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"This is no cave..." - Han Solo
Space is always thought of as an empty, barren vacuum, but even here, in the absence of atmosphere and at the mercy of wild temperature extremes, life exists. Fleeing a fleet of Imperial Star Destroyers, the Millennium Falcon encountered one of the legendary inhabitants of the void when the ship was almost swallowed by a giant Space Slug. The vast creature had taken up residence in an asteroid, somewhere in the Anoat Sector, near the frozen planet Hoth. Mistaking the beast's maw for a cave, Han Solo had flown inside and put the ship down in the monster's gut to elude hunting Imperial fighters. It was only while cleaning parasitic Mynocks off of the ship that he discovered the true identity of the "cave" they had entered.
Space Slugs are huge, silicon-based life-forms, more mineral than animal, but nonetheless alive. Anchored by their tails, the young slugs feed on the very rock to which they are attached through burrowing, root-like tendrils. These tendrils both fix the Slugs to the asteroids or airless planetoids they call home and also suck essential minerals, upon which they thrive. Any morsel that happens to come within snapping range of a Slug's wide mouth is gobbled up, as well as all manner of tiny space-borne particles that drift into the gaping jaws. Inside a large Space Slug's belly, smaller space-borne creatures can sometimes be found. Energy-sucking Mynocks feed like parasites, hanging on the inner walls of the gut and trying to avoid becoming meals themselves.
Growing slowly and steadily over millennia, Space Slugs can reach gargantuan proportions. The most massive specimens recorded reached almost a kilometer from nose to roots, though legends speak of great monsters even larger than that. The one encountered by the Millennium Falcon must surely have been one of the biggest. In time, the oldest Slugs eventually petrify and become caves themselves, returning to the stone from which they grew.
Points of Interest:
The Space Slug Enviorama, 'This Is No Cave,' is the first environmental study from Sideshow Collectibles' line of Star Wars Dioramas. The piece is hand-cast in heavy-weight polystone, hand-finished and hand-painted to exacting standard. The Enviorama was designed to be displayed either on a flat desktop surface, or can be wall mounted using the hook installed on the under-side. The 30th Anniversary Exclusive Space Slug Enviorama is a limited edition of only 2,000 pcs. Don't miss this chance to own one of the most unique and inventive creatures from the Star Wars galaxy!
This diorama was an exclusive to the Celebration IV convention during May 24-28, 2007.
Photography by D Martin Myatt
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