"Ghosts of War" is the sixth episode of RoboCop: The Series.
Synopsis[]
A group of mentally unstable Amazon War veterans break into the Omni Militech storage facility to steal military-grade weaponry. They trigger the silent alarm, prompting RoboCop respond to the crime in progress. When he arrives, a gunfight breaks out until one called "Combat Bill" – who RoboCop recognizes as Alex Murphy's childhood friend Frank Uno – uses a plasma cannon to stun RoboCop, allowing them to escape.
As other officers wheel away RoboCop, Detective Lisa Madigan arrives and Charlie Lippencott tells her of RoboCop's condition, worrying that his memory has been wiped. Sergeant Stanley Parks tells Madigan that the only forensic evidence recovered from the scene were dogtags. Vice President of Omni Militech, Eugene Omar arrives. Skeptical of Madigan being in charge of the case – on the grounds that she is a woman – he is resistant to revealing what was stolen due to its top-secret nature.
Gadget and Charlie make repairs for RoboCop as he continues to recall memories of Murphy and Frank Uno, specifically Frank being a fan of the cartoon Combat Bill. Madigan arrives and tells RoboCop that one of the dogtags belonged to someone in Hard Company, an elite group of soldiers who were killed nine years ago in the Amazon during the Feliz Navidad Offensive. Parks comes to get Madigan, as she has been summoned immediately for a meeting with Omar and the OCP Chairman.
The Chairman and Omar show to military officers Omnium, an element developed by OCP to power Delta City's cold fusion reactor. Omar details the security measures to the officers before they excuse themselves to meet with Madigan. They tell her that the contents of the warehouse must not be divulged to the public, fearing a panic would occur.
Charlie installs on RoboCop an electrostatic dampening field to prevent him from being disabled by the plasma cannon again. Meanwhile, RoboCop positively determines Combat Bill to actually be Frank Uno.
The Chairman and Omar show to Madigan a video demonstration of the plasma cannon, which was designed to destroy electrical systems of any enemy technology or personnel. Madigan believes that the weapon must be revealed to the public, but Omar threatens her with treason if she did so.
At their hideout, the veterans are given pacifying drugs by Dr. Rimmer and Colonel Albert Brox as they await to embark in their next mission. One of them, Lupus, has a brief psychotic episode and is given an injection. He is carried to his bed by Frank, but dies moments later.
Back online, RoboCop finds Madigan, who looks up the file on Hard Company, the veterans responsible for the theft. However, all of the are listed as killed in action with no next of kin, including Frank. Diana Powers appears to Murphy, who asks her to access top secret data on Hard Company.
RoboCop drives by Frank's foster parents' home, again recalling Murphy's childhood memories. When Diana appears, he tells her of his friendship with Frank and recognized him as one of the thieves. Diana reveals that she discovered Hard Company had been assigned to a top secret biochemical project codenamed Big Sword shortly before their apparent deaths. She further reveals that the company was led by General Eugene Omar.
Frank openly becomes upset with Colonel Brox's apparent indifference toward Lupus' death. Brox responds that if they do not continue and succeed with their mission, many others like Lupus will die.
Lupus' body is recovered and identified, confirming that the government lied about his death nearly a decade prior. Omar confronts Madigan after RoboCop demanded his presence to take him in for questioning about the robbery. RoboCop and Madigan show Omar the evidence of Frank and Lupus being alive beyond their supposed deaths. When RoboCop asks if Omar had any knowledge of them being alive, he lies, saying that he did not. Pressed further, he says that Hard Company was actually a cover story for the Ghost Squad, a volunteer group of soldiers tasked to carry out top secret missions.
Hard Company breaks into Public Works as Colonel Brox hijacks a police signal to broadcast his demand for Omar to reveal the details of Big Sword, or else MetroNet be destroyed. Charlie confirms that the plasma cannon stolen by the group was indeed capable of destroying MetroNet, depleting Delta City of its power potentially for decades. Omar refuses to give into Hard Company's demands and is backed up by the Chairman. RoboCop offers to defeat the group alone. En route to Public Works, Diana tells RoboCop that she is powerless against Hard Company and fears for her own death.
Mediabreak reports the seizure of Public Works, accompanied by an interview with the Chairman, who assures that the situation will be safely dealt with. RoboCop arrives on the scene and easily incapacitates Gloria Chung before boarding an elevator to the remaining company's location. They attempt to freeze him and shoot him with the plasma cannon, but these attempts to disable him are unsuccessful. When Frank prepares to shoot an explosive weapon, another one of the company quickly points it to the floor to save the Omnium. RoboCop and Frank fall to a lower floor. Alone with his old friend, Murphy asks Frank to detail Big Sword to him, learning that it was focused around a chemical designed to kill people, but not plants. To keep Hard Company quiet, they were returned to the United States to be institutionalized and drugged. They were freed by Colonel Brox and Dr. Rimmer to reveal Big Sword to the public. Meanwhile, Brox and Rimmer kill Hard Company member Adam Rakshi, dumping his body near RoboCop and Frank. RoboCop asks if Frank still believes Brox and Rimmer to be on his side. Brox and Rimmer extract the Omnium from its core as Diana helplessly watches, NeuroBrain's shutdown imminent. The Chairman demands Omar's resignation as Brox and Rimmer prepare to leave, planning to sell their spoils to their South American partners. Frank accompanies RoboCop to save Diana and learns that RoboCop is his old friend, Alex Murphy.
RoboCop and Frank confront the thieves. Rimmer is stunned when Brox accidentally fires the plasma cannon at him and Brox is taken down when RoboCop shoots the plasma cannon and causes it to overload. Murphy recovers the Omnium and returns it to NeuroBrain's core, saving MetroNet and Delta City. Wounded, Frank collapses and asks Murphy to deliver pass along a message to his parents, but dies before he can tell Murphy what to say. Murphy decides to tell them that Frank died for his country.
Mediabreak reports Congressional hearings on Big Sword, which approved funding to treat Amazon War veterans who were exposed to the deadly chemical. Omar resigns from Omni Militech. RoboCop, Madigan, Gadget, and Parks honor Frank and hope that the war will soon come to an end.
Cast[]
- Richard Eden as RoboCop
- Yvette Nipar as Lisa Madigan
- Blu Mankuma as Stanley Parks
- Andrea Roth as Diana Powers
- David Gardner as Chairman
- Sarah Campbell as Gadget
- Jon Cypher as Eugene Omar
- Roger Earl Mosley as Frank Uno
- Ed Sahely as Charlie Lippencott
- Dan Duran as Bo Harlan
- Erica Ehm as Rocky Crenshaw
- John Bourgeois as Col. Albert Brox
- Juan Chioran as Dr. Rimmer
- Martin Julien as Lupus
- Sugith Varughese as Megabyte Man
- Jackie Richardson as Bea
- Janet Lo as Joan of Arc (uncredited)