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The Battle: Los Angeles aliens during production of the film.
The Unknown Alien Species (also called the Battle: Los Angeles Aliens or the Land Sharks, though also disparagingly called "ants" by US marines) is an extraterrestrial species of from another unidentified planet. They were very intelligent beings that invaded Earth on August 11, 2011, in order to obtain Earth's natural resources and to colonize the planet; specifically, they were interested in Earth's large quantities of liquid water, which they used as fuel to their forces and equipment.
Historical Background[]
The unknown alien species are a caste-based species who launched a surprise planet-wide invasion on Earth, most likely motivated by a need for a new home or a colony. It is theorized that they are invading for Earth's liquid water. During the initial invasion, they used an orbital insertion, mistaken for a cluster of meteors, to deploy their forces. The species was considered by the humans to be incredibly intelligent.
Invasion of Earth[]
- "At 14:46 Pacific Standard Time, twelve different locations across the globe were breached, in what appears to have been a coordinated attack by an unknown enemy. All breaches were along the coast line in what a campaign of rapid dominance. This is a textbook military invasion. There are massive casualties in New York. Offensive lines are being set up in Boston, and at 13:15 Zulu Time, we lost communications with San Francisco and San Diego. The status is unknown, but what we do know is: is that we are the last offensive force on the West Coast. We cannot lose Los Angeles."
- -Sergeant Major Glenn Devor in a military news broadcast during the very beginning of the invasion
The aliens invaded Earth on the 12th of August, 2011. Originally mistaken by humans to be clusters of meteors, they are soon revealed to be spacecraft which land on the coastal shorelines of twelve of the world's major population centers. Alien ground forces subsequently attack many of Earth's major cities, including Paris, London, Moscow, New York, Hong Kong, Rio de Janeiro, and Tokyo.
The aliens also attacked Los Angeles, but the United States Armed Forces engaged them in a large battle. The armed forces were namely United States Marines, although National Guard, Air Force, and Army soldiers also saw combat. The aliens are seen giving the U.S. Marines a very difficult fight, capturing most of Los Angeles.
Numbers[]
Although the Aliens' exact numbers are unknown, the Alien infantry in the film appear in very large numbers of at least 27,000,000 in total, combining the 25,000,000 from the Infantry and 2,000,000 from the Commanders (this estimate is taken from UnidentifiedEnemy.com). It is not known how the Aliens reproduce so we can only guess how fast this number would increase.
Homeworld[]
While little is known about the origin of this mysterious alien race, it has been implied in interviews that the homeworld of the aliens is a chaotic, possibly war-torn place and that the extraterrestrials involved in the invasion of Earth may not be part of the dominant force there.
Biology[]
The aliens are divided into four known warrior castes, but there are likely more non-combatant castes. Analysis of the warrior castes' biology indicates that they are highly developed, sporting redundant arteries and other blood vessels. Their heads are actually entirely sensory organs; their brains are located in a cavity behind their hearts, directly attached to the spine. The extraterrestrials have large numbers of stem cells and platelets, enabling them to regenerate whole limbs that may be lost in combat, while their hardened exoskeleton allows them to take multiple 5.56mm shots before being too injured to continue fighting, like a human anti-projectile vest. However, if they are hit in the right place, they will drop down dead like a rock. The primary human weapon used in the film, the M4A1 Assault Rifle, uses the 5.56mm rounds and thus, the human military personnel who are fighting against the aliens have to shoot-to-kill (aim "to the right of where the heart would be," not just spray ammunition everywhere). This gives them a very real chance to fight back against the infantry of the aliens.
All of the warrior-caste extraterrestrials have substantial amounts of machinery implanted into their bodies, including communication, cooling, and weapons systems. Their perception is also very acute, supplementing their precognitive and retrocognitive abilities.
Behavior[]
The aliens themselves are shown being extremely aggressive, militant, and highly xenophobic. They also have no qualms about rounding up and killing even unarmed civilians, which clearly shows they have no interest in negotiating or even coexisting with those they see as enemies, instead of equal, most likely due to humanity being primitive and inferior.
Known Warrior Castes[]
Known Non-Combat Castes[]
The known non-combat castes appear to be highly specialized and modified members of the Blaa. Their anatomy is radically different from that of the warrior castes.
Alien Water Extractor[]
The Alien Water Extractor is a specialized, partially biological pump that is used to move massive amounts of water quickly, growing as large as 100 feet in height. The Extractor's organs have been greatly reduced and compacted, leaving only organs that are vital to life functions. Extractors are highly intelligent and use an advanced form of communication to coordinate their actions for maximum efficiency.
The extractors are deployed along with the initial invasion force, landing off-shore and using modified tentacles to quickly pull water from the surrounding environment.
Alien Medic[]
It's unclear if the "Intel" caste actually perfoms, but it's known that there are "Medic" in the aliens' ground forces despite the bio-mechanical nature of their biology or if it referres to similar castes which is more focused on medical support. During the fight on the freeway bridge, standard Operations Caste aliens were seen dragging an incapacitated Operation Caste alien back to safety, establishing that they don't adandon their wounded behind.
Technology[]
Although the extraterrestrials make use of orbital insertion to deploy soldiers into combat zones, the full extent of their space-faring capabilities is not known. Most aliens weaponry uses projectiles, although their aircraft make use of a explosive white phosphorus weapon.
Weapons[]
Infantry Weapons[]
All Alien General Infantry soldiers use six-barreled machineguns with a mounted grenade launcher, although different Castes use different weapons systems. All Alien General Infantry weapons use incendiary rounds with relatively low penetration, while their grenade launchers are capable of firing multiple rockets simultaneously.
The alien machinegun is not the most effective weapon between these two worlds, it seems to have a low penetration as its projectiles are deflected by cars in some battle scenes or even stopped completely by body armor worn by the soldiers; Unless the person shot by it is hit several times in the chest they can take several hours to die proving that the Aliens' weapon does not cause much internal damage. This makes them inferior to the M4A1 the Marines use as this is seen to kill aliens instantly if they are shot in the chest (where their brain is) or killing them within minutes if shot elsewhere. When alien infantry entered a building occupied by Michael Nantz and his squad, a guard at the door used his grenade launcher to easily blow apart aliens entering the premises.
The standard infantry machinegun appears to use caseless cartridges. While it is not known what Alien ammunition is actually composed of, Alien Wedge Ships seem to use White Phosphorus for clearing out pockets of human resistance during their mop-up operations.
[]
The alien naval mine is a high-explosive mine with an effective blast radius of 400 square feet. The mines are self-propelled and can be adjusted remotely to change both depth and position. They utilize high frequencies that make detection difficult.
Ammunition Sled[]
While not actually a weapon, the ammunition sled is a mobile container that is used to resupply ground forces in the field. Ammunition sleds can be dropped from ships, while their nine thrusters allow them to be easily "floated" from one location to another. They carry six fuel cells, weighing almost 150kg each.
Multi-Purpose Weapon[]
This advanced weapon, known as the Multi-Purpose Weapon, is a highly destructive weapon capable of causing severe damage to enemies and buildings around it. It is a long, large weapon that is composed of a heavy, multi-barreled chain gun with an unguided rocket launcher mounted underneath. Found mounted in pairs on the alien Hovercraft, it can be extremely effective in providing suppressive fire and is fairly accurate, making it effective at taking on multiple different target types, including infantry, vehicles and other buildings.
Vehicles[]
The known extraterrestrial vehicles make use of advanced jet engines for propulsion (with the exception of the Walking Gun which has legs as well). All of their vehicles are oriented toward greater mobility, at the cost of armor. In the case of all ground vehicles, this leaves the operators almost completely exposed to enemy fire.
Speculation[]
Given the decrepit appearance of their ships and equipment, it's possible that the aliens are looking for a new home planet, possibly due to their old home being uninhabitable because of warfare or some other cataclysm. This would explain their War of the Worlds-esque landing method, as well as their relatively low level of technological advancement for a spacefaring civilization.
Their official alien species' name is currently unknown.
Gallery[]
