Shrimpfeather Sarlacc (Shrimp-feather Sar-lak)
Mynocks chewing power cables? Oh, I have got a grade ‘A’ Sithspawn of a problem for you…
Mynocks. Grallocs. Tibidees. There are many species in the known galaxy that thrive off the fuel and energy supply of starships, airspeeders, and similar vehicles. The most unusual of these creatures is the shrimpfeather sarlacc.
This isn’t because the shrimpfeather absorbs energy to ‘eat’. It’s because this creature uses a molecular acid to burrow its way to that food it eats. Not only that, unlike its larger cousins, the shrimpfeather sarlacc is well at home in more than just the vacuum of space. In particular, it would be the sand-blasted and nearly inhospitable world of Chalcedon, in the Tashtor Sector of the Mid Rim.
The sound of blaster fire woke Dr. Ruk V’dora from a sound sleep faster than any alarm clock. He leaped out of his bunk. In that second, he was once more Lieutenant TC-622. An Advanced Recon Commando Clone in the Grand Army of the Republic. Ruk suited up and was at the door with his DC-17 blaster in under a minute.
Then reality crashed down around him.
Fighting in the Outer Rim. The mysterious orders to divert his detachment. Then being frozen, only to wake up over thirty years later to find it all gone. No GAR, almost no Jedi Order, certainly no Republic. Ruk took two slow breaths, then punched the door access.
The door snapped open to reveal a startled mechanic in the hallway.
“Sit-rep!” Ruk growled.
The mechanic, a young Devaronian man with trimmed horns, jumped at the sharp command.
“Dr. V’dora!” he stammered. The mechanic pointed down the hallway to his left. “Docking Bay Twelve. The one with the modified Trilon Assault ship.”
“Frak! Pala!”
Ruk raced for Docking Bay Twelve.
Blaster fire greeted him when the docking bay door slid open. Green energy bolts lanced in all directions. Walls, crates, and deck plates were all scorched from the minor war that had erupted in the docking bay. Smoke and the smell of ozone drifted in thin layers through the area.
Ruk darted for the plasteel crates to the right of the door. Once the blaster fire stopped, he peered out at the docking bay. A gymnastic-trim, emerald-green Twi’lek woman in spacer coveralls and a vest stood only a meter away, facing him.
She was livid.
“Pala’teska?” Ruk said in greeting to his partner.
“You got it with you?” Pala’teska demanded.
“Got… what?”
“The multi-tool. You know, that lightsaber.”
Ruk stood up, blaster at the ready in case whatever Pala had been fighting ambushed them.
“Yeah, I do. Why?”
He had just gotten the words out before she snatched the lightsaber off his belt. Pala spun on her heel, lightsaber in one hand, blaster in the other.
In mid-step, she thumbed the ignition switch on the saber hilt and the plasma blade punched to life with an angry hiss. The former Sith blade, once blood red, now glowed a reddish-purple. It was a side-effect of the ‘cleaning’ techniques Master Obi-Wan Kenobi had been teaching Ruk.
“Pala! Wait! Master Kenobi said don’t use that thing in anger!” Ruk exclaimed.
Pala glanced over her shoulder. Fire and fury glinted in her eyes.
“Oh, this is not anger, Ruk. This is righteous justice.”
Pala’teska turned to face the white-gray, insect-like shape of her Trilon Assault ship, then she stormed forward.
“You little monsters hear me? I am justice. I am your worst nightmare. I am the frelling pilot who owns that ship! Get your shrimpfeather sarlacc teeth off my engine coils!”
Physical Description
Shrimpfeather sarlaccs are a silicon-based life form, much like mynocks. But unlike their larger cousins, shrimpfeather sarlaccs adapted long ago to live in a planetary environment.
The name of ‘Shrimpfeather Sarlaccs’ comes from their appearance. They are only 0.2 to 0.4 meters long, and 90 cm tall but have an elongated body, similar to an aquatic shrimp but with the tentacles and rubbery skin of the giant, amoeba-shaped sarlacc. The ‘tail’ contains hundreds of soft fronds that resemble white, downy feathers. These are, in fact, a different type of tendrils with microscopic sucker points that allow the miniature sarlaccs to slowly walk, or even scale walls and ceilings.
On the other end of the shrimpfeather lies the mouth and sensory organs. The mouth has a round, sucker-like appearance with dozens of small tendrils called ‘grippers’. These tendrils serve as protection for the creature, but also is involved in how it eats. Eyes are large watery black ovals, positioned on either side of its bulbous head.
Shrimpfeathers feed by attaching themselves to available power sources, such as a starship’s engine or power coils. They do consume energy but also, through the act of secreting a light molecular acid as a digestive fluid, they also eat the rubber and insulation around the power coil.
When they attach to a power coil, it’s like watching a self-powered plasma drill get to work… only with a lot less noise… and a lot more slime.
Ecology and Behavior
Social Structure
Most energy feeders, like mynocks, lead almost solitary lives. Some, like the tibidee, do roam in small flocks. But the shrimpfeather is the opposite of that, gathering in colonies of over twenty or even forty at a time.
The shrimpfeathers actually maintain a fission-fusion social structure. This is where large numbers of the miniature sarlaccs congregate in specific nesting areas, called burrow roosts, and mingle. This allows subgroups to break up, then mix, allowing for a diversity among the species.
Food and Diet
Shrimpfeather sarlaccs are classified as ‘opportunistic energy feeders’. This means that while they primarily do search for ion based energy sources, such as starships, they aren’t limited to this diet. In fact, as silicon-based creatures go, they are effectively omnivores. Shrimpfeathers also consume rubber, insulation, certain types of metals, and even local pests such as spider thorns or quartzide scorpions.
Predator and Prey
The shrimpfeather sarlacc has to worry about being hunted as well. Creatures such as the Blaster eels of the Needle Forest or the large shark-like Staywix that roam the loose desert sands consider the Shrimpfeather a delicacy. They aren't the only ones who do.
Shrimpfeather sarlacc, when seasoned properly, can be eaten by carbon-based life forms like Humans, Twi’leks, and so on. Cooking a Shrimpfeather is a delicate business and requires a chef who understands the special techniques required to roast the meat. But there are places on Chalcedon that specialize in selling the spicy roast Shrimpfeather meat as regular rations.
Reproductive Cycle
Unlike other silicon-based life, shrimpfeather sarlaccs do not reproduce by splitting in two or similar methods. The shrimpfeather follows a similar reproductive pattern as many other creatures in the galaxy.
Shrimpfeather sarlacc, despite their resemblance to crustaceans, are not egg laying creatures. Instead, they give birth to live young, called ‘wrigfins’. Wrigfins are no larger than 0.3 cm at most and have a teardrop-shape until they mature. A shrimpfeather mother can give birth to ten or fifteen wrigfins at a time twice a standard year.
Shrimpfeather Sarlacc by CB Ash using MidJourney AI
Lifespan
12 standard years
Average Height
90 cm
Average Weight
0.9 kg
Average Length
0.2 m to 0.4 m
Geographic Distribution
Game Stats
DEXTERITY 3D+2
Spacers, Pests, and Good Luck Charms
Spacers universally dislike any energy feeder such as the shrimpfeather sarlacc. The reason is obvious, given that shrimpfeather sarlaccs can eat through an engine in minutes. Therefore, most docking bays turn a blind eye or even assist in ‘shrimpfeather hunts’ to eliminate the creatures when they find their way onto even one starship.
But in the dry canyons, plains, and even the high mountain mining colonies of Chalcedon, it’s a different story. There, moisture farmers welcome shrimpfeather sarlaccs and even consider them ‘good luck’. Some locals in the remote regions will even cultivate shrimpfeather sarlacc colonies for their moisture farms or mining colonies.
The reason is the creature’s diet. In the remote regions, spider thorn cactus migrates; often toward the nearest water source. Once there, they will attach to it and siphon it dry. Thorns and the tough hide of the spider thorn cactus make them resistant to most forms of blaster fire or being uprooted from the ground.
Those defenses are formidable, but no match for the Shrimpfeather Sarlacc. Between the creature’s digestive acids and armored hide, the Shrimpfeather Sarlacc is an equal match to keep the numbers of the migrating cactus pests under control.
Hehe....loved it. Oh, and your formatting? Epic, as usual. You had me at, ‘opportunistic energy feeders’. Sounds like me and sushi.
Storyteller, Cartoonist,..pretty awesome friend =)
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LOL!! To be fair... ‘opportunistic energy feeders’' was one of my favorite lines! :D