From the files of General Hawk
"Nobody volunteers to be a SCORPION. It is a punishment given to under-motivated VIPERS who refuse to follow orders. To survive, they quickly learn to mimic the attack patterns of the venomous desert scorpions with which they live.
After one year of unblemished service as a Scorpion, a Cobra trooper can be reinstated in the Viper Corps or whatever special force he originated from. A Scorpion fights hard because he knows that if he messes up, he'll go straight into TOXO-VIPERS, the Cobra Hostile Environment Detachment, better known as the 'Leaky Suit Brigade.'
'A Scorpion prefers to be fighting because it's safer than being in the garrison. In the field, where the whole unit is under threat, everybody pulls together because every trooper's life hinges on their combined firepower and team effort. In the barracks, each Scorpion thinks of himself as a desperate, isolated individual, surrounded by thieves, cutthroats, and scoundrels - and he's right.'"
___________________ When the fall came, many Cobra detachments were forced to make a choice. Desert Cobra and run to their families, or become self-sufficient units and survive. More chose the second option than the first. It wasn't because they didn't care about their families. Quite the opposite, they believed Cobra Commander when he promised their families would be safe if they continued to serve Cobra. And serve they did.
Urban units had it the hardest due to the sheer volume of people being turned. Others fared far better. Cold-weather troops in the Arctic and Antarctic did surprising well. As did those trained as "extreme weather" troops, meaning, those serving in sweltering deserts.
Desert Scorpions were the troops you couldn't trust, until the end.
