empire as they scoured the galaxy in search of personnel that may be willing to fight for them. Adam’s background, and those of his couple of associates, made them excellent candidates to become Imperial assets; battle hardened, with knowledge of republic tactics, and views that were sympathetic to the Empire, as a result of their Separatist past. Add to this the guarantee of a safe new home for his family, and it is clear to see why, by 3640 BBY, Adam’s mercenaries were fully integrated Imperial private military contractors.
Injury at the Battle of Duro (late 3640 BBY)[]
While successful in his new-found employment, Adam’s career as an Imperial-backed mercenary would be dramatically cut short. In late 3640 BBY, while attached to a unit of Imperial marines stationed on one of the supporting ships in the fleet of the Ascendant Spear, Adam was present for the Battle of Duro, where the Ascendant Spear would engage in battle for the last time. After the tide of the battle had turned in the republic’s favour, and the flagship destroyer of the fleet was destroyed, Adam was critically injured in a tibanna gas conduit explosion, and subsequently left in a coma, as the ship he was onboard was attacked. While the crippled vessel retreated through hyperspace back to Dromund Kaas, Adam was placed in a critical but stable condition, kept in his coma until the more advanced medical facilities present on the planet could be utilised.
Death and rebirth (3640 BBY - 3635 BBY)[]
Arriving on Dromund Kaas, around twenty standard days later, Adam was transferred to Kaas City Central Hospital’s critical care unit, where his injuries were further stabilised and treated. He remained here, unconscious, for a further month of recovery, until he was transferred to a private wing of the Dromund Kaas Medical Research Centre under the orders of an Imperial Cipher agent, claiming to be a representative from the Imperial Navy. After that, the man known as Adam Walter Danik was never seen or heard from again, his family left believing him to have been captured or killed by the republic at Duro. It was in this private ward that Adam would be transformed into the prototype weapon, codenamed ‘Argon Xesh’.
‘Argon Xesh’s’ final cybernetics were successfully integrated in 3635 BBY, and he was awoken from the over four-year-long sustained coma shortly thereafter. For the first year after he was awoken, Argon was confined to medical research and military training facilities, where he adjusted to his cyberware and was monitored daily. Refinements to the software running the cyborg’s systems were made during this time, and his skills in various military applications were tested. Extreme care was taken to safeguard knowledge of the cyborg programme from the Zakuulans, who had invaded and subjugated the Empire a year prior, and this factored into the many reasons for Xesh’s confinement to military installations.
Peacekeeper on Dromund Kaas (3633 BBY - 3630 BBY)[]
Eventually, the cyborg was authorised for limited field testing, enabling him to assist the duties of a unit in the Kaasian Guards regiment of the military police, though he remained the property of what was, now, Sith Intelligence. For the duration of 3633 BBY Xesh worked closely with the Guards to patrol against and counter dissident revolts, which were common in the capital during the Zakuulan occupation of Dromund Kaas. Over time, this role shifted toward close protection, and eventually into a combination of security and intelligence functions. The cyborg received additional cybernetics to enable him to interface with security systems wirelessly, further facilitating his role. Eventually, enhancements to surveillance and security apparatus and procedures rendered the cyborg’s unique position obsolete, and he was taken back into testing by Sith Intelligence.
The Coven (3630 BBY)[]
By 3630 BBY, Xesh had found his new home, a position within the Sith order known as the Coven of the Silent Song, the cyborg permitted a degree of operational freedom from Sith Intelligence, though sworn to aid the order’s leader, Darth Velus. From here, he remained unaware of his past, his memories suppressed, a prototype piece of military hardware bound to unquestioning service.
The Noble Initiative[]
With the increased intake of mercenaries and external assets contracted to fight on behalf of the Empire in the escalating Galactic War, came a steady stream of critically injured individuals defeated in conflicts where they had fought in the Empire’s interests, and been delivered back to the Empire, where they could be used for various forms of biotic research without drawing attention. There were no bureaucratic restrictions; there was no officially recognised process for handling the bodies of these non-citizens, and quite often the individuals critically injured would have no known family or connections, therefore making them perfectly suited for quietly disappearing without questions.
Prior to the ‘Noble’ initiative, such critically injured or dead mercenaries would be used as a source of test subject bodies, often subjected to classified military experiments ranging from bioweapon to experimental adrenal testing, often accompanied by fatal results. As it became increasingly clear that the reignited war against the republic was beginning to lean toward a republic victory, the need for such experiments increased, as ever-more desperate strategies were sought to give the Sith Empire an edge that might turn the tide in their favour. ‘Noble’ was an attempt to create sophisticated cyborgs capable of fulfilling the positions previously requiring multiple skilled personnel, to bolster the already thinned Imperial military and combat the weaknesses of poorly manned defensive lines as a result.
Cybernetic augmentation procedure[]
Forming part of the third generation of cyborgs in the programme, Adam was assigned the handle ‘Argon Xesh’, as part of unit ‘Xesh’, a group consisting of twelve individuals, all former mercenaries injured and subsequently requisitioned by the then Imperial Intelligence project. By this time (3639 BBY), the process of enhancement had been refined into a streamlined, low-mortality risk transition; consisting of multiple stages, each introducing a new layer of cybernetics and bio-modification. The procedures would, at this point, be restricted only by the investment of time and resources, taking several years to fully perform, prohibiting widespread adoption by the Imperial Military.
Stage I[]
The first stage involved induction of natural muscular growth and bone ossification, achieved through a combination of hormonal and chemical treatments under continued anaesthesia. A series of specialised platinum-coated micro-capsules would be implanted into muscle groups, bone marrow and the brain to periodically release the required hormones and chemicals into the bloodstream. The process would take around eight months, often increasing the weight of the patient by as much as 50% over the duration.
Stage II[]
Once this was completed, artificial musculatures were woven into and attached to the patient’s muscle systems in the second stage, grafted under the skin; the structures composed of silicon colloid fibres, each containing several pneumatic micropumps, activated by carbon nanotube amperometric chips connected to the original muscles’ motor neurons via additional carbon nanotubes. To accommodate these added structures, the patient’s blood was at this stage largely replaced by a synthetic lubricating, nutrient-infused liquid, the body’s natural immune system suppressed to combat rejection, and replaced by a combination of phagocyte-mimicking nanites and a cocktail of antibiotics and vaccines.
Stage III[]
The third stage saw the introduction of more invasive cybernetics; a series of structures fitted along the spinal column and in the brain, to secrete and regulate a controlled increase in myelination, which, in conjunction with added synthetic dendritic nodes, enabled a significant improvement in voluntary and non-voluntary reaction speed. Additionally, this stage involved the addition of several cybernetics to the areas of the frontal lobe of the brain involved in logic, as well as the pre-installation of disabled cybernetics in the occipital lobes and auditory cortex for later activation, as determined by the cyborg’s specific functional requirements. Kill-switches and self-destruct measures were also implanted into the brain during this stage, as well as loyalty chips, to ensure the safeguarding of military hardware secrets, and the cyborg’s compliance.
Stage IV[]
The final stage involved further invasive, but optional, additional augmentation, often consisting of the artificial fortification of other natural organ systems, particularly the respiratory, digestive and integumentary systems, enabling the cyborg to have heightened resistances to extremes of temperature and airborne or ingested toxins. By this point, the cyborg would be unable to survive without the implants of the previous stages, were they ever to be removed. External cybernetics could also be integrated during this stage, for example to enhance visual or auditory acuity, or weaponise limbs. When these stages were complete, if the cyborg had survived, they were finally awoken. In total, from beginning to end, the entire process could take as long as four years.
Personality and traits[]
Argon Xesh was of impressive stature, as a result of his augmentation. He stood at two metres tall, weighing in excess of 270 pounds. His skin was of a pale gray hue, a result of the draining of blood from his system and replacement with nutrient fluid, still covered in the scars left behind from his years under the knife. Perhaps the most notable of his external cybernetics were the pair of cybernetic eyes that had replaced his organic eyes entirely, spherical constructs that occupied the sockets and swivelled on an array of surrounding actuators, each emitting a dull red glow. Often, and in fact almost exclusively when not outfitted for operations, the cyborg was clad in an issued black trench coat, and head brace that both interfaced with and protected his external cybernetics.
Following the ‘gentle giant’ archetype, Argon demonstrated a surprising level of dexterity, equally as able to be delicate, as to be lethally powerful, when required. His voice was matter of fact, accompanied by a certain level of synthetic modulation, but not possessing the complete lack of emotion, for example, that might be encountered in a service droid. By nature, Xesh was staunchly logical and at times could seem detached or aloof, though his self-improvements to etiquette and social interactivity programming eventually enabled a degree of emotional intelligence and emulation. Perhaps as a result of his cybernetics, he viewed the world around him as a complex interconnected series of problems, equations that could be quantified, calculated and eventually solved. His speech was often eloquent, a vast array of vocabulary having been afforded to him in multiple languages by the cyborg’s allocated speech software and continuous connection to the holo-net.