Tristen Malax

Tristen Malax is a human Marine and former fauna specialist that served aboard the EFS Dauntless during the Dauntless Incident. Malax was one of the most common sights aboard the EFS Dauntless during the incident and largely involved in much of the fighting during the reclamation of the vessel.

Malax was born to a family of spacers and pioneers and rarely stayed in one place. He was officially born on a space station above the luxury colony of Paradise, but has always claimed his home to be the former United States, where he frequently visited and loved.

He graduated from university with a degree in zoology and immediately worked as a freelance fauna specialist, spending time on every colony planet in the Systems Union. This eventually earned him recognition, and he was recruited for the crew of the Dauntless as part of Project Grissom. During a routine mission to Leif, his shuttle experienced an engine failure that left his entire crew dead or seriously injured, and Malax only survived through the miracle of cybernetics, which have left a lasting impression on his body.

When the city of Babylon was established on Oasis, Malax immediately resigned his post as fauna specialist and enlisted in the Systems Union Marine Corps, sensing the war that was coming. His fears were proven right when the First Contact War began in earnest in 2534. Malax served under Tigran Sarkis by coincidence even before the reconstituting of Task Force Dauntless in 2535, and the two reignited a healthy friendship.

Malax rose to the rank of corporal and made it through the war unscathed, earning him the moniker "Terminator" among fellow marines due to his heavy implants and his seeming inability to die. He remained in Task Force Dauntless alongside his comrades Sarkis and Ruslan Yesorovich Torniv.

### Fire on Oasis

Malax had an extremely decorated service during Masterly's War. During the Fortress Delta Campaign, he allegedly sank a Han'Tel Class Frigate by destroying the vessel's engine from almost a kilometer away using a high-powered anti-materiel rifle. For this alone, he was considered one of the greatest marksmen to have ever lived.

During the Battle of Redville, Malax managed to fight his way through the Tasaar portal which was sending troops and vehicles into the city of Redville. He ended up onboard the Chancellor of the Navy's flagship, surrounded by foes. In a style that was considered classic of him, he stole a nearby rocket launcher and destroyed the portal he had come through, which led to the destruction of the vessel, making it the largest Tasaar vessel to be destroyed during that battle. However, Malax was also killed in the resulting explosion.

Malax was posthumously promoted to Captain and awarded multiple accolades by both the Systems Union and The Tarkan Regime, including but not limited to the Medal of Valor. He was seen as a martyr for Task Force Dauntless and a proud example of just how far the human race was willing to go to defend its colonies. According to Tasaar soldiers taken prisoner, Malax was simply called "the Demon", and the Tasaar were unaware of his death, believing him to be alive well into the 2540's.

Whatever the case, Malax's actions had direct effects. It is believed his destruction of the Chancellor of the Navy's flagship caused the retaliatory Glassing of Babylon, but the much more beneficial effects came to be known during Operation Trojan when, after the 912th Emperor of the Tasaar was killed, the lack of the Chancellor of the Navy and the Chancellor of the Army being indisposed caused a humiliating Tasaar defeat.