Chapter Text
The HIA system—the Hostile Intensity Assessment system—was used by the Universal Union to assess how dangerous a planet was, they based it on three main factors:
1: A planet's physical features: terrain, climate and weather.
2: A planet's dominant life force, like whether or not it's sentient, how aggressive or friendly it is, if it's a hive mind or individual-based, general stuff.
3: A planet's well-being, to give a few examples: how polluted it is, how close its core is to imploding or exploding, how close its sun is to consuming it, if it's fractured, how its atmosphere is holding up. (Sometimes the third factor is non-applicable because not all planets have a core, sun, atmosphere, or inevitable event horizon.)
Once the HIA system is used, the planet is classified as belonging to one of five types of planet:
Classification ᔑ: The safest type of planet. Planets of this classification include the surrounding solar system in the classification. Planets in this classification are typically highly policed to protect the peace, unless they are newly discovered, in which case after the HIA system has confirmed the classification, supplies are sent nearly immediately. Planets with this classification are generally considered to have extremely friendly people and very low crime rates.
Associated with a lighter shade of the color most commonly recognized as "cyan."
Classification ʖ: The second safest type of planet. These planets are generally the same as Classification ᔑ planets except for the fact that they're less policed and there are more freedoms for the people, however, crime is freer as well. Planets with this classification are generally considered to have fairly friendly people and reasonable crime rates.
Associated with a lighter shade of the color most commonly recognized as "yellow".
Classification ᓵ: The third type of planet is fairly safe, though they are typically ranked this way because a few or maybe even all of the surrounding planets are unsafe and have an...unsettling attitude towards visitors. Planets with this classification are generally considered to have welcoming enough people and low-medium crime rates.
Associated with a neon shade of the color most commonly recognized as "orange".
Classification ↸: Typically, these planets are either deathworlds or have an extremely violent species roaming it, occasionally both, when visiting these planets a guide is highly recommended as they are considered very dangerous and not tourist safe. Sometimes, on these planets, only a chunk is allowed to be observed, the rest is cut off to any and all outsiders. Planets with this classification are generally considered to have flippant and/or aggressive people and medium-high crime rates.
Associated with a neon shade of the color most commonly recognized as "red".
Classification ᒷ: These are the worst of the worst, on a need-to-visit basis, these worlds are mostly deathworlds, mostly inhabited by war-driven species with a thirst for blood or sociopathic species with an apathy towards everything and everyone. These planets are not open to tourism of any kind, deals can only be made with the dominant species for scientists or diplomats to visit with a guide that guarantees their safety. Planets with this classification are generally considered to have violent or murderous people and extremely high crime rates by the UU's definition of crime.
Associated with the monotone shade that is occasionally considered a color: "black".
The discovery of Delltikae and its inhabitants warranted the creation of a new type:
Classification ⎓: Do not land, do not enter the air space, do not enter another planet in the solar system, do not enter the solar system, do not enter the galaxy, do not enter the surrounding hundred galaxies! DO NOT ALLOW THE DOMINANT LIFEFORM TO BE MADE AWARE OF THE EXISTENCE OF OFF-PLANET SENTIENT BEINGS.
Associated with a darker shade of the color most commonly recognized as "blue".
Ranboo was quiet, that's just how they were, it was thanks to their head buzzing to the tune of The Walk at all hours of the day/night cycle their "owners" had chosen. The Walk made it easier to do as they were told and complete any labors that their "owners" required without the typical mental strain that came with being unwillfully employed.
Ranboo was also quiet when The Walk wasn't present, though that was not often, as The Walk not being present was saved for when there was something that required their genuine focus and not just a mindless drone to be told what to do. They were drawn out to pay attention when they were being sold, it wasn't a new thing and they were back in The Walk spon enough, it didn't phase them like it did the first time that it had happened, what did phase them however, was what they were expected to do.
Ranboo was not a fighter and they certainly weren't someone who should hold their focus under stress for more than a day/night cycle, but they could no longer afford to listen to The Walk if they wanted to keep their head.
They were forced to focus, forced to fight alongside people and animals who hated the situation they were in and by association, everyone in it. Ranboo was snapped or screamed at on the constant by beings that Ranboo was supposed to entrust with their life, so they let the nature of "everyone for themselves" take hold and allowed everything that breathed to melt into meaningless blotches.
The blotches came and went, sometimes they would leave and never come back, sometimes a new blotch would stay for a bit then pass through, sometimes a new blotch would stay for good, sometimes a bunch of blotches would go out on a "mission" and only a few would come back, one time only one blurry figure came back after many figures left, but that one was taken away never to be seen again less than ten artificial day/night cycles later.
Ranboo could always tell the difference between this blotch and that blotch, it was their basic prey instinct to identify the features of a predator and their basic predator instincts to identify the features of prey...Ranboo really tried not to notice, though, it was for their own good, if they couldn't recognize anything then it meant that they probably wouldn't be viably threatened, or, y'know, get attached to anything.
Well, you know what they say: all good things must come to an end.
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The ship was readying for takeoff, which to Ranboo meant that the newcomer was particularly volatile and that Ranboo's "owners" didn't want to break whatever it was in whilst grounded.
Ranboo had been lounging in the cell that they shared with three more beings. The other three didn't seem to be sapient, then again, Ranboo knew that sapient people went into the same cells as other sapient people, so either Ranboo wasn't considered sapient here or all four of them were sapient...they wouldn't put any money on the latter.
The ship startled and began shaking furiously, like the pilots had skipped all the safety procedures and cautions and just started takeoff...Oh! OH! The ship rattled dangerously and Ranboo struggled to stand, usually they had a few minutes, not today, they supposed. They moved through the force of the quakes with great effort to get to their ledge and lay down. Ranboo managed to press the button that made the straps in the edges of the ledge fly out, snap together in the air and tighten according to the body shape of the being occupying the ledge.
Ranboo was secured seemingly just in time as the ship came to a terrifying stop with all of the engines heated up and ready, the only being in their cell that was not secure scrambled onto its own ledge and slammed down on the button.
Ranboo warble-whispered numbers that could only be comforting to them. It was better to count than to be caught off guard. "One, two, three,"
"four, five, six,"
"seven."
The ship threw itself, catapulting high into the air before beginning to free fall, Ranboo experienced maybe four seconds of weightlessness before the ship violently caught itself again and the engines groaned to life.
The worst part was over and the ascent had begun, though this part was shaky and uncomfortable, once they hit space it would be smooth sailing, at least, until their next...excursion.
But that would be awhile from now and Ranboo had plenty of- they were docking.
They blinked rapidly as The Walk's effects ebbed away and out of reach, Ranboo hated when it did that. They never used to hate The Walk, they used to love it more than anything, The Walk used to steal them away from the difficult moments and into a realm that was nothing but fuzziness and comfort, but now? Instead of stealing Ranboo themselves, it stole Ranboo's time and forced the moments that Ranboo hated closer and closer together.
The door to their cell slid open with no indication other than a beep and Ranboo was reminded just how badly they didn't want to do what they were about to have to do as they dragged their eyes over to the opening.
The person on the other side of the door was not the person who collected them for "work", no, it was the person who collected them for feedings or for enrichment, sometimes both.
All of the other creatures darted out, except for Ranboo, who kept a cautious shuffle going, the person on the other side of the door waited patiently. Ranboo didn't know how long it'd been since the violent takeoff or how far they were from the planet they were just on, but chances were it'd been awhile since anyone had eaten, since they certainly hadn't eaten this automated day/night cycle.
They got to the door and the person turned on their heel and started walking, leading them down the hall to the recreational room, so yeah, enrichment, great, that was good, there was a clock in the recreation room, which meant that they could see how long they were stuck in The Walk.
The recreation room was a circular room that was made mostly of clear metal, with the exception being the floor and the floor being made of solid tile because most people found the sight of being both under and over the endless galaxy disorienting.
The room dipped around the rim, making room for real soils and grasses of all kinds, there were nesting materials scattered around along with couches and chairs. Ranboo wasn't sure why the owners of the ship bothered with making such a nice thing for the people and animals they forced to do their bidding, but hey, was Ranboo going to complain about receiving minor amounts of good treatment instead of completely terrible treatment? Absolutely not.
They walked towards the center of the room where some kiosks were waiting, the kiosks didn't accept any payment, but the better you did during "work", the more options you had to choose from. Ranboo looked down and saw the indigo lights flashing, indicating that the kiosks were open, they clicked a few buttons and were eventually presented with bars of protein. They did have quite the range of options, but they did not take more than they needed, they enjoyed nothing about what they had to do to survive, and they certainly wouldn't reward themselves for it.
Ranboo collected the bars and walked past the kiosks, they sat down at the edge of the room, their claws in the grass, they looked up at the clock whilst they took their first bite and...oh, it'd been twenty-three hours since they'd last eaten.
No wonder the kiosks were open.
Eventually one of the guards appeared next to them, the person tried to make eye contact, but Ranboo immediately ducked their head to avoid it. Something is yelled at them, but not in common, never in common...though they don't know what it actually means, they do recognize it as a command, it's said fairly often and it is said to everyone, it's something along the lines of 'follow' or 'come here'. The words are seemingly interchangeable.
Ranboo, despite not having eaten in an absurd amount of time, wasn't really hungry and had still only taken a bite out of one of their three tasteless bars. Ranboo seriously considered just stopping and eating later, but they knew that they wouldn't get to bring the bars back to the cell with them.
Ranboo made their decision and their jaw unhinged and with a weird pop and what sounded like a muted yell, if that made any sense. They downed their 'meal' and stood up. The guard looked extremely uncomfortable, but took the chance to turn around and start walking away as soon as Ranboo was fully up.
This didn't happen often, so Ranboo could only imagine this was a health check, or maybe a separation? Ranboo was basically the rule for a technicality when it came to being a deathworlder because they were exceedingly gentle with everything, they could only guess that their "owners" saw this as them lacking the all of the usual predator instincts because they were young, but really they were just determined not to make any enemies here. Sometimes, when a newcomer arrived, they would take anything predator-like from the recreation room and put the beings in another room or back in their cell, which sounded right, because medical visits were usually periodical and there was a new visitor.
Ranboo followed along with this new person, even when they passed the separation room and felt the familiar disappointment of knowing that they were going back to that cramped room- Ranboo shook it off and kept following, they were barely aware of their surroundings for a minute because they knew where they were headed, but then the guard took a left instead of continuing forward.
Ranboo just stopped, trying to keep their brain working while the guard kept walking...were they supposed to wait here for someone else? Well, the door to the left hall had been left open, but not the one that led to the cells, so maybe...? Okay, it's not like the guard had given the order for them to stay, so it was probably okay to follow, even though they've never been allowed in there before...Okay, this would be fine.
Ranboo took one very cautious step over the threshold and nothing happened, so they started walking after the guard.
The guard stopped at the end of the hall and waited for them, which they appreciated even though it probably wasn't for their benefit.
The hall did continue to the right, but to the left there was a staircase and Ranboo was nudged onto the first step and then handed a tray full of food and some sort of liquid. The guard was speaking for a good minute before looking at Ranboo, again trying to make eye contact, Ranboo avoided their eyes and looked at their forehead instead, the guard pointed at the door at the bottom of the stairs, and said three words which Ranboo had come to dub as 'go' 'drop it' and 'follow'. So...go in, drop the tray, and come back, or follow whoever was inside?
Ranboo didn't dwell on it and just focused on the 'go' part, they got to the bottom of the stairs and the door opened with a hiss, something clattered when they tried to step forward and they found a bunch of trays full of food dropped there...oh...they looked back and the guard wasn't even there anymore.
Ranboo breathed in, then nudged the trays to the side and stepped in, the door closed behind them with another hiss and then the door in front of them opened.
Ranboo was greeted with the sight of an extraordinarily large cell, the walls, floor, and ceiling covered with bright red padding.
On the side of the room that Ranboo was closest to, there was nothing and it was devoid of any and all signs of life.
In the middle of the room, there was a heap of black powder forming a line from wall to wall, separating the room into halves.
On the side of the room farthest from Ranboo lie a broken down gravity-negating bed with the mattress torn out, blankets pulled into a heap on the floor with some foam—presumably from the torn out mattress—sticking out of it, a bunch of food and liquid reserves behind the heap, and some odd symbols on the wall behind the reserves in the shapes of 'FUCK YOU'.
Ranboo stepped into the room, exercising caution as they did so, when the door hissed shut with the airlock they were tempted to look back, but they were quickly distracted by the heap moving, it continued to rustle for a solid few seconds before a limb emerged, following that, a head, but not just any head, the head of a deltzit.
A deltzit.
A deltzit looking at Ranboo.
A deltzit baring its teeth.
A deltzit rising from its nest.
A deltzit, looking at Ranboo, baring its teeth and very slightly risen out of its nest.
An extremely unwanted spike of fear ran from their brain through the rest of their body as the deltzit stared. It took Ranboo an embarrassing amount of time to realize that the deltzit was eyeing the tray in their hands, not them.
Oh! Yes! 'Go, drop it, follow', perhaps Ranboo wouldn't be eaten if they gave the deltzit its food?
They decided to go against their instincts and go towards the deltzit, they figured if they delivered the food as close as possible to the deltzit and then retreated into the corner of the room it might forget they were ever there.
This was apparently, no, obviously the wrong move.
A few strides were fine but when Ranboo tried to take a fifth step the deltzit screeched and rose all the way out of its nest and to its full height! Ranboo, naturally, jumped back, they dropped the tray in the process and by doing that sealed their fate as the deltzits dinner.
Ranboo scrambled back and into the corner of the room in order to get as far away from the deltzit as possible.
The deltzit huffed when Ranboo stopped moving and got low again, it inched forward until it got to the line of black powder and pushed the powder into place until the line was even again. Seemingly, Ranboo had ruined it when they stepped on it.
The deltzit grumbled and then looked over at Ranboo, its piercing blue eyes taking in every inch of Ranboo like they were a meal, and, in the interest of fairness, they were about to be.
Or...or not...the deltzit blinked and dragged its eyes away from Ranboo before retreating into its nest, burying itself within the blankets once more.
The airlock slid open about twenty feet away from Ranboo with the simple command sounding from a detached voice: "Follow."
Ranboo took the opportunity to bolt.
Ranboo was not very strong, or smart, really they had no outstanding qualities other than being a vuidspett and having the ability to teleport, they didn't know the names of very many species, none of the species on this ship were recognizable, but everyone knew what deltzin were, even through the fog of The Walk they'd of known, absolutely everyone knew, simply because of just how deadly they were.
But that was over now.
Ranboo managed to register the door sliding shut behind them before they took the step through the next door and began following the guard that was waiting for them.
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"I really don't think that thing is going to eat anyone, you're being dramatic."
"Yeah, sure, because it didn't eat anything on the last ship it was on!"
"So it has a taste for dreinds, do either of us even look like dreinds? Besides, we're testing its interaction with unarmed living things today!"
"We're what!?"
"Well, I mean, we're not, they are." He pointed at the guard walking an unsuspecting vuidspett towards the deltzits room.
"W-Why are we doing that!? That doesn't seem at all productive! If we're going to sell a deltzit, it doesn't need to know how to deal with unarmed-"
"Yeah, we're not selling it anymore, apparently the higher-ups thought it would be more productive if we just used it on missions and whatnot."
Xey took a moment to process.
"...Why're we sacrificing a vuidspett, I've only heard good things about it and I'm pretty sure we only have one?"
"We do, and as far as I know it's because it mostly maims its assignments and only if the assignment attacks first or if it's directly told to maim them, otherwise it's pretty peaceful, even towards its few predators...I think they're hoping if it doesn't attack the deltzit the deltzit won't attack it, which saves them the trouble of having to train the deltzit not to attack everything that's unarmed and moves."
"I was told it did attack some of our guards."
"Well, yeah, but that was before they drew the line with the powder and gave it more powder to mark its territory with, remember?"
"No, I don't remember, this is my first shift watching it."
"Oh...right...then you gotta simmer down dude, if you can't handle just watching it you should see if you can get transferred."
"Yeah, maybe."