Nasat (species)

• Appearance: Insectile
  • Resembling 2 meter pill bug (TAS: "The Jihad"; SCE)
  • Mandibles located within the "mouth" structure (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
  • Eight limbs
    • Six primary limbs along torso, three to either side (TAS: "The Jihad"; SCE)
      • Each ends in a hand-like pincer structure for manipulation (TAS: "The Jihad"; SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
    • Two secondary limbs analogous to legs (TAS: "The Jihad"; SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
      • Less adept at fine manipulation (TAS: "The Jihad")
  • All capable of being pulled close to the body to allow for defensively curling up in the face of threats (TAS: "The Jihad"; SCE)
  • Shells colored one of five base hues, indicating equivalent of race or caste (SCE)
    • Blue, Brown, Green, Red, Yellow (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
• Homeworld: Nasat
• Biological notes
  • Egg-laying species akin to most insects (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
    • Eggs hatch into larvae (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
    • Larvae develop into nymphs by age one (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
      • Nymphs are expected to be verbal and communicative (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
    • Nymphs develop into adults by age seven (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
      • Full neurological maturity is reached at adulthood (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
  • Chitinous shell provides protection against significant physical trauma when curled up (SCE; Novel: Articles of the Federation)
    • In "Balance of Nature", a Nasat shell is described as being made of "chorion", but as the chorion is an insect egg's outer shell and an embryonic membrane in other orders, perhaps this was a typo for "chitin"?
  • Nervous system
    • Neural structure includes a forebrain (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
    • Stimulation of a nerve bundle located within the lower jaw beneath the mandibles can serve to interrupt anxiety-related emotional feedback loops (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
  • Originally evolved on the planetary surface (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
    • Migrated to the canopy of the planetary forest, out of reach of predatory species, once the technology to do so was developed (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
  • Significant subgroup of the species have trouble with verbal communication (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
    • Known as "quiets" (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
    • Generally even birth rate planet-wide, at a rate of approximately one per 750 hatchings (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
      • Is not directly heritable, with children of quiets showing no greater rate of occurrence (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
    • Often mischaracterized as misfits or violent, prone to fits (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
    • Following Federation membership, research project was begun to allow such individuals the ability to communicate verbally (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
• Cultural notes
  • Nasat calendar
  • Nasat food
  • Individual names translate from the Nasat language into a string of alphanumerics coupled with shell color (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
    • e.g., "P8 BlueTS27Q6" (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
    • First two characters always a letter followed by a digit (TAS: "The Jihad"; SCE)
    • In conversation with other species, the first two characters and shell color are used as ones name (TAS: "The Jihad"; SCE)
      • Nasat who commonly work alongside and converse with other species will often adopt a nickname as well (SCE)
  • Affection shown through a gentle brush of the center of the forehead, followed by a similar brush of the thin membrane behind the antennae (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
  • Generally forward-looking, seeing cutting ties with the past as encouraging further progress (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
    • Nasat have little in the way of museums, commemorative notes, or other examples of historical remembrance (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
  • Caste traits
    • Yellows characterized as well-suited for tasks requiring repetition and perseverance (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
  • Sayings and idioms
    • Non-chitinous species lightheartedly referred to as "softs" (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
    • "Sap and fog" the equivalent to the usual saying of "smoke and mirrors" (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")