Locust Horde

Locust Horde
Political information
Type of government	Enatic eusocial theocratic absolute monarchy
Head of State	Queen Myrrah (c. 30 B.E. - Bloom 17 A.E.)
Commander-in-chief	Ketor Skorge (11th Gale 14 A.E. - 2nd Frost 14 A.E.) Uzil RAAM (Bounty 0 B.E. - 11th Gale 14 A.E.) Uzil Sraak (c. 30 B.E. - Bounty 0 B.E.)
Legislative branch	Locust Council
Societal information
Capital	Nexus (c. 30 B.E. - 2nd Frost 14 A.E.)
Official language	Tyran (Spoken) Locust Runes (Written)
State religiousbody	Trinity of Worms
Historical information
Date of establishment	c. 30 B.E.
Date of fragmentation	2nd Frost 14 A.E.
Date of reorganization	2nd Frost 14 A.E. as the Queen's Guard and Savage Locust
Date of dissolution	Bloom 17 A.E.
Date of restoration	Bloom 42 A.E. as the Swarm

"Frankly, other than the fact that they want to kill every man, woman, and child out there, we know nothing about them. We've tagged them Locust since this degree of death has only been seen in times of plague. They're subterranean in nature. That's obvious. Aside from that, I'm afraid..."

—An unidentified human scientist dubbing the name of the Locust Horde

The Locust Horde, often called Grubs by Serans, were a race of genetically altered humans that established their civilization in the subterranean regions of Sera, known as the Hollow. The Locust originated from genetic experiments at the New Hope Research Facility. Doctor Niles Samson studied the children of Imulsion miners to find a cure for Rustlung. The children were mutated by Imulsion and DNA of creatures from the Hollow, resulting in chimeras known as Sires. Before the eventual shutdown of the facility, Samson and his research were relocated to a secret facility inside Mount Kadar. The work there led to the creation of the Locust by combining the embryonic stem cells of Myrrah, a child born with a genetic immunity to Imulsion, and Sire DNA. Myrrah's sympathy for her "children" caused her to lead the Locust, as their Queen, to slaughter the scientists, escape the facility, and move deeper into the caverns of Mount Kadar where they built the underground city of Nexus.

The Locust grew their civilization and developed a government, military, and society. The Kantus also started a religion called the Trinity of Worms, based on the worship of Riftworms and Rockworms. During this time, the Locust and indigenous creatures of the Hollow became more exposed to Imulsion and developed Lambency, a parasitic infection that colonized its host and compelled them to infect all forms of life. This led to an epidemic and conflict in the Inner Hollow. Myrrah sought the aid of human scientist, Professor Adam Fenix, to resolve the Lambency. However, he discovered that all possible solutions either failed or would harm the Locust as well, due to their creation through the use of Imulsion in their cells. With more Locust becoming infected, killing many more of their people and losing their land, Myrrah saw the only solution was to exterminate the human race and claim the surface of Sera as their own in order to escape the Lambent.

After the end of the Pendulum Wars, Myrrah commanded her people to emerge on the surface to exterminate the humans; waging a genocidal war that was nearly successful in the extinction of the human race. By 14 A.E., the entire Hollow network was destroyed by the Lightmass Bomb and flooded by the sinking of Jacinto City. The seawater in the Hollow caused the Imulsion to rise to the surface and caused a pandemic. By 17 A.E., Adam Fenix perfected the Imulsion Countermeasure Weapon, which destroyed all Imulsion and vaporized the Lambent. Due to a genetic trait designed by Niles Samson, the Locust went into hibernation and crystallized into a chrysalis-like shell. In 42 A.E., the Locust evolved into beings called Scions and unleashed a bio-organism capable of transforming all life into members of the Hivemind called the Swarm. With their new army, the Swarm began another global conflict.

Physiology

The physiology of the Locust varies among their several races, but all members of the Locust were bipedal, muscular, tough skinned, scaled, and taller than at least six feet. Their bones were heavier and showed signs of extensive thickening. The Locust required oxygen, though they seemed somewhat more resistant to the environmental hazards, most likely due to their harsh native environment. The Locust had large eyes with excellent depth perception despite the fact that they were a subterranean race. They had a noted vulnerability to flash overcompensation response (flash-blindness), a weakness that many offset with polarized goggles or blinders. It was strongly believed that the Locust could see perfectly in total darkness and most seemed to possess superior senses of smell, being able to tell the difference between a Locust and a human.

After the detonation of the Imulsion Countermeasure Weapon, the bodies of the Locust began to crystallize into an impenetrable, Imulsion crystalline shell. The Imulsion that had once colonized their cells and DNA were extracted and ruptured from their skin. This was caused by their genetic trait designed Dr. Niles Samson - to evolve against any threat in order to survive generational conflict. This involved a prolonged hibernation while the Locust were cocooned and transformed into an evolved species. The Locust had undergone a twenty-five year hibernation in which they evolved inside their shells, becoming Scions. When the Locust Scions emerged, they grew in height and size, and most of the Locust scales were absent. The scales that remained were fragments left from the Imulsion crystals penetrating the skin.

History

Origins

Human Speculation

"We can't stop them. We don't know where they come from. We don't know what they want. They don't even seem to want territory. All they do is kill. We can't even begin to negotiate with them, or work out their objectives, because we just don't know the first damn thing about them. That's not an enemy, Mr. Chairman. That's a monster."

—Chief of the COG Defense Staff, General Bardry Salaman describing the Locust.

To the people of Sera, the origins of the Locust were shrouded in mystery. Many theories on their origins were suggested. The scientific theory was the Locust had always existed in the Hollow as a mutated species of Sera's native life forms, which proved to be one of the more accurate theories. A popular theory was the Locust were an extraterrestrial race that originated from Risea, a neighboring planet, or one of Sera's two moons, and that they arrived on Sera to feed on Imulsion. The religious theory proclaimed the Locust came from Hell, sent to purge the world of all the sinners and to only spare the pure. These rumors were generally regarded as false.

New Hope Research Facility

"My work [at New Hope] began as an effort to cure children ill with Rustlung. But it grew into something far more significant. The COG wanted medicine. I gave them gods."

—Dr. Niles Samson

In the early Pendulum Wars, shortly after the creation of the Lightmass Process, the Coalition of Ordered Governments discovered that Imulsion caused adverse health effects in humans, namely a fatal respiratory condition known as Rustlung. Unknown to scientists at the time, Imulsion was a parasitic fungi that spread through fumes, which acted as infectious spores. Those most afflicted with Rustlung were Imulsion miners and their children, who were born with notable birth defects. Due to possible economic and political ramifications if the public learned of health issues related to Imulsion mining and usage, the COG, under Chairman Monroe and the Department of Health, opened the New Hope Research Facility to study the Imulsion miners' children and find a cure. The facility was put under the supervision of renowned geneticist Dr. Niles Samson. Samson began his research by injecting children with concentrated doses of Imulsion, discovering that Imulsion exposure caused immediate cell stress and degradation, but occasionally caused point mutations in the body which Samson saw as beneficial. While most of the children continued to suffer from Rustlung, a child named Myrrah showed complete genetic immunity to Imulsion's adverse effects and instead exhibited beneficial traits when exposed - such as positive cellular regeneration, decelerated aging, and a highly-responsive immune system. Samson hoped to replicate Myrrah's beneficial traits in the other children, but ultimately failed.

Sires in stasis tanks.

During a field expedition, Samson observed that indigenous creatures of the Hollow, such as the Riftworms, were unaffected by Imulsion and believed them to be immune due to their cohabitation with Imulsion. Samson began using Imulsion's recombinant abilities for transgenic experiments by inserting the DNA of the Hollow creatures into the children, transforming them into chimeras called the Sires - named for their potential to begin a new race of humans. The Sires continued to mutate and resulted in becoming unstable. Many subjects lost their sanity and higher brain functions - causing them to be difficult to control and highly aggressive. The only Sire to maintain their humanity was the original test subject, Ukkon, but he was just as sadistic as the others. Ukkon became increasingly intelligent and gained the ability of accelerated healing. Deemed physically immortal, the scientists created a fail-safe with cytostatic gas, made from fluorouracil and RZ50. When exposed, it would cause Ukkon's accelerated healing to temporarily cease and make him vulnerable. Samson saw Ukkon's abilities as potential to creating enhanced soldiers for the COG army and ending the Pendulum Wars.

The violent and sadistic nature of the Sires caused numerous attacks on the staff at New Hope. Due to the unsafe environment and unethical experimentation, many employees resigned and leaked information to the public. New Hope guard, Pvt. Sid Redburn, was disturbed by Ukkon and the acts done there. He alerted Colonel Tolman, who reported New Hope's activities to Chairman Monroe. Once Monroe became aware of the work at New Hope, the facility was ordered to shut down and all scientists involved were indicted. Before the shut down, a fringe political group within the COG believed in Samson's work. They offered to relocate him, his staff, and his subjects to a private, hidden facility in the Kadar Valley where he could continue his work without impeding ethics or bureaucracy. Samson accepted their invitation and relocated his work to the laboratory under Mount Kadar. The creation of the Sires was kept secret from the public. Only a few select people within the COG knew of their existence and origin.

Mount Kadar Laboratory

"In our previous facility, we had problems with genetic stability. The Sires were... distempered. And sterile. A problem, for obvious reasons. But the Locust were different. Highly controllable. The perfect soldiers. And blessedly able to reproduce."
"What made them different?"
"Their cells. You see, the Imulsion miners' children provided a marvelous genetic repository... as did the indigenous creatures of the Hollow."

—Dr. Niles Samson explaining to Cpl. Kait Diaz the creation of the Locust Horde.

The Matriarch in stasis.

At the Mount Kadar facility, Dr. Niles Samson attempted to create a new hybrid species by combining Sire DNA with embryos. After many failed attempts, Samson turned to Myrrah's embryonic stem cells, combined with Sire DNA. They were successful in creating the first hybrid: the Matriarch. The female was able to reproduce male offspring that were genetically stable, healthy, and fertile - creating the Locust Horde, named for their potential to cause widespread death similar to the insects. Because Imulsion and Myrrah's embryonic stem cells being used to create the Locust, a psychomagnetic link called the Hivemind was discovered between Myrrah, the Matriarch, and all members of the Locust Horde. The scientists learned that without a functioning Queen, the Locust became unguided, unable to learn or grow. Dr. Torres built a device that would subdue the Matriarch and strengthen her connection with Myrrah by beaming into her temporal lobe, amplifying Myrrah's telepathic powers.

One of the first successful Locust Drones in stasis.

Thousands of the Locust were created in the lab and were placed in cages and stasis tanks. Using the genetics from other animals, Samson designed the Locust with the ability to hibernate and evolve should their environment require it to survive generational conflict. While they were studied by the scientists, the Locust were taught combat and to communicate through lexigram boards. The Locust were eventually able to speak Tyran, but the majority of them could only speak in uttering single words or phrases at a time. Only a few could speak fluent Tyran, which was a mark of higher intelligence and connection to Myrrah. Myrrah's presence in the Hivemind allowed the Locust the ability to learn exponentially and become self-aware. As time went on, the Locust desired independence as they felt imprisoned and tortured by the scientists, but were unable to achieve their freedom without a leader. As an adult, Myrrah initiated a romantic relationship with Torres, which resulted in the birth of their daughter, Reyna.

The remains of Myrrah's rebellion.

It was discovered that Reyna had inherited her mother's immunity, decelerated aging, and connection to the Locust Hivemind. Torres grew apprehensive that his daughter would be experimented on and fled the facility with her. Unable to recapture Reyna, Samson lied to Myrrah that Reyna had died in the escape attempt. Distraught, Myrrah resented the human scientists for supposedly killing her daughter and forcing her to be imprisoned, tortured, and experimented on. Through empathizing with her Locust children, she discovered that they held the same feelings of imprisonment and longed for independence. Myrrah no longer identified as human, and instead believed she was one with the Locust. Using her link to the Hivemind, Myrrah staged a rebellion and led the Locust to freedom by massacring the facility's staff, including Samson. The facility was purged in a cyrogenic lockdown as a last resort by a dying Samson to contain the secrets of the facility, but Myrrah and the Locust still managed to escape. Myrrah brought the Locust deeper underground in Mount Kadar and built their civilization, Nexus, with their own religion, culture, military, and government.

Building the Locust Horde

Queen Myrrah led her people into a large cavern under Mount Kadar to create the Nexus, the Locust capital. The main palace was built from a stalactite that hung over an Imulsion lake. A city was built on the cliff surrounding the palace. Because the Hollow tunnels and ecosystems were created by the Riftworm, a religion was based to worship it, known as the Trinity of Worms, thus a theocratic culture was based on the iconography of worms. To build a strong military and science division, Queen Myrrah had her people find scraps of human technology to re-purpose as their own. The Locust Council was then created, attended by the highest ranks, of the Locust to inform Myrrah of social, political, scientific, and combat affairs.

To build their Horde even stronger, Queen Myrrah reverted back to the use of genetic manipulation. Indigenous creatures of the Hollow were genetically engineered and designed to become weapons, vehicles, and machines for the Locust Horde. Locust Drones were able to breed with Berserkers, but another process to create more Drones was to capture humans from the surface and use Niles Samson's genetic research to genetically mutate them into Locust Drones. Captured humans who were not used for experiments were either enslaved to be labor workers for the Locust Horde or used to feed the Locust beasts. While Queen Myrrah had contempt for humans for making them live underground, she accepted that the Hollows were the Locust's by birthright, until the Lambent epidemic.

Lambent War

The Lambent Epidemic

Despite being designed to withstand the effects of Imulsion, the Locust Horde began to experience an epidemic in the Hollow known as the Lambent. As early as 17 B.E., creatures of the Hollow began exhibiting mutations. The Lambency was more advanced than Rustlung - as it occupied its host and compelled it to infect or kill any other living organisms. Upon infection, the host could mutate body parts to protect itself or enhance the host to better infect other organisms. Members of the Locust Horde began becoming infected, especially the Drones and Wretches. As the epidemic progressed, the Locust Horde began to lose more of their territory to the Lambent - as the Lambent would either kill the Locust or transform them into a member of the Lambent's army.

The Lambent Locust invading the Hollow.

The Lambent War then commenced in 7 B.E. The Locust Horde began to enhance their military by recycling and re-purposing of disposed weapons and technology left by the humans in the Hollow. The Locust Army was then led by one of the original Locust Drones from the Mount Kadar Facility, Sraak, acting as their High General. The lead scientist of the Locust, Ukkon, began using genetic research left by Myrrah and Niles Samson to enhance the indigenous creatures of the Hollow as weapons and military transport. Meanwhile, the members of the Trinity of Worms, led by High Priest Vrol, believed in their victory due to their belief that the Hollow is their given holy right. However, as the war continued, many believed that their gods, the Riftworms, had abandoned them and began looking for more practical means of survival and victory.

Enlisting Human Aid

In 5 B.E., Queen Myrrah was met by a human scientist, Professor Adam Fenix. His wife, biologist Dr. Elain Fenix, had discovered the Locust Horde in 9 B.E. but was found by the Locust and executed before she could make her discovery public. Professor Fenix then followed her notes to the Locust in search of answers. Queen Myrrah would normally execute human outsiders, but saw promise in his path. She revealed to him the situation of the Lambent War, and how it was pressuring Myrrah to consider invading the surface and killing humans in order to colonize Sera and escape the Lambent. Professor Fenix, fearing these intense measures, assured Queen Myrrah that he would solve the Lambent crisis as long as she kept her people underground.

However, Professor Fenix was a physicist and designed weapons for the Coalition of Ordered Governments, who were nearing the end of the Pendulum Wars with the Union of Independent Republics. He was pressured to focus on building the Hammer of Dawn, an orbital beam weapon capable of ensuring victory for the Coalition. Whenever Professor Fenix had time to focus on the Lambent research, he found that biological measures would never work due to the evolving nature of Imulsion. Queen Myrrah was against physical measures, as any solution that would kill Imulsion would also harm the Locust Horde due to their ancestor's exposure to Imulsion. Professor Fenix tried to find a solution, but was kept occupied by the Hammer of Dawn research. Eventually, the Hammer of Dawn was launched and earned the Coalition victory over the Pendulum Wars. However, by then it was too late and Queen Myrrah grew impatient as she already devised of plans to emerge on the surface.

End of the Seventh Cycle

At the end of the seventh cycle into the Lambent War, Vold RAAM shared his concerns with Queen Myrrah about losing the front to the Lambent - with their people continually dying or becoming infected. Vold RAAM, against the orders of Uzil Sraak, informed Myrrah of his desired plan to emerge and colonize the surface, leaving the Lambent in the Hollows and destroying the human race in the process. Uzil Sraak assured Myrrah their victory in the war with the Lambent, but it was unknown to Sraak that Myrrah already knew of the stakes and had the same plan as RAAM.

In order to convince the Queen, Vold RAAM, with the help of Kantus Skorge and Vold Karn, devised a plan that allowed the Lambent to advance in the Hollows by purposefully withdrawing from the front lines - making Queen Myrrah understand the futility of fighting the Lambent. Following the invasion of Lambent at the battle at the Temple of the Trinity, Myrrah demoted Uzil Sraak to Vold and promoted Vold RAAM to Uzil, the High General of the Locust Horde. Myrrah then revealed that she too had been surveying the surface and planning an invasion. Queen Myrrah and Uzil RAAM then devised the emergence and attack of the surface that would become Emergence Day.

Locust War

Main article: Locust War

Emergence Day

"For a time, the humans of Sera knew the illusion of peace... until Emergence Day. At that moment, our people broke free from our subterranean, erupting into the domain of these ground walkers, and wiping out whole cities. We fought and killed the humans on their fine boulevards, in their homes, on their battlefields."

—Queen Myrrah explaining Emergence Day.

Six weeks after the Pendulum Wars ended, the Locust Horde invaded the surface and attacked every major city on the surface of Sera on what would be later named Emergence Day. The Locust did not discriminate against race or men, women, and children. Those who were not killed by the Locust were captured for ulterior motives. After the first twenty-six hours, billions were dead - specifically 25% of the human population. Uzil RAAM led the first attack on the city of Jannermont. Zamil Karn led the attack on the Republic of Gorasnaya, the only UIR nation to not surrender in the UIR-COG Armistice.

In the following days, the Locust Horde continued to attack and occupy more Seran cities. Only several areas of Sera were spared due to their geological defenses. The South Islands and Lesser Islands Chain, as well as Azura, were spared due to the oceanic trenches that protected them against the Locust tunnels, but were susceptible to Locust air and sea forces. There were also cities located on the Jacinto Plateau in Tyrus that were protected against the Locust tunnels due to the granite base. Among the cities were the COG capital, Ephyra, and the neighboring city of Jacinto.

Occupation of Sera

The Locust Horde during the Destruction of Halvo Bay.

The Locust Horde easily overwhelmed the COG on E-Day and advanced from their captured cities, moving from one city to another only leaving destruction. The war against the humans allowed the Locust to advance their technology and war effort by using stolen human technology and equipment. Over the following year, the Locust Horde continued a campaign of conquering cities and stripping them of resources. One of the preferred methods of occupying Seran cities was using Seeders to launch Nemacysts to ink the skies and to prematurely summon the Kryll to create a Kryllstorm, effectively killing all humans in the area.

The Locust only suffered one major loss in the first year of the war - the death of Zamil Karn and thousands of Locust soldiers during the Destruction of Halvo Bay - despite the battle being a victory still for the Locust. The war continued to be led by Uzil RAAM and Ketor Skorge. The Coalition suffered the loss of their leader, Chairman Tomas Dalyell, and was replaced by his Deputy Chairman Richard Prescott. Toward the end of the first year against the Locust Horde, it became clear that the Locust were advancing on Ephyra on land and would soon overrun the Coalition and the rest of Sera.

Hammer of Dawn Strikes

By 1 A.E., the newly elected Chairman Richard Prescott determined the only way to deny the Locust resources of the occupied cities and to halt the advancement on Ephyra was to unleash the full force of the Hammer of Dawn on 90% of Sera's surface. Professor Adam Fenix debated that it would be more practical to flood the Hollow and drown the Locust by sinking several coastal cities, but the Locust would overrun Ephyra by the time they would sink those cities. Chairman Prescott then announced to Sera about the Hammer of Dawn Strikes and gave the rest of humanity a three-day period to evacuate to the Jacinto Plateau.

Millions fled to the safety of Ephyra, Jacinto City, and other cities located on the Jacinto Plateau, but millions more were unable to do so in three days. After the given time, Chairman Prescott unleashed the Hammer of Dawn and scorched a majority of Sera's surface. Whole cities were destroyed and millions more humans were killed by the Coalition. While many Locust died, most of them survived due to residing underground in the Hollow. Much of the planet became polluted and those who were outside of the Plateau and survived the Hammer Strikes became resentful of the Coalition for sacrificing civilians. The survivors formed gangs and became known as the Stranded.

Assassination of Ukkon

By the time of the Hammer of Dawn Strikes, the COG were aware of the Locust scientist Ukkon and that he was responsible for creating creatures such as the Corpsers and Brumaks. Knowing that, if he was allowed to live, Ukkon would create something worse, Chairman Richard Prescott assigned Sgt. Gabriel Diaz to lead an operation to kill Ukkon.

Assisted by Major Sid Redburn, Diaz put together a task force made up of both Gears and Stranded led by Doctor Mikayla Dorn to hunt down and kill Ukkon. During the operation, the humans learned of Ukkon's new creations, the Disciples and the Zealots as well as the true origins of the Locust Horde at the New Hope Research Facility. As a result, Prescott attempted to kill Diaz and his forces with the Hammer of Dawn for finding out the truth, but he failed. With the help of Reyna Torres, the long-lost daughter of Queen Myrrah, Diaz and his forces hunted down Ukkon and rendered him vulnerable using Cytostatic Gas. After defeating Ukkon's Hydra, Reyna killed Ukkon with a headshot from an MX8 Snub Pistol and Diaz and his forces dedicated themselves to hunting down Ukkon's surviving creations.

Push for Ephyra

"Cut off the head of the snake and the body dies. We will win this war. It's only a matter of time."

—Queen Myrrah describing their new strategy.

With the COG's almost apocalyptic effort in using the Hammer of Dawn to potentially destroy some of the Locust Horde's forces, the Horde returned to continue the war. Having caught humanity off-guard and having slaughtered a vast number of the human population during the first five years of the war, they enjoyed the advantage of sheer numbers. With millions of the most battle-hardened Gears in the COG Army having been killed in the initial attack, the COG was forced to recruit the young and the imprisoned from the infirmary to try to hold off the advancing Horde off. As a result, not only did the Locust also benefit from an advantage in quantity of troops, but in the average quality of soldiers as well. As a result, the war went horribly for humanity, but went exceptionally well for the Locust.

With the majority of humanity relocated on the Jacinto Plateau, namely the capital city of Ephyra - Queen Myrrah set her sights on destroying Ephyra - as the humans would then be left with nothing and could be driven into extinction. The Locust reemerged in 5 A.E. during the Winter of Sorrow - in which they sieged the nearby town of Landown. This began as a staging ground for Locust to take more cities on the Jacinto Plateau. Queen Myrrah and Uzil RAAM then began a campaign of occupying cities surrounding Ephyra using Kryllstorms. By invading a city, they would summon Seeders to expel Nemacysts to ink and darken the skies - allowing the Kryll to prematurely arrive and destroy the humans in the city - allowing the Locust full control. This method was a success and allowed them to take numerous cities by 9 A.E., including the occupation of Ilima.

By occupying more cities, the Locust were able to exploit the fissures of the Jacinto Plateau and allow them to dig into the area of Ephyra - as well as staging grounds on the surface. The COG was aware of their plans and began to block off fissures and other access points such as subway and sewage tunnels to breach Ephyra. However, it was unsuccessful and the Locust were able to finally emerge and overrun Ephyra. The goal, to Queen Myrrah, was not only to destroy one of the last human strongholds, but to also reclaim Professor Adam Fenix in order to have him cure the Lambency. Queen Myrrah messaged Professor Fenix of their arrival and intent to capture him alive. Professor Fenix agreed to his capture, but sent a message to his son, Sgt. Marcus Fenix through Lt. Anya Stroud that he would be taken by the Locust soon.

A blight of Locust, led by Uzil RAAM, emerged in East Barricade Academy and amassed outside Haldane Hall. Shortly before meeting with them, Professor Fenix was then rescued by Sgt. Marcus Fenix. Uzil RAAM then ordered to open fire on the Gears defending Haldane Hall. Meanwhile, a King Raven arrived to evacuate Professor Fenix, Sgt. Marcus Fenix, and the other Gears. However, the King Raven was shot down by a Boomer and crashed into the left wing of the estate, burying Professor Adam Fenix under the debris and presumably killing him. Both Gears and Locust then believed Professor Adam Fenix to be dead. Sgt. Marcus Fenix had abandoned his post and disobeyed orders to destroy Chancery Bridge to prevent the Locust from reaching the rest of the city. Despite losing Adam Fenix, the Locust managed to take Ephyra - a major blow to the humans as they relocated to their final safe bastion: Jacinto City.

Siege of Jacinto

In the aftermath of the Fall of Ephyra, Sgt. Marcus Fenix was tried and sentenced to 40 years at the Jacinto Maximum Security Prison. The Coalition relocated their entire population to Jacinto City as the Locust occupied Ephyra. Many Stranded groups also began to occupy certain areas within Ephyra. While unknown to most of the humans and the Locust Horde, Professor Adam Fenix survived the collapse of his home and was transported by Chairman Richard Prescott to the secret island facility known as Azura. There, Professor Fenix was essentially imprisoned at the facility and ordered to research a solution to the Lambent epidemic before it would destroy Sera.

Queen Myrrah, believing to have lost Adam Fenix, then realized that curing the Lambency was no longer an option. She then began to put into motion the alternate plan Adam Fenix proposed: sinking Jacinto City. He had discovered that if Jacinto City could be sunk underground, the surrounding seawater would flood the sinkhole and the Locust tunnels in the process. While it would flood the Hollow and destroy the Locust Horde's home, it would potentially kill the Lambent. Queen Myrrah and Uzil RAAM then spent the following years trying to breach Jacinto in order to sink the city and flood the Hollow - killing the Lambent and denying the humans their last safe place on Sera. Meanwhile, Colonel Victor Hoffman, the highest-ranking COG military leader, was preparing for a mission that could potentially end the Locust Horde once and for all.

Lightmass Offensive

In 14 A.E., Col. Hoffman then completed his plans for the Lightmass Offensive. The offensive would involve Gears deploying the Sonic Resonator, a three-dimensional mapping device that could map the entire Hollow network, and locate the heart of the Locust stronghold. Using the map data, they would then place it within the Lightmass Bomb and deploy it within an Imulsion sinkhole - with the individual rockets targeting and destroying the heart of the Hollow. Queen Myrrah and Uzil RAAM became aware of these plans and deployed the army in the ruins of Ephyra to locate and kill Alpha Squad, who had been given the Resonator to take into the Lethia Imulsion Facility. Delta Squad, including the recently pardoned Sgt. Marcus Fenix, was sent to search and rescue Alpha Squad and the Resonator. As Delta and Alpha reunited and secured the Resonator, Uzil RAAM personally led an attack and assassinated their leader, Lt. Minh Young Kim.

Alpha Squad and the Resonator managed to escape and join Delta Squad. The Locust were aware of their survival and attempted to keep them from reaching the facility - as it would be nightfall soon and the Kryll would arrive, forcing Delta to acquire transportation with UV lights. When locating a Stranded camp that had an APC Junker, Locust forces attacked the camp and overran the area. Delta managed to depart in the Junker while the remaining Stranded escaped. Lambent forces had overrun the Lethia Imulsion Facility, but Locust forces were still sent within the facility to stop Delta Squad, to which they and the Lambent were unable to stop them. Delta then vanquished the stationed Locust in the Outer Hollow and planted the Sonic Resonator, deploying it. However, the Sonic Resonator was unable to map the entire tunnel network. Lt. Damon Baird then revealed that he found a Geobot with tunnel data belonging to Professor Adam Fenix. The Locust and Uzil RAAM then overheard the COG's plans to retrieve the tunnel data from the Fenix Estate at East Barricade Academy.

An army of Locust were sent to East Barricade Academy and the Fenix Estate to keep Delta Squad from acquiring the tunnel data. The Locust were unable to prevent them from reaching the house and retrieving the full Hollow data. The Locust stationed in Timgad City then cut the power to the Timgad Bridge, keeping Delta Squad from reaching Timgad Station where the Tyro Pillar carrying the Lightmass Bomb was going to pass through. Delta managed to restore power to Timgad Bridge, but the Locust forces and Uzil RAAM boarded and hijacked the Tyro Pillar. Regardless, Delta Squad managed to board the train, kill Uzil RAAM, and activate the Lightmass Bomb with the tunnel data. The Lightmass Bomb then deployed - destroying the Outer Hollow, killing thousands of Locusts, and annihilating the entire Kryll population. Queen Myrrah witnessed this destruction, but vowed vengeance against the humans.

Return of the Horde

The new Locust army of 14 A.E.

The Lightmass Bomb proved devastating to the Locust as thousands were lost, the Outer Hollow destroyed, and the Kryll driven to extinction. The vaporized Imulsion from the bombings also spread the Lambent even further, losing more land and people to the Lambent. However, the Locust discovered that the bombs had also awoken a dormant Riftworm. Queen Myrrah then realized that they would now be able to sink Jacinto with the power of the Riftworm. Due to being Uzil RAAM's personal choice and his ability to control the Riftworm, Queen Myrrah promoted Ketor Skorge to High General of the Locust Horde. Ketor Skorge then prepared for his siege on Jacinto by stripping the city of its resources and sinking nearby cities to weaken the Jacinto Plateau.

Ketor Skorge began his campaign by using the Riftworm to burrow and sink the city of Tollen and taking the Tollen Dam, losing power to many cities on the Jacinto Plateau and costing Jacinto their main manufacturers. Skorge then attacked the agricultural depots and birthing farms, depriving Jacinto City of their food and children. Months later, Skorge then used the Riftworm to sink the city of Montevado. With Jacinto's power, manufacturers, food suppliers, and new children lost - the Locust began desperate raids and sieges in Jacinto - pushing further into the city and taking the weapons and supplies they need for war. The humans began to see that the Locust Horde had survived and returned stronger than ever, with increased desperation and the ability to sink entire cities. Fearing Jacinto City would sink next, Chairman Prescott began strategizing for a full-assault for the first time in the Hollow, to take the fight to the Locust and end the war.

Operation: Hollow Storm

On 1st Frost, 14 A.E., the Chairman initiated Operation: Hollow Storm. The Gears were to travel to the nearby town of Landown and deploy into the Inner Hollow by Grindlifts in order to take the fight to the Locust stronghold and to hopefully end the war. Aware of their plans, Locust began to attack the Gears in Stromson Forest and Landown. Despite heavy casualties on both sides, the majority of humans were able to deploy in the Inner Hollow. As the attack began, Ketor Skorge began to use the Riftworm to sink the city of Ilima. The humans then discovered the Riftworm being responsible for sinking cities after the sinking of Ilima. The humans were then able to kill the Riftworm, keeping the Locust from sinking further cities.

However, sinking Ilima allowed Jacinto Plateau's base to be weakened enough for the Locust to burrow under Jacinto City and sink it themselves. While the Riftworm was dead, Chairman Prescott realized he blindly sent the Gears into the Inner Hollow and not precisely in their stronghold. He then declassified the intelligence files on the New Hope Research Facility and sent Gears to retrieve the information on the location of the Locust stronghold and possibly files on Queen Myrrah. Knowing the COG would try to find Nexus at New Hope, an army of Locust were sent to destroy the humans the New Hope facility. However, the humans discovered that the capital was under Mount Kadar, sending the COG army to deploy in the mountains and attack Nexus.

While Gears fought the Locust, they discovered that the Lambent were fighting them as well - discovering why the Locust emerged in the first place. Delta Squad then infiltrated the Royal Palace and found Professor Adam Fenix's research on the Locust computers, with Professor Fenix advising they sink Jacinto City to flood the Hollow. Sgt. Fenix then sent the information to Command and prepared an evacuation for Jacinto to sink the city before the Locust can evacuate - killing the Locust and Lambent once and for all when they flood the tunnels. After meeting the Queen, Delta Squad kills Ketor Skorge but is unable to kill the Queen. Jacinto City was attacked by Locust trying to keep the humans from sinking the city themselves. Delta Squad, however, was able to destroy a Lambent Brumak underground and managed to sink Jacinto City - which flooded then tunnels, destroyed Nexus, and killed the majority of the Locust Horde.

Lambent Pandemic

Rebuilding the Horde

The Locust Horde that survived the flood splintered into two groups. Those who escaped with the Queen formed the Queen's Guard, while the stragglers without Queen Myrrah dissolved into the Savage Locust. The Queen's Guard held their base at the Endeavor Naval Shipyard in Halvo Bay. The Savage Locust, now reduced to nomadic tribes, tried to rebuild within the ruins of Sera. The largest Savage Locust tribe was based in the Deadlands, a barren wasteland created after the Hammer strikes. The humans of Jacinto initially relocated to Port Farrall - causing the Savage Locust to attack but fail in their siege. The humans then relocated to the island of Vectes.

Within weeks of the sinking of Jacinto, the Lambent Pandemic began. The seawater during the flood caused the Hollow's Imulsion to rise to the surface, infecting Sera's crust and producing fruiting bodies called Lambent Stalks, which were then able to produce Imulsion spores, Lambent Polyps, and other Lambent organisms to spread the parasite. Both the Locust and Humans struggled to fight them - with Chairman Prescott abandoning the COG and causing it to disband. The COG then split its population with one half on the Serano Ocean aboard the CNV Sovereign, or on land at Anvil Gate in Anvegad, Kashkur. The Savage Locust within Kashkur Foothills discovered the humans at Anvil Gate and began a long siege with them and the stragglers.

Taking Azura

In 17 A.E., a patrolling King Raven from Azura spotted the Queen's Guard at Endeavour. Queen Myrrah ordered her Locust to follow the King Raven and found it entering an impassable hurricane. Queen Myrrah then attended the area herself and discovered that the hurricane was artificial, caused by a device to protect and disguise the island of Azura. Recognizing it as one of humanity's last bastions, Queen Myrrah began a campaign to take it. Sending Locust divers into the island, they were able to swim under the maelstrom and deactivate the device, allowing the Locust Horde to invade the island. During the battle, Queen Myrrah overheard that Professor Adam Fenix was alive and being held on the island.

Richard Prescott then escaped Azura, with a message from Adam to Marcus, planning to find the COG and reunite to take back Azura and end the Locust War and Lambent Pandemic. Azura was then overrun by the Locust Horde. Queen Myrrah successfully captured Adam Fenix and executed the rest of the Gears, civilians, and scientists. Professor Adam Fenix then revealed he had been working on the Imulsion Countermeasure Weapon and explained it would deploy a targeted-radiation pulse wave that would kill Lambent and Imulsion cells. Fearing her people would suffer from it, Queen Myrrah ordered that he rework the device so that it would kill Lambent and humans, but not the Locust.

Victory Day

To prepare for the inevitable battle, Queen Myrrah arrived in the Seran Deadlands to recruit the Savage Locust to her army. She then discovered Sgt. Marcus Fenix and Delta Squad, realizing that Richard Prescott found the COG and were on their way to Azura. QUeen Myrrah then ordered all of her outposts between the Deadlands and Azura to be at full-readiness. Knowing they were on their way to Anvil Gate, Queen Myrrah sent a massive army to destroy the garrison - but were repelled by the Lambent and the Hammer of Dawn. The humans were then aware of Azura's location and prepared for battle.

Queen Myrrah's forces then guarded the city of Concord to keep the humans from reaching the coast, but were unable to stop them. While refueling at Mercy, Queen Myrrah unleashed her forces to destroy the town. However, her forces and the Lambent were destroyed when Cpl. Dominic Santiago sacrificed his life by exploding the fueling station. Queen Myrrah followed Delta Squad to Char and destroyed Griffin Tower. This, however, did not stop Delta from getting their fuel and reaching Endeavour. Queen Myrrah observed Delta Squad arriving and ordered her elite forces to stop Delta Squad. Delta still managed to repair, fuel, and deploy the submarine into the Serano Ocean to Azura. Once the COG forces arrived on Azura, Queen Myrrah unleashed the entirety of her army to prevent their own demise.

The final battle turned into a massive three-way fight between the humans, Locust, and Lambent. Delta Squad was able to free Professor Adam Fenix and began to deploy the Imulsion Countermeasure. Desperate, Queen Myrrah tried to destroy the Imulsion Countermeasure before it could kill her people, but the Gears killed her Tempest and she failed to stop the Imulsion Countermeasure. Professor Adam Fenix then died as a result because he injected himself with Imulsion to test the device. Queen Myrrah confronted Sgt. Fenix and mocked him, but was then stabbed in the abdomen and died. While the Lambent were vaporized into dust, the Locust Horde collapsed and began to crystallize. The Lambent Pandemic and Locust War was finally over, and the humans had won.

However, not all of the Locust were killed by the weapon. Lahni Kaliso, belonged to the 81st "Brash" Brigade, which was created after Operation: Hollow Storm and the Sinking of Jacinto, to eliminate the surviving Locust. The 81st "Brash" Brigade was recently restored to eliminate the surviving Locust from the Imulsion Countermeasure Weapon. The Locust survivors occasionally attacked groups burying the crystalized bodies, possibly because they saw what the humans were doing as defiling the corpses of their kind. Eventually, the Locust survivors were wiped out.

Swarm Invasion

Evolution

"You see, what you don’t realize – what none of you realize – is that my children will never die. They have been designed to withstand generational conflict. They may withdraw, they may hibernate, but they will always return. We have seen to that."

—Dr. Niles Samson

A common Locust chrysalis shell.

Unknown to the human survivors, the Locust were not rendered extinct. Instead, the Imulsion Countermeasure Weapon forced a genetic evolution within them, causing the Locust bodies to erupt crystallized Imulsion from their DNA into their flesh, while the Lambent and other contaminated organisms vaporized into ash. This reaction was caused by Dr. Niles Samson's defense mechanism he designed into the Locust's DNA - allowing them to hibernate and evolve in order to survive generational conflict. Unable to dispose of the bodies, the survivors of the COG dumped the cocoons along with all the Locust's weaponry into highly classified locations across Sera. For twenty-five years, the Locust evolved into stronger beings known as the Scions. In 42 A.E., the Locust Scions began to emerge from their crystal shell cocoons and create Hives in Locust burial sites across Sera.

While Queen Myrrah physically died, her consciousness survived within the Locust Hivemind. In order to rebuild their army, Myrrah led the Scions to create a bio-organism called the Swarm, a biological network capable of transforming any living being into a creature under the control of the Hivemind. One of the Swarm creatures, the Snatcher, was created to reproduce for the Swarm. The Snatchers began to capture humans, place them into pods, dissolve their bodies, and transform them into juvenile Drones before growing into soldiers for their army. Like before with the Locust, the humans of Sera began to notice a spike in missing persons. However, the newly reformed COG believed their people were being taken by Outsiders, while the Outsiders thought the same of the COG. The Swarm planned to end what the Locust started by killing all humans and conquering Sera for themselves. However, the Swarm could not successfully grow and complete their goals without a physical Queen. Myrrah was able to delegate order through the Speaker, but the Swarm needed a living vessel to properly guide the Swarm.

Queen of the Swarm

Within the Hivemind, it was discovered that Myrrah's human daughter, Reyna, had not been killed during the escape from the facility in Mount Kadar and survived all along. With a living vessel with the inherited connection to the Hivemind available, Myrrah ordered the Speaker to ambush her village, Fort Umson, and forcibly take Reyna to be connected and transformed in the Hive as the new Queen. Reyna was forcibly connected to the heart of the Hive at the Tollen Dam and began to transform, with separation from the Hive being made fatal by the Scions. Reyna's daughter, Kait Diaz, managed to track her mother to the Hive at the Tollen Dam and, upon her request, mercifully separated her mother from the Hive and killed her.

Reyna's body was left in the Hive where it was then recovered, reconnected, and reanimated by the Swarm. However, the body was not ideal since she had died. Keeping her body as a last resort, Myrrah then focused her energy on possessing her granddaughter - who also had inherited the connection to the Hivemind. Myrrah then began to plague Kait with visions, nightmares, and messages that sowed paranoia and distrust among her friends. Meanwhile, the Swarm continued to grow across Sera. The Swarm officially reemerged to the entire public when they led an assault on Settlement 2. Most of the Outsiders joined the COG out of necessity to fight the Swarm. For months, Kait continued to suffer from Myrrah's visions.

Society and Culture

The Locust Horde was a matriarchal, monarchal, theocratic society divided into multiple classes. The Locust Horde's hierarchy, society, and social class system was very similar to insect colonies such as: bees, ants, and termites. The Queen was the head of the entire Locust Horde and led them towards advancement, improvement, and steadily increasing their size and power. The classes of the Locust Horde were divided among the military, clergy, science, and laborers.

The political power was held entirely by the Queen. However, certain leaders of the Locust Horde were organized in the Locust Council to advise the Queen on matters of the Locust Horde. Those on the council included the High General of the Locust Army, the High Priest of the Trinity of Worms, and the Lead Scientist of the Locust Horde's research and development.

The majority of the Locust Horde were military - led by the Uzil, or High General, who follows the orders of the Queen. Despite the different class systems, all members of the Locust Horde were combat ready and expected to fight and die for Queen and Horde. However, there was a military system within the Horde. Below the Uzil is the Zamil, or General. Commanders of the Horde's army were known as the Theron Guard and regarded as the most intelligent warriors of the Horde army. A subclass of Theron Guards serve to protect the Royal Palace, known as the Palace Guard. When escorting the Queen, they are the Queen's Guard. Below the Commanders were the Krav (Captain), Vold (Lieutenant), Vurl (Sergeant), and Maag (Private).

The religious class of the Locust Horde was fulfilled by the Kantus - monks that followed a strict religious code known as the Trinity of Worms. The Kantus were a species of Locust born with the innate ability to connect with the Hivemind, able to revive and heal the wounds of fallen Locust through certain vocalizations. The Kantus Caste was comprised of a High Priest known as the Ketor, while lower Kantus Monks were referred to as Acolytes. The Kantus believed the Riftworms were deities that bestowed life to the Hollow, and after having contact with humans produced the Sires, which then gave birth to the Locust Horde. The Kantus also believed that their purpose in life was to serve and protect the Queen, so that she may continue to create life for the Horde.

The remaining Locust were referred to a labor class. They remained in the Hollow to serve the Horde such as providing food, constructing architecture, overseeing the enslaved humans and creatures, production of weapons and technology, and other various tasks. Many of the laborers were comprised of Boomers - strong but low intelligent Locust Drones.

Hierarchy

• Political
  • Queen
• Military
  • Uzil (High General)
  • Zamil (General)
  • Krav (Captain)
  • Theron (Commander)
  • Vold (Lieutenant)
  • Vurl (Sergeant)
  • Maag (Private)
• Religious
  • Ketor (High Priest)
  • Acolyte (Monk)

Notable Locust

• Myrrah - Queen of the Locust Horde
• Reyna Diaz - Heiress of the Locust Horde
• Kait Diaz - Heiress of the Locust Horde
• Matriarch - Progenitor of the Locust Horde
• RAAM - High General of the Locust Army
• Sraak - High General of the Locust Army
• Karn - General of the Locust Army
• Jermad - Captain of the Locust Army
• Gurst - Captain of the Locust Army
• Speaker - Prominent Locust Soldier
• Theron Elite - Theron Guard of the Locust Army
• Praax - Private of the Locust Army
• Captured Drone - Private of the Locust Army
• Ukkon - Scientist of the Locust Horde
• Skorge - High Priest of the Trinity of Worms
• Vrol - High Priest of the Trinity of Worms
• Droak - High Priest of the Trinity of Worms
• Scarred Kantus - Priest of the Trinity of Worms

Queen Myrrah

The Queen

Main article: Queen Myrrah

Queen Myrrah was the enigmatic leader and creator of the Locust Horde. Born to an Imulsion miner in Tyrus, Myrrah was born with genetic immunity to Imulsion and was resistant to Rustlung and Lambency. She was brought to the New Hope Research Facility to help replicate her immunity in other children infected with Rustlung. When that failed, geneticist Dr. Niles Samson mutated the children with the DNA of indigenous creatures of the Hollow, transforming them into Sires. By utilizing Myrrah's embryonic stem cells and Sire DNA, the Locust Horde was born. However, due to the Locust's longing for independence and the kidnapping of Myrrah's daughter, Reyna, she became Queen of the Locust Horde and led the Locust to slaughter the scientists and gain independence. Over the years, Queen Myrrah continued to grow her people. Though she was never present on the battlefield, she was the undisputed leader of the Locust Army and the top of the Locust hierarchy, leading the Horde with ruthless tactics to exterminate all threats to the Locust Horde, both Human and Lambent. However, following the sinking of Jacinto, Queen Myrrah went missing, leaving a majority of the Horde leaderless and disorganized. She was killed in the Battle of Pinnacle Tower by Sgt. Marcus Fenix, who stabbed her in the chest with Cpl. Dominic Santiago's commando knife. However, her consciousness survived in the Locust hivemind and was able to possess her daughter, Reyna, becoming the Queen of the Swarm, an evolved form of the Locust.

Uzil RAAM

The High General

Main article: RAAM

Uzil RAAM was the brutal and powerful Locust High General of the Locust Army for most of the Locust War. He commanded and led the entire Locust military into battle and was second to Queen Myrrah. RAAM spent only one year as a Maag of the Locust Army and arose to the rank of Theron Guard, but was then exiled from the Guard and made Vold. Vold RAAM was promoted to Uzil after defending the Locust from destructive Lambent attacks and revealing that he shared the Queen's vision of invading the surface to escape the Lambent, a vision that Uzil Sraak lacked. Uzil RAAM personally designed the attacks of what would be known as Emergence Day. On the battlefield, Uzil RAAM was usually armed with a Troika Heavy Machine Gun, his serrated blade, and a shield of Kryll under his command. His strategy for defeating the humans was to find and execute military leaders, leaving the soldiers defenseless. He led the Locust Army for fourteen years until he was killed by Sgt. Marcus Fenix and Cpl. Dominic Santiago while on the Tyro Pillar which carried the Lightmass Bomb, trying to prevent the weapon from being detonated to save the Locust and the Outer Hollow.

Uzil Sraak

Main article: Sraak

Uzil Sraak was the High General of the Locust Army before the Locust War. He led the Locust Army during most of the Lambent War, but lacked the foresight RAAM and Myrrah shared. Instead, Sraak believed the Hollows were theirs by birthright, and the Lambent had to be exterminated and the Locust reclaim their home rather than abandon it. He also held prejudices towards those who were created as the Locust and not the true descendants of the Sires. When Vold RAAM convinced Queen Myrrah that they shared the same vision of invading the surface, exterminating the humans, and escaping the Lambent, Queen Myrrah demoted Uzil Sraak to Vold. On Emergence Day, during the Battle of Jannermont, Vold Sraak made an attempt on Uzil RAAM's life. Vold Sraak was then executed by Uzil RAAM for treachery, via Theron Guard shooting squad.

Zamil Karn

The General

Main article: Karn

Zamil Karn was a General of the Locust Army during the first months of the Locust War. He was a field commander known for his intelligent strategies and planning. Originally considered an outcast by his Locust brethren due to his malformed body, Vold Karn became a high-ranking general in the Horde due to his tactical intelligence, mastering of the creature known as the Shibboleth, and assistance in helping his comrade, Vold RAAM, convince the Queen to invade the surface. Vold RAAM was promoted to Uzil and promoted Vold Karn to Zamil and was ordered to lead Blights into the Republic of Gorasnaya when they would invade the surface. Zamil Karn was successful during Emergence Day when he led the Fall of Gorasnaya, but perished at the hands of Col. Ezra P. Loomis during the Destruction of Halvo Bay after the Gears of Kilo Squad killed his Shibboleth at the Plaza for the Tyran Dead.

Ketor Skorge

The High Priest

Main article: Skorge

Ketor Skorge was the High Priest of the Locust Horde for the majority of the Locust War. During the Lambent War, Kantus Skorge was exiled by Ketor Vrol for his prophetic visions of the Locust losing the war, which was seen as blasphemous. Afterwards, he fought by Vold RAAM's side and was instrumental helping persuade Queen Myrrah to invade the surface. Vold RAAM was promoted to Uzil and Skorge was welcomed back into the Kantus as Ketor. Ketor Skorge then assisted Uzil RAAM during the Emergence Day. Uzil RAAM requested that Ketor Skorge take his place when his death would occur. In 14 A.E., after Uzil RAAM's demise, Ketor Skorge took the position of the Horde's highest military leader. After the detonation of the Lightmass Bomb, the Riftworm awoke and Ketor Skorge was able to control it, using it to sink entire COG cities on the surface in order to weaken Jacinto's base, causing the city to sink and flood the Hollow, killing the Lambent. On the battlefield, Ketor Skorge was usually armed with his Dual Chainsaw Staff, Gorgon Submachine Gun, Ink Grenades, and could summon Tickers. Ketor Skorge was killed when Sgt. Marcus Fenix killed his personal Hydra mount, causing him to fall to his death.

Religion

The Locust Horde's religion revolved around the worship of worms. The Riftworms and Rockworms are viewed as highly significant creatures in the Locust's religious texts. The Trinity of Worms was the symbol and title of the Locust Horde's religion, symbolizing and revering the Riftworms as Gods. The Kantus monks are the religious priests of the Locust and are a caste level. The scrolls of the Kantus contained verses and mantras explaining how to communicate with Rockworms with the Rulers of Nexus Plates tablet being the Locust's main religious tome which told the history of the Hollows, explaining how the Riftworms burrowed underground and created the vast underground network and left their waste behind which fertilized the soil of the surface of Sera. According to the High Priests of the Locust Horde, Sires are also revered as holy figures. They are seen as divine "incubators" evolved from the Riftworms. The leader of the Locust Horde's religious caste was High Priest Skorge.

Rulers of Nexus Plates

"When man [to] The Worms [said] what is your name? The Worms answer, My name is Horde. For we are many with vengeance."

—Translation of a part of the Rulers of Nexus Plates.

The Rulers of Nexus Plates

The Rulers of Nexus Plates, also referred to as the Locust Tablets was the Locust Hordes' main religious book. This tome contained information on the history of the Hollow and of the Riftworms. The story of the Rulers of Nexus Plates told how the Riftworms burrowed under Sera's surface and dug around underneath, creating the Hollows. When the Riftworms left their waste behind, the waste fertilized the soil, creating and sustaining life in the Hollows and on the surface of Sera. Another part of the tome told how the Lightmass Bomb awoke one of the Riftworms and killed most if not all of the Kryll and how the Riftworm was used to sink the cities of Tollen, Montevado and Ilima.

Trinity of Worms Artifact

"The Queen makes strong Drones, Drones secure Nexus, Nexus covers the Queen."

—Translation of the Locust runes on the Trinity of Worms Artifact.

The Trinity of Worms artifact.

The Trinity of Worms was the symbol and title of the Locust Horde's religion, revering the Riftworms as gods. The Trinity of Worms explained how the Queen made strong Drones, how the Drones protected Nexus and how Nexus covered the Queen. The Trinity of Worms also told the tale about how the Riftworms burrowed through Sera's surface and went underground, creating the massive underground caverns which would be known as Hollows. The Riftworms also left their wastes behind which fertilized the soil of Sera, bringing life to the Hollows and the surface of Sera.

Kantus Scrolls

"When man [to] the Worms [said] what is your name? The Worms answer, My name is "Horde" for we are many with The Trinity of Worms."

—The translation of the Kantus Scrolls.

The Kantus Scrolls.

The Kantus Scrolls are ancient Kantus writings that are the code of the Kantus. The Scrolls contained verses and mantras that explained how to communicate with Riftworms and Rockworms. Some copies of the Kantus Scrolls are used with Human skin fitted in between rollers with the religious text written on them with ink.

Language

Main article: Locust Runes

The Locust Alphabet

The Locust had their own writing system, which was referred to as Locust Runes. The Locust Runes were based on a lexigram used by the scientists of the Mount Kadar Laboratory to communicate with the original generation of Locust. The system consisted of symbols which represented individual letters and ideograms that represented full words based on the Tyran language. The writing system's alphabet contained 26 symbols for 26 letters. The numbering system contained 10 numbers that was represented by 10 symbols.

There was also a computerized version of the Locust writing system which could be seen on the Locust computer terminals. These symbols are cleaner and more identifiable than the handwritten symbols. The most notable examples of the computerized Locust alphabet are found on the Locust computer terminals and the Locust Invasion Map.

As for the relationship with human languages and writing systems, there are 21 confirmed ideograms that represented Tyran words. As a spoken language, the official language of the Locust Horde was also Tyran. However, the Locust Horde created several words in their own languages. Many of them were associated with a Tyran word, but when directly translated is meant as something else. For example, the rankings in the Locust Army such as Maag, Vurl, Vold, Krav, Zamil, and Uzil are meant as Private, Sergeant, Lieutenant, Captain, General, and High General. However, the direct translations are "virgin", "dirty", "battered", "bloodied", "gored", and "unbroken."

Calendar System

Translation of symbols clockwise: Queen, Fire, Drone, Leviathan, Danger, Nemacyst, Imulsion, Water, Human, Kryll, Secure, Seeder.

The Locust had their own calendar system which was based on Imulsion flowing through the Hollows. Within the calendar system, there are 12 seasons, each with opposites.

• Queen-Imulsion
• Fire-Water
• Drone-Human
• Leviathan-Kryll
• Danger-Secure
• Nemacyst-Seeder

Each full rotation of the calendar was referred to as a "cycle" and matched that of the regular Seran year. One cycle of the Locust calendar was also one year of the Seran calendar.

Standards and Symbols

The Queen's Symbol.

The Locust Horde had many objects to represent their society, culture and religion as well as their people. Queen Myrrah had her own symbol which all members of her Guard always carried with them. The Savage Locust appeared to have rejected this symbol.

The symbol of the Locust Horde's religion was the Trinity of Worms which told the history of the Riftworms and the creation of the Hollow as well as how the Lightmass Bomb killed most if not all of the Kryll and awoke one of the Riftworms which was used to sink the three cities surrounding Jacinto City. The Trinity of Worms was represented by physical artifacts, a medium-sized object with a glowing triangle directly in the middle of the artifact with the three curved prongs designed to represent the worms of the Hollow. The main verse of the Trinity of Worms was written on the artifact with different parts of the verse spread out on the three prongs.

The Locust also produced jewelry such as emblems that are referred to just as the "Locust Emblem." Damon S. Baird, in an intelligence report theorized that the Locust either kept track of their fallen soldiers like the COG did or they just had a bad taste in jewelry. The Locust also produced human finger necklaces.

Architecture and Infrastructure

Nexus, the Capital City of the Locust Horde

The Locust Horde's infrastructure was largely composed of what appeared to be stone and brick. Some of the structures that were built included Reaver Pens, torture sections for the captured Humans, aqueduct systems, dams, bridges and roads.

Some of the most notable structures that the Locust Horde built was the Palace, the capital building in Nexus, and the Highway which was the central road to Nexus.

Locust Cities

• Inner Hollow
  • Jacinto Tunnel City (Jacinto City, Tyrus)
  • Mount Kadar Ruins (Mount Kadar, Tyrus)
  • Nexus (Mount Kadar, Tyrus)
  • Unnamed Locust City (Ilima City, Tyrus)

Locust Installations

• Outer Hollow
  • Gorgon Front
  • Expansion Hollow Staging Ground
• Inner Hollow
  • Inner Hollow Staging Ground - Landown, Tyrus
  • Inner Hollow Prison Camp - Ilima, Tyrus
  • Locust Highway - Mount Kadar, Tyrus
  • Nexus Dam - Mount Kadar, Tyrus
  • Nexus Dam Prison Camp - Mount Kadar, Tyrus

Military Tactics and Strategies

"Wow, their leader is dead and they're still relentless assholes."

—Cadet Sofia Hendrik remarking on the Locust's tenacity

One of the Locust's assault plans for the invasion of Jacinto.

Another one of the Locust's assault plans for the invasion of Jacinto.

The military tactics and strategies of the Locust Horde originally involved just defending their cities against the Lambent after the Locust discovered them with some of their forces strategically stationed in and around Nexus. The defense of Nexus was strategically planned as the Locust Horde was determined not to lose their capital city. One copy of their defensive plans for Nexus showed the palace with Queen Myrrah at the center being protected by Drones who surrounded the palace. Imulsion was all around Nexus and the Lambent forces coming from one side of Nexus.

At an unknown time when the Locust hierarchy made the decision to invade the surface of Sera, their tactics and strategies now had to include major offensive plans. When the Horde launched their invasion of the surface of Sera on what was to be known as Emergence Day, the Locust poured huge numbers of the forces onto the surface, coordinating their invasion to take place in every single major city on the surface of Sera. During Emergence Day, the Locust Horde's military forces succeeded in dominating the Humans and crushing their military forces by using the element of surprise and overwhelming them with superior numbers. On Emergence Day, the Locust managed to kill a quarter of the total human population which dealt a severe blow to humanity.

Though the Locust made their own weapons, armor, and vehicles, they also took their enemies weapons and vehicles as spoils of war. Among the weapons they used from slain enemies were Lancer Assault Rifles, Gnasher Shotguns, Longshot Sniper Rifles, and sometimes modified them with crude attachments and paintjobs to create weapons like the Breechshot. They gathered all available civilian and military hardware from the cities that they invaded. The supplies and hardware are collected and the auto parts are salvaged from the wreckage.

After the Lightmass Offensive in 14 A.E., during which the Humans launched a Lightmass Bomb into the Hollows, Queen Myrrah announced to her Horde: "Cut the head of the snake off and the body died. We would win this war. It was only a matter of time." A new strategy was in place. The Locust Horde would try to take the leaders and command system of the remaining Humans down. If they succeeded, the rest of the Humans would fall and the Locust Horde would win the war and Sera would be theirs.

Despite the Drone's tendency to charge right into battle, the Locust are far from mindless. In fact it can be argued that many of the high ranking leaders of the Locust Horde were considered to be genius's in terms of military strategy. The assumption that the Locust are little more than mindless beasts greatly hindered the COG's initial efforts to combat them. While the individual Drone's intelligence was questionable, prominent Locust commanders such as Karn, General RAAM and Skorge displayed great cunning and strategy. The Gears in the field often attributed unexpected and surprising tactics from Locust to the presence of a smarter commander pushing them such as the use of smoke grenades and grappling hooks by RAAM's forces to assault Zeta-Six's position during the Ilima evacuation.

While the Locust used a variety of strategies to keep their enemies off balance, their most infamous tactic was the use of Emergence Holes or E-Holes to deliver their forces directly into battle. Since E-Day, these holes have proven themselves to be the one thing the COG could never predict or prevent, giving the Locust superior advantage over their enemies as they could never predict where or when E-Holes would emerge. The E-Holes in addition to quickly delivering their forces had a heavy psychological affect on enemies since they allowed the Locust to attack nearly anywhere at any time without warning. Throughout most of the war, the COG only found one viable solution for stopping E-Holes, using Frag Grenades to plug up them up before the Locust could come out. It was only until after the sinking of Jacinto that the Locust could no longer use E-Holes to deploy their forces as the Hollow has been flooded with sea water.

Races

Drone		Drones were the most common race of the Locust Horde. While most were at least six feet tall, it was possible for one to grow to twelve feet in height. In terms of appearance, the Drones had most in common with a regular human. Entirely male, Drones were bred to kill and torture their enemies. Most Drones acted as foot soldiers for the Locust Army in order to protect their Queen and Nexus. Due to being part of the Hivemind, the Locust Drones could telepathically communicate with each other from long distances. They could also be manually controlled by Queen Myrrah, but she has allowed their free will as the Locust naturally devoted their lives to her in order to maintain their species and were willing to die in service to her.
Boomer		Boomers were larger Drones in size and strength, but with a diminished intelligence capacity. Boomers were so named for their known trait of verbally declaring their action before it was performed. For instance, a Boomer would shout "BOOM!" before firing from the Boomshot Grenade Launcher. The Boomers acted as heavy weapons specialists within the Locust army, similar to tanks. They were often used to either protect Locust squadrons or to break through barriers. Boomers that were not in the Locust army primarily served as laborers in the Locust Horde, such as construction workers and butchers, due to their low intelligence. Their devotion to the Queen and Horde, however, was just as strong as the Drones'.
Kantus		Kantus were taller and more slender Locust with a pharyngeal jaw. The most unique trait of the Kantus was their vocalizing powers. With their voice, the Kantus were able to heal the wounds of other Locust and revive them in battle, acting as field medics. The Kantus could also use their voice to control certain creatures such as the Rockworms and Riftworms. The Kantus would often lead Locust hunting parties and lure out Rockworms for the Locust to kill and eat. In battle, the Kantus could also produce a scream that could incapacitate their enemies. However, the main role of the Kantus were priests of the Trinity of Worms, the main religion of the Locust Horde. The Kantus worshipped three Riftworms, who they believed were responsible for creating the Hollow and giving life to the Locust Horde.
Rager		Ragers were a race of Drones that could metamorphose into a form similar to that of the Berserker. It is unknown if Ragers were naturally occurring within the Locust Horde or created by Ukkon, but their ability to transform was due to their high Imulsion content. In their original form, Ragers looked similar to Drones, except for a lack of scales and a lighter pigmentation. Like the Drones, they were also tactical and able to use weapons. After being wounded or threatened, a Rager could mutate by turning their skin red, protrude spikes from their body, increase the length of their nails, and grow in size and strength. Once transformed, they acted similar to a Berserker and attacked in a blinding rage, hence the name. Due to their recklessness in battle, the Ragers became mostly extinct by second year of the Locust War.
Berserker		Berserkers were female Drones of the Locust Horde. At an average height of ten feet, Berserkers were able to destroy most structures, jump at incredible heights and lengths, and sprint at very high speeds. They were so named for their out-of-control and angry nature. Naturally myopic, Berserkers relied on their other senses of scent and hearing to navigate their environment and hunt their prey. Known to kill humans and Locust alike, Berserkers would clobber and dismember their victims. Berserkers were often used in the Locust army to either hunt humans or to destroy barriers. Berserkers that were not in the Locust army were used to repopulate the Locust Horde. Being the female race of the Locust Horde, the Berserkers were capable of sexual reproduction. However, due to their blind and violent nature, Berserkers were chained down and raped by male Drones in order to conceive. It is unknown if the Berserkers could give birth to a single Drone or a litter. The original Locust was a Berserker named the Matriarch, generated from Queen Myrrah's embryonic stem-cells and Sire DNA. She bestowed the Locust with a Hivemind and amplified Myrrah's connection and abilities to it.
Sire		Sires were the ancestors to the Locust. They were once human children of Imulsion miners infected with Rustlung and brought to the New Hope Research Facility to study and find a cure. The director of the facility, Dr. Niles Samson, used Imulsion and the DNA of indigenous creatures from the Hollow to transform the children into Sires. Most of the Sires lost their sanity and became mindless, feral, and aggressive. While calm under sedation, they would maul and tear apart their prey in their regular state. The Sires were also distempered and sterile. However, their DNA was combined with Myrrah's embryonic stem-cells to create the Locust Horde. Unlike the Locust, the Sires were unable to follow command and acted on a primal, animal instinct - lacking self-preservation. Despite this, the Locust Horde revere the Sires as holy figures that produced their people. The Sires appeared to have mottled skin, with large parts of their bodies transforming into the grey skin and scales the Locust would eventually have. The Sires were at a medium-sized height due to their adolescence, but exhibited extreme hunched backs from stasis and accelerated growth. Both fingernails and toenails grew into claws, and their limbs elongated at different lengths. The children experienced hair-loss, their jaws grew in size and filled with razor-sharp teeth.
Scion		Scions were Locust Drones that evolved due to exposure to the Imulsion Countermeasure Weapon. A genetic trait designed by Dr. Niles Samson allowed the Locust to adapt in order to withstand generational conflict. Instead of being vaporized by the ICW due to their Imulsion content, the designed biological function forced the Imulsion out of their cells before they could be destroyed. The Imulsion was expelled from their skin and crystallized, forming impenetrable cocoons. During their twenty-five year hibernation, the Locust Drones evolved into Scions. The Scions continued to grow inside, reaching 9 to 10 feet in height. The traditional Locust scales were absent in Scions, appearing as smooth, gray skin. Due to erupting from their crystal shells, many Scions feature fragments of Imulsion crystals on their skin. The impenetrable nature of the Imulsion crystals acted as a natural armor for the Scions. It is unknown if any other Locust or Hollow creature have evolved similarly, as the only known evolved specimens known to exist other than the Locust Drones are the Brumaks, evolved as Swarmaks.

See also

• Boogeyman
• Hollow Creatures
• Lambent
• Queen's Guard
• Savage Locust