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A City Destroyer is an enormous spacecraft that was used by the aliens as their main attack force.

Outward appearance

A City Destroyer is, by Earth standards, of staggering size: shaped overall like a concave saucer, its diameter is of 15 miles (or 25 kilometers) and its height from the center up is of just under four kilometers, tapering out to a single kilometer on the brim. The brim is not perpendicular to the bottom of the ship; instead, the edge of the bottom expands outward slightly before uniting with the upper dome. The upper dome is not perfectly smooth: the control tower, a wafer-shaped structure longer and taller than it is wide (though not so tall as to be the ship's tallest point), protrudes from a dish-shaped indentation near the edge roughly three or four kilometers in diameter. The underside of the ship is not uniform either: it is arranged in a symmetrical, bas-relief design not unlike the petals of a flower, with street-like corridors separating warehouse-sized blocks that hang below.

Purpose and operation

City Destroyers are deployed more or less simultaneously from the Colony Mothership in order to hover over strategic locations on the target planet. As soon as the ships are deployed, a countdown begins. Once all the Destroyers are in position and the countdown reaches zero, the first volley of the firing procedure begins - that is, all the Destroyers simultaneously launch a ball of energy that travels along a targeting axis and then expands out with destructive force sufficient to demolish an area the size of a large city. If more targets must be hit in order to obtain control of the planet, another countdown then presumably begins as the ships re-position to destroy targets unaffected by the first volley.

In case of counterattack by the residents of the besieged planet (as well as to destroy smaller targets impractical for the Destroyers to attack), the Destroyers will deploy Attackers, which are small, nimble crafts designed for dogfighting. This pattern continues for any additional volleys. The volleys are also potent enough to level an entire mountain, which is best demonstrated on how a City Destroyer managed to completely obliterate NORAD at Mt. Cheyenne. Like the attackers, they also carried powerful deflector shields, being capable of withstanding up to a nuclear warhead without so much as a scratch. This was best demonstrated during the failed nuclear strike on a City Destroyer above Houston, which destroyed the city but the City Destroyer remained completely unaffected.

The ships have weaknesses, however: the are just as susceptible to computer viruses when infected (although they have a slight delay in being infected). In addition, the use of their onboard cannon also carries the risk of being destroyed by a missile/kamikaze attack while charging up a volley, which would result in catastrophic damage to the ship. This was ultimately how the City Destroyer targeting Area 51 and all of the other City Destroyers during the War of 1996 were taken down.

History

In the War of 1996, thirty-six City Destroyers participated in the invasion of Earth and destroying at least 108 human cities. The City Destroyers were finally brought down during the July 4th counterattack after the Americans managed to disable their shields and discovering their weakness in their exposed primary weapons.

However, only one Destroyer managed to land in the African nation of Umbutu. This vessel drilled until the Colony Ship was destroyed during the July 4th counterattack. However, the aliens of the vessel kept fighting Umbutu's military forces for 10 years until they were eradicated. The Destroyer remained dormant and Umbutu's isolationist policies prevented the international world from investigating the vessel.[1]

In 2016, the Destroyer was reactivated. This forced Umbutu's leader Dikembe Umbutu to request the aid of ESD Director David Levinson to investigate the vessel. It was then learned that the Destroyer had sent a distress call to its home planet, sending the Harvester with the Alien Queen to Earth.

Gallery

Main Weapon

Concept Art

Other Media

Video game

The City Destroyers in the 1997 video game are basically the same as the ones in the film. They appear in every level, with the exception of the Mother Ship level. After completing the mission objective, the Destroyer prepares to fire. Its primary weapon must then be destroyed before the time is up. Cannons and shield generators are attached to the underside of the Destroyers.

Toy line

The "Defend New York City" Micro Battle playset includes an Alien Destroyer and 2 "plasma bombs".

Star Fox 64

The Saucerer boss in Star Fox 64 and its 3DS remake was explicitly based on the City Destroyers, even sharing a similar weakness to them in destroying the core as well as attempting to blow up a base. Unlike the City Destroyers, however, the Saucer has to flip over to actually use its volley cannon.

Behind the Scenes

  • The fiery clouds that were produced by the City Destroyers entering Earth's atmosphere were created by injecting gray painting into a large water tank, with an internal lighting rig a bluescreen backdrop. Multiple takes were then composited into live action location shots.

References

External links

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