Other Extrasolar Species

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In addition to Engineers and Xenomorphs, some exoplanets have standard species of their own— swift fish, slow-moving land animals, dog-sized arthropods, insects, whales, pachyderms and more. Species of different classifications fulfill the same roles in an ecology as their counterparts on Earth. Some worlds like Arcturus and Zagreus are even home to several unique species. Below is a small sampling of what else lives amongst the stars.

**THE SWARM**

**> TYPE:** Insect Omnivores

**> HABITAT:** LV-KR 115, fertile grass and farm lands, or drifting through space

**> SIZE:** Around 15 centimeters each, but together they can form massive swarms a great many kilometers in diameter

**> TRAITS:** Swarm an area, consume everything there save for metals.

Dubbed space locusts by Colonial Marines, the Swarm either originated on or came to rest on planet LV-KR 115. For untold centuries they would ravage the grasslands for a season before going into hibernation for decades, only awakening when the lands were fertile once again. Between cycles, the company discovered the world and devised a method for creating self-replenishing crops there. The swarm awoke once more to devour everything. But with crops that could grow back after any attack, the swarm had no reason to go into hibernation. Instead their numbers grew exponentially until they blanketed the entire planet. The company was forced to bomb the planet with pesticides that rendered the planet uninhabitable.

While severe in its solution, the problem was solved for LV-KR 115, but that was only the beginning. The term space locust seems to have been apt, as scientists have drawn a line across the Frontier of worlds that have suffered repeated ecological blights, and dormant swarms have been located adrift in deep space. It is possible that these insects drift in space for millennia before reaching new worlds to ravage. No one knows how many are out there, nor how many already lay dormant on fertile colony worlds, just waiting to wake up and begin the cycle again.

**SWARM RULES:** The size of a Swarm is measured in the number of zones it covers. The Speed rating of a Swarm is equal to the number of zones it covers. The Health of a Swarm is equal to 5 times the number of zones it covers. The Swarm cannot be killed. Victims can only flee from it or try to drive it off. If the Swarm’s Health drops to zero it has had enough and goes looking for easier pickings.

**CONTAINMENT AND TERMINATION PROTOCOL:** Good luck. Try shooting them all you want, there are hundreds to take the place of every locust you might hit. In space, you can cook the dormant critters in your afterburners. Once planetside, fire, electrical conductivity, and lethal pesticides are the only means to deal with this spaceborne environmental menace.

never found anything larger than bacteria, butbut this …
this is life. We found life.” “Our first alien.” -MILLBURN AND DAVID
SPEED: 1 per zone
HEALTH: 5 per zone
SKILLS: None
ARMOR RATING: Impervious to all attacks except fire, explosions, and electricity.

SWARM ATTACKS
 2
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 5
 6

**HARVESTERS**

**> TYPE:** Mammalian Omnivore

**> HABITAT:** Tartarus and several mining colonies.

**> SIZE:** 6 meters or more

**> TRAITS:** Erupts from ground, stampedes when threatened, charges when cornered. Doesn't know when to retreat.

Behemoth subterranean land animals, Harvesters are six-legged Ankylosaurus-sized nightmares that are famous for destroying the colony on Tartarus. These large, fast moving burrowers have tiny, useless eyes, instead utilizing sonar to navigate. They have massive front claws and a mouth with a unique shredding mechanism that grinds organic materials and stores it in one of six stomachs. This mouth acts like a rotating circular meat grinder, crushing and pulping flesh, bone, plants, wood, rock and most metals. Only the strongest of materials will resist destruction, causing the Harvester to choke until the offending item is removed.

Typical targets of opportunity include farmlands, graveyards, food stores, or a gathering of people or animals. While Harvesters don’t actually hunt living things, any creatures unlucky enough to be in their feeding zone are fodder. As the air in their natural habitat is higher in carbon dioxide than the human norm, Harvesters are capable of breathing in otherwise poisonous atmospheres. They carry their young beneath the folds of their armored shell— boar-sized creatures that will detach themselves and attack if their mother is overwhelmed. While native to Tartarus, some corporate exec at Bionational got it in his head that the Harvesters could be used to tunnel out mines on other metal rich worlds. They were transported to several mining planets and moons on the Frontier and did so—before escaping into the wild and disrupting those colonies as well.

**HIDDEN BEHEMOTH:** When at rest the Harvester often sleeps just under the surface, with a thin crust of ground above it. If someone walks across this ground they get an OBSERVATION roll to spot the weakened earth, but if not it will collapse under them and the startled Harvester will get a free attack.

**HARVESTER JUVENILES:** A mother Harvester will carry up to 2D6 young safely under her armor plating. If she comes under attack and is in genuine danger these young will leap to her defense and attack too, rolling four Base Dice, Damage 1.

**CONTAINMENT AND TERMINATION PROTOCOL:** These things are large-scale destroyers. The inhabitants of Tartarus Colony lured the creatures to the surface and attacked them with aircraft with limited success before the beasts learned to avoid such traps. The best way to kill a rampaging Harvester is to attack its soft, unprotected underbelly—but good luck getting close enough to do so without being crushed or ground up.

**HARVESTERS**
 HEALTH
 SKILLS
Mobility
4
 ARMOR RATING

HARVESTER ATTACKS
 2
 3
 4
 5
 6

**LION WORMS**

**> TYPE:** Invertebrate Carnivore

**> HABITAT:** Wilds of Zagreus

**> SIZE:** 1.8–3 meters

**> TRAITS:** Relentless hunter, attacks first, retreats underground when confused.

An aggressive carnivore covered in golden, fast moving cilia, the Lion Worm is the apex predator on the xenobiologist jungle dreamworld of Zagreus. Eyeless, the Lion Worm instead has a series of ears running along its body with a group of nostrils in the center of its huge, razor-sharp beak. Like the Harvesters of Tartarus, the worm is a burrower, but unlike those giant land animals, the Lion Worm can only travel through soft earth. It is an ambush predator that actively seeks live prey. It’s rumored that poachers have been removing Lion Worms from their natural habitat, slipping them past ICC quarantine and selling them to the corporate elite as pets. If this is so, it is a potential disaster waiting to happen—an escaped Lion Worm could reproduce quickly and upset the ecological balance of any colony world, as well as be responsible for a great many deaths.

**CONTAINMENT AND TERMINATION PROTOCOL:** Lion Worms can be disoriented by the release of pollen or pollutants in the air. They are easily distracted by the pheromones of another Lion Worm, something the colonists on Zagreus have been wise enough to collect. A Lion Worm perceives the smell of another of its kind as an invasion of its hunting grounds, and will seek out and attack the offender accordingly.

**AMBUSH PREDATOR:** The Lion Worm is a top predator. In its own territory it will set up traps, pits, walls of vines, and tree-lines that all help it capture its prey. In stealth mode a Lion Worm’s prey get a –2 modification to OBSERVATION due to the Worm’s cunning instincts, if they are in the Lion Worm’s territory.

**LION WORM**

SPEED:2

HEALTH: 8

SKILLS: Mobility 12, Observation 8

ARMOR RATING: 4

LION WORM ATTACKS
 2
 3
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 5
 6

**TANAKAN SCORPIONIDS**

**> TYPE:** Arthropod Carnivore

**> HABITAT:** Tanaka 5, deserts and cavernous springs

**> SIZE:** 1.5–2.4 meters

**> TRAITS:** Hides in dunes and rocks during the day, hunts at night, aggressive if provoked and surprisingly adept swimmers

Although they are equipped with poisonous stingers, the desert scorpions of Tanaka 5 have more in common with Earth's prehistoric sea scorpions than the standard Terran variety. These tapered and segmented creatures have rounded heads, a set of large pincers, eight crab-like legs, and two large fin-like structures on either side of their bodies. While initially thought to be utilized in intimidation displays, the fins were found to have a different purpose when the planet’s underground lake systems were discovered—Scorpionids are adept swimmers and spend at least half their life underwater. Those very lakes are teeming with aquatic life, making for easy hunting grounds for the arthropods. While they normally keep to themselves, Scorpionids will fight if they feel threatened. Their pincers can break a man’s leg, and their sting can kill a grown human quickly unless an antidote is administered. The deadly venom in their stingers can be used for a multitude of medicinal purposes. While dangerous and somewhat unpleasant, collecting Scorpionids and milking their venom can make you some quick cash. Scorpionids run a gamut of colors from an orange-red to a deep blue.

**UNDERWATER SPRINT:** As a slow action a Scorpionid can sprint as if having used two run actions (i.e., through two zones or from an adjacent zone directly into ENGAGED range of a target) if it is in water or its movement starts in water. It uses this ability to make sneak attacks against prey on the shore.

**CONTAINMENT AND TERMINATION PROTOCOL:** Their shells protect them from knives and other melee weapons but don't do much good against bullets.

**TANAKAN SCORPIONIDS**
 HEALTH
 SKILLS
Mobility
Observation
6
6
10
 ARMOR RATING

**SCORPIONID ATTACKS**
 2
 3
 4
 5
 6

**HUMAN'S BEST FRIEND**

When humanity conquers a brave new world, they bring their animal companions with them—and with good reason. Pets are incredibly important to the psychological well-being of long haul starship crews, and every ship should have one. While far from common, typical flesh and blood animals found on the Frontier include dogs, cats, mice, reptiles, fish, and birds. Additionally, synthetic copies of both mundane and exotic Earth animals have been produced by a number of companies. Rats and insects have stowed away on many a spacecraft, spreading disease and altering the ecology of alien worlds. Apes are still used in laboratory settings and cattle, sheep, horses, and pigs have all been transplanted to extrasolar farming colonies.