ARGENT
All information presented here is from Champions Universe, 6th ed., page 127.
ARGENT's long string of successes came to an end in 1983, when investigative reporters from the Washington Post revealed to the world that ARGENT had secretly been passing United States defense technology secrets to a number of enemies, including the Soviet Union, China, VIPER, and Dr. Destroyer. ARGENT had also built several secret factories to manufacture high-tech equipment for numerous criminal and terrorist organizations. Unwilling to spend the rest of their lives in jail, the executives and chief scientists of ARGENT fled the United Sates, taking with them as much of their data and equipment as possible. They found a new home in Awad, whose rulers were more than happy to offer ARGENT safe haven in exchange for a slice of the profits from their lucrative business.
Since moving to Awad, ARGENT has become a major player in the global underworld. While it still makes most of its money providing high-tech services and support to other criminals, it's also launched numerous criminal schemes of its own. For many years it worked primarily with mercenaries, having few agents of its own (unlike VIPER), but that became too big of a drain on the bottom line so it shifted to more of an agent-based strategy in the mid-2000s.
ARGENT suffered a major blow in 2003 when the Champions captured the master villain Interface. He'd been working closing with ARGENT and had so much information about them that the authorities were able to make significant inroads against the organization (and once nearly captured the Board of Directors). It spent several years in damage control/rebuilding mode and only as of 2010 is it approaching the former extent of its operations and profitability.
ARGENT typically focuses on two types of activity. The first is more or less ordinary business operations, conducted through a maze of shell companies and subsidiaries, and made extremely profitable by its willingness to utterly ignore local laws and regulations. Second, it commits more traditional crimes, usually either focused on high technology or somehow involving a high-tech approach. ARGENT's technology is among the most advanced in the world, giving it a real edge over most law enforcement and not a few superheroes. Some officials fear that now that ARGENT's recovered its footing, it's likely to become more ambitious and embark on even greater schemes.
ARGENT has established numerous bases - public ones in places like North Korea and Awad that allow it to function as a legitimate corporation, and disguised or hidden ones in major cities around the world. In 1994, it spearheaded a coup in Guamanga in the hopes of acquiring an entire country of it's own, but this plot was thwarted by the Justice Squadron.
Want to know more? Pick up the CU6ed book. More information can be found within it.
