There are billions of stars, millions of planets, but there is only one man, Terrance McDoogal. Welcome to LIU Atlas.
LIU Atlas - Unicus
The Ludgonian Industrial Union's galaxy contains billions of stars and billions of planets. Unfortunately, most residents of the LIU could only name a handful of these worlds. In order to improve astronomy grades across the LIU, TV2 has started a new program called LIU Atlas. Follow our host, Terrance McDoogal, as he takes you on a tour across the LIU and some of its more obscure worlds.
Note: This episode is presented in full screen. The corresponding dialogue is underneath each photo.
Note: This episode is presented in full screen. The corresponding dialogue is underneath each photo.
Doog: “Welcome to Season Fourteen of LIU Atlas. I’m your host, Terrance “Doog” McDoogal. Today, we’re visiting the moon, Unicus, which orbits the gas giant, Utut. Unicus is a carbon world, a moon or planet that is carbon-rich and oxygen-poor. The majority of the planet consists of carbon allotropes, like graphite, graphene, and various carbides. Even the atmosphere is made up of carbon gases, specifically carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. There’s no water on carbon worlds due to the lack of oxygen, and Unicus is no exception. Why would anyone choose to live here? Mining. Worlds like Unicus are rich in important minerals. Let’s head down and check it out.”
Doog: “As I mentioned before, there’s no oxygen on carbon worlds. So, you can see that I’m wearing a respirator. There is an atmosphere though, so the temperature and atmospheric pressure are close to standard. I appear to be in the middle of some type of industrial complex. I presume it has something to do with mining. Let’s go find out.”
Doog: “Uh, hey little guy. Are you, my guide?”
Worker: “Are you crazy?! Don’t talk to me!”
Doog: “Why not? Hey! Where are you going? Whoa, no need to flip me off with all four hands. That’s a bit excessive. Alright, so much for that person being my guide.”
Worker: “Are you crazy?! Don’t talk to me!”
Doog: “Why not? Hey! Where are you going? Whoa, no need to flip me off with all four hands. That’s a bit excessive. Alright, so much for that person being my guide.”
Naro: “What did he tell you?! Answer me, now!”
Doog: “He told me to F-off four times – simultaneously I might add.”
Naro: “Are you sure he said nothing else?”
Doog: “He asked if I’d stop talking to him, but that’s it.”
Naro: “Good. From now on, you speak to no one but me.”
Doog: “Uh…ok. Who are you?”
Naro: “I am Naro Soldato. I’m one of Unicus’ enforcers.”
Doog: “Enforcer?”
Naro: “Like, screw up, and I force a bullet through your head, enforcer.”
Doog: “I think I get the picture.”
Doog: “He told me to F-off four times – simultaneously I might add.”
Naro: “Are you sure he said nothing else?”
Doog: “He asked if I’d stop talking to him, but that’s it.”
Naro: “Good. From now on, you speak to no one but me.”
Doog: “Uh…ok. Who are you?”
Naro: “I am Naro Soldato. I’m one of Unicus’ enforcers.”
Doog: “Enforcer?”
Naro: “Like, screw up, and I force a bullet through your head, enforcer.”
Doog: “I think I get the picture.”
Doog: “Whatever you’re mining here must be pretty expensive if you’re this strict.”
Naro: “This stuff here? Not really. Graphite is relatively common, even on non-carbon worlds.”
Doog: “Yeah, I guess it would be silly to shoot someone over pencils.”
Naro: “Graphite is used for much more than that. It’s used in battery production, to make lubricants, and as a component of metallurgical assembly. Advanced forms of graphite, like intercalated graphite, are used as super-conductors.”
Doog: “Oh. I guess that means it moderately valuable.”
Naro: “This stuff here? Not really. Graphite is relatively common, even on non-carbon worlds.”
Doog: “Yeah, I guess it would be silly to shoot someone over pencils.”
Naro: “Graphite is used for much more than that. It’s used in battery production, to make lubricants, and as a component of metallurgical assembly. Advanced forms of graphite, like intercalated graphite, are used as super-conductors.”
Doog: “Oh. I guess that means it moderately valuable.”
Naro: “Graphite has some value, especially at the scales we are able to extract it. Unicus, and her sister worlds, have unimaginable quantities of the stuff. This moon alone has a thousand mining stations. We sell almost fifty million metric tons of graphite every year.”
Doog: “That sounds like a lot. The gun is making some more sense, now.”
Naro: “Don’t be foolish. My enforcement duties have nothing to do with graphite.”
Doog: “Oh. Does it have something to do with the little, four-arms guys? Are they slaves or something?”
Naro: “The Quattuor are not slaves. They are paid fairly.”
Doog: “Do they originate from this planet?”
Naro: “Of course not. There is no life on carbon planets.”
Doog: “So, you brought them here?”
Naro: “Yes. The Quattuor are perfect for this line of work. They’re small enough to maneuver the mines, dexterous enough to handle all forms of mining tools, and extremely loyal. We have imported them to all our carbon worlds.”
Doog: “That sounds like a lot. The gun is making some more sense, now.”
Naro: “Don’t be foolish. My enforcement duties have nothing to do with graphite.”
Doog: “Oh. Does it have something to do with the little, four-arms guys? Are they slaves or something?”
Naro: “The Quattuor are not slaves. They are paid fairly.”
Doog: “Do they originate from this planet?”
Naro: “Of course not. There is no life on carbon planets.”
Doog: “So, you brought them here?”
Naro: “Yes. The Quattuor are perfect for this line of work. They’re small enough to maneuver the mines, dexterous enough to handle all forms of mining tools, and extremely loyal. We have imported them to all our carbon worlds.”
Doog: “Wait, who is we?”
Naro: “The Adamas Cartel, obviously.”
Doog: “Don’t shoot me, but I’m going to need you to elaborate. I’ve never heard of this cartel.”
Naro: “You’ve never heard of Adamas Cartel? We’re you born in the outer-rim?”
Doog: “No, but I’m pretty naïve when it comes to galactic affairs.”
Naro: “The Adamas Cartel controls all the carbon worlds in the galaxy. It took several decades and lots of spilt blood, but the cartel is now one of the galaxy’s greatest industrial entities. By controlling all the carbon worlds, we’ve achieved a monopoly.”
Doog: “You have a pencil monopoly?”
Naro: “The Adamas Cartel, obviously.”
Doog: “Don’t shoot me, but I’m going to need you to elaborate. I’ve never heard of this cartel.”
Naro: “You’ve never heard of Adamas Cartel? We’re you born in the outer-rim?”
Doog: “No, but I’m pretty naïve when it comes to galactic affairs.”
Naro: “The Adamas Cartel controls all the carbon worlds in the galaxy. It took several decades and lots of spilt blood, but the cartel is now one of the galaxy’s greatest industrial entities. By controlling all the carbon worlds, we’ve achieved a monopoly.”
Doog: “You have a pencil monopoly?”
Naro: “No! The Adamas Cartel has a diamond monopoly.”
Doog: “There’s diamonds on carbon worlds?”
Naro: “Of course. There are trillions of them. All this graphite and carbon gets compressed into diamonds under the surface.”
Doog: “Wow. So, the cartel purposely took control of all the carbon worlds so you’d have the galaxy’s largest supply of diamonds.”
Naro: “Correct. It wasn’t easy either – well, at first. Plenty of people had the same idea. Before the Unification War, my cartel was involved in multiple conflicts. Luckily, we won most of them. We attained a majority of the carbon worlds. After the Unification War and the rise of the LIU, our conquest changed. There was no longer physical violence, just economic violence. We used our majority to slowly take over the rest of the carbon worlds.”
Doog: “What kind of economic violence?”
Naro: “We flooded the market with diamonds and crashed their price. Our smaller competitors couldn’t keep up, and, one by one, they left the business. The more that left, the stronger our control of the market became. Eventually, we achieved a monopoly.”
Doog: “I see.”
Naro: “To reach the diamond mines, we need to descend. This shaft contains an elevator. Follow me.”
Doog: “There’s diamonds on carbon worlds?”
Naro: “Of course. There are trillions of them. All this graphite and carbon gets compressed into diamonds under the surface.”
Doog: “Wow. So, the cartel purposely took control of all the carbon worlds so you’d have the galaxy’s largest supply of diamonds.”
Naro: “Correct. It wasn’t easy either – well, at first. Plenty of people had the same idea. Before the Unification War, my cartel was involved in multiple conflicts. Luckily, we won most of them. We attained a majority of the carbon worlds. After the Unification War and the rise of the LIU, our conquest changed. There was no longer physical violence, just economic violence. We used our majority to slowly take over the rest of the carbon worlds.”
Doog: “What kind of economic violence?”
Naro: “We flooded the market with diamonds and crashed their price. Our smaller competitors couldn’t keep up, and, one by one, they left the business. The more that left, the stronger our control of the market became. Eventually, we achieved a monopoly.”
Doog: “I see.”
Naro: “To reach the diamond mines, we need to descend. This shaft contains an elevator. Follow me.”
Doog: “Whoa, hey. I’m being scanned.”
Naro: “It is harmless unless you’ve brought weapons with you. It will, however, become very harmful if you try to take any diamonds out. Keep that in mind.”
Doog: “What if one gets stuck to my shoe on accident.”
Naro: “Then I shoot your foot off.”
Doog: “Yikes. I better drag my feet.”
Naro: “It is harmless unless you’ve brought weapons with you. It will, however, become very harmful if you try to take any diamonds out. Keep that in mind.”
Doog: “What if one gets stuck to my shoe on accident.”
Naro: “Then I shoot your foot off.”
Doog: “Yikes. I better drag my feet.”
Doog: “What am I looking at here?”
Naro: “A sifting device. Carbon regolith obtained from these depths contains diamonds. It is simply a matter of breaking away the more brittle graphite. Let’s pull out the tray.”
Naro: “A sifting device. Carbon regolith obtained from these depths contains diamonds. It is simply a matter of breaking away the more brittle graphite. Let’s pull out the tray.”
Naro: “Collection trays of varying sizes collect diamonds of differing sizes.”
Doog: “There’s so many…”
Naro: “It is but a fraction of a haul. We extract almost as many diamonds as we do graphite.”
Doog: “Your cartel must be filthy rich.”
Naro: “We are wealthy enough, but not near as rich as we could be.”
Doog: “There’s so many…”
Naro: “It is but a fraction of a haul. We extract almost as many diamonds as we do graphite.”
Doog: “Your cartel must be filthy rich.”
Naro: “We are wealthy enough, but not near as rich as we could be.”
Doog: “What do you mean?”
Naro: “The monopoly has put us at odds with the LIU. They can’t break up our monopoly. It would tarnish their pure-capitalistic economic empire. But they can’t allow us to freely set market price either – too many other industries rely on diamonds. If we raise prices however we like, we risk destabilizing the whole galactic economy.”
Doog: “So, what did they do?”
Naro: “In exchange for keeping our pricing fair market value, the LIU has offered the cartel several perks.”
Doog: “Like what?”
Naro: “Elite citizenship for all cartel members, military protection of our worlds, and positions of power within the LIU. We may not be filthy rich, as you said, but we wield significant political power.”
Doog: “I see.”
Naro: “I enjoy many of these perks, but not all. Most of the perks are reserved for the cartel’s upper management. Speaking of which, it’s time to ascend and visit the palace.”
Naro: “The monopoly has put us at odds with the LIU. They can’t break up our monopoly. It would tarnish their pure-capitalistic economic empire. But they can’t allow us to freely set market price either – too many other industries rely on diamonds. If we raise prices however we like, we risk destabilizing the whole galactic economy.”
Doog: “So, what did they do?”
Naro: “In exchange for keeping our pricing fair market value, the LIU has offered the cartel several perks.”
Doog: “Like what?”
Naro: “Elite citizenship for all cartel members, military protection of our worlds, and positions of power within the LIU. We may not be filthy rich, as you said, but we wield significant political power.”
Doog: “I see.”
Naro: “I enjoy many of these perks, but not all. Most of the perks are reserved for the cartel’s upper management. Speaking of which, it’s time to ascend and visit the palace.”
Doog: “I’m so nervous. What if I say something wrong and they send me to sleep with the fishes?”
Naro: “There’s no water on Unicus.”
Doog: “Oh yeah, I forgot. I guess I have that going for me. Hey, are these LIU soldiers?”
Naro: “Yes. They’re a military protection detail for the Capo.”
Doog: “The what? Capo?”
Naro: “Caporegime – the cartel leadership on Unicus.”
Naro: “There’s no water on Unicus.”
Doog: “Oh yeah, I forgot. I guess I have that going for me. Hey, are these LIU soldiers?”
Naro: “Yes. They’re a military protection detail for the Capo.”
Doog: “The what? Capo?”
Naro: “Caporegime – the cartel leadership on Unicus.”
Naro: “Each carbon world has a caporegime assigned to them. They oversee the cartel’s operations on that planet or moon. They report to even higher members of the cartel.”
Doog: “I see.”
Naro: “This is Capo Enzo and his wife, Tarran. They are also my uncle and aunt.”
Doog: “Uh, hi there.”
Enzo: “Do you have any questions, TV reporter?”
Doog: “No, I think I have it figured out. Once you get past his gritty, enforcer persona, Naro is a real chatterbox.”
Naro: “No, I’m not! I only said what I was supposed to say, uncle!”
Enzo: “Really…”
Doog: “I didn’t mean it that way! Naro said the right amount! Don’t make us take a dirt nap – or a diamond nap for that matter!”
Enzo: “Ha, I like this guy.”
Naro: “Me, not so much.”
Enzo: “Ha. All is well, nephew. However, we are about to meet with the big boss. Perhaps you should keep your friend quiet.”
Naro: “Gladly.”
Doog: “I see.”
Naro: “This is Capo Enzo and his wife, Tarran. They are also my uncle and aunt.”
Doog: “Uh, hi there.”
Enzo: “Do you have any questions, TV reporter?”
Doog: “No, I think I have it figured out. Once you get past his gritty, enforcer persona, Naro is a real chatterbox.”
Naro: “No, I’m not! I only said what I was supposed to say, uncle!”
Enzo: “Really…”
Doog: “I didn’t mean it that way! Naro said the right amount! Don’t make us take a dirt nap – or a diamond nap for that matter!”
Enzo: “Ha, I like this guy.”
Naro: “Me, not so much.”
Enzo: “Ha. All is well, nephew. However, we are about to meet with the big boss. Perhaps you should keep your friend quiet.”
Naro: “Gladly.”
The Boss: “So many thrones, so little time. Where am I today?”
Enzo: “Unicus, my don.”
The Boss: “Unicus, Unicus. Ah, yes. Number twenty-three. Let’s see here…uh huh. Everything looks good. Production looks solid. Cashflow is within range. My cut is here. Very good, Capo Enzo.”
Enzo: “Thank you, don.”
The Boss: “That just leaves one question. Who is this human?”
Enzo: “He’s a representative of the LIU – part of an educational TV show.”
The Boss: “You allowed the LIU to film our operations?”
Enzo: “Don, I thought it might finally give us the respect we deserve.”
The Boss: “You thought? I don’t pay you to think. Enforcer, take care of the Capo after the human departs. Then call me back.”
Enzo: “Don! That’s not necessary! Nephew!”
Enzo: “Unicus, my don.”
The Boss: “Unicus, Unicus. Ah, yes. Number twenty-three. Let’s see here…uh huh. Everything looks good. Production looks solid. Cashflow is within range. My cut is here. Very good, Capo Enzo.”
Enzo: “Thank you, don.”
The Boss: “That just leaves one question. Who is this human?”
Enzo: “He’s a representative of the LIU – part of an educational TV show.”
The Boss: “You allowed the LIU to film our operations?”
Enzo: “Don, I thought it might finally give us the respect we deserve.”
The Boss: “You thought? I don’t pay you to think. Enforcer, take care of the Capo after the human departs. Then call me back.”
Enzo: “Don! That’s not necessary! Nephew!”
Doog: “Well folks, I need to quickly wrap this up. I do believe there’s about to be a murder. Unicus is one of many carbon worlds controlled by the Adamas Cartel. By holding these planets, the cartel maintains a loose monopoly on several goods, chiefly diamonds. This has given the cartel significant economic and political power within the galaxy. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get out of here. See ya!”
Naro: “Get out, Doog! Now!”
Doog: “I’m going! I’m going!”
Note: The colonization of carbon worlds and the subsequent diamond harvests have altered galactic culture. Diamonds, being in such abundance, are no longer sought out for jewelry. They have been replaced with rarer jewels, like hyper-rubies.
Naro: “Get out, Doog! Now!”
Doog: “I’m going! I’m going!”
Note: The colonization of carbon worlds and the subsequent diamond harvests have altered galactic culture. Diamonds, being in such abundance, are no longer sought out for jewelry. They have been replaced with rarer jewels, like hyper-rubies.
