This is “Space Terrain” suggestion #1.
“GSB Space can be a very bad place,” the old man said. His breath was heavy with the scent of Imperial liquour. "It’s filled with asteroids, debris, space hulks, lethal radiations, but the biggest threat of all are the terrifying space cooties that prey on defenseless, immobile ships.
Yes, Space cooties! They are tiny particles that drift through space. When they see a nonmoving ship with a power source, they latch on. When they attach themselves to your hull and drain your power, causing periodic shield disruption or ECM effects. The effect doesn’t last very long, but the more of the little buggers latch onto your ship, the more frequent the ECM effects and shield disruptions will be."
At this point he must have seen the sweat on my face and the shaking in my hands, because he paused and looked at me. He softened his voice and said reassuringly, "Do not fear, worthy space pilot. They don’t move very quickly, and a burst of thrust from the engines will scare them away and cause them to scatter. But the moment you stop moving they’ll be attracted to your ship again. The faster your movement, the faster you can shake them off your hull once they’ve attached.
GSB Space can be a bad place. Forewarned is forearmed, but nontheless, you really should arm yourself." And with those final words of wisdom, the old man passed out.
edit: Changed everything to “space cooties”, after realizing that being attacked by “space cuties” may not necessarily be a bad thing.
