The legendary, but somewhat unconventional Psi-Judge of Justice Department, Cassandra Anderson, ensures the safety of MC-1.
Cassandra Anderson is, after Dredd himself, perhaps the most storied of Mega-City One’s Judges. Born with the powers of telepathy and precognition, she is one of the special individuals recruited by Justice Department’s Psi-Division. As the name would suggest, Psi-Division is populated by Judges gifted with varying types of psychic powers, ranging from precognition to empathy, telekinesis to telepathy. It also contains others who focus on more rarefied fields such as sorcery, exorcism and even the mysterious Dream Police.
Acting both alone and besides Dredd, Anderson has saved Mega-City One, travelled the stars, and defeated Death himself. Like Dredd, her career is too long, and her story too rich, to present here in its fullest detail. Instead, there follows a small sample of this singular Judge’s services to Mega-City One:
Judge Death and the Dark Judges
Anderson rose to prominence during Judge Death’s first incursion into Mega-City One. With the Justice Department’s initial attempts to stop the Death failing, Psi-Division assigned Anderson to team up with Dredd. Together they thwarted the Dark Judge by destroying his corporeal form and trapping his fleeing spirit inside Anderson’s body, itself sealed in the ‘miracle plastic’, Boing.
Death would, however, return once again. Rescued from his imprisonment by his fellow Dark Judges Fear, Fire and Mortis, Death unleashed a fresh wave of terror on MC-1, this time accompanied by his undead brethren. Anderson once more proved instrumental in the defeat of Death and the Dark Judges. Together with Dredd, she forced the creatures back to their benighted home planet of Dead World, itself purged of all life by the Dark Judges. There Anderson channelled the vengeful spirits of the Dark Judges’ victims, giving her the power to destroy them, at least temporarily.
Necropolis
Anderson’s incursion into Dead World was not the last time Anderson would face Death and his cohorts, however. First, they tricked her into providing a means for them to return to Mega-City One, only to be outwitted and trapped in limbo by Anderson and her fellow Judges. Then the Dark Judges’ acolytes, the Sisters of Death, manipulated both Judge Kraken (a clone of Judge Dredd) and Psi-Judge Agee (Anderson’s colleague), using them to locate the lost Dark Judges and return them to MC-1. Once again unleashed on the city, they turned it into a necropolis and took control of the Justice Department, bending its Judges to their will. Only a further intervention by Dredd and former Chief Judge McGruder—both returning from the Cursed Earth together with the wounded Anderson—saw the Sisters banished back to Dead world and the Dark Judges defeated once again. 60 million citizens, however, died before they were vanquished.
City of the Damned
In the year 2107, Psi-Judge Fey predicted that Mega-City One would be destroyed in the year 2120 by an unknown creature of immense power. With the invention of the time-machine Proteus, however, Chief Judge McGruder was able to order Anderson and Dredd to travel into the future and see if the destruction of the city could be averted. Arriving in 2120, the pair discovered MC-1 has been destroyed by a creature known only as The Mutant, and all the city’s Judges had been turned into wanton vampires. Further investigations by Dredd and Anderson revealed The Mutant to be a failed clone of Owen Krysler, the so-called ‘Judge Child’ who had previously been identified by Fey as the only being powerful enough to save MC-1 from The Mutant. Realising The Mutant was too powerful to destroy, Anderson and Dredd then used Proteus to return to 2107 and destroy Krysler before his powers could manifest.
Orlok the Assassin
Anderson has crossed paths with Sov Block assassin Orlok on more than one occasion. Having first uncovered a (successful) plot to free him from the iso-cubes in 2110 AD, she later led an attempt to capture Orlok, at that time hidden in an arctic bunker along with a cadre of Sov Judges. Orlok, however, evaded her.
Their paths would not cross again until Anderson encountered the assassin whilst on assignment on Mars. Together they stopped a race of powerful aliens from eradicating mankind. Suffering a crisis of conscience, Anderson then resigned as a Judge and allowed Orlok to go free.
She would meet Orlok one last time during the Second Robot War of 2121 (see Nero Narcos and the Doomsday Scenario). Having been reinstated as a Judge, Anderson returned to Mega-City One only to be captured by Orlok, who had also taken Dredd prisoner. Orlok then smuggled his two captives out of the war-torn MC-1 and transported them to a city of docked ships known as the Mediterranean Free State. An independent micronation, the Free State was home to the displaced government of East-Meg One. Now known as the Diktatorat, this government had been stateless since the destruction of their city during the Apocalypse War.
Upon arrival at the Free State, Dredd was placed on trial for the destruction of East-Meg One during the Apocalypse War (See The Deeds of Dredd for more details), with Anderson forced to be his counsel for the defence. The Diktatorat broadcast the trial live across the Earth in anticipation of sentencing Dredd to death. However, Anderson’s skilled defence made Orlok admit Dredd had acted purely in defence of MC-1- after East-Meg One not only launched the nuclear assault on Mega-City One which began the Apocalypse War, but also assigned Orlok to weaken the city by instigating city-wide Block War. Anderson’s defence proved so effective that the Diktatorat were forced to find Dredd not guilty, much to Orlok’s disgust.
Classic Moment
Judge Death Lives (2000AD progs #224–228 / Judge Dredd The Complete Case Files 5)
Anderson channels the spirits of the Dark Judges’ victims. Bitter, these spirits turn on the Dark Judges and destroy them.
Further Reading
Dark Justice (2000AD progs #1912–1921, 2015 (Christmas Special) / Judge Dredd; Dark Justice)
The Dark Judges have invaded the starship Mayflower and have set about slaughtering the 4,000 incumbents. Meanwhile Anderson and Dredd are en route as they attempt to reach the Mayflower and thwart the Dark Judges.
Extract from Dredd’s Comportment
‘Psi-Judges are unable to use the drugs which slow down the aging process of normal street Judges, meaning Anderson has aged at a regular rate. Now in her early sixties, she remains dedicated to Mega-City One and her role as a Judge. How long her body can withstand the rigours of that role remains unknown, but knowing Anderson, she won’t go out without a fight. Or a joke.’
Anderson’s stats and skills reflect her vast experience. Her stat line puts her on par with a senior street Judge, and her suite of skills—namely Fortitude, Gunfighter, Let’s Ride! and Respect the Law—mean Anderson is more than capable of holding her own on the crime-ridden streets of Mega-City One.
However, Anderson’s abilities as a Psi-Judge really set her apart from her fellows in the Justice Department, letting her use any of the special Psi skills—namely Psionic Control, Mind Probe! and Pre-Cog—as listed in the Judge Dredd Miniatures Game rulebook. Psionic Control allows Anderson to control a perp long enough to make them attack another perp. Pre-Cog gives Anderson and her fellow Judges advantages in attack or defence by predicting those opponents’ actions. Finally Mind Probe! lets Psi-Judges such as Anderson subdue perps by intruding into their thoughts and inflicting Stun markers upon them.
These psionic abilities, combined with her martial prowess and training, make Anderson—as befits a Judge of her experience and legendary status—a difference-maker in any confrontation.
Richard Coates