We are privileged to have with us, Judge Sharp, who has conducted an extensive investigation into the subject at hand, and has agreed to brief you and answer questions. Judge Sharp.

Thank you, Clemens. No doubt, at some point in your career, you have wondered, in a city with so many robots, why it is that robot law enforcement personnel have never been considered. Some may argue that our technology is not sufficient to the task, that no robot could embody or emulate the wealth of training and experience that marks a Mega-City One Judge, or that the judgment of humans should be left to humans. All these points are valid, and there have, in fact, been three separate attempts to produce a robot Judge. In this briefing, we will examine the history of the Mechanismo Project.

The Mark I Robot Judge

In 2114, concerned about the decimation of the Justice Department in disasters such as Necropolis and Judgement Day, Chief Judge McGruder instigated the Mechanismo Project, the creation of a robot Judge. Under the direction of Tech-Judge Desmond Stich, ten prototype units were created.

The Mark I version was based on the old Mark III War-Droid  body chassis, and stood over two and a half metres tall. The head was designed to resemble a Judges helmet, and the arms and legs were molded to resemble standard issue padding, including the eagle shoulder pad. The badge, placed in the centre of the chest, concealed an access panel. The badge itself bore the legend ‘Judge’; the ten prototypes had only numbers. The reinforced armoured bodyshell was be able to withstand laser strikes up to intensity 12. The computer brain had a direct link to M.A.C., and was able to identify any recorded individual within 3 seconds, as well as including a lie detector (which worked with an estimated 80% success rate) and a pollution meter. Additionally, the head unit included sophisticated infra red and image intensification sensors, allowing perfect night vision and four times the normal human vision distances. All systems ran off of a powerful generator, which could operate for approximately 500 hours before requiring a 12-hour recharge. The units’ personality chip was based around Judge Dredd's behavior patterns.

The Mark I's primary weapon was a massive cannon, incorporating a prototype Lawrod Mk. II and a pulse laser. The Lawrod had twice the ammunition capacity of the current Lawgiver Mk. 11, and was capable of rapid fire. The pulse laser could fire a destructive energy pulse, equivalent to that of a laser rifle. In addition, the beam could be narrowed to function as a cutting beam, or tuned to fire a neuro-electric Stun Pulse. This weapon was extremely heavy, and fitted with a standard self-destruct charge. The robot also carried a back up weapon in the form of a prototype Lawgiver Mk. 11 concealed within the right thigh. Additionally, the unit had a number of built-in weapon systems. Both hands were hinged, and could drop away to reveal a pair of launchers. The left wrist could fire a cling-net, and the right wrist concealed a six-shot grenade launcher, typically fitted with Stumm or poison gas grenades. Each of the robots forearms held a pair of high-explosive smart missiles, designed as an anti-vehicle measure. The Mechanismo unit was was also equipped with a oversized daystick, and rode a larger version of the standard Lawmaster.

The robots utility belt held spare ammunition, power packs, 5 hand bombs, 5 Stumm grenades, 5 sets of handcuffs and 10 bleepers.

The robots were fitted with aggression chips, and were designed to think independently and make their own decisions, but problems with the behavioral inhibitor caused three units to run amok and kill several citizens, resulting in all of the robots being withdrawn from service after only a few hours on the streets. Two units refused to stand down and had to be destroyed. One unit (No. 5) spontaneously reactivated later and started to bring its own warped version of justice to the citizens, before being hunted down by Judge Dredd.

Despite being badly damaged, the robot killed several Judges, buried Dredd himself in a cave-in and escaped into the sewers. The Mechanismo Project was ‘officially’ closed down. Judge Stich took the failure badly, and was committed to a Psycho Cube.

The Mark II Robot Judge

A year after the failure of the original project, Chief-Judge McGruder revealed that the project had been continued in secret, refining the robots programming and behaviour. After extensive testing, the Mark II Robot Judge was unveiled. This was almost identical in appearance to the Mark I, but the computer brain was vastly improved, and fail-safes had been added to prevent the behavioural inhibitors from overheating. Additionally, the robots had less autonomous control. Equipment and weapon systems were exactly the same as their earlier versions, although none were issued with Lawmasters, and were transported in a modified H-Wagon.

At about the same time, No. 5 re-emerged. It had been found and recharged by a pair of scavengers in the sewers, who were subsequently ‘executed’ for their trouble. The rogue robot, now quite insane, continued to ‘dispense justice’, killing everyone it met for the smallest crime. Bizarrely, No. 5 continued to report to Control. Tech-Judge Greel, now in charge of the Mechanismo Project, considered that the hunt for No. 5 would make an excellent test of his new robots abilities, and sent the Mk. II prototypes to find it. At the same time, Judge Dredd was hunting the rogue unit.

Eventually, Dredd, accompanied by the deranged Judge Stich who had escaped his Psycho Cube to look for ‘his’ rogue robot, cornered No. 5 in the sewers. Before Dredd could act, No. 5 was destroyed by one of the Mk. II’s, which chose to ignore a direct order from Dredd. Dredd destroyed the Mk. II, and convinced Stich that the Mk. I had managed to get the better of the newer robot. The Mk. II was then officially abandoned, as it was seen to be unreliable – it had been overpowered and destroyed by an obsolete, barely functioning machine.

The Mark II design is currently used aboard Justice Department spacecraft, and have have proved reasonably reliable.

The Mark IIa

The Project was again continued in secret after the ‘failure’ of the Mark II. Greel, now head of Tech Division and a member of the Council of  Five, ordered a complete redesign. The Mark IIa was taller and sleeker, with a streamlined, stylised helmet and black bodyshell. The uniform more closely resembled the traditional Judges uniform. For the first time, the units were given names instead of numbers - they were all called after the Presidents of old America. The weapon systems were largely removed, and the Mark IIa was equipped with a prototype version of the Lawgiver Mk. 11. The excessive firepower of the Mark I and II had been regarded as overkill in any case, as more could be accomplished with a single, well-aimed shot.
The unit was also equipped with a short range needle laser in each hand. This was primarily intended as a cutting beam, although it could be used in an anti personnel role if necessary. This was powered directly from the robots power-core, and could effectively function indefinitely.

The computer brain was improved greatly, increasing speed and accuracy. In addition to the standard systems, the Mark IIa was fitted with a vocal synthesiser that could imitate any voice with 99% accuracy.

  Shortly before the Mark IIa was to be unveiled, Chief Judge McGruder discovered that Dredd had lied about the Mark II’s failure, and sentenced him to 20 years on Titan. McGruder planned to sell the Mark IIa design offworld, and arranged to visit the colony on Hestia, the 10^th planet in the Solar System, while on the way to Titan. The plan failed – the struggling colonists had little or no need for a robot policeman, as there was little crime – and the robots performed disappointingly, unexpectedly ‘freezing’ at inconvenient moments. Justice 4 set off for Titan, but was forced down into the Wilderlands region of the planet by sabotage. It later transpired that the robots had been reprogrammed to cause the Chief Judges death, either indirectly (freezing at dangerous times) or directly (sabotaging Justice 4). On her return to earth, McGruder reinstated Dredd and stood down from the Chief Judges position, but not before transferring Judge Greel to Traffic Control. The Mechanismo Project was finally abandoned.

This concludes the briefing; in-depth technical specifications concerning the design and capabilities of the Mechanismo units are available below.

Standard Threat Assessment Template

Target Size: Normal

Mark I

+2 Effect Modifier to Hand-to-Hand attacks.

Primary Weapon - Hybrid Widowmaker and pulse laser.  Ammunition capacity: 72 rounds of GP, 12 rounds each of everything else. Capable of rapid fire. The pulse laser carries a 50-charge power pack, and can be fired as a laser rifle (cost two charges per shot), used as a cutting beam (equivalent to las-saw, using 5 charges per Combat Round), or fire a neuro-electric Stun Pulse (1 charge, causes 1D6 automatic stuns, Range 20m). Requires a S of 4 to lift, 6 to fire, and is fitted with a self-destruct charge.
Backup Weapon: Lawgiver Mk. 11
Additional Armaments:
Left Wrist: Cling-net launcher (30m range).
Right Wrist: Grenade Launcher (30m range).
Forearms: 2 Smart Hi-Ex Missiles per forearm (500m range, +2 Effect modifer, 5m Burst Radius). Each missile requires 3 aiming actions, but thereafter hit their target with 99% accuracy, even if it has moved out of sight.
Daystick, 5 Hand Bombs, 5 Stumm Grenades.

Mark II

Armaments are identical to the Mark I.

Mark IIa

The Mark IIa was equipped with a prototype Lawgiver Mk. 11
Cutting Beam: Range: 1m, +3 Effect Modifier, -25% CS chance to hit.
Laser: Range: 20m, 0 Effect Modifier.