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Worker Bugs, or simply Workers, do the manual labour for the Pseudo-Arachnid colonies, digging and upkeeping the tunnels. They are semi-defenseless and will usually flee at the first sign of danger unless they have no way out. Physically, they are similar to Warriors, which caused great confusion for Mobile Infantry at the start of the war where they did not know how to distinguish the two, but Workers possess a non-aggressive mentality.

Starship Troopers novel[]

During the Invasion of Planet P, a large mass of Workers were used as decoys for the Mobile Infantry whilst Warriors prepared a greater trap; the Workers used in this did not fight, even when they were almost stepped on by the a few panicking Troopers. Starship Troopers

Starship Troopers: Miniatures Game & The Role Playing Game[]

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Worker Bugs are physically indistinguishable from Warrior Bugs, but possess slightly different arrangement in their thorax carapace and mandible arrangement, though this is easily missed in the heat of battle and most Troopers will not stop to interrogate any Arachnid they find.

Worker Bugs are generally non-combatant but are sometimes thrown into battle by Queen or Brain Bugs, where they act much the same as Warrior Bugs, though are notably less effective.

It is the role of Worker Bugs to construct the huge tunnel networks common to Arachnid colonies though they will also adopt more menial duties if the colony is not yet sufficiently developed to have bred minion Bugs and other servile sub-species.

Worker Bugs are normally encountered when Troopers enter colonies but many are often used in direct assaults on Federation positions, where they will create tunnels for swarms of Warrior Bugs behind them.

They are the source of the famed "sizzling bacon" that Mobile Infantry noise detectors often pick up while the attack is in progress, the sound of their frenzied clawing against bare rock as they create tunnels with remarkable speed.

Starship Troopers: Invasion "Mobile Infantry"[]

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A corpse of a Worker next to the Elite Guard.

Worker Bugs are non-aggressive Warrior Bugs with blue markings to symbolize them as workers. They build tunnels and provide for the Queen Bug but they will do combat when needed. In large numbers, the Workers will attempt to kill the troopers. They are only aggressive when deployed in pairs of 2 or 4.

During the Second Bug War, at the Battle of Fort Casey, Workers tunneled Bug holes to move Warrior Bugs, Royal Warriors, Chaser Bugs, and Plasma Grenadier Bugs into combat. When Warriors were needed for other important missions, Workers would do combat to keep the troopers from reaching the Hive. Workers were also seen guarding the Super Tank Bug. Starship Troopers: Invasion "Mobile Infantry"

Notes[]

  • The Worker Bugs in Starship Troopers: Invasion "Mobile Infantry" are non-aggresive, like in the book and The Miniatures Game, but will be aggressive in large numbers.
  • Each Warrior in the game Starship Troopers: Invasion "Mobile Infantry" is color-coded with blue, red, orange, or even green markings. The blue Workers are 0.25x smaller than the size of an average Warrior Bug. This is done to promote enemy diversity for the players to fight. Additionally, the player can earn in-game Federation credits to upgrade their character and weapons for each Warrior they kill. The amount of credits a player earns varies depending on which Warrior Bug type is defeated.
  • When Carl Jenkins and the Federation Marine Corps arrested Henry Varro for insubordination, a dead Worker Bug corpse can be seen next to the Marines.

Appearances[]

Warrior
Types Warrior - Worker - Tiger - Rhino
Royal Warrior - Plasma Warrior - Heavy Warrior - Super Tank
UCF X-Bug - Federal Intelligence Bug
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