Oswaft

The Oswaft were a race of huge, manta-ray-like beings evolved in the vacuum of space, specifically in the region of space known as the ThonBoka, or StarCave. They evolved over the eons into space grazers, constantly gaining sustenance by filtering the various elements that floated in the vacuum. They were powerful, winged creatures which had a multitude of fleshy tendrils streaming from their undersides. It was these tendrils that allowed an Oswaft to manipulate objects. Normal adults were known to reach lengths of 750 meters or more, while the Elders could grow to 1,000 meters. They had strange, transparent flesh, inside of which could be seen the colors and sparks of chemical reactions. It was believed that some two-thirds of their body mass was used as their brain. When an Oswaft died, their flesh became opaque, and eventually decomposed into its molecular components. Oswaft could communicate across vast distances almost instantly by modulating radio waves to form complex strings of images and concepts, and they developed a way to manipulate microwaves to enter hyperspace by themselves. This allowed them to "skip" anywhere in an instant, although the nature of the Oswaft society was to stay at home in the StarCave, where they could avoid the dangers of what they called the Open Sea of space. They were incredibly intelligent, but had only gained knowledge within the confines of the StarCave. Thus, they were unimaginative beings with incredibly long lifespans, and their society was steeped in conservative traditions. They were virtually immune to fear, and never panicked. The Oswaft had the ability to sythesize complex molecular structures, provided that they had the raw atomic material to start with. The Oswaft society was ruled by a group of Elders, and was believed to have numbered in the billions, all living inside the ThonBoka. When Emperor Palpatine learned of the existence of the Oswaft, he believed that huge, sentient creatures which could move through hyperspace without starships were a threat to the Empire, and ordered them eradicated. Imperial forces blockaded the mouth of the StarCave nebula, regularly issuing poisonous discharges to kill the pre-organic motes that float into the ThonBoka and provide sustanence to the lifeforms inside. Lando Calrissian eventually talked the Oswaft into fighing for the ThonBoka, and together they broke the Imperial blockade and freed the Oswaft.