Sector 55 Blues - Prog 5 - The Big Wig

Sector 55 Blues is a Judge Dredd Campaign using the Savage Dredd unnofficial Savage Worlds Expansion.  This is an online only game with members from Dragons Keep Roleplay Club.

Judges Cully, Hammer, Teal and Uthred are deep inside the Sewers under Sector 55 RESYK.

We're Going Deeper Underground There's Too Much Panic in This Town

The Judges progress is slow as they negotiate there way through the network of circular sewer tunnels.  As they enter a 20ft wide mainline sewer the flow current of sewage gets significantly stronger and they opt to keep to the small ledges rather than wade through the middle of the pipes.  

As the team approach a large 10ft wide tunnel in the left wall Judge Teal makes the mistake of moving of the ledge and her leg is almost swept away from under her.  She cries out reflexively.

"Wooooahhhh!! mind that last step, it's a doozy"  

The others hear a low gutteral rumbling coming from this side tunnel.  Whatever is in there knows we are coming.  Hammer takes point and moves into the tunnel his torch illuminating an exit into a large cistern some 50ft away.  As the team approach Cully spots a flash of red leap across the gap from left to right.  Uthred takes point and flashes his torch round the walls of the cistern.  A yellow hairy creature about the size of a large cat is cautiously circling the far side of the cistern trying to stay out of Uthred's torchlight.  He bends down on the right corner of the tunnel and coos at the creature in an attempt to entice it towards him.

Hammer stands on the left corner and the unmistakeable short sharp BRRRUPP of 3 GP rounds sprays the creatures blood, hair, skin and viscera across the opposite wall.  A red flash leaps from the right to the left of the entrance and attacks Hammer.  Cully spies two more of the furry follicular foes circling round the cistern behind Hammer but her shot is blocked.  

Uthred swiftly crosses over the 10ft wide tunnel mouth and feels the edge of the cistern under his right foot.  He doesn't have time to screw a hypo round to take the thing alive and smashes down on Hammer's head with this day stick.  The creature falls off into the water like a well tenderised synthi steak.  Cully shouts at Hammer "Move!!" and he sidesteps off the ledge immediately dissapearing beneath the fetid greenish water.  She lets loose a 3 shot burst taking out the first wig and Uthred takes out the second.

As they scan the churning waters large bubbles about the size of footballs  begin to float to the surface.  Cully uses her infrared scope to pierce the surface and spies two heat masses one about human sized and the other a huge 15ft across.  BRRRUPP retorts Cully's Lawgiver as she exercises carefully aimed deadly force.

The tension and the water errupt simultaneously as a massive hairy beast breaks the surface flinging Judge Hammer into the cistern wall like a ragdoll from a hairy frond like appendage.  Uthred shoots and the creature belows in pain moving north to the safety of the 20ft tunnel which feeds the cistern.

The Giant Hair Beast burst forth

Uthred and Cully give chase but the beast moves swiftly as it swims.  Cully opts for an incendiary round but misses showering the opposite wall with burning napalm.  Uthred scans the tunnel with infrared but his sight is clouded by the heat bloom from the burning napalm.  Cully moves past and scans with her scope,  nothing.  

In the darkness ahead the Judges hear the creature roaring as it rends at metal smashes the synthi-crete walls of the sewer behind it.  Walking further up the tunnel Cully sees that the creature has collapsed the tunnel sealing itself off from the world behind.  A slick of blood oozes down the middle of the tunnel.

Small Hair Beast Stat Card    

 

Forensic Judge Quincy's Analysis

Just as the Judges exit the sewers Judge Quincy radios through his report on the scrap of skin from the cat's mouth and the strands of hair from Dwayne Rockson's apartment.  Both test positive for high levels of background radiation and the DNA is a 99.8% match for that of a rabbit.

The Judges decide to return to sector house for fresh uniforms, get Hammer tested for dsyntery and to turn in the samples to Judge Quincy.  

The Forensics lab is a chaotic scene as labcoated technicians try to wrestle hair beasts into cages scattered around the lab.  A dishevelled Quincy is angry and barks at the Judges

"If you've got another of these drokking things I don't want to see it.  They've been coming in all morning.  The Sector's infested!!"   

He waves a bottle of shampoo which the Tek Judges have confirmed is in fact a very powerful tranquilizer. 

Uthred informs Quincy that they've just encountered a big one, 5 times the size of the one he is currently holding.  Quincy's eyes widen "If they grow that big we've only got a couple of days before the Sector is done for.  He waves the Trend Toppers plastic bag at them.

"Whoever's selling them needs to be found and stopped before this gets out of hand!!"

Duncan Spivey and Melvin Why?

The Judges know from the business card that these two budding entrepreneurs are based in Sector 163 near to the great Western Wall that isolates Mega City One from the Cursed Earth.

The Great Western Wall - Mega City One's defense against The Cursed Earth

They quickly head to Day Watch Commander Judge Belloch who tells them to take an H-Wagon over to Sector 163 and call the Day Watch Commander Judge Govan.

It is a 3 hour flight to Sector 163 and by the time they arrive local Judges have already arrested the pair of toupee dealers.

Govan takes them down to the interrogation cubicles where Spivey and Why? are being held for questioning.  

Duncan Spivey

Spivey is a cool customer who tells the Judges that he hasn't got anything to hide and that his lawyer Half Asian Bill Kraken is already en route.  Judge Govan reveals to the team that Bill Kraken has been in the building for 2 hours but they have stalled him with Justice Department forms whilst they waited for the team to arrive.  Spivey tells the Judges that they will get nothing from him even if they do the Nice Judge Nasty Judge routine.  

Hammer decides to pump the other co-owner of Trend Toppers for information.

 

 

Melvin Why?

Melvin Why? is a comletely different character.  He seems to be enjoying his incarceration a little bit too much.  He tells the Judges that Spivey is just a money man and that he is the real brains behind the operation.  He does all the market research and marketing.  

He's out to change the world for the follicly challenged citizen's of Mega City One.

However, Duncan is mixed up with some dangerous individuals.  He knows who sold them the wigs and they have to promise him that they will put him in a cell where this guy can't get to.  They agree and he blurts out the name Rabies Nesbitt.

 

Judge Govan smiles and in his thick scottish accent replies

"Well, well, well, Rabies and I go way back.  I know exactly where to find him and this is the evidence I've been searching for to put him behind bars for a long, long time."

Leading them down to the motorpool where 5 gleaming lawmasters sit waiting.

"It's been a long time since I've been a street judge but today is a good day to get back in the saddle.  Let's ride!!"

Next Prog - Last Orders at the Two Way Pub ->

Back Issues

Prog 1 - Suits You Sir - Mosh 55 rob Zlooty Slute's Suits You and a body is discovered.

Prog 2 - Hair Today Gone Tomorrow - Rock Dwayneson's apartment and carnage at the Yes-A-Bout

Prog 3 - It's Ugly Out There - Fun and Games at the Ugly Pageant 

Prog 4 - Down, Down, Deeper and Down - Entering the sewers under RESYK

Sector 55 Blues - Prog 4 - Down, Down, Deeper and Down

Sector 55 Blues is a Judge Dredd Campaign using the Savage Dredd unnofficial Savage Worlds Expansion.  This is an online only game with members from Dragons Keep Roleplay Club.

With their shift at an end Judges Hammer, Teal and Uthred return to the sector house and turn in the scrap of hairy flesh.  A persuasive Teal convinces Senior Pathologist Judge Quincy to run it as a priority job as lives could be at risk.

The team hit the changing rooms and meet up with Judge Cully who has been dealing with the GC Essexwood suicide all day.  It's been a real long one and she is in need of some excitement so she agrees to go accompany them to Dapper John's apartment.

Hob Nobbing with the Big Cheese at Buck House

Dapper John lives at 72055 Buck House Block on the north fringe of the Eurozone.  It is one of the more luxurious apartment blocks reserved for the sectors wealthy or famous elite.  

The robo-knocker announces their arrival and the door is opened by Call Me Arthur, Dapper John's robo-butler, who shows the guests into the palatial living room dominated by a floor to ceiling window which opens onto a balcony terrace overlooking the city.  John descends from a mezzanine floor via a sweeping synthi-marble staircase and immediately urges Arthur to serve the guests drinks.  After taking the Judges requests he waddles into the kitchen to prepare the beverages.

Judge Cully goes upstairs on the pretense of a attending a call of nature and immediately heads for John's office.  Accessing his terminal she is soon copying accounts documents and sending them to Sector House for forensic examination.

Meanwhile Judges Hammer and Uthred question Dapper John about the origins of the Trend Topper Toupee line and the manufacturers.  John reveals that the owners Duncan Spivey and Melvin Why have been suppliers for some time although the Trend Toppers line is relatively new and a vast improvement on their previous wigalicious products.  He gives them a business card with their contact details.

Judge Teal is surveying the room and notices that of all the objet d'art and curios that Dapper John has decorated his apartment one looks out of place.  On the mantelpiece under a huge mirror stand 3 Maneki Neko (Chinese fortune cats) two are lazily waving in sync but one is out of phase. He is joined by Judge Cully who returns from her investigation upstairs.

"One of these cats is not like the others, one of these cats just doesn't belong..."

Despite the protestations of a very anxious Arthur Judge Teal picks up the out of sync cat and turns it over to reveal a sticker which reads "Good Job, You caught us - COVID-55".  Peeling off the sticker reveals a plastic twist bung which when pulled out reveals a complex surveillance device.

COVID-55
Surveillance Device

An embarrassed Dapper John, reaches for the TV remote and pulls up COVID-55 on the 15ft wide Tri-D screen which dominates one wall of the apartment.  The screen is filled with a fish-eye view of Judge Teal inspecting the device.  The screen is filled with snow and a graphic explaining that COVID-55 is experiencing Technical Difficulties.

My John apologises profusely and assures that he will get his PR team on it right away.  He wasn't aware that he was a person of interest but then he is one of the most eligible and fashionable bachelors in Sector 55 so he has always suspected that he was in their sights. 

" They do like to dish the dirt.  Why only yesterday evening they exposed GC Essexwood for her romantic involvement with her robo-butler!"

The hour is late and the judges need to catch up on their regulation sleep chamber time if they are going to be an effective team in the morning.

Another Glorious Morning Briefing

The morning starts with Judge Belloch's customary and compulsory briefing

 

"OK ladies, we had an incident at Buck House last night which has put the city on edge.  The COVID-55 surveillance of Dapper John has unleashed the Justice Department Legal Eagles.  They swooped in last night and shut their operation down.  The citizens are melting down.  COVID-55 was one of their favourite shows and now they're out to get us.  Be extra vigilant out there and expect some retaliation.  

The anti-gang and loony squads have been doing some great work taking out key gang members and keeping that powder keg from exploding.  

Weather control reports that it is still on the fritz with a reboot expected at 14 hunderd hours so expect a cold front to move in from the east.  Cully!, you're with Hammer. Teal and Uthred for the time being."   

A Moloko Droog

As they peel out of the sector house they get a call from despatch

"There's a problem down at Resyk, sewer droid says they've seen something that's put the willies up them.  Asked for you personally."

Alex - a Molok Droogs Gang Member

On their way they spot a citizen in all white overalls and a bowler hat admiring a freshly scrawled "Droogs Roolz" in red paint.  As they approached he runs.  Cully shouts "Freeze Punk" and gives chase firing off a burst of GP rounds blowing the saps legs clean off at the shins.  Uthred spots a bulge in the punks overalls and reaches into a pocket pulling out a recently used can of red spray paint.  

Judge Scully asks the perp if he has anything to say in his defence.  The perp can only manage "AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGG" as he screams in pain.  A meat wagon turns up moments later and bundles him into the back.  Judge Teal retrieves the punks legs and hands them to the Med Techs commenting "Hey punk you nearly got 5 years for littering".  

Trouble at RESYK

When the Judges get to resyk they are met by  Ro-Jaws who recounts seeing several small furry creatures matching the description of the wigs that the Judges gave yesterday.  He says there was a lot of them offers to show them to the spot in the sewers where they encountered the creatures.  Sadly Harry didn't make it out alive.

Descending to city bottom Ro-Jaws leads them to a manhole in the middle of a street in a rough part of the sector close to RESYK.  He flips the manhole cover open and drops down into the darkness below.

Following the fetid stream of waste as it follows the tunnel the judges hear a horrifying bellowing  animal roar.

Uthred goes down a 5ft wide side tunnel into a cistern in which a giant alligator is being attacked by a tiny hairy creature.  The alligator is in obvious distress and lashes out at Uthred who returns fire with an armour piercing round.  The hairy creature leaps into the tunnel and begins to attack Cully.  Teal fires an AP round through the alligators head as Cully stabs the hairy monstrosity with her boot knife.

Map of the Sewers

Uthred calls Ro-Jaws into the tunnel and orders him to open up his trash bin and stash the dead wig.  Reluctantly he agrees but demands that he wait outside for their return.

Exploring further down the tunnel Hammer and Cully are ambushed by a pair of wigs who lay in wait in side tunnels.  Uthred assists Hammer and attempts to bash the wig with his day stick.  Teal aids Cully and tears the thing off her helmet and whips it against the wall until it stops squeaking.  Cully fishes out an evidence zipper from her utility belt and bags the evidence for the boys back at forsensics.   

Prog 5 - The Big Wig ->

Back Issues

Sector 55 Blues Prog 3 - It's Ugly Out There

Sector 55 Blues is a Judge Dredd Campaign using the Savage Dredd unnofficial Savage Worlds Expansion.  This is an online only game with members from Dragons Keep Roleplay Club.

The trail seems to have gone cold leaving the Judges with only a couple of leads left from yesterdays events to chase down.

1. Does Victoria Nobody remember anything else from this morning's incident?
2. Are the deaths of Rock Dwayneson and Brittany Little connected or just a coincidence?
3. Is Synthi-Joe the most popular synthi-caf brand in Sector 55?
   

Thankfully the morning briefing is short but Judge Belloch informs the patrols that 

"The removal of Mosh 55 leader Vicious Sid has led to a power vacuum which the other Gangs will be quick to fill.  Tensions are running high and the Night Watch lost a couple of good judges last night to turf wars.  Judges Gonner and Toast will be sorely missed. 

Weather Control is still on the fritz and word is it's getting worse.

Black, Evans and Simpson you're off to Stallone Block.  looks like Z-list Tri-D star GC Essexwood took a dive in the ratings this morning and she's made a big mess of the pedway. 

Hammer, Teal and Uthred, I want you on crowd control at Sump's Ugly Parlour in JCVD Block.  There's an ugly pageant going down at 13 hundred hours and I don't want it any uglier."

Back in the Saddle

The Judges decide to interview Victoria Nobody again to see if she can recall anything from yesterdays incident.  As they cruise down Duke Street heading towards Bags O Style, they spot a man standing on the parapet of the skedway with a small crowd of people around him.  Half the citizens are urging the man to reconsider and the other half are baiting him to jump.

Uthred pushes the crowd back, whilst Hammer tries to arrest one citizen who is clearly guilty of coercion to suicide.  The perp remonstrates with the Judge "I've got 50 creds riding on this guy jumping Judge!" his friend retorts "No way Bert, I say he's gonna live".  Teal tries to persuade the jumper that its not worth it and that he has a lot to live for but is unsuccessful.  Hammer grows impatient and follows up Teal's Good Judge routine with some Bad Judge intimidation and lunges at the the perp trying to drag him down.  

The perp instinctively doges out of the way and steps back off the parapet.  Teal desperately reaches out to grab a leg as the man falls over the edge but all he can grasp is thin air.  He rushes to the edge to get a better view of the unfortunate citizen falling to his death some 300 storeys below.  Miraculously the flight path of a Resyk Trash Truck intersects with the man's death plunge and he lands in the back amidst the garbage of hundreds of Sector 55 residents.  Teal calls it in and tells MAC to inform Trash Truck 55-157 that they have a stowaway.

Hammer returns to the coercive citizen who is brandishing 50 Creds in 5 crisp notes.  He cuffs the pair of them to the pedway railing and takes the money.  "You are both going down for illegal gambling"  

Bags O Style

Twenty minutes later the Judges arrive at Bags O Style a ladies fashion emporium two doors down from Zooty Slutes Suits You.  Victoria Nobody recounts the horrific events of yesterday morning.  She does recall seeing something out of the corner of her move down the alleyway away from the victim (Rock Dwayneson) who then turned around and showered the alleyway with blood from his neck wound.  She was very lucky to avoid being covered in his blood and you can never really get blood out of white synthi silk.

 The Judges decide to check out the alleyway once more.  The alleyway ends in the reinforced rockcrete wall of Trump Tower ascending 300ft up like a concrete and glass cliff face.  Piles of trash bags litter the dead end, all of them having been ripped open by hungry vermin.  A cracked manhole cover sits in the middle of the alleyway.  Teal opens it up revealling a 5ft wide shaft which descends into darkness.

The Sewer

Pulling out their torches the Judges descend the slime and algae covered ladder 10ft until they enter a 5ft wide circular tunnel which runs the length of the alleyway.  No-one has been down here in many months if not years.  They move down the tunnel towards an intersection some 50ft away.  This is clearly the larger 10ft wide sewer beneath Melania Way.  There are no signs of recent activity and so head to Zooty Slutes to see if they missed any clues.

Mr Slute shows the Judges Demo Room 1, a state of the art office environment simulator where clients can road test their suits in "Real World" circumstances.  The fire door which opens onto the alleyway seems to be in working order.  Returning to the alleyway they question the other two vending machines (a Rola-Cola and a Burrito-bot) about yesterdays events.  Teal consumes a Triple Chilli Burrito in the process.  No extra information is forthcoming.

Munce Burger

They turn their attention to the Munce Burger restaurant on the other side of the alley.  The manager shows them into the office at the back of the restaurant past two bots shovelling frozen munce and synthibread patties into a giant kitchen bot.  They examine the CCTV and identify the 4 members of Mosh 55 who enter the restaurant about 30 minutes before they tried to rob Zooty Slute's.  The restaurant fire doors are operational and only open outwards.

Back to the Sewer

The Judges engage their bleepers and bikes to track their positions and take another look at the sewer.  Following the route of the flowing sewage they come out into Melania Way and then onto Meg 352.

Ro-Jaws - A sewer bot

Up ahead a sewer bot crew are clearing a massive fatberg which has almost completely blocked the 15ft wide tunnel.  Ro-Jaws and his buddy Ro-Harry are chisling away at the concreted mass of congealed fat refuse and wet wipes.  They are suprised to see Judges down here.  

Hammer asks if they've seen anything come down the tunnel in the last 24 hours or if they have seen a wig.  After a short explanation of what a wig is, Ro-Jaws triumphantly dons a bedraggled floppy hairy monstrosity upon his head and says "You mean like this!!"

It is a broken mop head.

Judge Teal asks if they have found any knives.  Ro-Harry fishes about in his waste receptacle and proudly retrieves a collection of miscellaneous cutlery including a rusty stiletto.  "I stick to the shiny stuff" he claims.

The Judges leave the two sewer bots and return to the surface.  Checking their wrist terminals they have about an hour before they need to be at JCVD Block for the Ugly Pageant leaving just enough time to go back to the sector house, shower and change into fresh suits.

A Call from Dapper John

Uthred's comm buzzes and sector despatch relays through a call from Dapper John.  He confirms that Rock Dwayneson was not a client.  

Perhaps if they have time they can call round to his apartment this evening and go through some of the finer points of the case.  

An Ugly Situation at the Ugly Pageant

The Judges arrive at the Ugly Pageant (Plaza Park Level 400 JCVD Block) just before ceremonies begin.  The crowd is a mix of block citizens and wannabe contestants of all shapes and sizes.  A Tri-D news crew is filming the event.

The Judges Patrol the crowds on the lookout for any suspicious activity.  Judge Uthred's keen senses highlight a small croup of young juves huddled round a bench.  One juve holds a small booklet and the rest seem to be utterly engrossed in its pages.  

As he approaches the juves scatter in all directions leaving the booklet on the ground.  It's a badly printed copy of 2000AD, a banned publication in Mega City One.

*** SURGEON GENERALS WARNING ***
Highly addictive containing brain melting stories and thrilling action
likely to cause seizures in small children, the elderly and pregnant citizens

Judges Hammer and Teal both spot a known dunker, Pogo Patterson, at work with his hands in other peoples purses.  He is surfing the crowd on his way towards the Plaza Park exit.  They instinctively set up a pincer movement but Hammer struggles to make his way through the crowd unnoticed and his eyes lock on Patterson's.  The dunker quickens his pace, he's obviously been made and its time to make a dash for it.  As the perp gets to within feet of safety Teal jumps out brandishing his day stick "Freeze you pickpocketing Punk!!"

Patterson puts up his hands and says "Hey Judges you got it all wrong, I'm legit these days" he pulls out handfulls of Otto Sump Ugly Clinic discount vouchers from his pockets which fall to the floor.  "I was hired to give out these discount vouchers, I'm in live event marketing now".  Hammer, tells the creep that he's arresting him on a charge of Disorderly Conduct.  This doesn't sit well with Pogo who claims that he is being brutalised by a system designed to criminalise the population.  In desperation he throws a punch at Hammer who effortlessly dodges and cracks the dunker over the head with his day stick.  

"Brutal but fair" he muses to himself as he radios in for a med wagon to pick up the unconcious perp.

An Unexpected Shower

Everything is peaceful as the various disgusting contestants parade their horrifying visages to the gawping crowd.  Suddenly there is a crack of thunder and a blaring siren from high above the park.  Weather control deluges the crowd in a short 30 second shower.

Not long after a scream errupts from one of the contestants on the stage. 

"Help, Help I've been assaulted!" she cries.

Jocelyn Wildenstein / Mr. Blofeldt
Ugly Competitor / Pet Cat

The victim is one Jocelyn Wildenstein, one of the favourites to win.  She is dripping wet and bald and she claims that someone ripped off her wig.  She also claims that her cat Mr. Blofeldt is missing.  She has minor lacerations to her head.

Jocelyn is most concerned about the survival of her pet and holds an impromptu press conference with the news crew posting a 10,000 credit reward for the apprehension of the vile individual who hurt her cat.  

If questioned about the wig she will say she bought it at a Wigiculous Wendy's over in Ozzy Apartments a couple of weeks ago.  It was a Trend Toppers Toupee "Lady Crystal".

The Judges search the park for the missing cat and Teal discovers it unconcious near a loose manhole cover under the stage bleeding profusely from several bite wounds.  

The cat has a scrap of bloody, hairy flesh in its mouth matching the colour and style of the "Lady Crystal".  The Judges will need to send this scrap of flesh to the lab for further analysis.

Prog 4 - Down, Down, Deeper and Down ->

Back Issues

Sector 55 Blues - Prog 2 - Hair Today Gone Tomorrow

Sector 55 Blues is a Judge Dredd Campaign using the Savage Dredd unnofficial Savage Worlds Expansion.  This is an online only game with members from Dragons Keep Roleplay Club.

 

Rock Dwayneson's Apartment

The Judges descend to the 7th floor of Trump Tower and exit the elevator.  The decor is distinctly shabbier and it looks like these apartments are reserved for the tower's lower income citizens.  The tranquility of the upper floors is replaced by the smells and sounds of people living cheek by jowl.

The carpet in the corridor is decades old hasn't seen a cleaner in many years judging by the filth ingrained into it's bizarre repeating pattern. The judges overlook the designers horrific choices and locate apartment 738.

After a full sweep of Mr Dwayneson's apartment the judges find nothing out of the ordinary.

Lower Rent apartments in Trump Tower

In the bedroom there are a series of 5 mannequin heads on a shelf wearing wigs and one empty head.  The heads all have sharpie labels, the missing one reads "The Magnum", the one matching his ID Card photo reads "The Black Mamba" 

A message hand-written in sharpie on the dresser mirror reads. 

"A HAIRY YOU IS A BETTER, MORE CONFIDENT YOU!"

In the trash is a plastic packaging for a Trend Topper Toupee "Magnum" hairpiece. 

Meet the Blunders

The screaming and shouting from the apartment 740 nextdoor intensifies.  It sounds like whoever lives there needs to blow off some steam in the Agrodome.  The apartment is registered to Brandon & Betty Blunder a married couple of 30 years.  

Brandon & Betty Blunder a well adjusted married couple

Betty politely answers the door in curlers and a dressing gown.  Her husband Brandon is watching the Vid and tells his wife

"Get rid of the roz luv I'm trying to watch my COVID!!"

Mr Flowers is watching the new hit show CO-VID-55 which is sweeping the sector.  Celebrities caught in their own homes on hidden CCTV cameras.  

The Justice Department doesn't take a position on censoring Vid shows until there is clear evidence of criminal activity.  As a result most Vid Shows either keep it clean or don't get a second season.

Betty tells the Judges that her next door neighbour is a lovely man, very quiet and in fact a model citizen.  She last saw Mr Dwayneson a couple of days ago and he was in high spirits as he had just purchased a new toupee and was eager to try it out. 

If questioned Mr Blunder reveals that he used to have a management job at Resyk in charge of the team that operated the sludge-o-matic 3000 but was made redundant when they upgraded to the sludge-o-matic 4000.  He hasn't worked a day since.  He remarks that they used to live on the 300th floor and had a window in their apartment, but welfare didn't cover the rent and so the had to move further down the block. 

    "Drocking robots taking everyones jobs!!"

Judge Teal notices Mr Blunder is clearly suffering from future shock syndrome making him a powder keg of negative emotions.  He way be okay today but he could blow at anytime and go on a killing spree.  He contacts Barney and orders a psyche evaluation just to be on the safe side.

The Judges move on to Apartment 736 which is unnocupied.  The bedroom is full of the detritus of the last occupant who clearly used it as a workshop for some electronics repair business.  A residency check reveals that the last occupant was a Freddy Slump who is currently serving 5 years for robot tampering.  Judge Hammer requests a criminal record retrieval from MAC.  

They continue their house to house enquiries but the other residents have nothing further to give.

They decide to follow up on the Robo-Vend lead and head out to the factory located in the Elon Tusk Industrial Park.

The Fat and the Furious

Cruising along the Yes Way heading South Judge Uthred is hit in the face by a half eaten munce burger.  300 feet up ahead are three fatties riding souped up mobility scooters.  

Mega City One is a tough place to police and low level civil disobedience like littering is the start of the slippery slope to recidivism.  The Justice department take a dim view and a guilty citizen can wind up in the iso cubes with a 6 month sentence.  

Illegal Fattie Street Racing is one of the newer crazes in Mega City One.  Fattie juves with a need for speed souping up their mobility scooters and racing each other for kicks has become a real menace to the law abiding citizens.   

The Judges give chase but the fatties don't come quietly weaving dangerously in and out of traffic.  Inevitably two of them lose control of their scooters.  One lurches into the path of a mopad and is instantly crushed to a pulp by the 50 tonne behemoth.  The other spears off the skedway and crashes into the plasteel guardrail erupting in a fireball.  The third pulls out a spit gun and sprays a hail of lead behind him.  Bullets pepper the windscreens of several vehicles between him and the Judges but miss their intended targets completely.

The surrounding traffic begins to veer out of lane and a huge pile up begins in slow motion.  Uthred and Hammer slam on their brakes to avoid colliding with vehicles and skid to a halt.  Teal remembers the words of his Justice Academy Driving Instructor Judge Talladega

"If you see a car spin ahead, aim directly for the smoke, when you get there, it won't be" 

Teal bursts out of the smoke into clean bright sunshine with 100ft between him and the last fattie.  He opens up with his Cyclops Laser Cannon carving a trench in the road up ahead.  With no time to react the fattie scooter hits the gouge with its tiny wheels and comes to an abrupt halt.  The fattie is thrown forward and cut in two by his handlebars.  The top  half of his body landing 100ft further down the skedway.  Judge Teal mutters to himself "Well that only half worked" 

Typical light traffic on a Mega City One Skedway

Carnage on the Yes-a-Bout

Judges Uthred and Hammer radio in the incident and Sector Control tells them to begin triaging the scene, Emergency Response Crews are 10 minutes out.  They go from vehicle to vehicle assessing the damage.  7 dead and 14 seriously wounded.  

Among the dead is registered mime artist Brittany Little.  He was thrown from his vehicle which has plowed into a tanker truck.  Highly flammable CHOO2 has leaked into the cabin of the vehicle which could explode at any time. 

Mr Little has lacerations over his body consistent with being thrown from a moving vehicle.  Judge Uthred spots what appears to be a human bite mark on the man's bald head.  His newly issued ID card photo shows him sporting a full head of shocking white hair.  

Without a care for his own safety, Hammer climbs into the CHOO2 sodden vehicle and searches for the missing wig.  

He can't find it but retrieves a hold-all containing a stripy turtleneck sweater, a black beret, a pair of white gloves and some face make up.

Unregistered Miming is a crime in every sector in Mega City One with the unique exception of a small area surrounding Mitterand Maisons block in the Euro Zone.

Brittany Little's Apartment

With Med and Tek judges on scene at the Yes-a-Bout the Judges resume their investigation but decide to visit Brittany Little's apartment in Thatcher Tower.

Thatcher Tower was the focal point for an unsavoury politically motivated crime a couple of years ago - You can read more about this in the case files: Tales from Mega City One. 

The apartment is of typical pre-Atomic construction but Mr Little has done his best to recreate the atmosphere of a 20th Century Parisian apartment complete with Toulouse Lautrect ballerina print and framed reproduction adverts for something called Absinthe.

In the bedroom the Judges find a collection of wigs and an accounts ledger.  A recent tax deductable expense for $99.99 has been entered with a description of "The Boris".  Uthred puts his access card in the bedroom comp terminal and pulls up the Trend Toppers Toupee website.  He searches for "The Boris" and "The Magnum" and finds product pages for each.  The wigs are in stock available direct from Trend Toppers or through numerous high street vendors.  Uthred recalls that he has a contact card for Dapper John and gives him a call.

Dapper John is initially reticent to reveal confidential client information to a Judge as he could face a confidentiality lawsuit.  When he is informed that the clients are now dead he divulges that The Boris was sold to a Mr Little a couple of weeks ago at his boutique in Trump Tower.  He explains he is not in his office so will get his people to look into Mr Dwayneson's purchase history.  He promises that they will "search the records with a fine toothed comb" and he'll get bake to Uthred Tomorrow.

Hammer, Teal and Uthred conclude their investigation in Thatcher Tower and head out to the Robo-Vend Factory.

Robo-Vend  

The Robo-Vend factory is located in the Grimesy Wing of the Elon Tusk Industrial Park campus right  next door to the Sector 55 RESYK facility.

Clark Jeremy
Head of
Operations

They are met by head of operations Mr Clark Jeremy.  He is more than happy to show the Judges their Business Operations Network Control Center (The BONCC) where they monitor the operations of the half a million vending machines distributed throughout Sector 55.

Whilst he is giving the Judges the grand tour a technician tries to interrupt him struggling to hold a cascading pile of computer printouts.  The technician wears a name badge W. Kidde - Area 51.

W. Kidde
Technician
Area 51

Jeremy shoos him away saying "not now Kidde! can't you see I'm busy?".  Faced with this intimidating and dismissive tirade of poor people management, the berated technician retreats  in a grovelling fashion.

Jeremy is very cooperative and shows the Judges the feeds from the cameras installed in the 3 vending machines in the alleyway.  He explains that the cameras are programmed to only operate in 2 circumstances; 

1. when the machines have a cred stick or a valid MC1 ID Card inserted in them
2.  If they are being tampered with or vandalised.   

Jeremy runs purchase checks on Rock Dwayneson, Victoria Nobody and Dapper John.  All three have prior purchase records at both the machine in the Alleyway and other machines in the sector.  

• Dapper John's purchase history is consistent with an intern being sent out to collect large and myriad assorted Caf orders using a company cred stick.  Every order includes a Mocha with a shot of hazelnut.
  
  
• Rock Dwsyneson's caf consumption reveals a pattern of consistent use of the machine in the alleyway and the same double cappuchino.
  
  
• Victoria Nobody is an occasional buyer but always seems to purchase when she is running late for work and uses the same machine in the alleyway buying a skinny latte every time.
  

Prog 3 - It's Ugly Out There

Back Issues

Sector 55 Blues - Prog 1 - Suits You Sir

Sector 55 Blues is a Judge Dredd Campaign using the Savage Dredd unnofficial Savage Worlds Expansion.  This is an online only game with members from Dragons Keep Roleplay Club.

It's just another day in Sector 55 and Judge Belloch is giving his day watch briefing...

"Okay listen up cos I'm only going to say this once.  There have been increased reports of low level corpulent delinquency, the usual stuff, fatties hanging around outside munce burger joints and extorting the customers, blocking the pedways and just generally being a nuisance.  The head of local gang Mosh 55 got released from iso cubes yesterday so expect them to be full of juvie bravado.  Oh and there's an intermitten a fault in weather control so prepare for inclement weather.  Now get out there and bust some perps!"   

Juve Punk Lookout

Judges Teal, Hammer and Uthred peel out of the sector house on their law masters and it is not long before sector control routes them to a disturbance at Slooty Zute's Suite You, an upmarket clothes store on the Melania Boulevard level of Trump Tower.

 As they park their lawmasters outside they see a juve punk cuffed to a holding post.  Teal challenges the punk and he reflexively raises both hands in surrender, clearly he is not cuffed to the holding post.  Uthred, unhappy with the lack of response from the punk, cuts to the chase and punches him squarely in the chest knocking him against the glasssteel door and he crumples to the ground winded.  The autodoors open automatically and the judges can see 3 more punks in the store. 

Hammer springs into action and moves into the doorway and shouts "Freeze Punks!".  The juve on the floor shouts "Its the fuzz Sid!" and lashes out at Hammer with his foot.  The punks inside turn their attention to the Judges and the leader Vicious Sid opens up with his spit gun cutting the manequins to pieces and showering Uthred and Hammer in shrapnel which bounces off their armoured jumpsuits.

Judge Teal runs through the door shooting a 3 shot burst at Vicious Sid as he runs for cover behind a trio of mannequins.  It is clearly this punks lucky day as with a click the first round jams in Teal's lawgiver.  Uthred dives into the store and brings down a solid blow against the red head girl who blocks the blow with her spit gun.  Hammer moves to get line of sight on the fleeing Vicious Sid and plants a couple of GP rounds in his back.  Sid's luck has run out and the punk crashes to the floor knocking the carefully posed mannequins over like skittles in a bowling alley.  The fat punk behind the counter unloads both barrels of his stump gun at Judge Hammer missing wildy and ducks behind the counter to reload.   

Debbie Destroy	Fat Freddy	Vicious Sid

Teal moves to the corner of the display plinth, unjamming her gun but the fat punk behind the counter is behind cover so she throws her day stick bouncing it off the counter and onto his head.  Uthred cracks Debbie Destroy over the head concussing her as Hammer calls up an armour piercing round and shoots through the counter unsighted.  The round punches through the counter front but misses the perp.  Vicious Sid summons his last energy and desperately crawls towards the fire exit leaving a trail of blood behind him.        

Uthred runs onto the plinth and launches himself feet first over the counter landing squarely on fat freddy pushing all the air and what little fight was left out of him.  Hammer runs round to the pitiful gang leader Sid and tells him to give up.  Sid continues to scratch his way towards the exit.  The Judge notes his reaction and "Brings down the hammer" crushing the back of his skull with his day stick.

Cowering on the clothes store floor are 3 civillians.  Owner, Zlooty Slute, his partner Whistler Floot and a customer Dapper John.  They pick themselves up and graciously thank the Judges for their timely intervention.  

Zlooty Slute	Whistler Floot	Dapper John

Only then do the Judges realises that the juve outside is gone.  They cuff the perps to the holding post outside and call for a Pat Wagon and a Meat Truck to haul their carcases off to the iso cubes and Resyk respectively. 

Dapper John pushes his business card into Uthred's hand telling him that if he ever needs anything to give him a call.  Uthred has no idea who Dapper John is and looks back at him blankly.  Hammer recognises the citizen as a manscaping magnate and socialite who has several male grooming ventures throughout the city.

Judge Teal goes outside to see if she can see the juve punk.  The report of unexpected inclement weather is accurate as there appears to have been a short rain shower whilst they were engaged with the Mosh 55 punks.  Her observations are cut short by the piercing scream from the alleyway beside the clothes store.  Rushing to investigate she finds a hysterical woman leaning in shock against a wall pointing to the body of a bald headed man lying on the ground in front of a row of 3 vending machines.  Hammer and Uthred gain access to the alleyway through the fire exit.  

Turning the body over, the unfortunate man appears to be in his late 40s and has had his throat torn out severing the carotid artery.  Death would have been swift as he would have bled out in under a minute. 

Searching the body turns up an MC1 ID Card and a door key card.  The victims is an unemployed local resident, Rock Dwayneson, 48 of Apartment 738 Trump Towers.

On closer inspection of the corpse they notice that the victim is bald yet his ID shows him with a full head of hair.  An examination of the crime scene does not turn up a toupee.  Is this a case of a mullett mugging with menaces or did he have some cred chips on him?

The woman is Victoria Nobody a young window dresser on her way to work at Plenty Bags of Style from her apartment in Amundsen & Abba.  She was about to buy a Synthi Joe when she found the body.  Her story checks out as her outfit is spotlessly clean and the crime scene is showered in blood so the Judges let her leave.

Pondering the scene Teal buys herself a synthi-caf and the robo-vendo 3000 dispenses a perfect cup of joe with a cheerful refrain

"Always a pleasure to serve the Justice Department.  Have a nice day Judge Teal" 

It dawns on Teal that the vending robot may have seen the murderer.  Handing her caf to Hammer, she dials in another cup and asks the machine who used it today.  The machine cheerily replies "Back again so soon, you must be really thirsty.  You are my first customer today Judge."  A fresh hot cup of joe with a dash of hazlenut syrup plops onto the serving tray and the robots lights go dark.  Uthred suggests that they open it up and access its video logs.  A good idea if the trio were skilled Tek Judges but as Street Judges this is out of their particular skill and toolset.

At that moment the Resk  Meat Truck crew arrive to remove the dead bodies.  The Judges retrieve the gang's firearms and help load the perps into the Pat Wagon.  For their part in an Armed Robbery and a a serious assault this pair will be doing 40 years in the cubes before the day is out.

With a cold crime scene the Judges are left with three possible next steps:

1. Visit Dwaynesons apartment to see if there are any clues and maybe find the missing toupee.
   
   
2. Visit the vending machine supplier Robo-Vend to request copies of the vending machines video records.
   
   
3. Get back on their bikes and dispense some justice.

PROG 2 - Hair Today Gone Tomorrow - >