Deathworlders

A 56-post collection

Challenge #02986-H063: Surprising Gifts

They were a level 3.5 to level 4 deathworlder. Yet they wore a livesuit because they were quite small and looked almost like a humanoid jellyfish in appearance. Their world would be considered a 'gas planet' where none could land, but in a world where there is tonnes of organic matter, life would evolve. Not quite a gas giant as far as size and gravity, but not a small world. Yet the livesuit was not to protect them from the atmosphere of the station they had walked on to, it was to protect others from the stinging fronts that made up the majority of their body. -- DaniAndShali

They have a saying in the Alliance - assumptions will get you. The more common model of cogniscent follows the general rule of smaller Havenworlder, and bigger Deathworlder. Such is not always the case. It's always surprising when a small cogniscent unleashes a can of violence, or when a relative giant attempts to hide themselves from what they perceive as a menace. Then there's the matter of livesuits.

Some people wear livesuits to protect themselves. Some wear livesuits to protect others. It's never polite to ask which one was their reason. Some just decide to play it safe until they're in a guaranteed environment. Some unfortunate souls believe that livesuits are some kind of control-and-trace plot by shadowy figures and it's no surprise that they hardly go anywhere[1].

Livesuits only seem to be uniformly humanoid in shape. That's because one standard gravity is the most common area in which cogniscent life arises. Nevertheless, life finds its way. From phytoplankton in Venus' clouds to tardigrades hibernating inside comets, and cogniscents on the very edges of conceptual space. Cogniscents like the Zaang of Renkyn III.

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Challenge #02985-H062: The Superman Paradox

I would like to see a level 2 or 3 deathworlder who doesn't recognize a human as a level 4/4.5 deathworlder trying to be protective of the squishy. And the human letting them, on account of not being a fighting type of person. Right up until the level 2 or 3 deathworlder gets in over their head, and then the human is like nope. You do not hurt my protector. I am protector now, and it is time for adrenaline

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Challenge #02969-H046: Don't Try to Understand it

Many birds on Earth are unaffected by capsacinoids in hot peppers (mammals are bothered, but mammal digestive systems destroy the seeds of the pepper plants, while avian digestive systems let the seeds pass through unharmed). May we see some avian sentients enjoying a nice ghost pepper and carolina reaper salad with a flavorful habenero sauce? Eye-watering fumes that could bother any nearby mammals are a bonus. -- Anon Guest

Pretty much everyone agrees that Humans are fairly weird. They're hairless apes possessing

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Challenge #02966-H043: Non-crucial Failure State

In the early days, humans had just been allowed into the Alliance, but quite a few were still wary. These were very dangerous deathworlders. Sure they were smallish, depending on the species that worked with them, and somewhat squishy, but damn were they tenacious and dangerous! It was well known they were predators, too, that could, and would, eat pretty much anything, including quite a few things that were poisonous.

However, what the crew wasn't prepared for, was during dinner. The human

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Challenge #02964-H041: Deconstructed Battle

The day was a very boring day. The human just received a package of an old game but finely crafted made out of materials that are rare in their home-world, each piece have a Jewel that crowns the top. Excitingly they be called over a haven worlder that is a close friend of the human urging them to play. “You known I shouldn’t be surprised that many games contain some form of war or conflict” the haven worlder sighed. It been

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Challenge #02958-H035: Not That Harmful

Aboard a station, a man is raising a small number of bees. Yes people are frightened, yes they complain to the management. Management sends security. The man explains how these bees, though more for the safety of the bees than the people around them are being kept in a special enclosure filled with growing plants, are not the kind that are able to sting. And shows how to make friends with stingless bees.

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There are many varieties of bees and there is

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Challenge #02881-G324: Ten Siwu's of Trouble

"Of course I understand why you don't want more than one human on the ship. Back home we kept a guardian goose with the chickens." -- Anon Guest

Humans and their metaphors, am I right? Half of them are domestic animal excrement, but which half? The really scary part about these balding Deathworlder apes is that the half with a grounding in reality has the high potential to be truly terrifying.

Look this stuff up at your own risk, is what I'm

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Challenge #02814-G257: A Good Question

Aliens seeing and hearing lyrebird. That's it. That's the whole prompt. -- Anon Guest

The rocket thrust engines sounded at full throttle. They sounded from the throat of an otherwise grey and ordinary-looking bird with an ornate tail. After it was done rumbling, it imitated the sound of a few imager trigger sounds. Then it replicated precisely the zoo closing warning.

"Bing bing bong. The zoo will be closing in fifteen minutes. Please make your way towards the exit. The zoo will

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Challenge #02810-G253: Remember Rule One

A new combat instructor was assigned to my battalion. If I remember the instructor is that of the human race. They were formerly introduced to us and to be honest I was not impressed. The human was only two-thirds my size and look squishy as a havenworlder, hard to believe that they’re from a deathworld. I was given the chance to spar with the human, I couldn’t even touch them. -- Anon Guest

Many hear a word like "Deathworlder" and

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Challenge #02809-G252: Don't Be Fooled

Lots of stories with humans and delicate avian Havenworlders. How about one where the 'bird' descended from something like a cassowary. -- Knitnan

[AN: Compared with Humans, Cassowaries still have their weak points. The trick, of course, is getting close enough to exploit them. Cassowaries count as aviasaurs, and may not be Havenworlders by technicality.]

People tend to assume. If a cogniscent species looks like a bird, it's probably a Havenworlder. Many people coming across the aviasaurs make that assumption. Too many

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Challenge #02793-G236: Look He Likes You

I don’t know why, I want to pet this guy https://ifunny.co/fun/BUDyVF1h7?s=cl -- Anon Guest

[AN: Dear readers, the video linked is an alligator mating call. That reptile thinks the camera person is attractive o_O ]

Humans are well-known for wanting to pet every living creature on any given planet. Yes, even the toxic ones. There are Humans who keep toxic creatures as pets. There are Humans who laugh off "love bites" - but not from

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Challenge #02775-G218: Waste Not

[Level 2 Deathworlder] I don't know how you can be so relaxed about this human. This is an unknown planet and, save for a few starvation rations and potable water, we've no supplies left. All of the prey is too fast to catch, and you are obviously starting to look worse. HOW can you be so calm when all you're doing is banging rocks together, scraping sticks, and weaving those disgusting plants skin together?

[Human] Yes so I've lost some kilos, but

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Challenge #02746-G189: Fearsome Destructive Capabilities

Carbon fibre plates, reinforced with a titanium alloy. Hi spec thermal regulator, and military grade ballistic glass. Now I just need the human to stress test this livesuit. -- Anon Guest

"What kind of Human?" said Glorz.

"I'm not sure I understand the question."

"Well, there are the Humans you pay to try and destroy it, there's the Humans you pay to life-test it, and the Humans you pay to try and keep it in top condition. Then there's the fourth if

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Challenge #02652-G095: Never Going Gently

The question has been around since the beginning of analytical thought, but has become ever more perplexing since the arrival of humans, to philosophers across the galaxy...

Deathworlders, in Comparison to Havenworlders, are Incredibly short lived. and Humans, even excepting acts of self sacrifice, attempts at Darwin awards, and general mishappenings, a regular human has an expected lifespan of 90 to 110 standard years in optimal conditions. compared to the Hundreds that most Havenworlders live, (or as many humans put it, merely

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Challenge #02646-G089: Nothing?

Vorax-Ambassador: "Alright. I'm all decked out; got my calming Medication, my Weapons, my Suit, my Everything. I'm ready for this and nothing can Stop me!"

---'laughs in 4.5 Deathworld'--- -- Anon Guest

The Vorax are not mindless eating machines. Their metabolisms just happen to be set on 'rush' and they actively need dense calories to make it through the day. Usually. The advent of calming medication to keep their rage/pillage instincts curbed had helped diplomatic relations intensely. Therefore, the new

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