Space Amoeba

Space amoeba are a species of sentient spaceborne life. Solitary animals, space amoeba travel across the galaxy, hunting tiyanki as food. Space amoeba are notable for their 'flagella', aggressive spawn that effectively act as strike craft, allowing an amoeba to hunt prey or retrieve objects from substantial distances. These spawn are 'programmed' by the mother amoeba through liquid RNA-laced secretions, providing impressive control over relatively simplistic life forms. The species reproduces asexually, using a special organ to inject a typically genetically-unstable flagella with a special enzyme that stabilises its DNA and triggers rapid growth into a full amoeba.

Aside from their flagella, which develop once an amoeba is approximately 30 years old, developed space amoebae possess biological energy weapons capable of projecting plasma bursts short distances. Like other forms of spaceborne life, the species can travel through subspace between different star systems. Amoebae hide is tough and resilient, with a fully grown amoeba mother regarded as being as tough as a cruiser. The hide is also host to a species of bacteria that act in symbiosis with the amoeba, absorbing nutrients and using them to repair the host's hide.

The term 'space amoeba' is not the species full scientific name, but it was the name that stuck in the public consciousness of the United Nations of Earth. The first of the species to be encountered in 2207 CE by the UNS Discovery was first misclassified as an asteroid, and then misclassified again by an analyst as a giant version of a microscopic amoeba. A photograph taken of Captain Valentina Diaz standing next to a comically-drawn amoeba and a question mark in a serious meeting became emblematic of the early days of Human interstellar exploration, equal parts blunder and wonder.

Space amoebae are typically passive when left alone, but the act of venting plasma (how starships vent waste heat) triggers a defensive response in the species, causing them to aggressively attack the source of the venting. Studies by xenobiologists have developed methods of preventing this response by regulating plasma ventilation, a practice which has been mandated by law across the Interstellar Concord and several other star nations. However, in most parts of the galaxy, space amoebae are viewed as nuisances or target practice. Uniquely, the Graparx Primal Stalkers utilise packs of cloned space amoeba as the backbone of their starfleet, with their advanced mutations putting the animals on par with large warships.