Greimorians

Greimorians are a species of arthropods whose evolutionary traits have made them an extremely dangerous invasive species. They originate from the Badlands planet Greima, once covered in crystalized phoron. A decaying orbit led to its combustion from proximity to its sun, and its dominant inhabitants managed to survive in orbit. Countless years later, they prove to be a menace across the galaxy, having carried themselves within the hulls of Human vessels to spread wildly.

Types

Greimorians resemble large beetles. They have stinging mouthparts, hard exoskeletons, and agile, jointed legs. They are capable of surviving high levels of radiation; their egg and larval forms can survive hard vacuum. At maturation, each greimorian undergoes metaphorphosis into a specialized form.

Worker

Workers specialize in creating nests and reproducing. They are brown with vestigial wings, bulbous red eyes, and an unpleasant smell. Aggressive when provoked, they generally do not kill their victims; instead, they attempt to inject a tranquilizing poison and a clutch of eggs. Workers are able to create large amounts of strong, sticky webbing. They are the only type of greimorian that can reproduce.

Hunter

Hunters focus on finding prey and defending the hive. They are strong, fast, and have large stingers, with which they inject a toxin that will, if untreated, cause liver damage and eventual death. Their exoskeletons are much tougher than those of workers, and their chelicerae are very sharp and strong. If a greimorian proves deadly, it's probably a hunter.

Jackal

Jackals specialize in defense against silicon-based enemies and computer systems. They are long, slender, and bright blue in color. With nearly vestigial legs, they slither on their bellies at a surprisingly fast speed. Static electricity can be felt in the air around a jackal. Their exoskeletons are tough, but their bites inject only a numbing substance that is harmless to organic life. However, they are capable of releasing a relatively strong EMP pulse which can damage prosthetics, stun silicon-based crew, and scramble computer systems.

Bombardier

Bombardiers specialize in defense against organic life. They are stocky and drab gray, with small fangs that inject a highly irritating substance very similar to the condensed capsaicin found in pepper spray. They are also capable of spraying this substance several meters, drenching the area in irritant and possibly disabling multiple attackers at once. Bombardier spray causes blindness and pain and may stun the victim, who is then more vulnerable to the attacks from other nearby greimorians.

Biology & Behavior

Feeding

Greimorians are omnivorous, capable of feeding on any organic creature. When a victim has been killed, a worker will wrap the body in large amounts of webbing, stick a proboscis into it, and suck out nourishment.

Reproduction

File:Greimorian eggs.png Greimorian workers prefer to lay eggs in a victim (living or dead), but when well-fed, will settle for any out-of-the-way corner. Eggs are laid in clutches of ten to fifteen and need no tending to hatch.

Larvae

File:Greimorian larva.png Larvae are purple grubs two to ten centimeters long. They are soft-bodied and largely defenseless, but they are capable of moving quickly and will instinctively hide in small, dark spaces like ventilation ducts. Upon reaching adulthood, larvae emerge from hiding, quickly grow into specialized adults, and take on their roles in the hive.

Webs

File:Stickyweb.png Greimorians are capable of producing webbing which can entangle and briefly immobilize anyone caught in them. Webbing is used to cocoon prey items which will nourish a gravid worker. Greimorians also have the instinct to cocoon small objects in their vicinity, which seems like a useless behavior until, with weapons, armor, or medical supplies wrapped in sticky webbing, inhabitants of infected ships find themselves helpless against the hive.

Greimorians & You

Tough, spaceworthy, and persistent, greimorians are a well-known threat aboard ships, space stations, and colonies, especially in environments where radiation or vacuum have cleared out the competition and left the ecosystem open for them.

Infestations

SCC automated systems are capable of detecting greimorians, but the system is imperfect. Only larval and adult greimorians can be detected, detection takes some time, and false alarms are common. Sticky clutches of eggs hitch rides on spacecraft, largely undetectable and impervious to environmental threats until they hatch. Seasoned spacefarers know how to recognize a greimorian larva and will stomp or bash them on sight. Larger greimorians are generally left to be handled by Security, who are issued pest guns for the purpose.

As a Bioweapon

Greimorian eggs can be stored in a stasis container and sent through teleport uplink systems, something that has been occasionally exploited by various military, terrorist, and criminal forces. Although greimorians themselves are impossible to train and will attack anyone they can reach, they do make for a good distraction against trained forces or a deadly weapon against civilians. A particular benefit of using greimorians as a weapon is that they are such a ubiquitous pest; eggs deliberately planted in an out-of-the-way location cannot be told apart from naturally occurring greimorians.

As Food

Greimorians are generally thought of as disgusting; but tough, thrifty, and above all, hungry colonists and spacefarers have learned to safely prepare and cook their meat, with results that have been described as "not too bad, actually." Any cook trying to make dinner out of greimorian meat must first deal with the polytrinic acid that can be found in the bodies of the creatures. Attempts to sell greimorian meat as a delicacy have met with mixed success.