WPAtaMS Art Reference and Lore Entry: The Terrestrial and Space Expeditionary Corps (T-SEC)

Hey everyone! As promised last time, here’s a closer look at the emblem on Aunty Ran’s cap! I was meaning to post it immediately following the Aunty Ran ref sheet drop, but the lore blurb for it took a bit longer than expected; since I had three or so assessments that week haha. 

I know it’s not exactly conventional, but I’ve always wanted to explore worldbuilding not just with words, characters, and scenery, but in uniforms, symbology, iconography, semiotics, vexillology and the like! 

Now, I’ll try to keep this brief as this commission is something of a supplementary post for Aunty Ran’s commission, but I really really wanted to get this out there too since the end result turned out incredibly, and I just think it’s cool to explore this sorta stuff! 

Alrighty so! What you see here is effectively the official emblem and insignia of one of the most storied branches of the GUN’s military — the Terrestrial and Space Expeditionary Corps, or T-SEC as Emma often refers to it!

To put it simply, T-SEC is analogous to what most sci fi enjoyers would call the ‘Space Marines’. 

They fill an increasingly ubiquitous and vital role as the armed forces’ preeminent multi-domain rapid response strike, recon, and pathfinding branch. With operational diversity ranging anywhere from ambassadorial security missions, to ship-to-ship boarding actions, to coordinated combined arms and inter-branch operations acting as the first boots on the ground into any environment — from stations to moons to fully-terrestrial spaces and beyond. 

T-SEC was established with the intent of fulfilling the incredibly difficult and challenging need to be able to project military power into newly constructed and completely alien environments never before faced by any of the existing contemporary branches; a need that was cemented during the growing pains of the first intrasolar war (i.e. the Earth-Luna conflict). 

It was in the first intrasolar war that Void Assault Operations was first truly pioneered on a strategic scale, and it was from this point onwards that T-SEC well and truly cemented itself as the foremost competent branch when it came to fielding and operating the boots on the ground necessary to finish the job the EAF (Exo-Atmospheric Forces) started. 

Things simply escalated from that point onwards, with T-SEC operations specializing into every possible man-made environment. From the humblest of tender stations, to your run-of-the-mill Stanford Torus’, all the way to O’Neill cylinders, Asteroid habitats, planetary rings, and beyond. It's only in the more established spaces meant to resemble terrestrial environments (e.g. O’Neill cylinders, Venusian sky cities, etc) that they tend to butt heads with the army, but that’s a story for another day XD 

However, on the topic of inter-branch relations, T-SEC’s focus on Void Assault Operations (which are in and of themselves inherently reliant on ship-based insertions), means they have a close and inextricable working relationship with the EAF (Exo-Atmospheric Forces — i.e. the ‘space navy’), wherein the pair are often deployed or grouped in tandem. This is because while T-SEC does operate its own exo-atmospheric assets, they’re often just troop transports, barges, or specialized boarding assault craft (BACs). Thus, you have this situation where T-SEC assets and forces are either entirely attached to EAF groups and formations, or are assigned on an operational or deployment-by-deployment basis.

Along with the LREF and the EAF, T-SEC tends to be the first boots on the ground in any exo-atmospheric and void engagement. Which means that their role also sometimes extends beyond boarding actions on artificial structures in space, but also reaches all the way to initial spearhead assaults and landing ops on anything from moon bases through to deep sea installations (this is where the Terrestrial part of their nomenclature is derived from XD). 

Though, thankfully, the latter is often the realm of TASC’s (The Terrestrial Air and Sea Command) special operations forces.

All in all, the nature of T-SEC’s operations, its storied history, and its inherently intense and high-stakes mission profiles grants them immense prestige points on par only to that of the LREF. In fact, the question of which is the ‘coolest’ branch really depends on who you ask! Whereas most people might point to the LREF given their focus on bleeding edge exploration and the inherent cool factor that comes with that pioneering spirit, many would point to T-SEC given their rugged, grounded, plain-old badass nature; getting the job done with brutal and uncompromising efficiency. 

They are the spiritual successor to the marines after all… just replace the water with vacuum XD 

With all that preamble out of the way, let’s get onto the symbol itself! 

T-SEC’s emblem is one of those that hasn’t really had any major updates since its establishment alongside the EAF; save for the addition of the stars that came with the subsequent inter and extrasolar wars. If anything, the branch existed a little bit before the founding of the EAF, though the verdict is out on when precisely you could classify its original ‘founding’. Because while many in history might cite the first UN counter insurgency operations on the refurbished international space station as the ‘de facto’ founding of the branch, some might even put other operations following this as their ‘de facto’ founding date, thus putting their unofficial ‘founding’ anywhere between a few months to a few years before the founding of the EAF.

Officially though, T-SEC’s founding coincided with the EAF’s, as both were established in the years following the Planetary Unification Charter of 2104, just as tensions with Luna were rising.

Interestingly, given the convoluted and overlapping administration of the EAF prior to its reorganization during the First Intrasolar War, T-SEC stood as the most functional GUN military branch that more or less started off life without any issues from day one of its founding. This was in stark contrast to the EAF who, during its initial decades, was still massively fractured as the question of space-borne assets and ships along with their crew was a hot topic of contention for the young and recently-federalized GUN.

Moreover, with the UN Army being effectively sidelined for most of the First Intrasolar War, and with their role still unclear following the 2104 Planetary Unification Charter (as most states still retained their national armies, and had not yet fully transitioned into their new de-facto roles as just national guard forces, as opposed to the UN Army’s role as the Army), T-SEC was simply the branch that lacked any comparable issues. As its role was both new enough to warrant a blank slate with no ties to the past, and straightforward enough that those that comprised it didn’t fall into the same trappings as the EAF did.

Sorry I got sidetracked again XD Right, so, as for the symbolism! We obviously have Earth — the cradle and heart of humanity — at its core. Flanking this is the dove and the raven. With the dove representing and heralding growth, survival, and the continuation of life and rebirth, whilst the raven heralds destruction. However, it should be noted that both don’t explicitly signify what T-SEC is capable of, but rather, they act as symbols of caution. Unlike what most would see upon seeing these birds at first glance, this isn’t the adage of “if you want peace, you must prepare for war”. But rather, it represents the inherent values that those birds carry with them. 

In addition to this, there’s the rocket blasting off from Earth, once again symbolizing the GUN’s reach and push towards space, and T-SEC’s establishment to secure this new frontier. Moreover, the flames beneath said rocket are meant to act as a visual throwback to a phoenix.

Finally, there are the colors. 

Red is self explanatory, it symbolizes valor, courage, and the blood shed in battle.

Both Silver and Gold symbolizes honor and prestige, but not so much in the Nexian fashion. Instead, it represents the elite nature of T-SEC and its commitment in conducting itself with professionalism, integrity, and above all else — accountability to the people.

Finally, blue represents the people themselves. Or rather, the will of the people whom T-SEC and the entirety of the 7 branches of the UN Armed Forces ultimately serve.

That’s about it for this one! I just realized that I rambled on for way, way too long with this post haha.

I’m sort of a worldbuilding gremlin so commissioning these bits and pieces of the world just makes me incredibly giddy and overexcited haha.

I do hope you guys enjoy! :D

P.S. I have some more plans for the LREF's uniform and logo in the works so expect that some time in the future along with more art in general! :D