The Sperians are a species native to the planet Speria, located in the Delta Quadrant of the Milky Way Galaxy.
Biology[]
The Sperians are a non-human species composed of a body with gray blotches patterned their round and leathery torsos, with two arms and two legs, each with three joints, and three fingers tipped with triangular black claws. They have writhing gray tentacles that covered the top of their elongated head which serve as sensory organs to help them visualize their surroundings as they lack any eyes, ears, or noses. They have round mouths with three rings of triangular black teeth. They have copper based blood.
History[]
Around 2359, the Sperians under their Tech Faction led a project to create a new form of faster than light propulsion called the wave accelerator in the nearby Arbuk system. It was a giant tube that function as a cannon that in theory would send a ship hurdle at near impossible speeds. The project was secret and only known to a few, though a space city was create to assist in the development of the celestial construct. In its construction the Military Faction attempted to gain authority over the project due to its perceived weapons capabilities, but the motion was overruled by the Industrial Faction who supported the Tech Faction.
In 2371, tragedy struck when the wave accelerator prematurely activated and destroyed the space city orbiting, killing thousands of Sperian on board. There was only one survivor, the head of the project who managed to escape the destruction on an escape pod. He would have died had it not been for the USS Voyager who heard his distress call. Still the Sperian was in a coma, and the Starfleet personnel were left with a mystery of what had happened. Upon investigating the wave accelerator, it was deemed that the project was doomed to fail from the start, as Starfleet in the past had tried to create such a device, only for it to fail after twenty-ship deaths.
However interesting they discovered the destruction of the city, was work of sabotage. The lone Sperian was roused from his coma, after a mind meld with Lt. Commander Tuvok, was able to give the Starfleet crew details on what had happened and his suspicions of who had caused the sabotage. As it turns out it was in fact the Military faction who was responsible for the tragedy as they feared the success of the project.
A warship from the Military Faction arrived intent of destroying all evidence, though were stalled thanks to a ritualistic argumentative battle between the surviving Sperian and the Military Faction's captain. They were distracted long enough for Starfleet to take control of the device and point at the aggressive party forcing them to retreat. After they left the system, the Sperian asked the crew of the USS Voyager to escort him back to his homeworld so he could bring proof of the Military Faction's crime to the authorities. Before leaving the Arbuk system, the Sperian asked the wave accelerator be destroyed to prevent the Military Faction from using it as a weapon.
During the USS Voyager's stay on Speria, they faced difficulties in acquiring necessary supplies, partly due to the argumentative natures of the inhabitants and also the Farmers Faction who stonewalled their requests to resupply, as they were allied with the Military Faction.
To expedite the negotiations, Chief Morale Office Neelix conducted a secret deal with the Tech Faction, selling them a replicator, a device that would liberate them from the supplies of the Farmer Faction. In exchange for the supplies to Voyager, Neelix asked that the replicator technology be considered proprietary property which it would as the Tech Faction would only provide it to their own members and not any of the other factions.
Culture[]
The Sperians are a highly argumentative race, that it is well known throughout their region of space. Thus makes any business deal and exercise as Sperians like to obsessively go over tiny details. Unknown to most species, these little arguments while seemingly trivial are mostly ritualistic in basis. In times of extreme emergency, superiors can overrule arguments through a ritual argument.
Sperian society is made up of many factions which individual Sperians hold their loyalties too, along with many sub-factions which hold secondary loyalties. They all fall under the umbrella of the Council of Factions, though the biggest players are the Tech Faction, the Industrial Factions, the Military Faction and the Farmers Faction.
Source[]
- Star Trek Voyager: Incident at Arbuk by John Gregory Betancourt (1995)