Alien (Battle: Los Angeles)

The Battle: Los Angeles Aliens (hereafter referred to in this article as the "Blaa") are a caste-based species who launched a surprise invasion on Earth, most likely motivated by a need for a new home or colony. It is theorized within the film Battle: Los Angeles 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.

Invasion of Earth
During the events of Battle: Los Angeles, the "Blaa" invade Earth on the 12th of August, 2011. Originally mistaken by the 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. Blaa ground forces subsequently attack many of Earth's major cities, including Paris, London, New York, Toyko.

The battle in Los Angeles is the event depicted within the film, and showcases Blaa forces engaging armed forces of the United States of America; namely U.S. Marines, although National Guard, Air force, and Army soldiers also see combat. The Blaa are seen giving the U.S. Marines a very difficult fight, utilizing their advanced weaponry to conquer most of Los Angeles. Furthermore, Blaa aircraft eventually arrive and appear to easily take control of the air above LA from the U.S. Air Force. Besides their ground and large air forces, the Blaa deploy a sort of command center which controls the unmanned flying drones. Within a few days, the drones allow the Blaa to push most of the U.S. military force out of LA, killing thousands during the engagements. However, a squad of Marines is able to destroy the command center, disabling all of the drones and depriving the Blaa of their air assets. These Marines later retreat back to a command post, and join up with thousands of reinforcements ready to try and take back Los Angeles from the Blaa.

Home world
While nothing has been stated outright, it has been implied in interviews that the world of the Blaa is a chaotic, possibly war-torn place and that the Blaa involved in the invasion of Earth may not be part of the dominant force there.

Physiology
The Blaa 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 Blaa have a large number 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. The M4A1 Assault Rifle uses the 5.56mm Rounds and thus, the Human military personell who are fighting against the aliens have a low but very real chance to fight back against the infantry of the Blaa.

All of the warrior-caste Blaa have substantial amounts of machinery implanted into their bodies, including communication, cooling, and weapons systems. Their perception is also very acute, supplementing their pre-cognitive and post-cognitive abilities.

Blaa Infantry Caste
The Blaa Infantry Caste can be identified by their lack of grasping hands; instead, they have a weapon grafted onto each arm. Their average height is about 8'1". As of the initial invasion, they are estimated to be the most abundant caste, numbering about 25 million in total. It appears that they are deployed in columns, lead by a non-specialized officer.

Like the other castes, the heads of Blaa Infantry soldiers are nothing but sensory organs. All of their vital organs are concentrated behind layers of muscle and arteries in the right of their chests. A cooling system is also integrated into their body, with a heat-dispersing fan located in front of their organs. Unlike many of the other castes, they do not have as much machinery located on their back.

Blaa Officer Caste
The Blaa Officer Caste is the easiest caste to differentiate from the rest, identifiably by their slender build and four mechanical legs. They are also the tallest caste with an average height of 9'4". The Officers are specialized in commanding groups of infantry, augmented by an unusually large, well-developed brain and very keen eyesight which has been supplemented with additional electronics. They are most likely the least numerous caste, as they number roughly 2,000,000.

The Officer caste have the most substantial amount of cybernetic enhancements. As their legs have been wholly replaced, they are able to move at speeds of up to 40kpm with relative ease. Their right arm has an implanted weapons system that trades firepower for accuracy, while their left grasping hand has been replaced by a mechanical claw.

Blaa Operations Caste
The Blaa Operations share many similarities with the General Infantry Caste, with a few notable exceptions. The Blaa Operations average about 6'11". The special forces appear to be a more intelligent Infantry soldier, expected to undertake specialized goals beyond that of simple shock troops. They also appear to be a middling caste, lacking the firepower of the Infantry and the intelligence of the Officer. While their strength is unknown, it is likely that they are between 25 million and 2 million in number.

Unlike the officer and infantry castes, the Operations have retained their left grasping hand and are able to make use of hand signals. Their weapons systems sport greater accuracy than those of the general infantry, but a less-powerful grenade launcher.

Blaa Intelligence Caste
The Blaa Intelligence Caste is likely specialized in their namesake, gathering information and laying down lines of communication. Averaging about 5'10", the Intelligence caste are the shortest and stockiest of all known warrior castes. It is unknown how many Intelligence Caste members there are.

Unlike all other warrior castes, the Intelligence Caste lacks any integrated weapons systems. However, they retain the large amount of cooling and communications machinery grafted to their backs. The lack of weaponry is made up for by their ability to utilize both grasping hands, which they use to operate machinery and vehicles, such as driving ground artillery platforms and operating walking guns.

Technology
Although the Blaa make use of orbital insertion to deploy soldiers into combat zones, the full extent of their space-faring capabilities is not known. Most Blaa weaponry uses projectile weapons, although their aircraft make use of a directed energy weapon.

Weapons
All Blaa General Infantry soldiers use six-barreled machineguns with a mounted grenade launcher, although different Castes use different weapons systems. All Blaa General Infantry weapons use incendiary rounds with relatively low penetration, while their grenade launchers are capable of firing multiple rockets simultaneously.

While it is not known what Blaa ammunition is actually composed of, Blaa Wedge Ships seem to use White Phosphorus for clearing out pockets of resistance during mop-up operations.

Vehicles
Although the known Blaa vehicles make use of different forms of propulsion, none are wheeled. 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.

Walking Gun
The Blaa Walking Gun is more of an infantry support weapon than an actual vehicle. The Gun fires 16 small, guided missiles at a single target in order to destroy cover. While the gun is generally well-armored, a shot to one of the joints is able to temporarily stagger one, although the pulse jet engines at the rear of the machine are able to right it within a minute. Each walking gun is presumably operated by one of the Intel Caste members, as they are the only ones with two grasping hands. The guns are used to support both Operations and General Infantry during a battle.

Hovercraft
Although the hovercraft is armed with two machineguns and two grenade launchers, it does not appear to be a front line vehicle. Instead, it is relegated to supporting areas that are deemed safe. The Hovercraft uses adjustable thrusters mounted on four independently moving pads to compensate for terrain, giving it great amounts of mobility at the cost of large amounts of exposure and little armor.

Wedge Ship
The Blaa Wedge Ship is a type of drone aircraft, entirely reliant on a centralized command and control center to function. The Wedge ships are highly maneuverable, using pulse jet engines to make adjusts. They are equally capable of reaching speeds of mach 7 or patrolling meters from the ground for enemies. 12 wedge ships are able to go into a saucer formation for greater protection and better firepower. At the back of the wedge ship are four extensions that are related to weapon-use.

The wedge ship is armed with a high-powered Directed-Energy Weapon. The DEW can be used to combine firepower with other wedge ships when they are formed into a saucer in order to maximize damage.

Speculation

 * Given the decrepit appearance of their ships and equipment, it's possible that the Blaa are looking for a new home entirely, possibly due to making their old home uninhabitable. 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.