I've read numerous places on this discussion forum, how wierd it was that neither the t'rang and umpani showed up at Ascension Peak to aid you in ascending to the cosmic circle. Some say it was left out of the game, some have other theories.

I really can't imagine _I_ am the only one who have noticed the two t'rang/umpani carcasses lying on asc. peak. They're somewhere in an open area, and when you approach the corpses, one of your characters suspects that this is the doing of the dark savant..

This means they DID show up, but were slain before you arrived..

Am I NOT getting it? Have I provided a piece of the puzzle, or am I stating the obvious/having misconstrued the question?

I too saw the dead bodies at ascension peak. i have the feeling that reglardless how you play the game, both the umpani and the t'rang get killed. as for others, mayhaps they never noticed. after all, once you arrive at AP there are numerous bodies strewn about which you can loot for ammo.

slight spoiler
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
....
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Apparently you only see those two corpses you mention if you fail to rescue the prisoners. I've gone for the Alliance both prior times through for the xp so the only thing I ever see are the various corpses which I just assumed were the T and U that had been slaughtered since I kept finding walriblades on them.