Former Judge, Kyle Asher, returns from the penal colony on Titan after serving twenty years. Working as a third-class sludge technician he is determined to prove that he can still serve the city he swore an oath to, Judge Dredd is not so sure of him, and questions whether there is such a thing as a penitent man in a place like Mega-City One. However the SJS, the Judges Internal Affairs division, are determined to run Asher out of town, and Dredd wants to know the reason why.