Ship-scale creatures?

[Grognardia]

The Sheol are pretty large (1.4 miles in diameter) - but not exactly 'in space' as such.

 

[GabrielGABFonseca]

I was going to post that but then read the next reply

Absorbing UV and X-rays as the energy input for the space whale and jump kraken explain how they can get enough energy to grow so large and maintain their metabolism,

The space whale gathers in dust like an ocean whale eats krill, plankton and algae to get nutrients, Comet tails are a delicacy for them. The have organs that can generate electricity which they can circulate to make organic electromagnets. The can use electic fields and magnetic fields to accelerate waste "out the back" for propulsion and also pass electricity through huge fins to generate magnetic fields that allows them to sail the solar wind and magnetic fields in space.

Their senses range from the radio to the x-ray bands of the ems. They can communicate with each other by organic radio signals.

The body of a space whale is covered in a very thick skin of silicates and minerals that protect the internal organs from the vacuum of space and absorb the incident light, their skin is in effect a natural stealth coating since so much incident radiation is absorbed to be use to power the organic processes in the internal organs.

The jump kraken is an altogether more dangerous beast. It predates space whales...

Somewhat echoing what @agentwigggles said, but for entirely different reasons;

I was giving this a Certified Think™ and my gut feeling (meaning, I haven't truly sat down and done the math) would be that the space whales, if truly powered by starlight, would most likely have long periods of relative inactivity interrupted by (comparatively) short bursts of activity.

My reasoning goes more-or-less like this: the creatures would be beholden to the square-cube law, such that the larger they grow the less efficient they'll become in collecting starlight relative to their body size. As such, the """best""" tactic for them, I believe, would be to spend long stretches basking in starlight and accumulating energy in some kind of internal battery/capacitor/accumulator, and then using said accumulated energy to migrate to its next feeding site (and defence, if necessary).

I'm a big fan of them using a biological version of an Electric Sail or Magnetic Sail (I am unsure which one is the most energy-efficient, and therefore what would likely be naturally selected for) like you've proposed. I can see the regolith waste being used for 'fine' or 'precision' manoeuvres around its feeding grounds, such as course-correction adjustments to stay within a comet's tail/coma.

So circling back to the original point, probably not slow of reflexes like Wiggles said, but certainly ponderous in lifestyle, compared to us ground-huggers.

 

[Condottiere]

Speaking of barnacles.

 

[Sigtrygg]

Somewhat echoing what @agentwigggles said, but for entirely different reasons;

Discussion is good

I was giving this a Certified Think™ and my gut feeling (meaning, I haven't truly sat down and done the math) would be that the space whales, if truly powered by starlight, would most likely have long periods of relative inactivity interrupted by (comparatively) short bursts of activity.

I agree, while serenely cruising around a solar system following the gravitaional tube map and using their natural magnetic sails they have a pretty sedate existance. And having to go into hibernation for the thousand year trip between systems gives them lots of time to dream and think.

My reasoning goes more-or-less like this: the creatures would be beholden to the square-cube law, such that the larger they grow the less efficient they'll become in collecting starlight relative to their body size. As such, the """best""" tactic for them, I believe, would be to spend long stretches basking in starlight and accumulating energy in some kind of internal battery/capacitor/accumulator, and then using said accumulated energy to migrate to its next feeding site (and defence, if necessary).

In the real universe the square cube law is a thing, in the Traveller universe I think it goes the way of thermodynamics. Yes they love to bask in the radiation belts of gas giants, and bath in the light from a gamma ray burst...
Their energy storage nodes are extensive...

I'm a big fan of them using a biological version of an Electric Sail or Magnetic Sail (I am unsure which one is the most energy-efficient, and therefore what would likely be naturally selected for) like you've proposed. I can see the regolith waste being used for 'fine' or 'precision' manoeuvres around its feeding grounds, such as course-correction adjustments to stay within a comet's tail/coma.

You don't want to be too dear their "rocket exhaust" when they need a sudden burst of acceleration

So circling back to the original point, probably not slow of reflexes like Wiggles said, but certainly ponderous in lifestyle, compared to us ground-huggers.

Ponderous but graceful...

until the jump kraken turns up...

 

[shammond42]

Deepnight revelation has 4 ship scale creatures that I can recall.

 

[MasterGwydion]

Somewhat echoing what @agentwigggles said, but for entirely different reasons;

I was giving this a Certified Think™ and my gut feeling (meaning, I haven't truly sat down and done the math) would be that the space whales, if truly powered by starlight, would most likely have long periods of relative inactivity interrupted by (comparatively) short bursts of activity.

My reasoning goes more-or-less like this: the creatures would be beholden to the square-cube law, such that the larger they grow the less efficient they'll become in collecting starlight relative to their body size. As such, the """best""" tactic for them, I believe, would be to spend long stretches basking in starlight and accumulating energy in some kind of internal battery/capacitor/accumulator, and then using said accumulated energy to migrate to its next feeding site (and defence, if necessary).

I'm a big fan of them using a biological version of an Electric Sail or Magnetic Sail (I am unsure which one is the most energy-efficient, and therefore what would likely be naturally selected for) like you've proposed. I can see the regolith waste being used for 'fine' or 'precision' manoeuvres around its feeding grounds, such as course-correction adjustments to stay within a comet's tail/coma.

So circling back to the original point, probably not slow of reflexes like Wiggles said, but certainly ponderous in lifestyle, compared to us ground-huggers.

If they are semi-transparent or completely transparent (jellyfish), the square-cube law doesn't apply, as the energy can be absorbed internally and externally.

 

[Tom B]

Hmmm, I can feel an attempt to create some coming up!!!!

Edit - I've created a few, I was trying to build up an ecosystem, however the Whale is not linked to the others. It is the only ship-sized one, though the shark could attack smaller ships.

I'm not sure about a Space giant-squid though, I'll have to give it some thought. It might attack the whales and could be a weapon to take them out created by an unknown, rival, bio-engineering space-faring species.

I'm going to expand on the Whale.

 

[MasterGwydion]

Deepnight revelation has 4 ship scale creatures that I can recall.

I do not own this yet, so thank you!

 

[shammond42]

I do not own this yet, so thank you!

They are pretty spread out. 2 are in the core set. One is in Riftsedge Transit, and one is in the Far Side of Nowhere. Honestly, the one in Riftsedge Transit is probably not what you're looking for.

 

[GypsyComet]

Life is certainly present at those sizes, though Terra has, as far as we know, stopped at around Cutter volume. Traveller space has enough deep oceans that there are likely some truly large aquatic creatures. For reasons already discussed I suspect the largest will often be agglomerate beings instead of unibody, or be adapted for fairly sedate life so they don't need to be fast reacting.

Space life is also pretty likely, given that the Traveller universe is notably Pulp-ier than many of us originally believed. From the space amoeba in the original Trek, the Farpoint creatures (possibly sentient?) in the TNG pilot, and the vast sheet-like radiotrophs in the old Animated novel extensions, even Trek has provided examples. Space Whales are a recurring theme in old SF (and comics, such as the Brood run of X-Men in the 80s), and have been echoed in anime (the "things" from Gunbuster) and gaming before (such as the Night Brood in Silent Death). Dougal Dixon (of "After Man" and "The Future is Wild" fame) even suggested that mankind would engineer itself to live directly in space. A 70s SF book ("The Selkie" presented a species of shapeshifters who, like their namesakes, could take human or aquatic forms, and were later revealed to have a space form as well.

Then there are the mysterious things seen in Marc's stories: I think Baen Books still hosts the collection that Marc published "The Red Ship" in. Go read it, because "ship threatening" is an understatement.

 

[Tom B]

Bear with me on this. But here are first drafts of four different space organisms. There are lots of unknowns and gaps to be filled in. They are all named after real marine organisms.

Space Krill

Floating free in nebulae, the Space Krill is the space-borne equivalent of marine plankton. It grazes on free-floating gases in its home nebula, converting hydrogen and carbon-dioxide into methane and water.

The life-cycle consists of two stages. The larval form and the adult.

The larval form lives on low-gravity asteroids. The larva is resembles a 2cm eight-legged insect, which crawls around the asteroid. Once they find a piece of tasty rock, they attach themselves with a mouth-like opening on their belly. From this they exude a complex set of chemicals that dissolve the rock which they then ingest, through the mouth, obtaining the required nutrients.

The larval Krill obtains its energy in the same manner as the adults relying on the weak gravity of its home to attract the gases it requires to live.

The larval form lives for around fifty years, eventually reaching five metres in length. Once the required size is met, they pupate. The larva curls up, attaches itself to the rock. After around two years, the adult emerges. The pupa explodes, shooting the adult form out at a speed of around 2 metres a second which is more than enough to escape the low gravity of its nursery.

The adult form is around four metres long, with a conical body, two metres wide at the larger end where the mouth is. As it drifts through space it collects the nebula gases which it slowly metabolises.

The adult Krill then joins its relatives in its home nebula drifting slowly through space. In emergencies it is able to exude gases through an opening at its rear, allowing it to manoeuvre towards an area of denser gases or accelerating slowly away from the source of any danger.

It has been found in several nebulae in the XXXX sectors, indicating that it has either hitched a ride on passing spacecraft or has some method of traversing large distances in space.

 

[Tom B]

Space Basking-Shark

Predating on the Space-Krill, the Space-shark is a fifty-metre space-borne creature. The resemblance to its terrestrial name-sake is superficial.

The space-shark lives in the same nebulae as the krill on which it feeds. Only a few individuals have ever been spotted indicating that it is very rare. It was considered hypothetical until the partial remains of a specimen were handed to the University of Regina for study where it was discovered to have a Space Krill inside what was considered its digestive system.

It is aggressive and has been known to attack small ships, in one instance causing minor damage.

It’s life-cycle is unknown.

 

[Tom B]

Space Portuguese-Man-o’-war

This creature is a colonial creature like its Terran namesake, in that it is made up of a number of individual organisms that are genetically identical, or in case of the Space Portuguese-Man-o’-war, thought to be genetically identical, which have different body plans serving different functions. In this case the base organism appears to be one closely related to the Space Krill.

The Man o’ war can be up to several hundred metres long, including the wings (see below).

One theory states that the Space Krill and the Space Portuguese-Man-o’-war are in fact the same species and that the Krill is a juvenile form.

The following types of Base organisms have been noted:

Feeding: These have large mouths ingesting the gases on which the creature feeds, passing on energy to other members of the colony.

Sails: A flattened form, forming large wings. These are thought to either catch light, converting it into energy or act as solar sails.

Jets: Several at the posterior that can exude gases allowing for a brief spurt of minor acceleration.

There are several other forms, their purpose unknown.

 

[Tom B]

Space Whale

Largely known from several reports from the XXXX sectors , the Space Whale is a kilometre long organism.

The first confirmed sighting was In 1002 when an Aslan ship fired on one approaching their ship thinking it was a threat. The Whale then fired a burst of energy of unknown type, disabling the ship. The crew were only rescued by a fortuitous rescue by a neighbouring clan. Even though only a few days had passed, there was no sign of the Whale.

Several disabled ships, both Imperial and Aslan, have also been discovered in the same region and current thoughts are that they have been subject to the same attacks.

In 1082 a Solomani Scout ship encountered two of the creatures travelling together, one was half the size of the other suggesting that they were a mother and calf. The Scout ship recorded the encounter up until the point when the Whales disappeared in a burst of energy that indicated that they had some method of ftl travel that was not a Jump Drive. All members of the crew reported feeling an intense sense that they should stay away suggesting that the Whales are psionic.

One theory is that the Whales are bio-ships, though where they come from and the motivations of the crew is unknown. Some speculate that there is no crew, having died or been killed by host organism.

 

[Condottiere]

 

[Tom B]

I'm developing the space-whales in detail (5 km long max and will be able to take out a ship). I've never seen the Star Wars version and I'm not going to as I don't want it to influence what I create.

There are also going to be Space-Giant-Squid and Space-Barnacles in addition to the creatures above, though these are just ideas in my head at the moment.

Everything is inspired by marine creatures on Earth and have been named by the Solomani.

If anyone is really interested then you can contact me directly and I can send the docs as they are at that moment in time. If I ever manage to create something workable, I'll send it to Mongoose and it might appear in some future publication.

Retrirement is wonderful. I thoroughly recommend it.

I'll shut up about this now.

 

[Fluffy Bunny Feet]

Hmmm, I can feel an attempt to create some coming up!!!!

Edit - I've created a few, I was trying to build up an ecosystem, however the Whale is not linked to the others. It is the only ship-sized one, though the shark could attack smaller ships.

I'm not sure about a Space giant-squid though, I'll have to give it some thought. It might attack the whales and could be a weapon to take them out created by an unknown, rival, bio-engineering space-faring species.

I'm going to expand on the Whale.

Try reading Warhorse by Timothy Zahn. An alien race has a better interstellar propulsion by taming space life forms with telekinesis that eat asteroids and teleport between stars. Humans want to learn how to use them (or a species that preys on them) for war. Working together both species find a system with a full ecosystem.

Reaction times need not be slow if their nerves are super conducting. The "life forms" could be von Neumann machines that have evolved. If they are psionic they could have vast psionic points to go with their ship size.

 

[GypsyComet]

Try reading Warhorse by Timothy Zahn. An alien race has a better interstellar propulsion by taming space life forms with telekinesis that eat asteroids and teleport between stars. Humans want to learn how to use them (or a species that preys on them) for war. Working together both species find a system with a full ecosystem.

Reaction times need not be slow if their nerves are super conducting. The "life forms" could be von Neumann machines that have evolved. If they are psionic they could have vast psionic points to go with their ship size.

Other examples along those lines include the Tinman from ST:TNG, and Moya from Farscape.

 

[Fluffy Bunny Feet]

TNG also had the creatures from the first episode that mimiced the Starbase and the "baby" that leached energy from the Enterprise. Then there were the beings that wanted to kill Q when he was mortal.

 

[Tom B]

Other examples along those lines include the Tinman from ST:TNG, and Moya from Farscape.

Try reading Warhorse by Timothy Zahn. An alien race has a better interstellar propulsion by taming space life forms with telekinesis that eat asteroids and teleport between stars. Humans want to learn how to use them (or a species that preys on them) for war. Working together both species find a system with a full ecosystem.

Reaction times need not be slow if their nerves are super conducting. The "life forms" could be von Neumann machines that have evolved. If they are psionic they could have vast psionic points to go with their ship size.

One of the creatures I've created is very similar to them. It was bioengineered by a race (of which they have no memory), they are psionic and can have a lot of psi points! They can psionically jump between systems and can have passengers on. They travel in pods (because they're sometimes called space-whales. They contain a bio-fusion reactor, (no idea how that works - but then neither do they. Do you know how your liver works?). They feed off comets, taking in the hydrogen for fuel, and the other materials to build themselves.

Sort of inspired by Maya from Farscape.

Then there are the space squid, which were designed by a similar or perhaps the same civilisation, whose sole purpose is to destroy the space whales.

I'm using marine creatures for a lot of the inspiration.