Void Worms, also known as Void Hydras.
They were utterly disgusting space creatures, their bodies long, black worms that writhed through space like mosquito larvae.
Whenever three Void Worms gathered together, they would coil around one another, becoming a so-called "Void Hydra" that looked like an enormous black twist of dough.
Although Xi Yan did not know whether these things were content from a new DLC, he had uncovered plenty of information about them.
Void Worms usually gathered inside black holes to reproduce. They liked the environment there.
But every few years, when their breeding season arrived, they would leave the black holes and head into orbit around the nearest colony to scatter spores. These spores were highly corrosive, their destructive power rivaling a fleet's orbital bombardment.
That was why the Community Fleet patrolled the Empire's territory year-round, promptly killing these annoying worms. Gorpious often complained that these Void Worms were an embarrassment to the Insectoids.
The people at the Academy of Sciences, however, rather liked them. Science Ships could deploy gravity traps to capture the worms, then place them in the Ecogarden to breed.
The Community Fleet swiftly advanced, helping the Science Ship defeat those disgusting Void Worms.
Inside the corpse of one Void Worm, the Science Ship discovered a group of newly hatched nymphs.
Despite the slaughter of their own kind, they still approached the Community Fleet's ships and began drifting alongside the fleet, as if pleading with them.
"Much like the pets you keep, if you wish, you can take advantage of their instinctive attachment to us. Once mature, these space creatures will become a powerful organic fleet under our control."
Gorpious wrote this, and Xi Yan quickly approved the request.
And so a Void Worm fleet joined the Community's extended family.
This was Xi Yan's first