Crystalien Base

A Crystalien Base is a base, usually an outpost, built by Crystaliens on various planets.

History
Crystalien Bases were primarily seen on Mars during the two Mars Missions. Prior to the second Mars Mission, Crystalien Bases were generally constructed by Infiltrators, who carried around technology allowing them to speedily assemble the buildings. However, during the second Mars Mission, Crystalien Bases were generally built by Battle Arachnoid Mini-Bots.

Because of the LEGO Bricks needed to assemble Crystalien Bases and the Energy Crystals needed to power the base, Crystalien Bases were often constructed near Energy Crystal Fields or Mines.

Most Crystalien Bases are merely outposts and are only temporarily used by Crystaliens. The largest known Crystalien Base was the Alien Hive, which may have been the only perminent Crystalien Base set up on Mars. However, the Alien Hive, as well as many other Crystalien Bases located on Mars, have been destroyed by the Astros in the first Mars Mission. During the second Mars Mission, all Crystalien Bases were exclusively temporary outposts, and again most of them were destroyed by the Astros.

Some Crystalien Bases during the first Mars Mission were infiltrated by Astro Engineers, then taken over and used by Astros. Sometimes, during the second Mars Mission, Crystalien Bases were set up in the proximity of Space Criminal Bases, to expand and protect the Space Criminal Base.

Aside from the Alien Hive, no other perminent Crystalien Bases are known, though it is assumed that there are Crystalien Bases on planets other than Mars.

Significant Locations
Crystalien Bases are made up of many buildings, most of which are used to expand Crystalien forces or to defend the base.

Energy Generator
Energy Generators are where Alien Crystal Extractors deposit mined Energy Crystals. The Energy Generator then converts the Energy Crystals into energy, then powers other buildings of the Crystalien Base. Often times, many Energy Generators had to be constructed for a single Crystalien Base, since they can only power a certain number of buildings, and in order to expand a Crystalien Base more Energy Generators must be constructed first.

Breeding Pit
Breeding Pits resemble pools of green liquid filled with genetic information. In Breeding Pits, Crystaliens are bred and created en masse, allowing for a quick expansion of Crystalien forces. Astro Engineers often saw the Breeding Pits as one of the most important buildings to infiltrate, because they could alter the genetic codes stored within Breeding Pits, allowing the breeding of Crystaliens who worked alongside the Astros. Breeding Pits are essentially smaller version of the Alien Hive. The different types of Crystaliens that a Breeding Pit can create include Drones and Infiltrators. During the second Mars Mission, Breeding Pits also assembled Laser Troopers.

Assault Turret
Assault Turrets are towers that resemble Alien Speeders, manned by two Crystaliens. Assault Turrets are built for the important task of protecting a Crystalien Base from invaders, and the two Crystaliens manned the turret to fire lasers at intruders. A few Assault Turrets can easily take down the Astros' largest vehicles in a matter of seconds. However, Assault Turrets use much energy, and thus many Energy Generators must be built for a sufficient Assault Turret defense. In the second Mars Mission, Assault Turrets were replaced with the more efficient Spires.

Battle Foundry
The Battle Foundry is often added to Crystalien Bases. Battle Foundries assemble Crystalien vehicles such as Alien Speeders and Alien Dragon Cruisers.

Sonar Station
Sonar Stations give Crystaliens an easy way to mark out battle strategies by sending out sonar rays to map out the area. In addition, Sonar Stations manufacture Alien Strike Fighters, hit-and-run vehicles that are tied to the Sonar Station. The Sonar Stations provide a return point for the Strike Fighters.

Experiment Lab
The Experiment Lab is where Crystalien scientists and engineers work. They test samples of the base's environment and perform research on prisoners. More importantly, Experiment Labs manufacture Alien Viper Attacks, large jetpacks for Crystalien Drones. In the Experiment Lab, the Viper Attacks are implanted into the spines of Crystaliens, allowing them easy and quick flight. Experiment Labs also contain technology for locating the ETX Alien Mothership, and an Astro Engineer once snuck into an Experiment Lab to find this technology and thus the Mothership.

Orbital Uplink
The Orbital Uplink, much like the Sonar Station, provides the Crystalien Base with a radar view of the surrounding area. However, its radar is far more powerful than that of the Sonar Station, and can cover much more distance to a higher accuracy. Orbital Uplinks can also send out signals to bring in Alien Hyper Carriers for troop transport. Most importantly, the Orbital Uplink contains a 4T2 Ion Disruptor that allows for mass destruction of enemy bases.

Crater Base
The Crater Base is the main center building of a Crystalien Base. The Crater Base include quarters for the Alien Commander to rest in when not commanding troops. If the Alien Commander is badly wounded in battle, he can retreat to the Crater Base and recover from his wounds. In addition, during the second Mars Mission, Crater Bases are able to manufacture Battle Arachnoid Mini-Bots. If a Harvester is not present, Battle Arachnoid Mini-Bots drop off Energy Crystals in the Crater Base, where they can be used as energy, albeit not as refined.

Hatchery
Sometimes, simply a Breeding Pit is not enough, because a Breeding Pit can only breed a few Crystaliens at a time. In that case, Hatcheries are built. Not much is known about Hatcheries, but in theory they contain Crystalien embryos with accelerated growth to increase the number of troops in the Crystalien army. Also, since more Crystaliens meant more pilots for vehicles, Hatcheries allowed for more vehicles to be used on the battlefield.

Harvester
While Energy Generators were built for Crystal Extractors, Harvesters were built for use by Battle Arachnoid Mini-Bots. Because the Mini-Bots can only carry a small amount of crystals at a time when working in Energy Crystal Fields, they often return to base to drop off their resources at Harvesters. The Harvesters refine the Energy Crystals and transfer them into energy.

Well Cap
When Crystaliens find mines or cracked earth, they build Well Caps to mine LEGO Bricks. The Well Caps collect LEGO Bricks at a constant rate, constantly supplying the base with resources to build more buildings. However, the rate at which Well Caps mine can be increased with the use of a Red Power Brick.

Creation Pit
Much like the Battle Foundry, Creation Pits are used to create vehicles. The vehicles that can be manufactured in Creation Pits are Alien Attack Ships (Alien Crystal Extractors with heavier weaponry), Alien Twin Spear Fighters, Alien Dragon Cruisers, and Alien Transport Ships.

Shipyard
The Shipyard is a building rarely seen at Crystalien Bases. Its purpose is to manufacture the Crystaliens' water-based attack and transport vehicles. No Shipyards were ever seen on Mars.

Spire
Spires are towers that shoot lasers, missiles, or fireballs at intruders. Unlike Assault Turrets, Spires do not need to be manned by Crystaliens, and they do not require as many Energy Crystals to power. Therefore, they are considered more efficient, and were used in the second Mars Mission instead of Assault Turrets. When first built, Spires shoot lasers; later, Spires could be upgraded to fire missiles or fireballs instead.

Trivia

 * Half the buildings originated in Crystalien Conflict, while the other half of the buildings were introduced in LEGO Battles. The Breeding Pit is the only building to appear in both games.
 * In Alien Bonus Level #1, a Drone stumbled upon the ruins of an ancient Crystalien Base on Mars. It is unknown if this was actually a Crystalien Base, or possibly a Martian base instead.
 * The Shipyard only appeared in LEGO Battles' freeplay mode, if the player chose to use a Battle Arachnoid Mini-Bot Builder and any water-based special. It only appears under those two conditions; it never appears in Story Mode. Thus, it is possible that Crystaliens use Shipyards on planets with more oceans, suggesting that Crystaliens have bases on other planets.

Appearances

 *   Crystalien Conflict
 * LEGO Battles