Pallosalama

Overview

The Pallosalama are energy creatures who live in pods and are observed in outer parts of systems. They tend to appear around gas giants and their associated trojan asteroids. They are not permanent residents of any system because they are able to travel faster than light. They are considered a navigational hazard as particularly large specimens are hostile, though they don't remain in systems with heavy starship traffic very long.

Individuals can propel themselves through normal space and groups congregate to make jumps through hyperspace. They consume minerals directly from asteroids and planetary ring particles by eroding them with laser light. They also skim gases from the atmospheres of gas and ice giants. Reproduction is by fission, usually into two. Some seem to stop fissioning, or never start, and grow to enormous sizes. These large individuals are aggressive and territorial, though they still jump with their pod.

The Pallosalama never enter inner systems. All the resources they need can be found in the outer system, and the inner system is much more dangerous. Stellar flares can disrupt them, and rocky planets with thick atmospheres have chemistry which is difficult to consume. Oxygen atmospheres are particularly hazardous, as the Oxygen reacts with the energy of a Palloslama, dissolving it.

Notable Individuals

• Borrau (member of the Star Guard)