Pipe Roaches
Malice and Menace
Anatomy
Like with mantids on earth, pipe roaches have large, triangular heads equipped with mandibles. They also have two bulbous compound eyes, and a pair of antennae. Their bodies are long, and come with a pair of beautiful wings.
This is where the similarities end. Their mandibles are capable of chewing through steel, and they often do so to make their nests. Their "raptorial legs" are bladed, rather than spiked. These blades can cleave through a human in combat armor with ease. Older pipe roaches are also intelligent. They are able to plan attacks on prey, able to strike when their meal is most vulnerable.
On the surface, they range in size from 7 mm to 20 mm. They get bigger though. The pipe Roach has a bizarre life cycle. They begin on the surface and work their way down the levels and into the depths. The deeper one goes, the bigger they are. The largest recorded was 15 feet from end to end.
Food
Pipe roaches are attracted to sugar and meat. They often prey on creatures equal to their size. The smallest will hunt insects, juveniles will prey on stray dogs and cats that wander too close, and the largest hunt for much bigger meals. When a meal can't be found easily, they often prey on each other.
On the surface, they tend to swarm around piles of trash and filth, another contributing factor to their name. Homes must be kept spotless if one seeks to avoid drawing in a freshly hatched brood.
Their craving for sugar makes them particularly threatening to Safeharbor's apiaries. Beekeepers routinely check for pipe roach infestations, not only to protect their stores of honey, but the bees as well.
Civil war
Pipe roaches are crafty, but they are a creature unsuited for intelligence. They can't communicate nor can they use tools. One odd behavior reported by Homebound is their tendency to have wars between different broods and species.
The species of pipe roach is determined by the colors and patterns of their wings. This acts as a primitive form of heraldry. It is even suspected that brood queens exist, massive monarchs whose broods began with them.
The wayfarers stumble on their battlefields from time to time, and it's usually a grisly scene. The victors feed on the bodies of the dead, pipe roaches of all sizes gathered for the feast. Despite this, they never dwindle in numbers. It's always mating season on Safeharbor.
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I was all happy Oracle had lived. then you pulled the rug out from under me. WHYYY Although I was thinking that falling asleep in a roach den was just asking for trouble. I feel like one of them should have known better. Defending the apiaries from roaches is certainly a good plot hook for an adventure or two. also you've mentioned briefly in a few articles that the humans of the colonies no longer use traditional firearms. that does beg the question, what DO they use? you mentioned blue light...
To be fair she did think it was abandoned and was under the influence of drugs. It really couldnt be helped at that point. Oooo good question. Basically railguns. Think mass effect but less handwaving. The projectiles are small, like the size of a pea. They are electromagnetic charged using tiny fusion reactors and sent out at nearly 120km a second, twice the speed of sound. The cracking sound is the projectile breaking the sound barrier. Other than that it makes no noise. The blue flash is due to heat. The projectiles glow.