Keeping things interesting

Obviously, fighting against a single enemy type does not keep anyone interested for long. In this blog post, we want to introduce you to 2 new enemies you'll be facing off against on Earths Edge, along with a bit of lore!

Lunom Bomber

Field Log Fragment:

--- BEGIN TRANSCRIPT ---

... we didn’t realize what we were seeing. It didn’t look like a new variant, more like something had gone wrong.

We were tracking a group of Grunts through a collapsed extraction zone that had been abandoned for eleven days. Reports said everything was normal, and at first it was. Slow movement, basic reactions. Then one of them started to change.

The crystalline growth sped up right in front of us. It wasn’t spreading outward like usual, it looked like pressure building from inside. Its chest began to glow, uneven and pulsing. New nodes formed across its body, like it was trying to spread something it couldn’t hold anymore.

It didn’t attack. It moved toward us, not out of aggression, more like it had no other option. With every step the glow grew stronger, the air got hotter, and our instruments went wild.

We think these are overloaded hosts, bodies that took in more Lunom than they could handle. Unlike other Grunts, the energy doesn’t settle. It just keeps building.

What we saw wasn’t aggression. The energy had to go somewhere, it couldn’t keep building forever. Whether it understood that, we can’t say. But it kept walking toward us.

When it finally reached its limit, its body failed. Not in a biological way, but structurally. It burst apart and sent crystallized fragments everywhere. We were lucky not to get hit. None of us spoke for a while after that. Our readings suggest those fragments might still be alive.

If this is how Lunom spreads, then we are looking at an evolution in progress. A failed one that doesn’t die, but continues anyway. That is what makes it more worrying than we expected.

--- END OF LOG ---

The Lunom Bomber is presumably a former colonist, former miner, former human that has been infected by whatever Lunom is doing to its hosts.

It tries to get close to both Scorchers and their EM-BR-Units and then detonates itself to deal massive damage to both flesh and metal, frying electronics as the shards pierce even heavy armor.

Field research suggests exercising extreme caution in close combat, and to keep as much distance between yourself and them.

---

Lunom Heavy Brute

--- Begin Recording ---

This report came in from a recon unit that didn’t expect to find anything unusual. Their earlier assumptions match ours, and they paid for it.

They had believed all Lunomites to be unstable. That idea has already cost us personnel, and this encounter confirms it is no longer valid.

According to their account, they encountered a massive entity that seemed very differently from what they were used to. It positioned itself between the team and a tunnel entrance and remained there, barely moving. The behavior is described as deliberate. Not passive, not aggressive, but controlled.

Its physical structure differed immensely. Less luminescence, significantly more mass. The crystalline growth was not erratic. It appeared to reinforce key parts of the body such as the spine, shoulders, and arms. The unit described it not as an infection, but as something constructed.

They believe the entity has adapted, possibly in response to our EM-BR units. Movement triggered a reaction in the ground before the team itself could respond. The squad hesitated, longer than they are willing to admit. The presence alone seemed to suppress immediate action.

The Brute ignored minor threats and focused entirely on what it identified as an obstruction. In this case, the team itself.

The working theory from the field is that these Brutes are stabilized hosts. Former individuals whose bodies proved compatible enough to sustain full integration.

Unlike other cases, Lunom does not appear to overload these hosts. It reorganizes them.

If the Bombers represent failure, then these entities represent intent.

--- END RECORDING ---

The Lunom Brute appears to be a stabilized host, capable of seemingly rooting Scorchers currently standing on regular ground.

Initially keeping its distance, they charge at unprotected scorchers and try to overwhelm them with their sheer amount of small arms fire they can absorb.

Field research recommends engaging brutes with mechanized infantry or utilizing the scorchers jump pack to keep yourself touching the ground in their vicinity.

Thank you again for your continued support!