Justice Has Come to Ord Dt’Roit

Copyright Sony Pictures

Allex Mur’fy was just an average man from an average world in the Colonies working as a respectable Sector Ranger, but he felt he was destined for more from life.  He answered the call for experienced law enforcement officers to relocate to the Outer Rim colony world of Ord Dt’Roit.  Heeding the call of adventure, and a hefty relocation bonus, Mur’fy took his wife and young son to create a new start on Ord Dt’Roit.  Little did he know about what awaited him there.

Located on the fringe of Wild Space, Ord Dt’Roit was established during the waning days of the Old Republic as an Ordnance/Regional Depot (ORD) along what was expected to be an active route for colonial exploration beyond the Outer Rim.  Turmoil within the Republic diverted interest away from exploration and the world sat on the navigational charts; designated but unsettled.  It remained this way until almost fifty years before the Clone Wars.  Then it was purchased by an Arkanian company called Optimal Colonial Prosperity or OCP.

Founded by a young Arkanian scientist, Pol Verr’hoven, OCP had a stated mission of “…improving colonial life through advanced technology…”   In reality, OCP had a much darker purpose; serving as a legitimate cover for otherwise outlawed and unethical research.  Unlike the Arkanian Renegades of the ancient days of the Republic, Pol Verr’hoven understood all too well that his explorations would eventually gain him the scrutiny that would lead to his exile or arrest.  Early on during his studies, he founded OCP with a core group of like-minded researchers and investors and purchased the rights to Ord Dt’Roit.  This unspoiled world became OCP’s laboratory.

The world was established along the same lines as future experiments in corporate-owned colonization with the company hierarchy providing governance and colonists forming a consumer underclass.  Consumers worked for the benefit of the company and in return were provided modest housing and services from company-owned restaurants, bars, and stores.  Once on Ord Dt’Roit, most beings soon realized that they were nothing more than indentured servants to corporate masters and would never be free again.  A few of those rebelled and that led to reprisals from local law enforcement as such unrest was decidedly unlawful and against the interests of OCP.

The capital of Ord Dt’Roit was established atop a large, rocky plateau overlooking a scenic vista of lush forested wilderness with mountain peaks visible in the far distance.  Early on this was a necessity for the protection of the fledgling colony as a variety of native predators lurk in the virgin wilds of the forest lands around the city.  It also served well for early space traffic and eliminated the need to create clearings in the vegetation for landing pads.  OCP dubbed the city and spaceport Dt’Roit City though their colonist consumers derisively call it “Rock City”; in reference to being caught between a rock and a hard place.  Even so the lure of a new life, adventure, and opportunities captured the attention of many beings and now a diverse population of almost a million beings populate the city.

Copyright Sony PIctures

By the time the Clone Wars began, Verr’hoven, called respectfully the “Old One” by his subordinates, had already begun a new vision for Dt’Roit with the completion of a one-hundred story office spire as the centerpiece of OCP’s sprawling laboratory complex behind its walls on the west end of the plateau.  This was going to be the beginning of a facelift for the city called Desh City.  He knew from studying galactic history that the Clone Wars would create refugees and he actively sought those fleeing from the horrors of the war to come to OCP’s colony.  This provided workers for the mines and foundries that would create the metal to build his dream into a reality.  OCP continued to accept refugees up until a few years after the end of the Clone Wars as the defeated Separatists fled Imperial occupation or imprisonment.  It was then that the Old One realized that not everyone OCP had taken in were desperate.  Some were just criminals fleeing justice.

Almost seven decades have gone by and Ord Dt’Troit is no closer to being a successful colony world now under the Empire than it was under the Old Republic.  The galaxy at large has paid little attention to the world.  OCP maintains its charter over the planet and functions as the only law that matters here.  The Old One still runs the company and its interests but he rarely leaves the corporate tower.  He entrusts daily operations to the VicePrexes in charge of OCP’s various divisions, all of whom are Arkanian scientists of similar questionable ethics.  The greatest challenge they all face now is controlling the rising amount of crime present in Dt’Roit City.

It was a recent recruitment push by OCP that brought a promising Sector Ranger like Allex Mur’fy and his family to Ord Dt’Roit.  While plenty of local consumers have applied to positions in OCP’s Police Force, other factors such as his physical and mental aptitude made him a prime candidate for OCP’s Cybernetic Solutions (CS) division.  Cybernetic Solutions, headed by new VicePrex Bib Mort’n, is sitting on the verge of a dramatic breakthrough in law enforcement solutions and just needs the right test subject.

Under its previous VicePrex, CS attempted to reinforce local organic law enforcement officers with Enhanced Deputies under its ED-103 series project.  The ED-103’s were humanoid Yaka Cyborgs who had been altered by OCP’s scientists to remove all of their enhanced intellectual capabilities and replaced them with narrowly focused law enforcement parameters.  The program ended in disaster when two ED-103’s both responded to a domestic disturbance and then initiated a firefight with each other as both attempted to violently arrest the other as a party to the disturbance.

Among OCP’s divisions though, failure of one is an opportunity for the others, and none saw the failure of CS’s ED-103 project as more of an opportunity than VicePrex Deek Jonzz who heads OCP’s Advanced Robotic Technologies (ART) division.  An older Arkanian, Jonzz sees himself as the logical choice to one day succeed the Old One in running OCP.  To him, Bib Mort’n is an upstart and he and the CS division do not deserve a second chance.  He is pushing his division to field its Enforcement Droid, 200-series, rapidly.  ART’s latest iteration is the ED-209 series built on the chassis of a binary loadlifter droid with Class Four combat protocols, a pair of linked light repeating blasters replacing its loadlifter arms, and a side-mounted micro concussion missile launcher.  The only drawback to the ED-209 series, thus far, is that they are possibly even dumber than the ED-103’s were and are currently only relegated to area perimeter defense inside the walled compound of OCP’s campus.

Alexx Mur’fy had patrolled inside of Dt’Roit City for a little over two months when CS’s investment in him paid off.  After being separated from his partner, Mur’fy was confronted by the notorious crimelord Cl’rentz Bod’dika and his gang.  Bod’dika, a surly and blood-thirsty Twi’lek who had fled to Ord Dt’Roit following the Clone Wars, had made his mark by controlling spice, guns, prostitution, and all other manner of vice inside the colony.  He had made a reputation as being a “cop killer” and he did nothing to assuage this during his brief confrontation with Officer Mur’fy; he violently maimed the young officer with his blaster and toyed with the dying man before delivering a coup de grace to his head.

Under the terms of his contract with OCP, Mur’fy’s body was delivered directly to CS laboratories where work began on what Bib Mort’n had dubbed Project RoboCop as a purposeful dig at ART’s own robotic solution.  To him, the cybernetic cop that would exit the labs of CS would be the future of law enforcement not just on Ord Dt’Roit, but in the galaxy.  There were just a few loose ends to tie up; giving personal effects to the grieving family, paying them a healthy life-insurance policy, and relocating them back to the safety of The Colonies Region where they would have no idea what becomes of Allex Mur’fy.

Today, a new generation of law enforcement officer has been given to the citizens of Ord Dt’Roit and OCP is calling him RoboCop.  Beneath the laminate helmet and body armor covering his head, torso, and limbs, appears to be a human male, but the mechanical precision and heaviness of his footfalls betrays his non-organic nature.  His voice betrays no emotion or inflection as it intones its three directives: serve the public trust, protect the innocent, uphold the law.  Those who have seen him in action report that he moves with fluidity as his upper right leg opens up and he draws his H-7 “Equalizer” blaster pistol.  Once he has carried out his directives in a given situation he pauses only to twirl his pistol with a flourish before re-holstering it in his leg compartment and then driving off on patrol.

Justice has a new face in Dt’Roit City and his name is RoboCop.

For the Gamemaster:

OCP and its Cybernetic Solutions have spared no expense to create its RoboCop from the remains of Allex Mur’fy.  His limbs have been replaced with full cybernetics and the rest of his body except for his face has been covered with an armor skin.  Once his protective visor is installed over his eyes; the only thing that remains visible of his former humanity is his mouth and chin.  This link to his former organic life is on purpose as CS hopes that the beings RoboCop serves may forget that they are dealing with a creature that is now more machine than man.

Some may question why OCP even with a cyborg solution in the first place?  The answer is quite simple: because an organic brain can still out-think and react quicker than a droid in most situations.  Mur’fy’s brain was still mostly intact and his muscle memories were still there.  All CS had to do was install a brain implant to patch the damage and put its directives into the subject.  The brain requires an organic life support system as well so inside the torso of RoboCop still dwells the internal organs that Allex Mur’fy found vital to his existence.  While he may be called a RoboCop he still requires sustenance in the form of a daily ration of food paste, water, oxygen, and a regular sleep and recharge cycle.

OCP decided to have RoboCop store his handgun inside his leg so that in most situations he can walk around and appear to be unarmed, yet be able to arm himself at a moment’s notice when required to do so.  Also, in order to take advantage of the brain implant in his head, they installed a spike-like cyberjack in his left arm which can protrude at the first knuckle of his middle finger when he makes a fist.  In a pinch, this can be utilized as a weapon to deadly effectiveness when engaged in hand-to-hand combat.

RoboCop/Allex Mur’fy is driven by a keen sense of justice and a desire to uphold his three primary directives.  What is troubling to this otherwise cold and emotionless being though are the dreams which he does not discuss and which OCP has only the faintest inkling of.  He dreams of a family; a woman with dark hair and a smiling young boy.  He does not what this means, but his dreams tell him he should know and he should care.

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Brian (aka Stayker) got started with RPGs playing and DMing the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set (red box) back in 1982. He has played or GMed RPGs across all genres since then, but his primary focus since 1989 has been on Star Wars RPGs. His first d6 Star Wars campaign continued for 13 years of adventures in that galaxy far, far away. Brian currently lives in Wisconsin and he has a wife and three children. He has a 20+ year career in local government and previously served in the U.S. Army Reserve as a First Lieutenant. He has always wanted to be a writer and is very happy for the opportunity to write articles for d20radio.com!