Tunnel Rat

**Key Features** | »Jimmy Cricket Personal Carbine (mail ordered)»Dynamite (amount may vary depending on the time of day)»Personal Excavation Device (won in a poker game)»Aluminium Hard Hat with an attached light»Personal supplies (surveying equipment, lanyard w/union card, photo of pet ferret)

*"Peace, Love, and the pursuit of all who threaten it."*

- The Tunnel Rat Motto
## Tactical Analysis

* **Harsh On their Buzz**: The Tunnel Rat is a unique anti-structure expert from California, armed with sticks of dynamite that he can attach to either buildings or vehicles for a satisfying explosion. He also has a carbine to defend against infantry attacks.

* **Can you Dig It?**: In order to get close to his favourite targets and get around without being (mostly) seen, the Tunnel Rat has the ability to dig into the ground, much like a Tankbuster. Unlike a Tankbuster, he can use this to dig close to buildings before popping up and attaching dynamite, before going below again to escape the explosion.

* **Mellow Yellow**: Though it may seem like it, Tunnel Rats are not mini-clones of Tanya. They are unable to properly deal with hordes of infantry, and must often rely on their tunnels to get by. In addition, buildings may require more than just one dynamite explosion to bring them down, so watch out.

* **Maintain the Rotation**: Experienced Tunnel Rats will sometimes use their drills as weapons, boring straight into targets out of the ground, which can't possibly be good for them. This also makes them immune to being crushed by larger enemies, as they will simply dive into the earth to escape!

## Background

 File:TunnelRat.jpg  Land Surveyors were the common title for the **Tunnel Rats** when they worked for the Department of the Interior prior to the war. The majority of which were men and women born in the inter war period. Even the United States suffered mass rationing and infrastructural shortcomings throughout both the war and the following reconstruction period. When the military drawdown began to take hold in the mid 1950s, the following population boom in the United States brought the municipal governments to their knees.

Overcrowding along the Atlantic paved the way for mass relocation to the Southwest and eventually the Pacific. The relative room for growth in California and hospitable climate encouraged the rapid urbanisation of the West Coast to such an extent that the land was unable to support the mass migrations. Rolling blackouts were common during hot days and drought routinely lead the collapse of all semblance of modern civility as all that could be done to conserve limited resources would be put into effect. For a decade California suffered routine cycles of growth, prosperity, and disaster until the Federal Government finally intervened in 1960 and began the construction of the Northwest Irrigation System, which would use the overabundance of rainfall in the mountainous north to meet the demand of freshwater and energy in the coastal south.

Tunnel Rats were employed by the government as the architects and engineers behind such a grand project. They were given little more than a surplus rifle left over from the war and then were sent off to tame the wilderness. In their occupation they meet nothing they couldn't overcome with the appropriate use of explosives. They dug tunnels throughout the mountain ranges of the Rockies with almost incalculable precision. They built bridges to span the rivers and afterbays, and (grudgingly) channeled water to their Southern neighbours. But like all Americans, they were horrified by the sudden invasion of Santa Monica by the Empire of the Rising Sun. Everything they had was under threat and what little they had might be lost. They quickly assembled makeshift militias and dug tunnels throughout the area, evacuating civilians.

In the immediate aftermath of the battle, they stood on top of the surrounding valleys only to see their hometowns ravaged by foreign invaders. They returned to the northern mountains and set up camp in tunnels underneath Castle Crags. Here in an impenetrable fortress built by their hands, they began to prepare for the next disaster, waiting for a time when their skills would be needed by the Californian people, and once more the Bear Flag would fly freely once again.

The Tunnel Rats are perhaps the most mysterious out of all of the Continentals’ volunteer military. Unlike the other soldiers in the Continental Army, Tunnel Rats are actually somewhat socialist in nature, most belonging to various groups that provide for benefits and healthcare to wounded members and collectively bargain with the Confederacy for social rights and compensation for past injustices. This, understandably, makes them very popular with the Enviromental Liberation Party but disliked by the Industrial Party, who often butt heads with them over corporate social responsibility. Nonetheless, they embody the rugged American spirit and the power of the ordinary man fully, and draw open and public support from many of Northern California's survivalist compounds, marijuana farms, spiritual communes, and municipal governments.

## Just the Stats

 **Armour Type** | Infantry

 **Kill Reward** | 6000

 **DPS** | 15