Ma'lax Zander was born and raised in the wild 'stalker band of the Spider Tribe. This is evident to anyone who knows anything about stalkers by the trademark spider tattoo over his right eye. However, he has another mark on everything he wears that he doesn't speak about. It is a sad tale that ended with his joining in the Tolkeen military.

Ma'lax was born just over 24 years ago to one of the lower echelon members of the Spider Tribe. He was raised in a similar manner as any other Spider, but he began to show higher promise as a combatant early in life. He wasn't the fastest or strongest, per se. But he showed phenomenal skill in hand eye coordination and movement in his arms. Having shown enough prowess to join xiticix hunting parties at 16, his skills were honed further via actual combat. By 17, it was evident that he may well become one of the greatest warriors the tribe had seen in a long time.

Being skilled in the manner he was, it goes without saying that he found a suitable mate easily. At 17 he had fallen in love with Aliya. By 19 they had wed. Aliya had also shown great prowess and was part of the same hunting party as Ma'lax. Unfortunately, this contributed to the tragedy that befell the young couple.

After a particularly successful hunt, the two were in the throws of passion when a retaliatory attack occurred. Caught completely offguard, the Xiticix hunter who had stalked them staged the attack with the care of a seasoned battle commander. Before they even knew the attack had begun, the hunter had placed his spear cleanly through Aliya's back, bursting out her chest and into his right lung. He laid there, frozen in terror, sadness, rage, and pain. He didn't want to move. He embraced his love until her last breath. With the job done, the Xiticix took those they had managed to capture alive. Assuming both dead, the hunter removed the spear and retreated.

Fortunately (or unfortunately for Ma'lax) the remains were found the next morning, and Ma'lax was treated. He found that he was hardly able to breathe. His lung had collapsed, and he didn't get the aid he needed quick enough to be healed. His only love dead. His ability to fight compromised because he could barely breathe. He found his will to continue on in his life altered. Still being a warrior at heart, he thought long and hard to figure out what to do.

He left the tribe behind, and made his way to Tolkeen. There he began calling himself Max, and agreed to join the military on two conditions. They replace his lung, and teach him demolitions. His reasoning - if ever he loved another, he didn't want to live though the same tragedy. So he, in his sadistic state, decided he would give her a "bracelet" that would read her heartbeat, but explode if ever it stopped. As he went in and out of consciousness from recovery in replacing his lung, and through the time off he had to reflect while learning demolitions, the sadism passed. But he had found that explosives could be great aids on the battlefield.

He marked everything he wore with something that matched a set of scars he had. In a particularly morbid method of showing one's love and devotion in his society, one would often allow their partner to cut them and feast on their energies. Given that this only caused them to drain half of their psionic strength, it didn't weaken them as much as doing the same to a practitioner of magic. This required a certain amount of trust. Aliya and Ma'lax gave each other matching scars - a foot long cut running straight down the chest, starting between the neck and shoulder. The actual scar on Ma'lax's body is nearly an inch and half thick. When Aliya was alive, it was never healed. But scabs were never removed. Every time they did this, it was with a new cut. That is what caused the thickness.

So, in a tribute to his lost love, everything he wears has a one inch by one foot stripe running down his chest. The color varies, but he won't wear anything without it. He also uses a similar mark on all of his personal equipment. A stylized silhouette of himself with the bottom of the spider on the face, and a stripe down the chest is on all of his guns, magazines, and e-clips.

Fortunately, he found a place to put his knowledge and skill to good use in the Tolkeen military, and has grown to accept them as his tribe. He has loved a few times since his acceptance, but never found someone to fill the empty void Aliya left. And only those who have had contact with his tribe may know his story, as he tells it to no one.