- "Hey, I like what they've done with the place: the informal, squalid look."
"It's Grubs we're talking about here Baird, squalid's normal."
"No, when they were underground, they were organized. This looks like they've gone feral or something. Stranded. Savage, even." - —Damon Baird and Samantha Byrne encountering the Savage Locust for the first time.
The Savage Locust were surviving members the Locust Horde who escaped the flooding of the Hollow and reverted into a feral state without the guidance of their Queen. When Jacinto City was sunk underground by the COG, the Inner Hollow was flooded and drowned a majority of the Locust Horde before they could evacuate. Those on the surface survived and splintered into two factions. The Locust without Queen Myrrah's guidance reverted to a tribal and nomadic way of life - while the Locust guarding Queen Myrrah maintained guidance and direction, becoming the Queen's Guard. Despite being less organized, the Savage Locust were just as dangerous as the Locust Horde, as they maintained hostility towards all humans.
Prelude[]
- "But that is the process that allows [the Locust] to learn, to grow. Without a queen, they remain... unguided."
- —Dr. Niles Samson explaining the Locust's need for a Queen.
Due to Myrrah's shared embryonic stem-cells being used to create the Locust Horde, a Hivemind was established as a pyschomagnetic link that communicated with and commanded all members of the Locust. Their creator, Dr. Niles Samson, discovered that without a Queen in control of the Hivemind, the Locust remained unguided - unable to learn and to grow. Queen Myrrah was able to effectively command the entire Locust race through the Matriarch, the first female Locust Drone, as it amplified her telepathic abilities.
Myrrah effectively used her abilities through the Matriarch to command the Locust via the Hivemind to rebel and slaughter all the scientists responsible for their creation. However, without the Matriarch, Myrrah could only communicate telepathically rather than commanding mind-control. But within their own society, the Locust were able to follow, and willingly so, to Queen Myrrah's commands. After Operation: Hollow Storm, the capital city of Nexus was destroyed and Queen Myrrah fled, so the majority of surviving Locust were without Queen Myrrah's presence - and with that their sense of purpose and direction.
History[]
Jacinto's flooding and aftermath[]
- "Your world can end in the blink of an eye. One event, one unexpected twist of fate... and suddenly the world as you knew... is gone. Forever. All that you held dear, all that you held close... is washed away in a sea of distant memory. Life... is cruel. Of this I have no doubt. But life continues on... with, or without you. One can only hope that one leaves behind a lasting legacy. But so often, the legacies we leave behind... are not the ones we intended."
- —Queen Myrrah after the flooding of the Hollows.
When Queen Myrrah sent her Locust army to capture Jacinto, she planned to sink the city to destroy humanity's last refuge to stop the spread of the Lambent, who were routing Locust forces with alarming speed. The queen attempted to thwart Marcus Fenix and Dom Santiago's race to sink Jacinto to flood the Hollows before the Locust did, only to have her defences destroyed by Marcus' hijacked Brumak. The sinking flooded the Hollows, drowning the majority of the Locust Horde.[1][2] Queen Myrrah escaped from Nexus on a Reaver, but left her Horde leaderless and savage. The first members of the leaderless horde attacked the COG at their new "sanctuary" at Port Farrall only a mere three hours after the sinking of Jacinto.[3] The COG forces were able to eliminate the Locust stragglers.
Days after the sinking of Jacinto and the flooding of the Hollows, the Locust stragglers launched a major emergence-like attack on Port Farrall, killing large numbers of Gears and civilians. The COG was able to reply to the Locust attack and kill the Berserker that was brought in on the attack. Six weeks after the sinking of Jacinto, a group of forty Boomers and Drones escorted by two Kantus monks ambushed the COG, hinting still of some sort of hierarchy left in the remnant of the Horde.[4] The ambush ended in another Locust failure, but forced the COG to consider leaving the frozen wasteland around Port Farrall and to depart to the island of Vectes which was on the other side of an abyssal trench that the Locust couldn't dig under.[5] The COG and Locust would not have contact with each other over the next year until the Lambent invaded the surface.[6]
The leaderless Locust started becoming feral and turned Savage, unlike their comrades in the Queen's Guard who remained loyal to Myrrah.[2]
Lambent Pandemic[]
In 15 A.E., a half dozen Savage Locust were encountered in the Kashkur Foothills by Bernadette Mataki, Padrick Salton and Drew Rossi. The three Gears took out the Locust without much trouble, but as a result, became aware of their return and warned Anvil Gate. However, they were unaware that the Locust were digging new tunnels in the area and that they had not eliminated the threat posed to Anvil Gate.[7]
The Savage Locust's base of operations.
Around 16 A.E. the Savage built new tunnels close to the surface and started living in the Deadlands on Sera and in the former homes of the Serans, trying to recapture some sense of their former homes. A large group of Savage Locust took over Centennial Bridge in the city of Hanover and turned it into a stronghold, killing anyone who approached their territory. This group was mistakenly thought to be a violent community of Stranded by people living in the ruins of Hanover as they killed anyone who came near their territory before before they could be recognized as Locust. Another group settled in the ruins of Halvo Bay. A large force of Savage Locust were preparing for war against COG forces led by Col. Victor Hoffman who had settled themselves inside a formerly decommissioned base used during the Pendulum Wars known as Anvil Gate. The COG was aware of Locust presence near the garrison but dismissed it, believing that there couldn't be a force able to penetrate the city's walls.
During the Battle of Centennial Bridge, Cole and his squad approached the bridge after zip-lining from Cougars Stadium after the Lambent besieged it. Several Stranded groups and their King Raven informed them that the Stranded there were extremely hostile, and the Stranded groups advised the squad to avoid them at all costs. Cole and Baird attempted to speak with the group, but were immediately shot at. Samantha Byrne soon noticed that the "Stranded" were actually Locust, and the Locust group attacked the squad. The group eventually fought their way through the bridge, fighting through heavy Locust resistance that included Tickers, mortars and a Gas Barge before using the Locust's Tickers to kill a Lambent Leviathan. Any surviving Locust on the bridge were likely killed when the Lambent Leviathan destroyed it as the creature died.
Another group of Savage Locust later made their way to the wreckage of the CNV Sovereign, most likely to scavenge supplies and kill any human survivors. The group consisted of at least two Brumaks, three Siegebeasts and a large group of Savage Drones, Grenadiers and Boomers. They were stopped by Delta Squad.
Later, Delta Squad would fight their way through the new Savage Locust homeland in the Battle of the Deadlands, managing to destroy much of their fortress, including another Siegebeast, a Ticker assembling line and a Corpser nest. However, the Queen's Guard arrived at the scene and aided the Savage Locust try to stop Delta, but were still unable to prevent them from hijacking a Gas Barge and escaping.
After Marcus Fenix reached Anvil Gate, the large Locust force assembling near Anvil Gate finally attacked the garrison, again aided by the Queen's Guard. The Gears attempted to repel the attackers but the constant onslaught of Nemacyst and Siegebeasts and the rising Locust numbers forced Col. Hoffman to use the "last resort" which consisted of a large fuel tank which managed to destroy most of the Locust and forced the survivors to retreat. However, the remaining Locust attacked Anya Stroud and Samantha Byrne, along with their squad, as they approached the garrison. Delta's timely arrival, the sudden appearance of Lambent Stalks and several Hammer of Dawn strikes crippled the Locust force and Anvil Gate was secure once more.
The Savage Locust managed to set up fortifications outside of Mercy, but failed to stop the Gears from reaching the city, taking out another Brumak, and several Bloodmounts, Reavers and Corpsers along the way. However, as Delta was preparing to leave the city after their failed attempt to get fuel and their discovery of Formers, the Savage Locust reappeared and prevented them from leaving. Delta managed to hold them off but as more Stalks and Formers arrived the Gears were cornered and Dominic Santiago sacrificed himself to destroy all Lambent and Locust forces inside the city.
Cole and Baird were tasked with finding reinforcements and a ship, so they went to Halvo Bay. During the journey, they met Paduk and found a large settlement of Savage Locust. They also discovered several Ragers, who were long thought to have died out, and several were assisted from the Queen's Guard. Despite the interference of both factions, the Gears succeeded in their mission, retrieving a ship and wiping out much of the Locust forces in the city.
In the final hours of the pandemic and Locust War, the Savage Locust launched a second attack on Anvil Gate. They nearly succeeded in overwhelming the fort's defenses before Adam Fenix's weapon was activated.
Once Adam Fenix activated his weapon, all Savage Locust along with their brothers in the Queen’s Guard were neutralized with their infected cells being destroyed. However, the Locust species and Hollow creatures were not completely wiped out, and many were instead encased in an indestructible crystal that preserved them for decades.
Standards and Symbols[]
One of the Savage Locust's most recognizable traits is their apparent rejection of the Queen's symbol, as they appeared to no longer have any attachment to her or her army.
It remains unknown if the Savage Locust still believed in the Trinity of Worms and if they still kept the symbols, emblems, scrolls and artifacts that seemed valuable to their kind when they still lived inside the Hollow, but with the Savage Kantus' revert to shamanistic ways it seems unlikely.
Savage Locust seemed to mark any Ticker assembly lines with paintings of said creatures, though it remains unknown if they used this same technique while they were underground.
Society and Culture[]
Although the Savage Locust no longer follow the Queen's command it remains unknown whether there was conflict or not between them and the Queen's Guard, though it appears there may not have been, as both groups have been seen cooperating with each other at times, like in the Battle of the Deadlands and the Battle of Anvil Gate.
The Savage Locust appear to follow some of the original ways of the Locust, however there are many differences between the two factions. While the Locust Horde was organized and each class had a unique purpose on the battlefield, the Savage Locust appear to follow no organization and they use any weapons they can scavenge.
As stated before, it remains unknown if the Savage Kantus still reinforced the belief in the Trinity of Worms, although it is probable that after becoming shamans they left their religion behind and became simple soldiers without any healing abilities.
They also appear to follow no hierarchy as both Savage Kantus and Therons seem to act as cannon fodder, something that only Drones and Boomers did in the Queen's army.
Despite their abandonment of many of the Locust ways, the Savage Locust still kept a deep hatred for humanity and would kill any human being who dared enter their territory, and would often use their charred corpses as a warning for any intruders.
It is possible, however, that the Savage Locust eventually returned to the Queen's army or at least made some sort of agreement with her. The Savage Locust had lost their main compound in the Deadlands to the COG and Myrrah returned with a promise of a new world for the Locust. This, along with the fact that this time she had a weapon that could potentially wipe out both the Lambent and the Humans once and for all, could have inspired them to once again serve their Queen on her quest against humanity. This could explain why they aided the Queen's forces during the Battle of Anvil Gate and the Mission to Halvo Bay on their search for Delta Squad.
Military Forces[]
Foot Soldiers[]
- Savage Boomer
- Savage Drone
- Savage Grenadier
- Savage Grenadier Elite
- Savage Kantus
- Savage Marauder
- Savage Theron
- Savage Hunter
- Rager
- Possibly Cleaver Theron
War Beasts[]
Weapons[]
- Hammerburst II
- Mk 1 Lancer Assault Rifle
- Gnasher Shotgun
- Longshot
- Boomshot
- Digger
- One Shot
- Mortar
- Butcher Cleaver
- Bolo Grenade
- Incendiary Grenade
- Multi-Turret
- Mk 2 Lancer Assault Rifle
See Also[]
Appearances[]
- Jacinto's Remnant (First appearance)
- Dirty Little Secrets
- Gears of War 3
- Aftermath
- Gears of War 4 (Appears in flashback(s))
- Gears 5 (Mentioned only)