Unity City
- You may be looking for the city from the audio story Unity.
Unity City was the capital of Earth's world government by 2065. The President of Earth's office was located there.
Unity City was an hour's hoverjet flight from Space City, home to the military command of Earth's space fleets. (COMIC: Ceasefire — But War Tension Mounts...) It was located in Bermuda. (COMIC: On the Trail of the Kaplan's Killer...)
History[[edit] | [edit source]]
Attempts to make peace with the Astrans[[edit] | [edit source]]
Proposed peace treaty[[edit] | [edit source]]
As reported by TV Century 21, the World President issued secret orders to the Space Fleet. They believed that Colonel Zodiac had been called to World Capital Unity City to see the President. Official rumours also reported that the Astran ambassador had been called to Unity House. (COMIC: Duel of the Daleks)
Indeed, World President Nikita Bandranaik summoned Steve Zodiac and Commander Zero to Unity City to meet the Astran ambassador, with Zodiac and Zero making their way there by hoverjet from Space City. After an hour's flight, they arrived and entered the President's office. Upon arriving, Zodiac was informed that the mission he was assigned was so dangerous that he would almost certainly die, (COMIC: Ceasefire — But War Tension Mounts...) a statement which Bandranaik agreed with, although Zodiac stated that he was interested in anything that would stop a space war. (COMIC: President Offers Peace...)
TV 21's Unity City correspondent was Jack Elson. He was arrested on the afternoon (COMIC: Duel of the Daleks) of 8 May 2065 (PROSE: Atlanta Kidnapped!) in the grounds of the President's private residence while attempting to follow up the story behind Zodiac's mysterious visit to the President. (COMIC: Duel of the Daleks) On the same day, "usually reliable sources" also reported information regarding this visit to TV Century 21. (PROSE: Atlanta Kidnapped!)
Steve Zodiac was assigned with bringing a letter to Astra and delivering it to their leader, the Kaplan, despite the Astran space fleet being prepared to "shoot first and ask questions later", meaning that he would seemingly have to evade their notice; although Zodiac suggested that the ambassador could tell them he was coming, they would apparently believe it to be a trick. At the end of the meeting, they left Unity City and returned to Space City, with Steve taking off in Fireball XL5. (COMIC: President Offers Peace...)
He was ultimately discovered by the Astran space fleet shortly after entering Astra territory and, after surrendering, Zodiac was ultimately able to convince the Kaplan to accept the President's invitation to meet and sign a peace treaty, news of which reached Earth, being published by outlets such as Unity City News. (COMIC: Colonel Zodiac Disappears)
Assassination of the 610th Kaplan[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Main article: Assassination of the 610th Kaplan
Upon arrival at Unity City, the Kaplan was placed into a hovercar with Nikita Bandranaik, just in front of Zodiac and the Kaplan Minus's. Although they had accepted the invitation, the Kaplan was shot by an assassin (COMIC: Assassination!) - Count Lugosti. (COMIC: On the Trail of the Kaplan's Killer..., etc.) This caused the Astrans to distrust Zodiac and the other Solarians (COMIC: Assassination!) and caused the Kaplan Minus to automatically be promoted to the role of the 611th Kaplan, (PROSE: Kaplan Assassinated!) with Zodiac being given 36 hours to find the killers. This news was seen by Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward and Parker, (COMIC: Assassination!) who left in FAB 1 to track down the Kaplan's killer. (COMIC: On the Trail of the Kaplan's Killer...)
News of this assassination was reported to TV Century 21, who noted that the 610th Kaplan had been in the role for 20 years, returning to office in 2061 by a 90% poll, and that it would be a sad day, not only due to the death itself, but also due to the fears of repercussions as a result of the assassination during a peaceful visit. TV 21 also reported that Lady Penelope had made a sudden departure for Unity City in a Fireflash Airliner, with it being believed that she was travelling there to investigate the assassination. This report also included a photograph of Unity City. (PROSE: Kaplan Assassinated!)
Search for the Kaplan's killer[[edit] | [edit source]]
After deciding that it is most likely to have been Count Lugosti, the underworld's most skilled gunman, Lady Penelope and Parker travelled by Fireflash to the city, where the World Security Patrol were not allowing anyone to leave. As Parker revealed that Lugosti was a gambler, they decided to search the casino. Penelope was able to identify him by his lack of sun-tan, and cheated in a game against Lugosti with the help of Parker, which irritated Lugosti. Lugosti followed Penelope and Parker and held them at gunpoint, demanding that they "hand over the dough".
Penelope then asked if the gun he held was the same used to shoot the Kaplan, and used her truth drug to get him to tell her the truth. He told her that he used a rifle, and after a call to Zodiac and Commander Zero, Lugosti was taken in for questioning. (COMIC: On the Trail of the Kaplan's Killer...) Zodiac and Zero placed Lugosti into a hovercar so they could drive him back to H.Q., with Zero driving, although they ultimately had a collision with another vehicle, allowing Lugosti to escape as a gang attacked Zodiac and Zero. However, despite Zodiac being knocked unconscious by Lugosti's apparent rescuer, he was shot due to him now being known to the police. (COMIC: Zodiac Makes an Arrest)
After a search over both cars, nothing was found, leading Zodiac to propose a house-to-house search of the area they cordoned off, with everyone blueprinted and X-rayed. He then made his way to the President, telling the police that he'd be there if they found anything. Bandranaik asked what had happened that morning, with Zodiac commenting that although it was a "bad blunder" on their part, it may have been for the best, as Lugosti likely wouldn't have told them anything, and it revealed that the gang was inside their cordon, with Zodiac believing they'd have them by nightfall. The Astran ambassador commented that the Kaplan Minus would be leaving for Astra that day, and that if he caught them, he should bring them there for justice.
At this moment, a Major informed the Nikita that Zodiac was wanted at the casino, leading him to travel there in a hovercar with a police escort. As Zodiac entered, he was informed that the casino had been used as Lugosti's hideout, and that they'd found an underground room beneath the gaming room, although they couldn't enter as a remote controlled machine gun would shoot at anything that attempted to enter, and although a grenade would dispose of the gun, it would also bring down the tunnel roof. Zodiac then had the idea that they could tear some silver paper into shreds and drop them into the room as Zodiac snuck in by holding onto the sprinkler pipe while the gun was distracted. The pipe began to tear away from the roof, (COMIC: Army In House To House Search) leading Commander Zero to tell Steve to stop still, as if it broke, he would fall into the gun's line of fire.
Zero then told people to find a fire hose and bring it to him; when they brought it over, he told them to turn it on at full pressure. The water from the hose was poured over the machine gun, breaking it moments before it would've shot at Zodiac. Along with the rest of their group, Zero and Zodiac rushed through the rocky corridor, coming to a huge cavern which opened out into the sea, with them just missing the criminals, who escaped via submarine. Zodiac demanded that they be arrested, and told Zero that the Naval Air Corps needed to be alerted so that the submarine could be picked up by spotter planes. He ultimately decided that Stingray would need to capture it. (COMIC: Assassins Escape!)
The request from Steve Zodiac was picked up by Marineville's control tower, with Commander Samuel Shore deploying Troy Tempest and Phones Sheridan in their vessel, Stingray. (COMIC: Stingray) Zodiac's request was reported on by TV Century 21 on 19 June 2065, stating that the assassins were believed to be escaping from Unity City in an underwater craft. TV 21's Unity City crime reporter also sent reports regarding the search of Unity City's casino by Steve Zodiac and the World Security troops. (PROSE: Zodiac Sends for Stingray!)
Stingray were ultimately successful in destroying the criminals' submarine, with the criminals left stranded in the ocean. Stingray contacted Unity City, reporting that their surface vessel Cranborne would pick them up and take them to Space City. (COMIC: Stingray) After the criminals - Barger, an accomplice, and an Astran assassin - were captured, Steve Zodiac and Commander Zero returned from Unity City to Space City. (COMIC: Zodiac Flies Out...)
Later history[[edit] | [edit source]]
A late flash from Unity City reported that World President Younger had resigned office, owing to ill health, and that he would be succeeded by Vice President Roberts. It also reported that a ship being made to honour Vice President Roberts had to change its name to President Roberts. (COMIC: The Big Tip-Off!)
Other references[[edit] | [edit source]]
The power house of Cloudbase apparently produced enough solar energy every day to provide Unity City with power for a fortnight. (PROSE: Cloudbase [+]Loading...["Cloudbase (feature)"])
