TSEL

**Dev. Status** | Conceptual

*"Only the deep night knows,*

*What they agreed upon.*

*Straighten up now, oh tall rye,*

*And keep their secret scrupulously!"*

- *"Korobeiniki"* traditional Russian folkloric song, often played by TSEL inventors with experimental electronic instruments.
The Technological Synthesis and Enhancement League, or just TSEL., is an independent military and research wing of Soviet Red Army, under the Ministry of Experimental Sciences that operates technologies that are too dangerous or useless for the regular conscripts. However, all of these mask their overwhelming desire for their further recognition by higher Soviet authorities. Minor faction created by Tim the Grim Reaper, with GearsGoAwryMan being its idea founder, and Flyboy254 and Weeb King expanding on the idea.

## At a Glance

 **Motives** | Innovation, Scientific Advancement, Technological Supremacy

## Background

### Brain Drains

The precise history of the Technological Synthesis and Enhancement League is shrouded in mystery not because it's a state secret, but rather no one in the Party caring enough about it. As far as anyone in the Red Army is concerned, TSEL. is just the drop-off point for any intellectual in any fields that fell out of favor with premiers of their time. Scientists whose projects fail to meet the expectations of their creators and the state, "geniuses" who really were only kicked into a position upstairs where they couldn't interfere with anyone else and their valuable work. Dozens of the Union's best thinkers were pushed into TSEL after Stalin's death, where Cherdenko's "greatest mind" Zelinsky upended decades of Soviet scientific ideas and strategies.

A further testament to the Soviet Union's remarkable apathy towards the TSEL., all the experimental weapons, prototypes and equipment that is rejected or is not selected for further development were dumped into the hands of the section. While they quietly resented their treatment among their peers, TSEL scientists chose to work on what has been presented to their workshops to find out if that specific piece of technology does carry some viable application for the military, or civilian duty one day.

As years passed, TSEL. has only made some small contributions to Soviet technology. Officially TSEL was part of the Union, but in the backrooms of the Kremlin it was no secret that TSEL was only something to acknowledge every few months for propaganda. Even during the dark days of the Third World War, TSEL positions were left abandoned in the face of Imperial assaults officially due to "preservation of vital resources". This left many engineers and scientists feeling betrayed, as even exiled they saw TSEL as the way to prove their ideas had merit. Post-War, the survivors went back to their labs and workshops to try and rebuild something, anything, from the ashes of their defeats. One thing that did come their way were hundreds of scientists and workers associated with the Cherdenko regime. Cleared of knowledge of Cherdenko's plans but politically blacklisted, these men and women became a new backbone for TSEL. Suddenly gifted with a windfall of personnel and money to "keep those fools occupied", the leadership of TSEL decided that post-war, it was their time to breathe new life into their shattered nation. Under their own ideas for a change.

Machines previously thought obsolete began to buzz and whir again, local garrisons utilized to test out the weapons created in the Siberian workshops. Commanders were beguiled with sweet words and promises of future glories thanks to TSEL. Suddenly there was a new focus as KGB cast-offs started to keep the leadership of TSEL informed on what was happening around the world. Simultaneously, they began to build a new reputation among the Soviet people, one of their feats being the reintegration of the *Grinder* into civilian construction. With a small but sudden surge in voluntary requests to transfer to TSEL, the Ministry of Experimental Sciences began to notice that the number of applicants are enough to be armed with second-line equipment that, while not top of the line, was decent enough to be used in a desperate situation.

### Upended Innovation

Despite being in possession of the more exotic weapons and vehicles that the Union could use, the chief scientists within TSEL. are still trying to refine their advancements, and quietly the Soviets' as well. Energy provided by super reactors are far superior to anything their satellite states could have, but that title will soon be taken from it by solar panels once they become more efficient, or if rumors are true, "zero-point energy". Impenetrable armor, no matter how much of it is applied on a tank, will be an afterthought once the Atomic Chinese invent rays that simply pass through the chassis to kill the crew. Cosmonauts are currently the masters of spaceflight, yet they are already threatened by *far* more serious contenders. To ensure the continual flow of innovation (and the dominance of Soviet minds in engineering), they sent a memo to the Ministry of Experimental Sciences detailing their further actions which would need a little more autonomy to come to fruition. Still under the impression that the division was nothing more than a dumping ground that was just trying to expand themselves, they granted some autonomy to TSEL.

Gone are the times where they are just stranded in their workshops, presiding over some malfunctioning walker. Re-organized into more cohesive divisions, TSEL sees numerous conflicts the world over becoming hotspots for potential control groups to be utilized. To be sure, they promised to lend support to pro-Soviet forces in other countries as a sign of solidarity. They have stayed mostly true to it - advisors supply support in the Vietnamese and Amazon jungles with VC and MIR guerrillas, while others remain stationed with the APO in Luanda for example.

They play at their best when it comes to supplementing these armies, but all of these are just plausible covers for gaining brownie points. Many times strategies concocted by pro-Soviet fighters were altered to include enemy research facilities, backing them in raids to hijack blueprints or prototypes by other factions. Melees with anti-communist forces fluctuate from one-sided massacres to battles which odds are evened before those very same forces are wiped out as "controlled experiments". While jests are made of self-described 'bringers of zeitgeist' with weaponry that look like they belong in scrapyards, TSEL. units simply comfort themselves with this: Imagine what the Union can do if *they* reach their zeitgeist, where all non-Soviet tech do not even look like they belong in the dirtiest of trash heaps - thanks to them.

The future looks bright for TSEL, bright enough that they'll need shades.

## Units & Buildings

*"The Allies have figured out this a long time ago: war is an experiment, and tanks and soldiers are variables to be thrown around to achieve results. But as their wonders come from bourgeois sources, the peoples' inventions come from necessity and hard work."*

-Dr. Igor Stepanov

### Zelinsky Science Strike Division

While not directly part of the Soviet Red Army, the Zeilnsky S.S.D.is composed of units that are testing the weapons that have viable chance of being put into production and service, thought they are also sent along with TSEL forces for the field trials. When the TSEL commanders need help, it is Zelinsky S.S.D. that sends in their men and equipment, that are believed to be future of the Soviet armed forces.

## Behind the Scenes

"Tsel" means in Russian "goal", but also "aim", a reference to A.I.M., a scientifically advanced group from Marvel Comics.