Rattus Vardinus, AKA: "Boomrat"

The boomrat is one of those creatures that makes man wonder "what the fuck was nature thinking?". Its size and appearance is not too different from that of an otter. What differentiates these creatures from their Earthen cousins are the yellowish bubbles that dot their crimson skins, and seem to be filled with some kind of gas.



When the first colonists arrived in Vardin in 2642, they discovered an abundance of these creatures living in cooler, coastal climates. One of the things that confounded the researchers and biologists that came with the expeditionary force was the question of why these creatures had such a massive population, and why predator species in the area seemed to avoid them. So began the study of Rattus Vardinus, or simply the "Vardinian Rat".


It did not take long for scientists studying the creature to learn of what those yellowish sacs on their backs were. A survey team was able to capture one of the Vardinian Rats, and brought it back to the main encampment for study. To the researchers' collective surprise, the creature did not resist or squeal out from its cage, and seemed rather relaxed during its confinement. The scientists decided to observe their specimen in captivity for several weeks to study it, before euthanizing it at the end of the period to study what the sacs on its body were and what purpose they served. Luckily for the captured Vardinian Rat and its captors, the scientists did not have to kill the rat themselves to realize what abilities it possessed.



A logging team had left the encampment early one morning to gather lumber to construct a pontoon bridge across a nearby river. For several hours the sounds of their automatic saws could be heard, whirring away at the timber, until the mechanical whirring was replaced with screams. One of the loggers, who decided to operate his dangerous machinery while inebriated, had spotted one of the rats at the top of his tree, and decided to do some target practice on it. Despite his drunkenness, his aim was apparently still true and his shot struck and killed the rat. His triumph was short lived however, as the rat's body exploded in a ball of fire mere seconds later. The tree was engulfed in flames, along with the canopies of others nearby. A large fire bloomed, and the colony spent 72 hours containing it before it finally burnt itself out.



Investigation into the rats revealed what the scientists had suspected; the odd yellow bubbles on the rats were in fact filled with some sort of flammable or explosive material that somehow ignited upon their death. The scientists reported back to the benefactors for the expedition to Vardin, who were surprisingly thrilled to hear about these explosive pests. Months later, a military detachment arrived on the planet, and extensive testing took place.



Research brought to light the fact that these seemingly innocent creatures were in fact tools of utter destruction. The sacks and bubbles on their bodies contained a sweet smelling gas that was identified as the volatile compound of diborane, or boron trihydride. A smaller sac was found within the bodies of these creatures that not only seemed to be connected to their vascular system, but their lungs as well. At first, scientists thought that this sac may have been some sort of leftover part of their evolutionary process, until further investigation found that the sac was for the storage of carbon dioxide.



With an autoignition temperature of 38 degrees celsius, diborane would normally be one of the least safe materials to exist within the human body, as its ignition temperature in fahrenheit is 100 degrees celsius. With 99 degrees fahrenheit being considered a healthy body temperature, a warm summer day could spell doom for any creature with a trace amount of diborane in its system. So how did the Vardinian Rats,now known as "boomrats" by the military and colonists, survive? Studies concluded that these creatures actually possessed two important components to a natural cooling system: their hides and the carbon dioxide sac on their lungs.



The boomrat hide was thick enough to stop a cut or slash from piercing it, but not thick enough to prevent a puncture. The sacks were less thick, but were quite numerous. Tests performed on boomrat hide revealed that it was a surprisingly effective insulation material, until the hide was penetrated in a spot. The scientists determined that this weakness to puncture was not an oversight, but an intentional part of the boomrat's defense against the jaws of predators; should the predator gnaw through the skin of its prey, it would penetrate the hide and cause a fluctuation in the fragile internal body heat of the boomrat, which was usually only at 24 degrees celsius (around 75 degrees F). The body of the boomrat, upon death, would stop regulating its internal temperature entirely through its natural carbon-dioxide membrane, and its body heat would skyrocket to 43 degrees celsius (110 F). While 43 degrees celsius would be the temperature a human would have for a mild fever, this temperature would spell doom for any creature preying on the boomrat, as its prey's act of vengeance would engulf its predator from beyond the grave.



For a time, the military began to breed boomrats for military uses, but early tests were disastrous, to say the least. While the boomrats generally behaved well on Vardin, bringing them to the battlefields of colder planets may cause them to not combust at all upon death, while bringing them to tropical planets may actually cause premature detonation of the sacs during transit. The creatures were deemed impractical for military use, but too dangerous to attempt to kill off. As a result, the government of Vardin declared them a protected species in 2697, and strictly regulated what planets they could be exported to.



However, this is not the end of the story of the boomrats. Since the days when man first began to tame animals on Earth, creatures had been bred and used to regulate the populations of others. Species like the cane toad were introduced to combat pests consuming sugarcane in Australia, and the boomrat served a similar role. On planets with similar climates to Vardin, the boomrat became a valuable tool for colonists as they were released en masse on these planets. Even the greatest beasts on the planets were confounded by these things, as what they thought to be quick snacks became their last meals in their jaws. To this day, the boomrat remains a popular choice for controlling the expansion of predatory populations.