Boomer

 

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Boomer
Biographical information
Homeland	The Hollow
Physical description and appearance
Species	Locust
Gender	Male
Height	8'0" ft. (Average)
Eye color	Black
Chronological and personal information
Era(s)	Locust War Lambent Invasion
Weapons	Boomshot Grenade Launcher Butcher Cleaver Digger Launcher Mulcher Scorcher
Equipment	Boomshield (Maulers only) Thumper (Tremors only)
Affiliation	Locust Horde

"What the hell is that doing here?!"
"Checking tickets?"

—Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago, upon seeing a Boomer inside the Imulsion Factory

Boomers, were large, brutish, unintelligent Locust who earned their reputation as the Locust Horde's heavy weapon specialists. Several variations appeared over the course of the Locust War, and Lambent Pandemic. While unintelligable, Boomers are extremely dangerous enemies to deal with in campaign because they carry the Boomshot. Depending on the difficulty the player is on, one shot from a Boomer with either instantly down or kill the player, so staying behind cover is a neccesity, however the player may need to relocate to another position if the boomer approaches them. Boomers are very slow but they can absorb a ton of damage, and you are going to use up alot of ammo before they finally die. You can tell when a Boomer is about to fire because they will usually yell "BOOM!". 

Anatomy

"BOOMER!!!"

—The standard cry from Gears upon encountering a Boomer

Boomers were humanoid in shape, but were much taller than the average human or Drone, being at least eight feet tall. Boomers also bristled with muscle and they were very fat, making them considerably thicker than other humanoids. Despite this, they were able to move at surprising speeds.

Their inner anatomy is presumed to be similar to that of a Drone's, as they showed no improvement nor degradation in vision or hearing. On the other hand, Boomers were considerably tougher to kill than their smaller brethren, able to survive an entire Longshot round to the head.

History

Locust War

Destruction of Halvo Bay

General Karn's army was comprised of a large number of Boomers and took an important role during the Destruction of Halvo Bay. After Kilo Squad captured the balcony outside the Museum of Military Glory Boomers and Drones emerged from E-Holes around the area and tried to recapture the area. Kilo armed with Sawed-Off Shotguns, Hammerburst II Rifles and One-Shots managed to stop the reinforcements and defend the area. They later assaulted the Museum itself but were stopped by Kilo before they caused any major damage.

There were also several Boomers laying siege to the Halvo Bay Military Academy and attacked Kilo Squad when they arrived at the Academy and, later on, they tried to destroy the targeting beacon they needed to deploy the Lightmass Missile, against all odds the Gears managed to overcome the brute force of their aggressors and escape.

At Seahorse Hills the Boomers main target was Kurt Elliot's mansion, protecting Mortar squads who laid siege to the mansion and assaulting the mansion itself once the security systems failed, they were however slaughtered by Kilo Squad.

At Onyx Point Boomers protected the silo that housed the Lightmass Missile and attempted to stop Kilo from leaving the island alive but were overpowered and slain by the humans.

Later on they were part of several patrols searching for Kilo Squad to prevent them from launching the Lightmass Missile and were later part of the Locust force that attacked them once they launched the missile but were wiped out. Afterwards they headed towards the courthouse where Kilo was being held on trial and killed many Gears before eventually being taken down by Kilo, with one of them being personally taken down by Col. Ezra P. Loomis after he came behind it. Karn and its Shibboleth survived the explosion but were killed by Loomis and Kilo. However the Locust eventually killed Loomis and his men and the Coalition was forced to retreat from the city.

Skirmish at the Live Zone

A single Boomer attacked Augustus Cole on a routine patrol south of Jacinto, Cole turned on the chainsaw of his Lancer and started to chainsaw it, aiming for the crotch, while the rest of the gears opened fire on it with the APC guns, the Boomer died just before a group of Drones arrived at the scene.

Evacuation of Ilima

During the Evacuation of Ilima countless Boomers attacked the city to try to prevent it from being evacuated before the Kryllstorm could arrive. Zeta-Six, one of the squads evacuating civilians, faced many Boomers surrounding their evacuation outpost. They used a Chain Gun and later on a Hammer of Dawn control center to deal with them and the other Locust. More Boomere appeared near Ilima Trusts and Savings and pinned down a Gear squad nearby.

Four Boomers appear near the parking structure Zeta passed through: one accidentally opening a way into the structure, another inside the structure and two more protecting the exit of the structure, however Zeta made usage of a car near both of them and pushed it towards them, crushing them both in the process. A Boomer took guard at Ilima City Hall.

A pair of Boomers appeared at the construction yard Zeta-Six passed through unintentionally showing them a big crane to pass through the construction yard. During the Evacuation of Ilima two new classes of Boomers were shown: the Mauler Elite; which is an elite version of the Mauler and the Tremor who used a giant hammer and a Thumper to summon Seeders.

Battle of Ephyra

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West Barricade Campaign

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Lightmass Offensive

Boomers were encountered by Delta Squad on their mission, a pair of Boomers was first encountered by Delta at an staging area they passed through, one of them stepped on a rat, and ambushed two of the gears but the other two gave cover from behind (depending in what path do you choose) and were easily defeated, more Boomers would set up more ambushes near the surrounding areas of the vicinity. Another pair attacked Chaps Gas Station and destroyed part of the establishment, but another Boomer arrived at the scene and completely blew up the gas station but before he could do anything else he was crushed by Laverne. At first a single Boomer appeared at Franklin's Outpost pushing through a door and attacking the humans that were left on the outpost, this one was soon defeated but a big Emergence Hole opened behind the gears and another four Boomers emerged from it, however Delta was able to defeat all of them with exploding Propane Tanks and proceed to the Lethia Imulsion Factory.

A Boomer attacked Delta at the Lethia Imulsion Facility while Jack opened a locked door and another one surprisingly appeared inside the cart rails the gears used to get to the mining facility of the factory; with Marcus and Dom asking if he was "checking tickets", however he too perished at the hands of the gears. Another pair attacked Delta from two mining platforms that had just emerged. A Boomer attacked Delta inside the Outer Hollow while they dealt with the Lambent Wretches.

A pair of Boomers ambushed Delta as they entered through a courtyard full of Locusts at the East Barricade Academy, later on another pair tried to attack Jack while he opened a locked door near the Conservatory but Marcus and Dom used the Hammer of Dawn to take both down. Another Boomer crushed through a door and attacked them again. The Theron Sentinel used a Boomer in one of his ambushes to try to stop Marcus and Dom. Another Boomer attacked the gears at the entrance to the Fenix Estate. While Cole and Baird brought the APC to the entrance of the house Marcus and Dom dealt with the Locust outside; after a few minutes of struggle a Boomer carrying an explosive battering ram quickly started to ran towards the entrance of the house and; in a suicide mission; destroyed the door in the front of the house with him in the process. Several Boomers tried to stop Delta-One from reaching the APC and leave the manor house. Another pair of Boomers was seen at the Nassar Park near the theatre; another one attacked the Humans inside a building on their way to Timgad Central Energy, a couple was stationed at a park even closer to the central, inside Timgad Central Energy a Boomer used a platform as an advantage point to shoot the gears from above, however he soon fell along with the rest of the Locust at the room.

Ambush at Sovereigns Boulevard

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Mission to the Pirnah Badlands

When Delta Squad was searching for KIA gear squads at the Pirnah Badlands, Dom and Marcus told histories about the Lightmass Offensive and their encounter with the Boomer at the Lethia Imulsion Factory, at the end of the ensuing battle at the Badlands, a trio of Boomers emerged from the ground, cornered the gears and gained the advantage of the battle for a while, however Marcus managed to flank and distract them with a Bolo Grenade, in the middle of the confusion the gears took the Boomers by surprise and began to fire at them with all they've got, with Michael Barrick chainsawing one of them, Marcus killing another with another Bolo Grenade and Dom gunning down the last one, after a crude battle and a large rain of bullets, the three Boomers were finally killed.

Operation Hollow Storm

Boomers were seen gathered amongst the new Locust Horde, commanded by Skorge, new Boomer variants were tasked to use different kinds of weapons and equipment, Grinders used the Mulcher as their weapon of choice, Maulers used Boomshields to protect themselves from enemy fire, Flame Boomers used the Scorcher Flamethrower as a deadly weapon and Butchers used their Butcher Cleavers to defend against humans.

During the Assault on Landown a Boomer squad was able to ambush the Assault Derricks while they prepared to deploy their Grindlifts, though they caused a great damage to the Derricks, Delta Squad was able to deal with them using Mortars and Bolo Grenades. Another pair of Boomers was seen attacking Omega-One. At the Locust Forward base a pair of Boomers tried to surprise the gears appearing through a door along with Wretches and Tickers, however they lost their chance and were killed. A last Boomer appeared below the city of Ilima before it was sunken by the Riftworm, it attacked alongside Drones and Grenadiers but fell like the rest of its allies. 

A Boomer guarded a Beast Barge with no prisoners inside the Hollow against Delta Squad. Several Grinders, Maulers and at least one Boomer stormed New Hope Research Facility trying to prevent Marcus and Dom from leaving. A large number of Boomers tried to stop a Centaur Tank manned by Delta Squad from reaching the entrance to Nexus and one attacked them from a tower in the entrance, however all of them were crushed by the Centaur.

Inside the Hollows the Boomers gave a last stand against the Lambent and COG forces storming the Palace, Delta Squad found two Boomers and a Kantus near several Lambent corpses before they killed them and inspected the corpses.

More Boomers tried to destroy a pair of Reavers being ridden by Delta Squad, the gears killed all Boomers they encountered in their way. A number of Boomers attacked Jacinto under Myrrah 's orders, Delta Squad encountered one at a courtyard attacking a group of gears before being killed by Delta. Several Boomers attempted to stop a hijacked Brumak piloted by Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago but were all killed by the Brumak's weapons. A large number of Boomers were seen dying in the flood of the Hollows.

Locust Stragglers

Skirmish south of Port Farrall

After the flooding of the Hollows, any remaining Boomers joined several of their fellow Locust survivors and headed towards the city of Port Farrall to wipe out any remaining Jacinto survivors. While on patrol Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago spotted the army of Locust and warned command about it, they proceeded to engage several Boomers while reinforcements arrived.

Several APC's came into the firefight and laid support to both men as more squads arrived and started to attack the Boomers and any other Locust around, when KR Three-Five and Centaur Twenty-Eight managed to kill a Corpser and a Bloodmount heading towards the town, nearly all Locust (Boomers included) were killed shortly afterwards with only one Drone being captured and tortured by Bernadette Mataki before being finally shot down.

Ambush outside of Port Farrall

Six weeks after the skirmish, Sgt. Rory Andresen wounded a Drone while on patrol at the woods and sent Delta Squad and Sigma-4 to hunt it down and kill it. However the Gears headed to a trap and two Kantus led the attack while several Drones and Boomers blocked the exit and herded them into proximity mines taking out a large number of Gears.

Bravo-Three and KR Eight-Zero were sent to help them but the Raven wasn't able to lay fire on the Locust due to the trees blocking the visibility of the shooters. Bravo-Three managed to lure the Boomers and Drones into the other squads line of sight and quickly tore them apart with their chainsaws.

However a second ambush occurred with more Boomers and even Maulers and Butchers joining the fight, with the Locust overwhelming them Cole decided that he was gonna look for Bernie who was assigned to take down the Kantus and hadn't been heard from for several minutes. The two of them managed to kill both Kantus which stopped the healing of Boomers and Drones, some Boomers attempted to escape but as they made it out of the woods Eight-Zero easily slain them with its chainguns and the remaining Boomers were destroyed by the Raven and the Gears.

Lambent Pandemic

"Thanks, assholes."

— Marcus Fenix after two Boomers opened a path to reach the Maelstrom device.

After the fragmentation of the Horde several Boomers returned to their feral states and became the Savage Boomers, while Boomers, Maulers and Grinders chose to remain with the Queen's Guard. An Horde of Boomers marched towards Anvil Gate 's doors and after a path had been cleared by other Locust forces, despite taking fire from Chain Guns on their sides, opened the last door that led to the garage, the Boomers continued to attack but were killed when a large fuel tank exploded inside the fort. Later Delta Squad would found 7 more Boomers at the Endeavour Naval Shipyard, trying to stop them from reaching the CNV Clement.  Meanwhile others attacked Damon Baird's squad during their Mission to Halvo Bay.

"Quiet, people. Grubs up ahead."
"Marcus, we ain't sneakin' past 'em, are we? We got a score to settle."
"Yeah, we have."

— Marcus Fenix and Augustus Cole deciding to take revenge over the Locust for Dom's death.

Boomers later took part in the Second Battle of Azura, as Delta tried to reach theMaelstrom device they found several Boomers at the dockyards and trenches around the facility. A pair of Boomers ambushed the Gears while they searched for a way inside the facility, unintentionally opening a path for them. Inside the facility more Boomers attacked Delta but were torn apart by the Silverback they had borrowed earlier. After shutting down the device Delta began taking down the Siegebeasts around the island, a single Boomer ambushed them at Acanthus Train Station but was easily dispatched by the Gears. More Boomers appeared inside Pinnacle Tower, at first Marcus wanted to get past them but Cole reminded his they had "scores to settle" and they took them down bent on revenge. Shortly after this, the Imulsion Countermeasure device was activated and the Boomers were wiped out, alongside all Locust creatures.

Variations

As stated before, several Boomer variations have appeared over the course of the war between human and Locust-kind. The first Boomer observed by COG forces was the standard Boomer, who carried the Boomshot Grenade Launcher and unspecialized armor.

During 15 A.E., COG forces were engaged by four new types of Boomer. Grinders used Mulcher machineguns and wore sturdy headgear to protect their heads; Maulers utilized the Boomshield for defense while using explosive flails for offense; Flamer Boomers used Scorcher flamethrowers; and finally Butchers. Butchers served a non-combat role as the chefs for the Locust Horde.

A typical Boomer with his Boomshot.

At 17 A.E., 18 months after the Sinking of Jacinto, Savage Boomers appeared alongside their Savage brethren. Most Savage Boomers used Digger Launchers, but were not limited to it.

In RAAM's Shadow DLC, which takes place before and slightly during the first Gears, two new Boomer Variants are introduced. One being a subclass of Mauler, which is the Onyx Mauler. And the other Boomer variant is called a Tremor. They wield an enormous hammer. These two boomer variants are higher ranks, and are a part of RAAM's squad.

Background

"Boomers are dumbasses. Even by Locust standards. But they do carry some nice toys. The Boomers plan of attack couldn't be simpler. They see something, they shoot it, it dies, about as high a concept these one word-wonders can handle. Boomers are as tough as they are stupid. You're gonna empty a lot of ammo clips before they go finally go down. They have to be reminded they've been shot. At least you'll never have to guess when these morons are about to fire."

—Damon Baird

Boomers were among the least sophisticated members of the Locust Horde, being larger, tougher and markedly less intelligent than other locust. Despite this, Boomers are incredibly determined and fierce during combat. Luckily for humankind, this came with a fortunate side effect: a rather peculiar inability to listen to reason. Boomers often charged headlong into battle with little regard for their own well-being.

Despite this Boomers could actually learn to use different sorts of equipment on the battlefield and some even managed to use strategies against their enemies, some of these were presumably the Mauler Elites which were some of the most fearsome soldiers of the Horde, killing battalions of Onyx Guards with ease and even being part of General RAAM's squad during the Evacuation of Ilima.

Boomers of all types often shout a single word respective of their weapon for example, Boomers with Boomshots would shout "BOOM!" while ones with Digger Launchers would shout "DIG!".

Behind the Scenes

• Boomers were ranked Number 5 on Gears of War's "Top 5 Deadliest Locust".[1]
• In the original Gears of War, it takes five seconds to kill a Boomer with the Hammer of Dawn. From Gears of War 2 and beyond, the Hammer kills most enemies (including Boomers) instantly.
• Several Boomers appear in the deleted scene Road to Ruin from Gears of War 2.
• In Gears of War 3, Boomers are featured in Beast as a Tier 3 Creature at the price of $1500. They provide medium to long range support with their explosive Boomshots and are quite the formidable characters. Using them is also an easy way to achieve "Hail Mary" ribbons which leads to a faster unlock of the "Big Explosions" Mutator.
• The damage Boomers sustain when attacked with explosives changes between Gears of war 1 & 2. In Gears of War, all limbs are blown off along with the head, but there is also a colossal chunk torn out of its pot belly revealing its internal anatomy, and the head even has half of it missing. In Gears 2 & 3 however, the gore has been lightened, the limbs and head remain shot off, but the torso remains whole, and so does the head. However in Gears 3, the gore has been turned back up and Boomers fall apart the same way as Drones.
• Boomers stupidity will normally open a path for the player when it appears that there's no way out or through the situation.
• A couple of Boomers appear in Marcus' dream at the beginning of Gears of War 3.

External links

• http://gearsofwar.xbox.com/GOW2/TheGame.htm#/enemies/Boomers
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSX9HFTcl8s&feature=related