Explaining the Pseudo-Arachnids of Starship Troopers
The Pseudo-Arachnids of Klendathu
Castes:
Queen: Main function is the reproduction of its members in the novel. However the board wargame of the same presents in expansions scenarios that the Queen takes control of Bug troops should 3 of the brain bugs be destroyed. Resembles a tick, with a large abdomen of an ant or termite queen.
Brain: Its function is to govern the underground cities of the Arachnid civilization. The brain is also implied to be telepathic; it has the ability to see what its troops and workers see and hear, as well as control over the will of its subjects. However, if the brain bug die, then its warriors and workers will die with it. Also, in the board wargame, the brain comes in two variants; the “Combat Brain” which controls one of the five districts of a bug city, while the “Master Brain” on the other hand, has the ability to control two districts should two of the combat brains be destroyed in certain scenario expansions. The brain bug resembles a tick, with a large head, with metal plating.
Warrior: Primary fighting unit of the arachnid army. Carries light but effective beam weapons that can slice through a Mobile Infantryman’s powered armor “like a hot knife cutting a hard-boiled egg”. According to the back board wargame’s box, the warrior bug’s beam weapons are built into its arms and legs. Resembles a spider with a pair of red eyes, sheer-like mandibites, with two arms and appears to be covered in metal. Extremely aggressive in combat, yet just as effective in squad-based combat as the Mobile Infantrymen of the Terran Federation, just as they are in hand-to-hand combat. Also, arachnid warriors will continue to fight even if their legs are shot off. Despite their aggressive attitude, the warrior bugs are capable of recognizing when an enemy has surrendered and then take prisoners.
Workers: The labor-pool of the arachnid civilization, responsible for building starships, maintaining the underground cities, and manufacturing construction vehicles and weaponry for the arachnid civilization. Resembles the warrior bugs, yet they are less aggressive, especially as they tend to flee from combat. Bug warriors tend to use the worker bugs for diversion against mobile infantrymen by herding them like cattle to swarm the enemy. Workers are then dispatched as to overwhelm and enemy trooper, to create the illusion of a large arachnid army swarming its opponents while the Warriors prepare to either ambush or snipe their foes.
Engineer: Exclusive to the board wargame; Arachnid engineers are responsible for building the spider-web like cities of the bugs, via a burrowing machine which makes a “frying bacon” noise. Arachnid engineers like the workers resemble the warriors and are likely to flee from combat as the workers would.
Technology:
Beam weapons: Weapons carried by arachnid warriors. Built-into the warriors’ limbs, they are mainly for melee combat against enemies.
Burrowing machine: Digging device used by arachnid engineers for tunnel construction, repair and expansion. Also used to build prison cells and throne cells for the brains and queens.
Tunnels: The underground catacombs and dwellings of the arachnids, which have a “glossy and smooth” finish to them, thanks to the workers. All communication, production, transportation, life-support, and military functions of the hive are carried out in the tunnels.
Arachnid complex: Exclusive to the board wargame. The underground cities of the hive, broken down into five districts with each run by a combat brain. At the center of the hive complex, the brains and queen sit in seven cells, with the queen in the center.
Demo charges: Exclusive to the board wargame. Demo charges are used by arachnid engineers to seal and open new tunnels for the arachnid hive. Also used as mines to kill Mobile Infantry troops. Comes in several variants: from the standard high explosive to nuclear explosives.
Heavy Beam weapon: Exclusive to the board wargame. Heavy Beam weapons are robotic, four-legged tanks with long-ranged beam weapons that can target multiple enemies. Manufactured, maintained and repaired by the workers. They are controlled remotely by the combat brains via telepathy. One Heavy Beam weapon is built for each district of the hive-complex.
Spaceship: Warship which acts both as a planetary support vehicle for warrior bugs by carpet bombing the surface for enemies. Also for transporting prisoners to Klendathu. Armed with scattering missiles.
Scatter missiles: Exclusive to the board wargame. Large missiles that separate into smaller missiles to carpet bomb a planet of enemies.
Society:
Arachnid society is mainly hierarchical, militant, technological and industrial. Despite the division of labor in bug society, the arachnids function as one entity that works together to achieve their ends and survive as a civilization. Also, when it comes to taking prisoners in war-time, the arachnids study the prisoners to get an understanding of their opponents. Though it is unknown if they simply use X-rays and 3-D modeling as opposed to dissecting live specimens to learn more about their foes. Hopefully it should be the latter as they are willing to accept and recognize an enemy combatants’ surrender. The Arachnids appear to hold a high regard for their home planet Klendathu, since they transport all prisoners of war there, as opposed to an allied colony or space station outpost, which they see as expendable as their colonists are. Bug colonists, including brains and queens, are more than willing to give up their lives, home colonies and resources to prevent enemies from taking their home planet, even going as far to kill their own queens to avoid capture. Other significances of the Arachnids is that their bodies appear to be covered in metal in the box and instructions artwork of the board wargame, indicating that they are race of living machines in the form of giant spiders, or that they are a race of bio-mechanical aliens. This is also hinted at in some expansion scenarios as the bugs appear to have the ability to survive in any atmosphere, including that of a gas planet such as Venus. With that, this indicates that the bugs’ ability to adapt to different atmospheres allows them to easily colonize other worlds and spread across the Milky Way.
Economy:
The bug economy is technologically industrial and centrally planned. The brain caste is mainly the ones to plan out the economy and city planning. While there is no mention of currency, it can be presumed that the arachnids rely on a resource-based economy to trade with other interplanetary civilizations, especially when in chapter 2 of the novel, it is mentioned that there are other alien civilizations that the Terran Federation has made contact with, and trades among them; therefore the Arachnids trade with the same planetary nations as the Federation, and is possibly competing with them for it. Along with their ability to adapt to all sorts of environments, this gives the Arachnids better access to resources, such as minerals and gasses to manufacture fuels, spaceships and developing other devices to expand their industrial and technological base in the Milky Way.
Homeworld:
While the terrain of Klendathu is never described in any detail in the novel, the board wargame fills in the missing details. Klendathu’s terrain is mostly a large savanna, with some rugged terrain. The important structures being subterranean, with a capital city somewhere on the planet.