Thargoid Barnacle

A Thargoid Barnacle is an organic Thargoid structure that extracts resources from a planet and converts them into Meta-Alloys, a key component in Thargoid ships and technologies.^[1] The main structure consists of an organic growth with a central, ribbed peak surrounded by Thargoid Barnacle Barbs. A number of Barnacles have been documented in the Pleiades Nebula since 3302.

Appearance

At first sight the central column looks very much like a regular, sea-based barnacle sitting on the ground. However, closer up, it appears to consist of a number of individual obelisks making up the structure. At ground level the obelisks do not quite meet, leaving gaps through which a more organic looking material can be seen which radiates a blue-green light. It is approximately twice the height of a Scarab SRV.

The peaks of each obelisk is coloured a creamy white, with a strange symbol visible on the side. This is currently the cause of much speculation amongst commanders with many believing it to be a reference to Barnard's Loop, an emission nebula in the Orion constellation.

Large Clusters

Barnacle large cluster above — A large cluster of barnacles seen from above

After September 26, 3303, CMDRs began discovering much larger clusters of Alien Structures aka "Barnacles". These clusters had grown into a roughly octagonal shape, with crystal-like formations erupting from the ground and linking them together. It is possible that these large clusters are the precursors of future Thargoid Surface Sites. It's also called a Barnacle Forest due to the large scale.^[2]

Interaction

The barnacle appears to be fairly benign and has so far been unresponsive to interaction. The central column is impervious to damage. It also cannot be targeted by ships or SRVs, and does not show up on scanners.

There have been reported anomalies near these objects,^{[citation needed]} with ship scanner glitches being fairly common. When nearby, a strange sound can be heard coming from it, which sounds similar to an Unknown Artefacts, but rather sounds more like an animal noise.^[3]

Unknown Artefacts (UA) interact with the barnacle via a sort of tractor beam. The barnacle gives off visual and sound effects as any nearby debris slowly rises within the beam towards the UA, only to be dropped back onto the barnacle, having no obvious effect on anything in the end.

Connection to Thargoids

Unknown Ship Barnacle Laser — Thargoid Interceptor lasers a barnacle

On June 2, 3303, CMDR Mobiusetti documented the first known interaction between a Thargoid Interceptor and Barnacles on Pleiades Sector OI-T C3-7 A 6 at coordinates -42.77, -21.70, confirming the two are related. The Unknown Ship approached one Barnacle, incapacitating any nearby ships and SRVs. The craft then rotated until its propulsion array faced and was aligned with the Barnacle, before drawing a pulsing beam of light or energy from it for a brief period. The Unknown Ship then departed as rapidly as it arrived. It is possible that Barnacles serve as refueling stations of some kind for Unknown Ships, and the Meta-Alloys they produce are fuel or repair materials for them, but this is currently only conjecture.^[4]

Thargoid-Interceptor-Particle-Cloud-Barnacles — Thargoid Interceptor Particle Cloud at Barnacles

It's been observed when a Thargoid Interceptor visits a Barnacle site it releases a cloud of green "particles" This could be a shield that they enable or disable. Or maybe a chemical compound to trigger something such as growth in the Barnacles.^[5]

The Interceptor has a similar shield in combat when it takes too much damage. That usually happens when one of its petals (hearts) gets destroyed. The Thargoid ship may need to disable its shields before it can refuel/fire the green beam at the barnacles.^[5]

Barnacle Seeding

Ram Tah decrypted ancient Guardian logs and found that the Thargoid barnacles are designed to extract resources from a planet and transform them into meta-alloys – an essential ingredient in the creation of Thargoid ships and technologies. The Guardians surmised that for the Thargoids, seeding a planet with barnacles is an important process in preparing an area for occupation.^[1]

Known Locations

Small clusters

System	Planet	Surface Coordinates	Notes
Merope	5 C	-26.35, -156.40	First Barnacle discovered on Jan. 15, 3302 by CMDR Octo86.^[6] Exhausted (Found 2 Meta-Alloys, Sept. 23)
Pleiades Sector JC-U B3-2	1	22.79, 94.08	Exhausted
Pleiades Sector JC-U B3-2	1	21.91, 96.97	Exhausted
Pleiades Sector JC-U B3-2	1	-8.80, -13.36	Exhausted
Pleiades Sector OI-T C3-7	A 6	-42.77, -21.70	First sighting on Unknown Ship interaction on Jun. 2, 3303 by CMDR Mobiusetti. Active
Pleiades Sector IX-S B4-4	B 1	-40.46, 25.81	Active (3 Dec 2017) Not guarded Exhausted (Found 1 Meta-Alloy, Feb. 16)

Large clusters

System	Planet(s)	Surface Coordinates	Notes
Witch Head Sector GW-W c1-4	A 4		Planet A 4 features 14 different sites
Witch Head Sector LC-V c2-10			84 sites in system
Witch Head Sector FB-X c1-11			73 sites in system
Witch Head Sector DL-Y d17			36 sites in system
Witch Head Sector HW-W c1-7			31 sites in system
Pleiades Sector JC-U b3-2			51 sites in system
Pleiades Sector IH-V c2-16			41 sites in system
Pleiades Sector PN-T b3-0	A5	Lat: -4.4946 Long: 145.6557
California Sector DL-Y d4			36 sites in system
Hyades Sector AQ-Y d81	C 2	9.29, -153.98	131,667 ls from arrival point
Pleiades Sector PN-T b3-0	A5	Lat: -4.4946, Long: 145.6557	Possibly depleted, 4 found 8/2/2018
Outotz ST-I d9-6	2 A	Site 1: 76.23, -78.35 Site 2: 55.30, -85.63	2 sites in system