Invasion of Earth
A child draws attacking skitters as part of Anne Glass' art therapy.
Commanders	"Overlords"
Infantry	Skitters, Mechs, Airships, 7th Massachusetts Militia Regiment
Death Toll	Billions
Belligerents	Overlords/ Humans

The Invasion of Earth was a suprise attack, launched against the human race in general by an unknown alien species. It later appeared to have been masterminded and directed by the 'Overlords'.

The exact duration of the conflict is unknown.

The reasoning for the seemingly unprovoked and hostile invasion by the 'Overlords' is also unknown. However, their actions and activities following the close of the invasion closely resemble those of a military occupation, implying that the reason could be imperialistic.

The WarEdit

The invasion began sometime in 2011, when massive spaceships appeared over major cities across the world. Governments were initially unsure as to how to respond, and did not want to engage the ships in combat operations in the event that they came in peace.

The opening wave of the invasion began with the aliens using electromagnetic pulses to disable human electronics, rendering communications such as phones, satellites and computers inoperable, as well as the bulk of human defenses such as jets, tanks and other military hardware reliant on modern electronics.

The ships then proceeded to wipe out military bases by dropping neutron bombs as well as naval forces deployed at sea that hadn’t been affected by the E.M.P. There is a suggestion in season 1 that naval vessals where sucked or drawn out of the water.

After that, the Overlords began deploying Skitter ground troops; "millions and millions of them" supported by Mechs. Captured civilian populations where herded into alien controlled internment camps, either by force or with the promise of peace, food and water. Children where seperated from adults and harnessed. The camps where then bombed by alien fighter bombers using mini neutron bombs, destroying the captive adult civilians.

It was originaly thought by many that the Skitters were the alien race that orcestrated the war, the existence of the Overlords was not known until after major combat had ended, although some questioned why a six-legged species would design bipedal robots like the Mechs, and autopsies of Skitter bodies revealed internal harnesses.

During the following battles, the U.S. Military, and presumably the rest of the world’s forces, were quickly routed and forced into retreat, due to the inability of the military to mobilize after their bases were destroyed and near collapse of communications systems.

Cities such as New York, Washington, D.C., Boston, Chicago, Moscow, Charleston, Berlin, London, Paris were later targeted and occupied by the Skitters and Mechs during the closing stages of the war. Boston appears relatively intact, which suggests that the city was not subject to large scale combat during the opening stages of the invasion. The state of other large cities has not yet been revealed.

There is also reference to a large swath of Michigan being depopulated & northern Mexico having been "wiped out with no survivors".

Following the capture of most of the planets population centres and with major combat ended, and the 'Overlords' declared Victory.

AftermathEdit

As much as 90% of the world’s human population was killed during the war and subsequent occupation of Earth by the 'Overlords'. It is belived that the cities of New York, Moscow, Berlin, Washington, London and Paris and a large section of northern Mexico no longer exist. The city of Charleston, South Carolina was destroyed but contains a small enclave of survivors hidden underground.

The city of Boston, Massachusetts still exists, but its skyline is now dominated by an alien Mothership. The city is effectively occupied, and South Boston is destroyed. It has been indicated that other cities have a mothership, but not which ones.

What remained of the Human military was reduced to scattered bands of soldiers and civilians. In the U.S., some of these groups would later come together to form militias and resistance groups such as the Second Mass. Resistance groups from Vermont, Chicago and Los Angeles have also been noted around the time of the beginning of the series.

It is also implyed that at least two government in exile exist. One being the U.S. Government, reformed after the fall of the United States, and reference is also made to the British Parliment (and other unnamed European powers) whom the new U.S. Government is trying to open negotiations with.

At the time of the invasion...Edit

Falling Skies has not had a "Flashback" episode some science fiction shows have (Such as Heores or Jericho), and with how quickly the children who play characters are growing it's doubtful if there ever will be. What we know about what the main characters were doing on the day of the invasion we only know from dialogue.

• Tom Mason: Tom taught American History at Boston University. During the initial attacks he joined up with the Massachusetts Militia to protect his family. However early on, he lost his wife, Rebecca Mason, then his middle son Ben was captured. Tom managed to keep his oldest and youngest sons Hal and Matt safe.
• Anne Glass: Was a pediatrician prior to the invasion. When the first attacks hit, she was at the hospital and consequently survived whereas her husband, Lee; and her son, Sam, did not.
• Captain Weaver: His youngest daughter was harnessed and died when he tried to remove it from her. He searched for but could not find his ex-wife and his oldest daughter.
• Jimmy Boland: Skipped school that day of the invasion to see a movie. His mother, father and younger sister died in the attack.
• Karen Nadler: Was a student at Winthrop High School when the invasion began. The day of the attack, she ditched school to climb a tower and see the spaceship.
• Lourdes: was attending pre-medical school when the invasion began.
• Dai: Was a money manager at a jewlery store.
• Anthony: Worked at the Boston Police Department prior to the invasion. He lost his family in the invasion.
• Michael Harris: Before retreating from Boston, he was with Rebecca Mason, Tom Mason's wife. Caught in an airship attack, he abandoned Rebecca to save himself, which presumably led to Rebecca's death.
• John Pope, along with his brother Billy Pope, was a felon prior to the attacks. While in jail he became a certified chef, once cooking Thanksgiving dinner for three cell blocks. He had an ex-wife and two children, a boy and girl, they were last in Florida. It is unknown if they were actually in jail at the time of the invasion, or how they ended up in the Boston area afterwards.

Combatants:Edit

• Humanity
• "Overlords"
  • Skitters
  • Mechs
• Skitter Rebellion
• Unidentified Alien Species