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Jet Flyers (Voloicta) are a class of Tentaculicapita that conquered the skies of Argo. They account for roughly 89% of the biomass of aerial Argozoa, the planet's animal life. They occupy ecological niches analogous to those of Earth's birds (Aves), yet their means of flight is entirely different.

Instead of wings powered by muscles alone, jet flyers move using organic jet engines, which evolved from the simple pulmosiphons of primitive tentacle-heads. Because of this evolutionary origin, they can breathe only while moving—much like Earth's sharks. Some lineages, however, have evolved highly efficient oxygen-storage tissues that allow them to rest for limited periods.

The primary arms gradually stiffened and became connected by membranes, forming wing-like structures. Meanwhile, the secondary arms—originally extensions of the pulmosiphons—became an essential part of the jaws, most often developing into harpoons or claws used to seize prey and deliver it to the mouth.

Owing to this body plan, most jet flyers are incapable of landing, spending virtually their entire lives airborne.

Like all tentacle-heads, jet flyers are dioecious and possess a complex life cycle. Their larvae bear little resemblance to the adults. Instead, they resemble primitive members of the ballooners (Aerovesicata), lacking the defining characteristics of adult jet flyers such as wings, the bird-like body plan, well-developed beaks, and powerful jet engines.

Instead, the larvae possess delicate filtering tentacles, hydrogen-filled buoyancy sacs, and primitive pulmosiphons capable of only limited propulsion. During development they undergo a slow metamorphosis, gradually losing their juvenile characteristics while acquiring the specialized anatomy of the adult form.

Jet flyers display an extraordinary diversity of jaw morphologies, although the majority are either predators or aerial filter feeders.

Below are the three principal orders of the class:

Brachiognathida

The most widespread order of jet flyers, consisting primarily of small and medium-sized species occupying ecological niches analogous to those of birds on Earth.

1. Swift Clawjaw

Brachiognathus velox

"Swift clawed jaw"

A medium-sized predator with a wingspan of approximately 2.4 m, inhabiting vast oceanic regions. It preys upon other flying creatures, including smaller jet flyers.

It captures prey using its clawed jaw-arms before crushing it with a pair of powerful horizontally arranged jaws resembling the mandibles of insects.

Swift Clawjaws are social animals, hunting in flocks of up to 15 individuals.

2. Gull Harpooner

Harpobrachium piscivorum

"Fish-eating harpoon arm"

A medium-sized species with a wingspan of around 1.35 m, found throughout the Western Ocean.

It feeds primarily on fish-like Flexicaudata, searching the water's surface before striking with razor-sharp harpoon-like jaw-arms. It will also prey opportunistically upon other flying organisms.

Unlike most aerial predators, it is an extremely solitary species, gathering only during the breeding season.

3. Little Enchanting Shortbeak

Tripterum parvum

"Small triple wing"

A tiny predator reaching only 12 cm in wingspan, inhabiting mountainous environments.

It feeds mainly on Diptera, Argo's ecological counterparts of insects. These are seized with small claws before their exoskeletons are crushed by the animal's short beak.

Males possess a ventral appendage that enlarges during the breeding season and develops striking colors used to attract females.

The species forms seasonal breeding pairs.

4. Woodland Clawwing

Dendropteryx unguiculata

"Clawed woodland wing"

A small species with a wingspan of approximately 30 cm, inhabiting the temperate forests of Argo.

It hunts dipterans using its secondary jaw-arms. Unlike most jet flyers, it retains two small clawed primary arms independent of the wings, allowing it to perch and land.

This adaptation enables it to ambush prey from within the forest canopy.

Woodland Clawwings live in small family groups.

5. Agile Hollowbeak

Cavosagitta agilis

"Agile hollow spear"

A small aerial predator reaching up to 55 cm in wingspan.

It specializes in hunting small ballooners by piercing their hydrogen sacs with its long spear-like beak. Near its base, the beak divides into two branches, creating a channel into which clawed feeding arms push captured prey.

Because its jaw structure prevents chewing, the species is restricted to consuming only the smallest ballooners.

Sagittata

The smallest yet perhaps the most remarkable order of jet flyers. Owing to their elongated, powerfully muscled jet exhausts, several members of this group are capable of landing and even hovering in place, much like Earth's VTOL aircraft. This adaptation allows them to hunt terrestrial animals with remarkable precision.

6. Hooded Dart

Ietosagitta cucullata

"Hooded jet dart"

A large, opportunistic predator with a wingspan of up to 6 m.

It preys upon other jet flyers, ballooners, flying sauromorphids, and occasionally small terrestrial animals. It actively pursues its prey before impaling it with its sharp grasping arms and consuming it using its long pointed beak.

The species inhabits the subtropical and temperate regions of Argo.

Its wings are relatively short and triangular compared to its body, enabling exceptional maneuverability and speed. Hooded Darts can reach 250 km/h, making them among the fastest organisms on Argo.

They are monogamous, forming lifelong pair bonds. Unlike most jet flyers, they provide extensive parental care for their offspring.

7. Tailed Devil

Diabolognathus atrox

"Terrible devil jaw"

A large predator with a wingspan of up to 8 m, specializing in hunting small and medium-sized terrestrial sauromorphids, particularly herbivorous species.

Using its highly developed eyesight, it locates prey from high above before diving at tremendous speed and impaling its unsuspecting victim.

The species inhabits the temperate regions of Argo.

Its common name originates from the remarkable resemblance of its second pair of wings to the tails of a formal tailcoat.

Unlike most jet flyers, Tailed Devils are capable of landing and are frequently observed resting upon tall cliffs, a behavior made possible by highly efficient oxygen-storage tissues.

Like the Hooded Dart, this species is strictly monogamous.

Thaumatognathida

A highly diverse order that includes some of the largest flying organisms on Argo.

As their name suggests, members of this group possess extraordinarily modified jaws, often unlike those of any other aerial animals.

8. Colossal Bowljaw

Thaumatognathus megapterus

"Strange jaw with enormous wings"

The largest representative of the order and the largest actively flying organism on Argo, reaching an astonishing 55 m wingspan.

Despite its immense size, it is far from a gentle giant. Instead, it is an active aerial predator feeding upon the largest flying sauromorphids as well as other jet flyers.

Its feeding strategy is particularly unusual. Powerful grasping arms pull prey into an enormous bowl-shaped beak, where digestive fluids are released directly onto the victim, reducing it to a nutrient-rich slurry before ingestion.

The species occurs only in regions supporting abundant large aerial fauna and is therefore rarely encountered.

Colossal Bowljaws are solitary animals, pairing only during the breeding season.

9. Net-beaked Fisher

Retirostrum bivittatum

"Two-banded net beak"

A very large fish-eating species reaching 25 m in wingspan.

Its secondary arms have evolved into elaborate net-like structures. Flying just above the ocean surface, it casts these living nets into the water, capturing schools of small marine organisms.

The nets are then reeled into the enormous beak, where digestive fluids dissolve the captured prey while leaving the nets themselves unharmed.

The species inhabits nutrient-rich oceanic regions.

Like the Colossal Bowljaw, it is a solitary animal.

10. Manta Dart

Iaculocephalus mantoides

"Manta-like launching skull"

A very large aerial predator with a wingspan of approximately 14 m.

It hunts medium-sized flying animals using a pair of extraordinarily long, spine-tipped arms that can be launched forward like harpoons.

Unlike the previous two species, the Manta Dart consumes its prey conventionally, biting and tearing flesh with its powerful jaws rather than digesting it externally.

The species is uncommon and restricted to the tropical regions of Argo.

Its streamlined body resembles that of Earth's manta rays, inspiring its common name.

Like the other members of the order, it is a strictly solitary species, meeting others only during reproduction.

Scale-Trunks (Squamitrucida)

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Scale-trunks (Squamitrucida) are the dominant order of Argophytes, Argo's equivalent of plants. They belong to the largest division of Argophytes, the Dual-Trunks (Deutruncophyta).

As their name suggests, their body plan is based on two separate trunks connected by supporting beams. The inner trunk primarily serves for the transport of organic substances and provides structural rigidity, while the outer trunk functions as the main load-bearing element and protects the interior from environmental influences. This type of construction greatly reduces the amount of material required, allowing members of this group to attain gigantic sizes.

In scale-trunks, the outer trunk consists of "scales"—thick, durable plates arranged concentrically and tightly fused together, forming an exceptionally strong yet flexible structure. Unlike terrestrial trees, members of the Deutruncophyta possess assimilatory organs known as megaphylls ("great leaves"). These grow continuously throughout the organism's lifetime and can reach enormous dimensions. They are located in the uppermost part of the trunk, the primary node, usually in numbers not exceeding eight. The primary node itself is responsible for the growth of all parts of the Argophyte.

At the top of a scale-trunk, one can observe a large bud resembling a cluster of young leaves. However, appearances are deceptive, for this is actually a concealed reproductive organ that opens once a year to release vologametes. Remarkably, an entire population can synchronize the release of its gametes, greatly increasing reproductive success. Massive swarms of vologametes also provide an important food source for aerial filter-feeders.

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Planogamy and Vologametes

Argophytes do not reproduce like terrestrial plants.

Instead, they employ a process known as planogamy, in which the immobile organism (the Argophyte proper) releases a motile, temporarily free-living planogamete. The role of this planogamete is to locate a member of the opposite sex and fuse with it, forming the embryo of a new Argophyte.

In scale-trunks, these planogametes are called vologametes because of their ability to perform spiral flight using air-jet propulsion.

Argophytes are dioecious. The female individual is only capable of remaining airborne, whereas the male can actively control its flight.

The male detects females by scent and attempts to anchor itself to them using two mobile clawed appendages, after which it attaches with a specialized suction organ. This mechanism serves as an effective form of selection, since weak males incapable of attaching to a female fail to pass on their genes.

Fertilization then occurs internally. The male-female complex subsequently falls to the ground and embeds itself in the soil. After some time, a new scale-trunk germinates from the embryo, consuming the tissues of the vologametes as a nutrient source—effectively devouring its parents.

This reproductive strategy has enabled scale-trunks to spread throughout all warm and temperate climates of Argo.

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Superfamily Squamitrucidae (True Scale-Trunks)

1. Star-Leaved Scale-Trunk (Squamitruncus formosus)

One of the most common Argophytes on Argo.

It inhabits equatorial and subtropical climates. Six serrated megaphylls emerge from the primary node and are arranged in a star-shaped pattern.

The trunk is long and slender. The scales are small and blunt-tipped.

Height: up to 25 m.

2. Rhomboid Fullleaf (Pachyphyllum rhomboidale)

A desert-dwelling member of the true scale-trunks.

It is distinguished by thick, water-rich megaphylls and distinctly rhomboid scales. The bud surrounding the reproductive organ is greatly elongated.

Height: up to 10 m.

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Superfamily Squamicactidae (Scale-Cacti)

3. Tower Spearlance (Hasta maxima)

A highly specialized scale-trunk adapted to life in the hottest regions of Argo's deserts.

The scales are extremely thick, rich in stored water, photosynthetic, and terminate in long spines. The megaphylls are vestigial. The bud is likewise covered in protective spines that deter herbivores.

Height: up to 20 m.

4. Raspberry Scale-Cactus (Squamicacto spinadulci)

One of the smallest scale-cacti, reaching just over one meter in height.

The scales are strongly spined near the top, while only weakly spined near the base. Megaphylls are vestigial. The trunk is short, rounded, and water-rich. The bud is exceptionally large relative to the rest of the organism.

Height: approximately 1 m.

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Superfamily Octophyllae (Eight-Leaves)

5. Sapphire Scalelet (Squamula sapphirina)

The smallest known scale-trunk.

It reaches only 20 centimeters in height. Its scales are minute and delicate. It possesses four fully developed megaphylls and four vestigial ones.

The large bud is sapphire-blue in color, from which the species derives its name.

It occurs in warm and waterlogged regions.

Height: up to 20 cm.