Ludus “Sea Of The Outlaws”
Third Quadrant
Threat Levels: Extreme
Biome: Mass Radiated Sea and Aquamarine Life
Ludus was a peaceful aqua biome with the occasional tropical islands, the locals resided on floats and boats, mainly living on a lifetime supply of marine life along with a diverse and wonderful ecosystem. There were tribal chiefs but no major forms of leadership to communicate with the rest of the quadrant, life was extremely care-free and easy.
There were three bright suns in which Ludus orbited around, it was an entire year of summer for the miniature planet that merely contained a few million fishermen. Albus Of The Reefs, a deep sea diver had just came from a 30 minute diving session, he hooked the plankton net he held onto the wooden ladder of his tiny two-men wooden raft. The old diver's head had emerged from the sea, he expected the warm tropical breeze of Ludus, he expected the red hot sun rays that had tanned him to the last layer of his skin. What Albus saw, well, he died.
Two Suns had turned black, or something was blocking the Suns. Well, the locals in the North of Ludus hadn't had time to find out what that was, like our poor Albus. Ludus had turned a shade of grey, the last Sun could barely beam a fraction of its sunrays down to Ludus. Next came a billion tonnes of chemical waste, trash and pollution from the black shape in the sky. The miniature trash and objects were melted to its core when they reached the stratosphere of Ludus but the toxic waste and gas seeped through the damaged skies of Ludus. The sky bled acid and the cries of the locals were unheard of as explosions of radiation formed in the skies, raining down chemical waste that burned the locals to crisp. Poor Albus attempted to dive back into the sea before a blackened, deformed fridge door found itself embedded into the diver's skull.
Radiation and every forms of toxin melted and laid waste to Ludus, those lucky enough to escape the rain succumbed to a slow, painful death from diseases and extremely strange growths and tumors. The shape that blocked the Suns, as the dying locals called it was a Atlas Disposer-35 from Imperium Ortex, one of the most powerful empires in the neighbouring quadrant. Imperium Ortex was heavily polluted and they came up with a brilliant idea, to lay waste to the cleanest planet in the galaxy. It was so brilliant that the Imperium Ortex were expelled from the GCC (the Galactic Civillizations Circle) under the vote of 142 against the 58 empires the Imperium attempted to bribe for attempts of rackteering and unecessary destruction of the galaxy's ecosystem.
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This angered the Imperium thus, being the proud militarist nation they were, launched a full scale invasion on Galan, one of the most powerful planets with the highest influence in the GCC which had decided for the Imperium to. Ludus had triggered a short intergalactic war that lasted merely a year. The Imperium Ortex were decimated by the entire GCC and signed a treaty to cleanse Ludus to the best they can. Several vacuum chambers were set up to rid of the severely toxic air, much of the waste that littered the sea were also swept away, back in the Atlas Disposer-35. The sea, however,could not go back to what it was, it was an ocean of acid. The tropical islands were unrestorable so the Imperium decided to construct large prisons and rafts that housed thousands of the galaxy's most notorious thieves and criminals.
It was particularly impossible to escape Ludus due to a sea in which you could not swim in it without growing an extra head and the marine life were an abomination ruined by the radiation. Of course no one would attempt to escape, it was yet again, a brilliant idea.
The Imperium Ortex had obviously not considered housing the criminal masterminds of the galaxy behind more secure bars. Two weeks after the mass movement of prisoners from several prisons in the Fourth Quadrant, Ludus had overran the guards from the Imperium. Soon, Ludus was a planet of outlaws. Leading the 2 minute prison break was Ed Gorran, the greatest thief to ever exist in the galaxy, he had united an entire prison before overthrowing the Imperium guards themselves. The major criminals agreed to rule an area of the acidic ocean and an empire of outlaws was established.
The outlaws adapted well, making use of the mass availability of rafts and boats from the Imperium, Ludus was overran with bandits on boats.
Pirates.
Upon observing that little to no criminals were leaving Ludus, the GCC and the Imperium left Ludus undefended, a lawless acidic aqua biome for a haven of crime. This attracted many outlaws from every direction of the galaxy to Ludus, the lawless sea was a bounty hunter's dream as many bounties fled to Ludus for so called safety. Black markets, tech implant auctions were the prime economic sectors of Ludus. Pirates operated on boats, taking turfs for themselves while securing riches. Ludus was ruled by bandits, uncountable areas of the acidic sea were under control by warlords, the only individuals that kept Ludus from self-destructing.
Twenty four years after the prison outbreak, Ludus had gained galactic fame for inspiring an iconic lullaby for terrifying misbehaving children:
Im gonna drop you headfirst into Ludus.
Into the sizzling acid pot that it is,
Where you will grow an extra head,
an extra limb,
an extra brain
If you ever survive the lawless waste
Don't dream about augmentations or implantations,
for you will emerge an abomination..