Mech (Falling Skies)



Mechs are the alien robots used by the invaders in Falling Skies. They can be considered the brute force of the invasion.

Appearance and Abilities
Mechs are bipedal robots with thin branch like arms mounted with alien pulse weapon. The are colored silver and grey and have lights in their backs that they reveal at night when they are hunting prey. They tend to announce their presence with metallic whale cry. They can both walk and run though they are not very maneuverable at high speeds ; allowing smaller creatures like humans to outmaneuver them.

Mechs have a laser targeting system, which they use against enemy Skitters or humans. Once the blue lasers emitted lock the target, they turn orange, and then the Mech fires on its prey. They appear to have a serious flaws by lacking thermal imaging or night-vision capabilities. They have walked past heat radiating humans hiding behind thin obstacles or not observed humans at night in the open because their spotlights do not shine on the humans. The intelligence of the Mechs is extremely low as they will focus fire on close, low priority targets while allowing the most dangerous enemy asset, like an anti-aircraft gun mounted on a Humvee, to assail them till their demise.

The Mech ammo is actually made up of scavenged earth weapons ammo. The ammo's shells have been replaced by a non-terrestrial metal that the Resistance munitions expert John Pope thinks is similar to depleted uranium on Earth.

They are also coated with a highly resistant metal that makes the virtually bulletproof. Only heavy fire or well placed explosives can do them harm. This changed when the resistance got the idea to melt down the metal of mechs they had managed to defeat to make their own bullets that could rip through the mechs like paper.

They are connected to the Skitters through a radio frequency allowing the aliens to instruct them without vocal commands.



In the series
In the Show the Mechs were the brute force of the alien invasion; using their superior weapons and armor to take down any resistance. At the start of the series it was considered best to go around them or avoid them at all costs. Only heavy fire or explosives could defeat them; but getting close for such a task was considered too big of a risk by the Resistance.

By the start of the first series they are mostly used by the Skitters as guards for their harnessed prisoners and exterminators; prowling the cities looking to annihilate any surviving humans. In multiple cases they were used as executioners; killing a group of harnessed children in an attempt to discourage anymore rescue attempts by the Resistance.

The Resistance makes significant breakthroughs in combating the Mechs and the aliens in general. Analyzing Mech armor from a few they were able to destroy John Pope is inspired by Tom's son Matt to "Use their stuff against them" and melts the armor down into the resistance first "Mech Rounds"; bullets that can effortlessly cut through the robots where normal ammo had no effect. A jamming frequency is also invented by another department in the resistance allowing the Resistance to disorientate and then repel a Large Mech force sent by the Overlords to wipe the Resistance out. Eventually, human allies the Volm, lend the resistance effective EMP pulse charges that disorient Mechs.