Toxin rebel

Toxin rebels were Dr. Thrax's own special rebels who replaced AK-47 assault rifle with a toxin-spraying weapon with backpack tank. They were seen in the late stages of the War against the GLA.

Background
Their toxin-sprayers made them highly effective at eliminating infantry, even those garrisoned in buildings and bunkers. Like normal rebels, they could garrison buildings and be trained to capture neutral and hostile structures.

Toxin rebels could still potentially be harmed by their own toxins if traversing through an area that has just been sprayed with poisonous chemicals. However, unlike other rebels and unupgraded Rangers, they were far more resistant to toxins than other infantry.

Legacy
Their role in the Second GLA War as toxin-wielding infantry was to be filled by the more advanced toxin squads.

Game unit
Toxin rebels were a serious threat to both vehicles and infantry, as they were eligible for the Anthrax Gamma upgrade and reduced most units to slag or rot. A small group was capable of killing a construction dozer rather quickly, and most infantry instantly. Their ability to clear garrisoned structures made the strategy almost useless. In addition, a battle bus loaded with toxin rebels along with RPG troopers were a particularly potent combination.

Long-range units could easily eliminate toxin rebels from a safe distance. Toxin rebels were next to useless against all but the most lightly armoured of structures, as the toxins could barely damage them.

Campaign-only variants

 * In the mission Global Security, they were labelled as biohazard rebels. They were also completely immune to toxin, nuclear, and microwave weaponry.
 * In the mission Area Fifty-Two, they were able to place booby traps (despite them not being available in the command set), use camouflage, were immune to toxin weaponry and were, by mistake, referred to as regular rebels. Their cost was reduced to $150.