Argent Moon

UNSC Argent Moon was a research and development ship in service with the UNSC Navy's Office of Naval Intelligence. Ruker served as the vessel's shipboard artificial intelligence in 2557.

Early history
Commissioned on February 13, 2546, Argent Moon served as a research and development vessel for the Office of Naval Intelligence. In 2557, some personnel aboard the ship were experimenting with the creation of chemical weaponry that could quickly kill targets; all test formulas were tested on live subjects. On March 3, 2557, an accident likely involving the chemical weaponry caused a toxic substance that vaporized and spread throughout the ship via its air systems, killing nearly all aboard. Those closer to the accident were killed instantly and, depending on distance from the accident, the rest of the vessel's personnel began suffering symptoms from the chemical minutes or hours later. Although shipboard smart AI Ruker attempted to enforce quarantine protocols, they "massively" failed and all personnel aboard Argent Moon were dead by March 17, 2557. As a result, ONI lost contact with Argent Moon and Ruker sent a message that warned any ONI personnel who board the ship of the situation. Ruker then took further actions to quarantine the vessel; he put Argent Moon on a course that kept it away from all inhabited systems and jettisoned what remains he could into open space. On September 12, 2557, Ruker was now suffering from rampancy due to being six months past his "expiration date". Feeling he could no longer manage the vessel, he initiated his own destruction.

Raid on Argent Moon
In October 2558, nineteen months after it went missing, Argent Moon was discovered by Kig-Yar scavengers, who sold it to Jul 'Mdama's people. One week later, Spartan-II Blue Team was tasked with securing the vessel and its intel, encountering Covenant scavengers aboard the vessel. Unable to secure the Argent Moon, Blue Team was forced to overheat the ship's reactor, destroying it along with several nearby Covenant vessels.

Specifications
The Argent Moon was an ONI research and development vehicle that went missing. In addition to its secretive nature, the ship's hangar bays housed at least one prowler and a stealth corvette.

List of appearances

 * Halo 5: Guardians