Judge Demarco
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      In the early 21st century overpopulation finally peaked with hundreds of
millions of people crammed into the massive megacities.  With over 80% of the
population unemployed and frustrated crimerates skyrocketed worldwide.  To
police these urban jungles a new breed of police were needed.  Empowered to
sentence criminals on the spot the Judges were the police, judge, jury and
(if need be) executioner rolled into one.  Originally just an elite police
force after President Robert L. "Bad Boy" Booth began the atomic wars the
surviving populace turned to them and the Judges took power.  By this time all
nations had adopted variations on the Judge System and this signaled the start
of all of them taking political control of what remained of their homelands.
     With most of America a wasteland thanks to the nuclear exchanges and
decades of environmental abuse the country ceased to exist as the three
American megacities became autonomous citystates.  Citystates where conditions
were worse than ever as their populations swelled yet again from the influx of
refugees.  With the nightmares spawned by the radlands outside and an urban
jungle within the walls the Judges have to maintain an iron grip to keep their
cities from spiraling into chaos and self destruction.
     Mega-City 1 covers most of the East Coast of North America.  The most
crimeridden of the megacities it is also the home of Judge Dredd.
     "Mega-City 1 ... 800 million people and every one of them a potential
criminal.  The most violent, evil city on Earth ... But, God help me, I love
it!" - Judge Dredd, Prog 59 "Return to Mega-City"
     The most prominent judge in the city and perhaps the world he has saved
Mega-City 1 (and during "Judgement Day" the entire planet) from total
destruction on several occasions.  He has also defeated a variety of threats
from both larger than life adversaries and the regular but still lethal crime
that permeates Mega-City 1.  But good as he is Dredd can't do it alone and
he's worked with a lot of other Judges.  Here's one of them.
     Dredd first met Judge Galen Demarco when he was assigned as Sector Chief
of Sector 301, better known as The Pit.  Cut off from Mega-City 1 proper by
the Apocalypse War and its aftermath fourteen years earlier The Pit had become
a slum used by the Judges as a dumping ground for their problem cases.  Not
surprisingly it wasn't the best policed sector, corruption was rife and morale
was rock bottom.  Dredd was sent in to clean up the 301's Sector House and
started looking for judges he could rely on to help him.
     Demarco seemed a prime candidate, she handled herself well in combat and
had an excellent record.  The only troubling thing was that she had requested
a transfer to 301 rather than accept Senior Judge status in her old sector.
Few of her age got the chance to advance to Senior Rank so why had she turned
it downe?  Demarco claimed she felt she wasn't ready yet to move up and that
The Pit would prove a good testing ground.  Dredd felt there was more to it
than that but he couldn't deny her effectiveness as she became a vital part of
his anti-corruption crusade.
     But he couldn't ignore his suspicions and discovered the truth.  A
Judge's only love is supposed to be The Law, all others are distractions and
forbidden for that reason.  Demarco was engaged in an "unjudicial liason" with
Judge Hal Warren.  Warren wasn't the best choice she could have made as he had
nowhere near Demarco's drive or efficiency and had been transfered to The Pit
for incompetence in the line of duty.  Demarco had followed him to 301.
During the investigation had Warren ran off when the Judge following Demarco
had got into trouble while Demarco had saved her life.  For that Demarco was
suspended from active duty rather than dismissed from the force like Warren.
Warren blew his stack and attempted to assault Dredd which meant a jail term.
However fate intervened in the form of a riot backed by the mob known as the
Frendz.  Escaping custody Warren turned his back on the law and went looking
for Demarco.  He knew that her late father had been a wealthy man and left her
a lot of money in a foundation.  Being a rich fugitive sounded a lot better
than being a poor one.  Demarco guessed where Warren would go after escaping
but he got the drop on her.



      Having hijacked a hoverpod Warren and Demarco waited for her contact
as the Sector went up in flames around them.  Meanwhile Dredd was under seige
at a traffic station along with Judge Eddie Lee, Demaro's partner.

   


     As you might have guessed Demarco wasn't too interested in helping Warren
and when he hit the ground he took out a pair of looters who were gathering
the falling money.  Probably the closest thing he'd done to acting like a
Judge in months.  Sadly Demarco wasn't in time to aid Lee but Dredd did return
her to active duty though a black mark remained on her record.  Despite which
she proved herself time and again in The Pit to the extent that she became a
viable candidate for Sector Chief and was transferred to become the Sector
Chief of Sector 303.
     Shortly after assuming the post she asked for Dredd to be transferred to
303.  Dredd accepted the assignment but wondered why as Demarco didn't seem to
need his help.  Until the fateful night that he discovered the truth.


     Sure enough Demarco had fallen for Dredd.  He didn't return her feelings
and told her the incident had never happened but very uncharacteristically
didn't report it and shortly afterwards showed (for him) excessive concern
when was badly injured by vigilantes..
     Dredd was reassigned and left the sector while Demarco recovered and
resumed her post.  It looked like that was that but rumours about the two of
them began.  Rumours that would lead to unpleasant consequences









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