The Invaders.Humanoid in physique, these top echelon of the alien civilization direct the subspecies under their joint stratagem. These beings communicate via telepathy. When engaged in conversation, the leaders create a psychic link with the other as thoughts flow freely from one to another. While the other participant may communicate, the leaders have the ability to enforce their will via mental manipulation, which plays a vital part in the subjugation of the subspecies. Humans have the ability to resist the mental abilities of these aliens, but it differs from person to person, mainly based on composure and mental strength. Additionally, a large part of the powers succeeding initially is the shock of communicating directly via telepathy and then dealing with the aliens forcing will on the individual. It has been noted that the initial success is most likely based on it being the first time one has had a mental link of this nature. Generally, humans are much more successful resisting if they can succeed in breaking the initial attack.
Handlers are very fragile looking, and this is completely accurate. They are very smart and can actually learn and speak human languages, although they rarely need to do so. While their individual abilities differ somewhat, the typical Handler can easily control 3-5 crowned humans with some being able to control more or less. Additionally, a key factor is the precision or attention required. For example, having 5 humans simply walk is different than having 5 humans fire weapons accurately, or sorting debris.
These tend to travel in small units controlling various amount of crowned humans, and that size normally depends on the tasks. While they take orders from the Leaders, they do exercise some free will in how they accomplish tasks. In these groups however, there is no “leader” and sometimes, three different Handlers may complete a task in three different ways. There doesn’t seem to be the need to compromise or work together, or unit. They simply seem to get the job done as they see fit.
Originally, these aliens were workers whose jobs were mainly manual. For purposes of conducint war however, they were altered. Containing three separate mutation variants, the now-grunts are the backbone of the newly reformed war machine. While the mutation strain was altered and refined to accelerate the mutations growth, it is still unperfected, which results in acceptable deaths throughout the process. However, the efficiency of the transformation cannot be understated.
The first variant is the general all-purpose variant. These grunts are essentially the equivalent of humanity’s Marine/general ground forces. They aid in attacks, hold down captured areas, and provide logistical support to ensure the leadership’s orders and strategies are conveyed to all operational units within the area. These variants can be modified via technological alterations that can be grafted onto their hard external shell. While very basic, the versatility of this variant makes them highly lethal.
The second variant carries out support roles. Not seen as much as the other two variants, they carry the heavy stuff while shouldering heavy weaponry to and from theaters of operations. While extremely hard to get to, the resistance are keen on capturing the technology these things carry about. Not only can the technology be used by the resistance, but the technology is able to be studied without triggering the self-defense biological mechanism that are mutated into every variant.
The third variant are the shock troops of the alien military. With an extremely thick but lightweight exoskeleton while carrying modifications effective at killing rather than defending, these variants are the scourge of the battlefield that all resistance fighters steer clear of if they can help it. Given a very large amount of autonomy and taking orders from pack leaders, the unpredictable nature of these variants and their Blitzkrieg tactics makes them unpredictable and often difficult to counter against. If the aliens were able to mass produce the shocks, the resistance wouldn’t stand a chance. However, the lethality in mutating workers into these variants is high; thus, their numbers are very low.
Elites are rarely seen on the battlefield. Unlike the other two variants, these Elites are a species that are a part of the alien culture. Acknowledging their prowess within a vocation mirroring that of warrior-monks, this race has been tasked with protecting the leadership and acting as sentinels for their collective race. A terrible force to reckon with on the battlefield, the Elites are worth ten trained resistance fighters. With their personal barrier and their psionic blades, these warriors - described by those who fought them - are considered a battlefield nightmare. A banshee waiting to tear apart the souls of those that encounter them.
These are humans that have an alien device covering their head and face. This device has two main effects. One, it creates a series of electric pulses and frequencies that essentially break any control the human has over its own body. Most humans retain their conscious to a degree. This crown can be removed with a few tools as it only attaches inside the skin near the temples and then is kept on by an alien adhesive.
Next, it introduces an alien symbiote that bonds with the human entirely. It bonds to blood, bone, organs, and even to DNA. Introducing the symbiote is extremely painful and even though the crowned body may not react, the human feels everything. Once the bond is complete, the human body has some amazing benefits. The symbiote makes the person stronger and almost immune to “weaknesses” of normal humans. They gain amazing stamina, sight, agility and pain resistance. They heal faster and are almost immune to illnesses. Any ailments that the human had prior are gone, and this includes any mutant powers.
Removing the crown is just as painful as the implanting, however, it is a terrible ordeal on the mind this time as the human is, as most say it, unplugged. The mind goes into a sort of shock almost immediately and this has a tremendous likelihood of damage, and even death. A telepath, or several, can assist in this and dramatically decrease the chance of harm.
A crowned human with no handler will either stand idle and do nothing, or carry out whatever the last order was, and then if that’s complete, it too will stand idle.
Mech-aliens: This last group of aliens are extremely specialized and there is not much uniformity or consistency to them as a whole. Most generally have two arms, two legs and a head, but even this is not always the case. Because the race as a whole does not trust machinery (specifics are not known) that is not directed, guided, or controlled by aliens, or at least directly controlled by their thoughts, it is very rare for anything to be done by a machine. These aliens have machines, parts, or electronics bonded with them, or are sometimes actually bonded to a machine itself, and operate in that capacity. While in many cases the machines or computers do the work, at some capacity, that activity is controlled by the alien. It seems this race has a high capacity to be bonded with machines while the other races cannot.
