An adult female nmask in pursuit.
Nmask is a species of exceptionally dangerous warm-blooded ambush predator native to Tortuga.
These beasts are considered to be one of the major hazards for sapients venturing outside the protected settlements. They are also known to attack light vehicles and drones, often with devastating results. There are records of numerous nmask attacks on reinforced vehicles during the deadly Tortugan sandstorms, the beasts being one of the few species capable of withstanding the sandblaster-like gales.
Habitat and general behaviour[]
Nmask are virtually omnipresent on Tortuga, with the actual population numbers difficult to estimate without a proper research endeavour; admittedly difficult in the planet's hostile climate and near-lawless social environment.
Most attempts by local paramilitary groups, authorities and property owners aimed at tracking the nmask menace have so far met with failure, ranging from simple lack of results to utter disasters with significant loss of life. It has been established so far that the beasts make their nests on the surface, usually in the weathered rocks or in the thick of wood-like vegetation patches. Long-abandoned buildings and large vehicles can be used as hideouts or nesting grounds, as well. Such locations are to be avoided if possible, as the beasts are extremely territorial and are particularly ferocious in defending their lairs. Females defending their young from a perceived threat are known to be completely unrelenting and impossible to drive away without killing them.
Nmask rarely venture into the planet's vast underground cavern systems, despite the amount of water and biota found there, preferring to hunt and search for water sources on the surface, owing to their capability of covering vast distances of desert terrain at high speeds without notable fatigue. An adult nmask can venture as far away as 200 kilometres from its lair in search of prey, making an encounter with the beast a viable threat in parts of the Tortugan wilderness - even right outside the bounds of cities and outposts.
Nmask are driven away by large concentrations of sapients and active technology, but will attack people travelling alone or in small groups, as well as small vehicles and drones.
Biology[]
On the level of biological classification, nmask can be, very roughly, compared to the prehistoric synapsids of Earth, the therapsids of the Permian period in particular. Essentially, the beasts have an amalgamation of traits typical for both reptilian and mammalian evolutionary branches.
However, nmask are much more developed than their primitive Terran analogues, being much more complex, efficient and viciously intelligent. In fact, the nmask's level of intelligence can be compared to that of varren and Qlygh, sometimes exceeding them and vastly outmatching them in the capacity for calculating, coldly efficient ferocity. Even a wounded and enraged nmask does not lose its capacity for adequate processing of the situation, the condition only serving to further enhancing the creature's laser-like focus on its target. The creature's head is covered by a natural armoured shell, used for protecting eyes and brain, as well as enabling powerful ramming -- a tactic typical when initially attacking prey. A charging nmask quickly rams the prey at full speed, stunning and toppling it, only then proceeding to bite and claw at the victim. A healthy adult female can send an average sapient flying with a single ramming attack, and can easily topple an adult krogan. The long whip-like tail is also used as a means of attack, but it is more commonly used as a means of self defence from other nmask in a territorial feud, a fight for mates, or in a situation when the beast is swarmed by small hostiles like large colonial insects or small combat drones.
Nmask bodies are notably muscled, but slender and aerodynamic, long flexible limbs and general shape vaguely cheetah-like, enabling ease of long-distance running and impressive bursts of speed. The beasts possess two eyes, as well as numerous small infrared sensory pits on their heads, making navigation and hunting more effective even in the conditions of a dust storm. The maw possesses a set of massive fangs, capable of tearing prey apart in seconds and even damage light technology without sustaining dental damage. Four main limbs have five taloned fingers, with the fifth being vestigial. There is, however, a third pair of limbs, situated at the ribcage; three-fingered, heavily taloned, agile and deceptively thin-looking. These limbs, even with their terrifying talons, can appear somewhat vestigial, however, they possess impressive strength and an accuracy of movements comparable to that of sapient hands. It has led some xenobiologists to speculate, that, given the chance, nmask might eventually evolve onto a proto-sapient species capable of using tools. So far, the beasts have been reported several times to be capable of using the third pair of limbs to open simple doors and even makeshift levers, but there is no direct confirmation of such claims.
Procreation[]
Regular sexual reproduction method[]
The females of the species generally tolerate males only during the mating period, being extremely aggressive towards them in other times. The sexual dimorphism is simply a matter of size: males and females look nearly identical in terms of shape and colouration, but adult females are notably larger and vastly stronger than the males and are known for their particular aggression.
The males can often engage in competitive fighting in order to impress the female and earn her favour. It is not uncommon, when one of the "competitors" dies, to offer its corpse as a gift to the female, who can engage in cannibalism in order to stock up on nutrients for future offspring. Nmask do not actively cannibalize each other otherwise, unless they find a recently deceased member of their species.
The creatures are ovoviviparous, giving live birth to the young that hatch from leathery eggs within the womb shortly before birth. Nmask usually give birth to two or three young, and are ferociously protective of their offspring. They are fed by means of their mother regurgitating half-digested food for them, supplemented by secretions of mammalian-like glands present in the female's mouth, alongside the saliva glands; these become active only during the early stage of raising the offspring. The young quickly become capable of attacking prey by themselves and often assist their mother in hunting and protecting the nest. Adult female nmask tend to hunt alone, males in small groups, but the young, regardless of gender, always hunt as a pack, with or without their mother. There are cases when two nmask mothers and their young temporarily team up, forming a particularly deadly pack. When the young become capable of procreation themselves, while not fully grown in terms of size and strength, the pack dissipates, with the young going their own separate ways. Male sibling usually do not form a typical male pack, but search for males from other litters, preferably of the similar age group to "team up" with.
Parasitic reproduction method[]
Females of the species possess a secondary reproductive system, storing fertilized eggs from previous sexual encounters in a state of biological stasis. They are kept in tiny egg sacs, several cells in each, in a special organ within the creature's chest cavity. This storage is connected to an ovipositor-like organ concealed within the maw, which can be used to "sting" the prey and "impregnate" their soft tissues with an egg sac. It is usually done to larger desert animals or particularly difficult prey that appears to be likely to get away.
Once implanted, the egg sac secretes a complex cocktail of enzymes and natural narcotics, making it harder to detect for a non-sapient host, as well as limiting the inflammation and immune response. The sac attaches itself to the local tissues, blood vessels and organs, slowly feeding off the available nutrients, causing little damage at first. It is capable of approximating the "carrying capacity" of the host, and if it is lacking, a number of developing eggs die, transferring their nutrients to other ones. When an approximate equilibrium is reached, the eggs develop into embryos, then into small larva-like forms.
Once fully developed at the larval stage, the parasitic young suddenly secrete a mix of neurotoxins, paralysing the host, then proceed to burrow into the soft tissues, devouring them and quickly growing. In most cases they succeed in preserving the host's life - and the freshness of its tissues - for a sufficient time to be ready for the next metamorphosis.
At this point the host dies, little more than a husk left of it, and the larvae undergo a brief state roughly comparable to pupation -- they develop capsules of hard chitinous carapace on the outside, while the larvae develop the adult traits inside. Once the development is complete, the capsules open, full developed nmask young coming out of them. They are typically smaller than live-born ones, but carry a wealth of nutrients stored within their bodies and can catch up quickly. The young born from this parasitic process are usually grown from eggs fertilized by different fathers, and are usually of the same sex, with the males forming a pack without the need to disperse and search for others, while females tend to stick together until they are stronger, then going their separate ways.
Nmask are known to "impregnate" sapients during their attacks, due to sapient prey being more capable of defending itself or escaping the attack. The success rate of such parasitic procreation cases is lower than with native Tortugan enemies, due to a number of factors, depending on the host species.
With dextro-amino based species there is usually a mutual allergic reaction, fatal to the eggs and extremely dangerous to the host.
Toxins natural for drell and hanar can impair the egg development long enough for the immune system to kick in, eezo traces present in asari tissues tend to disrupt the neural development of the parasitic fetuses, causing death and immune rejection. Multicellular symbionts present in batarian body cavities and organs (mainly in the torso) act alongside the regular immune system, quickly neutralizing and even devouring the implanted egg sac. Powerful immune systems of the krogan, coincidentally supplemented by high concentrations of toxins and even radioactives accumulated within krogan bodies can fight off the parasites rather effectively. An attempt to "impregnate" a volus usually ends in a failure due to the density of the suit or a lethal cryo-explosion of pressurized toxic ammonia in the face of the nmask. The injection has a high success rate with humans, salarians and vorcha, though vorcha often survive the toxins and manage to remove the burrowing larvae from their bodies, and salarian bodies often cannot support the embryos with enough nutrients.
Nmask females are particularly dangerous to elcor and, potentially, the yahg, with the large sapients being both more compatible and roughly resembling local fauna, instinctively drawing nmask females to attack and inject them.
Self-defence in case of a nmask attack[]
Being large, agile and powerful predators, nmask pose a great threat and should never be underestimated. They are deadly adversaries even to the krogan. While the beasts can be scared off with powerful flashes of light, electricity and fire, they are intelligent enough to perceive such measures as intimidation tactics and manage to weather them in their next attack. Females, especially when defending the young, are absolutely relentless and will ignore most attempts at intimidation.
It is recommended to seek shelter within reinforced vehicles and\or structures that the beasts will not be able to enter. However, attempts to wait out the attack are usually futile, given the persistent nature of these predators. It is recommended to take all the necessary measures to kill the nmask after ensuring the immediate safety.
Weapons of high stopping power, loaded with cryogenic, incendiary or shredder ammunition blocks are recommended, as well as precise explosives and combat omnitool modules. Due to the makeup of the skin and the high vitality of the neural system, nmask are less vulnerable to electric attacks, such as Overload and disruptor ammunition than it would be expected from an animal. Polonium rounds, while eventually fatally poisonous, are not effective at taking out the beasts immediately. Warp ammunition, ammo block module based, or biotic-based might a good choice, but only the high-powered variations that are expensive or require significant biotic skill to produce.
If killing the assailants is not an option, it is recommended to at least attempt wounding them, thus slowing down their pursuit and getting away in a high speed vehicle. In such case it is recommended to assume extended hostility and eventual resumption of pursuit, and to head to the nearest settlement immediately.
Trivia[]
Nmask fangs are a prized trophy on Tortuga and are often made into pieces of ornamental decoration and even jewellery. A particularly large and fully intact fang can fetch a price as high as 7000 credits on the local market.
There was a small but peculiar case of industrial sabotage on Camala in 2191, when one of the less civil clans of the Camalan Grusto attempted to undermine another by covertly importing nmask young from Tortuga and releasing them near the eezo processing plant run by their competitors. The beasts managed to seriously maim several plant workers before being dispatched. As many as four beasts managed to get lost within the factory and quickly died from acute eezo poisoning.
Unlike the fauna of Thessia and Eingana, nmask are incapable of developing rudimentary biotics, element zero being extremely deadly to their embryos and young.
The beasts have proven to be untameable in their natural state, even if raised from birth. This, however can be altered by genemodding, and there have been rumours of Nemean scientists endeavouring to make efficient warbeasts out of genemodded nmask.
Threads[]
[1] - Cerastes is attacked by a nmask at an abandoned desert station while searching for a data treasure trove there with the help of Inalya and survives...
[2] - ...only to realize that the creature was a female and left him with a peculiar parting gift.