A Dogs' Life

The Search/Destroy Agency was established in 2168 as part of the reforms agreed by the unified Earth Government and in response to the increasing lawlessness and expansion of colonial settlement across the galaxy. The Galactic Crime Commission had called for some form of law enforcement assistance several years earlier but it had been ignored; however, with such a large number of mutants exiled from the Earth and with considerable military and combat experience, the creation of an agency that could use their talents was the ideal solution.

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Advances in space drive technology during the 21st Century have led to the rapid expansion of humanity throughout the galaxy, accompanied by ambitious (and largely successful) terraforming projects to create a plethora of Earth-like worlds. Following the atomic wars of both the 21st and 22nd Centuries, off-world colonies offer the best quality of life for many humans, leading to equally ambitious colonization programs. By 2180 humanity is ubiquitous throughout the galaxy, occupying over two hundred different worlds.

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Humans being what they are, crime has naturally been a major interstellar export and the extensive, chaotic, partially governed network of colony worlds has given criminals the perfect environment to escape to and hide out. Just as the frontiers of the old American west offered sanctuary for outlaws, desperadoes and fugitives from justice, so too do the colony worlds.

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Policing such a chaotic system is practically impossible. Police administration is invariably localized, often corrupt and chronically lacking in resources: criminals find it easy to evade the law and go to ground: apprehending them is a difficult and often futile exercise. To keep the galaxy clean requires men and women who are unafraid of getting their hands dirty; men who are prepared to hunt down fellow men and women for profit. The Search/Destroy Agency was established to administrate, regulate and operate the network of professional bounty hunters required to help maintain law and order by apprehending wanted criminals.

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The law enforcement agencies of the various colony worlds and systems are responsible for identifying and setting the bounties on the heads of wanted criminals, and they advise if a criminal is operating under a death sentence which can be enforced under a Termination Warrant. The S/D Agency is responsible for taking these warrants and administrating them across the galaxy, ensuring that licensed S/D Agents – Strontium Dogs – are aware of the warrants out there, understand a warrant’s terms and work to bring fugitives to justice.