Biology and Appearance
The @Traphians are a species of short, bulky mammalian humanoids with a short, muscular and broad stature. They possess dense fur covering their bodies, distinctive snouts positioned above large black eyes adapted to low-light conditions, and cold-blooded metabolisms evolved on the ice world @Nithor II, where surface temperatures drop below 40 Kelvin. Notably, the @Traphians display virtually no aptitude for wielding the power of the nethereal—no documented @Traphian has ever been known to manifest psionic abilities, a peculiar biological limitation given that the source of such power is theorized to originate from beyond physical biology. However, biological appearance remains largely theoretical to outsiders, as @Traphian culture maintains an absolute taboo against removing exosuits in public or in the presence of non-intimates.
Here, it is important to note that the term 'Traphian' refers to the species, whereas 'Traphon' generally refers to the cultural and political aspects of said species.
That said, one of the Traphon is never seen outside their thick, angular power armor, which typically features rounded helmet proportions and triple optical sensors arranged in the upper corners and lower center of the faceplate. To see a @Traphian without their helmet is a privilege reserved for the most intimate family bonds or medical emergencies; to do so in public would represent an unthinkable violation of social protocol that has persisted for millennia.
Cultural Practices
Traphon naming conventions reflect their utilitarian and role-based social structure. Names are not fixed identities but temporary designations that change throughout an individual's life to reflect current function, status, or achievements. Prior to the integration with the Endless Unity, a Traphon might begin as "Seeker-Of-Knowledge" during their education, become "Storm-Born" upon completing warrior training, and later take "Conqueror-Forged" upon achieving command rank. Following their absorption into the Unity and the adoption of Unity-style vat-born reproduction, the naming practice continues but the initial designation reflects their assigned role at creation rather than a youth phase. These names are changed through formal ceremony within the clan-structure, with the old designation ceremonially struck from records and the new one registered with administrative authorities. This practice emphasizes the Traphon belief that identity is fluid and defined by contribution to the collective rather than by static lineage or individual ego.
The Stellar Empire and the War
The Traphon Stellar Empire once stood as one of the dominant powers in the mid Alpha-quadrant, a military superstate that controlled nearly 1 billion cubic light-years and over 100,000 colonized worlds. Built upon 10,000 years of conquest and colonization, the Empire was ruled by a commander-council of military leaders rather than civilian politicians, with absolute authority vested in the chosen-councillor. This was not merely a government of warriors but a civilization entirely organized around the logic of empire-building, subjugation, and the enforcement of iron law. The Traphon viewed themselves not as bloodthirsty marauders but as cold-blooded builders of stability, disciplinarians who brought order to the chaos of lesser civilizations. They subjugated 15 distinct alien species of comparable technological advancement, reducing them to vassals whose economies and political systems were controlled through a combination of resource extraction and the implicit threat of stationed Storm-Warrior garrisons.
The Traphon War, waged from 465 AF to 499 AF, fundamentally altered the trajectory of both the Stellar Empire and the Endless Unity. The conflict began when the Traphon, initially intrigued by their human neighbors' rapid technological development, attempted to force a vassal-state relationship upon the Unity. When diplomatic deception and stalling tactics angered the Traphon council, the Empire initiated what they termed "the war against respectability"—unprovoked attacks designed to punish what they viewed as dishonorable behavior. The Unity, unprepared for the Traphon's mastery of ground warfare, suffered devastating losses in planetary engagements, losing worlds by the hundreds to the Empire's ferocious Storm-Warriors and nightmarish exoplanetary warfare vehicles such as the Monoliths.
The war forced a fundamental evolution in Unity military doctrine. Prior to the conflict, the Exoplanetary Guard lacked the specialized soldier-specific chargants that would later define them—modern templates such as the @Soldier (Appolorion Genus), @Soldier (Marcurion Genus), and @Soldier (Primus Genus) did not exist, and their predecessor, the Progenitor-template, was only developed during this war. The Void Guard, though generally superior in void engagements, could not guarantee total blockade against the deployment of Storm-Warriors, who would arrive in small numbers and wreak utter havoc upon planetary populations. In response, the Unity rapidly accelerated its eugenics programs, creating FORCE Alpha as an experimental force of genetically engineered super-warriors capable of matching Traphon Storm-Warriors in exoplanetary combat. This unit became the template for the modern Exoplanetary Guard. The development of dedicated subterranean vehicles, mono-platform machines analogous to the Traphon Monoliths, and the formal adoption of concealment warfare doctrine all originated as direct responses to Traphian tactical innovations. By the war's conclusion, the Unity had transformed from a civilization unprepared for ground warfare into one capable of prosecuting total planetary campaigns, having learned from the very tactics used against them.
The Pact and Integration
The Traphon Pact of 499 AF marked the conditional surrender of the Stellar Empire and the beginning of the Reformations of Aximor. This agreement granted the Traphon full status as citizens of the Endless Unity while preserving their cultural autonomy and military organization as the Traphon Guard, making them the first non-human species to achieve Class A status within the Unity. Supreme Overseer Tylum Vosar and her later successor Halon Aximor both recognized that outright conquest would leave the Unity burdened with a sullen, militarized population capable of prolonged resistance. Instead, they offered terms that allowed the Traphon to retain control over their industrial base, their political system, and their military forces, though these were technically subordinate to the Prime Council.
The relationship that emerged was not merely cooperative but symbiotic. The Traphon came to respect the humans of the Endless Unity due to the latter's demonstrated innovation capabilities—they had proven themselves through war as worthy partners rather than mere conquests. This was reinforced by social engineering efforts on behalf of the AUSC and Halon Aximor specifically, who cultivated the narrative of the Traphon as honored allies rather than defeated enemies. Despite being defeated, the Traphon became fervent supporters of the political structure that emerged after the war, integrating their technological and industrial base into the greater Unity and contributing heavily to advances in subterranean warfare and planetary assault doctrine. The species maintained a largely separate society within the broader Unity, but both groups recognized the military utility and mutual benefit of the arrangement. This status quo persisted for centuries, with Traphon and human fighting side by side as brothers-in-arms, most notably during the War of the Chosen where they faced extinction together against the Chosen threat.
The Great Betrayal and the Shadow Guard
The Great Schism of 999 AF shattered this symbiosis. The @Mandate of Light under Supreme Overseer @Antarof Gorseon repudiated the Reformations of Aximor and returned to the xenophobic policies of the Unity's earliest, most fanatical centuries. @Antarof Gorseon, now the vessel of the Evenlord's power, pronounced the @Traphian existence illegitimate, declaring that only humanity could achieve divine ascension under the Lord of Light. Beginning in 1007 AF, the @Mandate of Light launched the Crux Offensive; a 22-year campaign to reconquer the @Crux Metachor. Within this offensive, the Crux Extermination Campaigns represented a systematic genocide, as @Mandate of Light battlefleets deployed overwhelming military might—the same force that had nearly conquered the galaxy during the War of the Chosen—against the scattered Traphon defense forces who had fought alongside them only decades earlier.
The Traphon Guard, though formidable in ground combat, could not possibly withstand the @Mandate of Light's combined naval and exoplanetary assaults. World after world fell, their populations sterilized by orbital bombardment or hunted by shock troops. The sectors of the @Crux Metachor not aligned with the @Mandate of Light were utterly horrified to discover what was happening to their former allies, but could do little against the @Mandate of Light's overwhelming power.
The survivors of this holocaust formed the @Traphon Shadow Guard, transforming from a formal military into a decentralized death cult dedicated to inflicting maximum attrition upon the @Mandate of Light through hopeless guerrilla warfare, which could only be described as 'strategic suicide missions'. Operating from hidden bases in unremarkable star systems such as @Velyaran, these remnants have abandoned any hope of victory or survival as a species, choosing instead to embrace warrior's death in the pursuit of vengeance. They recruit from refugee populations in territories like Icelox, pressuring their own kind to join fruitless resistance operations rather than accept the slow extinction imposed by @Mandate of Light xenocide. The @Traphon Shadow Guard represents the final, tragic evolution of a civilization that once ruled 100,000 worlds, now reduced to fanatics hiding in the dark, waiting for the chance to strike back at an enemy that has already won, betrayed by those they once called allies.