Nasat

A race of insectoids, or more accurately arachnoids, native to the planet Nasat. Space-faring for many decades, they have tended to isolate themselves from the rest of the galaxy, but recently joined the United Federation of Planets. A cautious people with an aversion to taking risks, they were rarely seen off-world, but in recent years have become slightly more visible, working within the Federation government on a number of levels and increasingly represented in the Starfleet. Still, they are stereotyped as a careful, conservative people who are slow to take action or change their ways.

Nasats resemble Terran woodlice, but are much larger, coming up to the chest of a typical Human male. They also have lungs and muscles like vertebrates, but do possess an exoskeleton in place of a spine. They are adapted to warm, humid climates, having evolved in the rainforests of their world’s tropical belt. They are also equally at home on the ground or in the trees, which is where they live today. Nasats possess a chorion shell composed of flexible carapace plates, and an almost reptilian-looking scaled tail which reaches to the floor. There is a set of primary manipulative arms, two pairs of secondary manipulators and a pair of rear legs for standing upright on; eight limbs in all, making Nasats arachnids despite their crustacean appearance. Although they spend much of their time bipedal, Nasats are capable of moving equally efficiently on all eight limbs. The three upper pairs end in grasping pincers.

Projecting from the top of the round skull above the heavy brow ridge is a pair of antennae. These sensitive feeling organs are used for finding one’s way in the dark (the Nasat people having evolved in damp caves beneath the surface of their world). Nasats also possess attack hairs on their neck, which bristle when danger presents itself. These hairs protect the Nasat from being targeted by flying or arboreal predators. Another instinctive reaction to danger is curling. The hinged plates of the carapace allow the Nasat to curl into a tight armoured ball, and by flexing these plates outward one by one they can also roll at speed backwards from the source of danger, in a continuous reverse somersault. The shell is incredibly tough and protects a Nasat in a variety of harsh environments, even, for a period of several hours, the vacuum of space. A Nasat can also function for a limited period in an N-class environment like that of Venus, or in the crushing pressure of the bottom of oceans. The acidic atmosphere of Eridas IX is too much for them, however. The shell can even withstand directed energy weapons to some degree. On the other hand, it is not invulnerable to piercing weapons such as arrows. A Nasat’s eyes, which are blue, black or yellow, are heavy-lidded, giving them a permanent drowsy expression. The eyelids allow them to blink. Underneath these are transparent membranes which allow the Nasat to see where it is going while its eyes remain protected from harsh environments, again including space.

An individual Nasat- or “shell” as the Nasats themselves phrase it- can be identified by its unique bioelectric signature, which is read by passing a scanner over the forebrain region of the head. The Nasat brain contains the Central Cortex, a region believed to be the most primitive part of the organ. Whatever functions it served were long thought to have become obsolete as the species evolved. In the average Nasat, the Central Cortex might show low-level brain activity a handful of times a day, nothing more. However, there is a type of Nasat known as a “ Quiet ” whose upper brain functions are concentrated here. In a Nasat, a highly stimulated Central Cortex is related to communication deficiencies; the label of “Quiet” is applied as these individuals cannot, under normal circumstances, speak or grasp even the basics of language. Quiets hatch at a uniform rate planet-wide, regardless of shell colour, geography or heredity. One in every 750 Nasats can be expected to hatch a Quiet, and for much of Nasat history such people were left to a life of isolation, performing menial tasks.