Logan Town, Candoria

This afternoon, counsel for the Mecrotica Conglomerate made their opening statements, thus beginning the trial for the robbery-gone-wrong murder of Bot Drayen. The sheer absurdity of this horrific murder’s available details has captivated galactic citizens from the Conglomerate’s homeworld to distant Derra IV - no small feat, given that planet’s reputation for increasingly frivolous violence. Even in a time when desensitization to strife is at an all-time high, the public has followed the case closely.

For readers unfamiliar with the case, Darius Andromeda has been charged with the murder of Bot Drayen, a shopkeeper in the employ of Mecrotica Trade. Counsel retained by the corporation alleges that on Day 117 of this year, Andromeda entered the Mecrotica trading post orbiting Derra IV and attacked Drayen, unprovoked, with a vibro axe while her back was turned. Footage taken by a security droid corroborates this narrative in gruesome detail. The same footage also appears to depict the accused remaining in the shop’s lobby, focused on the entry hatch with weapon drawn as if in wait, for an additional twelve standard hours. Thankfully, this fell within a lull in the shop’s normal busy hours, and no further innocents became involved, while the wait gave investigating authorities a sizable head start to respond to the automated distress signal sent by droid security.

Adding to the timeline presented by the security droid footage, scanner logs from local authorities show a Sprint-class light freighter registered to Andromeda rapidly cycled its sublight drive up to full power, presumably on a course out of the planet’s gravity well and the system itself. Shortly after, the craft’s registration changed to another denizen in an apparent effort to confuse pursuers. It did not, and after the new owner was contacted, they immediately disabled the ship remotely, stranding Andromeda. He was apprehended shortly after by a boarding party of Mecrotica security staff, with a bloodstained axe in his possession.

Andromeda is being represented by the local firm of Dewey, Burnham, & Howe of Logan Town, Candoria. Counsel for the accused immediately motioned for the charges of robbery to be dropped, claiming, “Our client din't steal nuttin!” Documents obtained from the court show that after trying various arguments meant to acquit their candidate on a technicality, counsel for the defense decided to fall back on a plea of insanity. Sources close to the proceedings have confirmed that, while the defendant does show signs of a possible personality disorder and a developmental abnormality that could hamper his moral judgment, he has been deemed fit to stand trial. Subpoenaed medical reports shared by the Court indicate that the defendant was also suffering from severe Ryll withdrawal at the time of his arrest, and could suggest dependency. Andromeda is currently being held at an undisclosed prison facility until the trial concludes.

Mecrosa has not confirmed when their Derra location will reopen for public sales. With the complete dependence systems like Derra have on imports for all but the basic necessities, speculation on the economic impact of a decision by corporations to forgo the risk of doing business has been mounting. Only time will tell how the effects of this case may ripple across the rest of the galaxy, but it seems certain that circumstances are unlikely to improve for the average sentient already struggling to scrape by in the war zones they call home.