Earthfall: Prelude

ROM #0 »
"You're measuring the stars. Not giving the sky a high-five."
"Earthfall": Prelude
Publisher	IDW Publishing, Ted Adams
Published in	ROM #0, ROM #1
First published	May 7, 2016
Written by	Chris Ryall and Christos Gage
Art by	David Messina
Inks by	Michele Pasta
Letters by	Shawn Lee
Editor	David Hedgecock

The silver Space Knight arrives!

Synopsis

In Northern California, police officer Camilla Byers and her partner Omar Ruiz respond to reports of a fire in the forest. The pair are passed by an armored transport en route, and when they arrive on the scene, they are met by a group of United States soldiers, and are told to stay back—they aren't alone.

An alien in silver armor emerges from a smoking crater and greets the humans, telling him that he means them no harm... provided they are native to Earth. As the alien's armor begins to energize and transform, one soldier opens fire, knocking back, but it manages to quickly recover. It fires a broad beam of red light at the soldiers, even as two of their guns take on an organic appearance. Omar asks the soldier with him and Camilla who the silver alien is, as is told that it is Rom.

The red light cast by Rom is his Energy Analyzer, and it reveals two of the three soldiers confronting him for what they really are: Dire Wraiths! They open fire on the Space Knight, prompting him to transform his armor again and fire back with his Neutralizer. Unaware they were aliens in disguise, Omar and Camilla are shocked to see Rom disintegrate two soldiers, whilst two spikes emerge from the palms of the soldier next to them. Stabbing at them both, it kills Omar and wounds Camilla, and their blood allows the alien soldier to transform into a Wraith Hawk. Taunting Camilla that there is no hiding now she bears the Wraithmark, it flies at Rom, who sends the lone human soldier to take cover before the Wraith Hawk drags him into the air. The Space Knight realizes that the Wraiths must have deeply infected Earth to have found him so quickly, and his enemy insists the Fire Wraiths' final victory is imminent. Rom responds simply by firing his Neutralizer through the Wraith.

Shocked that Earth is being invaded by aliens, Camilla and the human soldier stand awestruck. Rom corrects that they were invaded long ago—their world is at war with the Dire Wraiths. But now Rom the Space Knight is here, to make their war his own!

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"P-painful. But... A pain I can endure, Wraith. Can you say the same when my Neutralizer sings?"

—Rom, being the overdramatic cyborg we love.

Notes

• This story was released on Free Comic Book Day, with the Action Man prologue story printed as a backup story. It was later republished in ROM #1.

ROM references

• The introductory narration at the start of this issue, and repeated in subsequent issues, is taken word-for-word from the original Rom toy's commercial.

Covers (1)

• Regular cover: Rom flies across the moon, by Zach Howard.