Outer Rim: The Desert Strike

The first attacks on Earth had been chaos — cities burning, skies split open by shrieking fire, and alien monstrosities ripping through defenses like paper. But the assault had also forced something the galaxy hadn’t seen in centuries: Earth’s fractured nations standing as one. While the horrors descended on the world’s capitals and ports, a different kind of battle erupted in the Nevada desert. Area 51 — long whispered about in conspiracy circles — had something the aliens wanted. Pieces of their own kind. Technology salvaged from crashes and secret raids. Technology the humans had quietly reverse-engineered. The desert sky tore open. From the swirling black void stepped two of the behemoths: a towering orange war-beast, spikes glinting like molten gold in the moonlight, and a pink predator bristling with icy blue horns. They came straight for the base. But this time, the humans didn’t just run. Out from the fortified hangars rolled sleek rail platforms and mounted cannons — human-forged weapons built from alien designs, each one capable of piercing the beasts’ armored hides. Soldiers in desert-gray took firing positions, some with rifles that hummed with charged energy, others gripping heavy weapons that glowed with a lethal blue. The first volley struck true. The orange beast screamed, staggering in the air. The pink one wheeled back, green ichor dripping from its jaw. Through the radio, static roared, then a clear voice cut through — steady, commanding: “This is Earth. Use your lasers to kill the aliens, I repeat—use your lasers to kill the aliens.” The voice said it twice more before the static swallowed it again. But it was enough. The fight for Earth wasn’t over. Now, the humans had teeth of their own. (Drawn by hand in Procreate) 2024