Tempest

Tempest
Biographical information
Homeland	Sera Inner Hollows
Physical description and appearance
Species	Tempest
Body color	Gold and Black carapace with Grey flesh
Chronological and personal information
Rank(s)	Royal Mount
Era(s)	Locust War Lambent Invasion
Notable Facts	Can only be killed by the Hammer of Dawn Queen Myrrah's personal mount
Weapons	Ability to generate intense heat from its mouth Ability to summon Shriekers
Mounts	One pilot Several shriekers
Affiliation	Locust Horde

"Holy shit! Look at the size of that bug!"

—Augustus Cole

The Tempest was a large flying Locust creature and the personal mount of Queen Myrrah. Resembling a giant flying beetle clad in golden armor, the Tempest stalked Delta-One throughout their journey to reach Adam Fenix in their attempt to end the Lambent Invasion.

History

Lightmass Offensive

During the Lightmass Offensive, Queen Myrrah had been following the progress of the humans attempt to map the tunnels and send the Lightmass Bomb to destroy the hollows via aboard a train crashing into an Imulsion sinkhole. As the humans succeeded, Queen Myrrah escaped to the surface and viewed the destruction aboard her Tempest. She then steered the Tempest away from Timgad as she vowed to destroy the humans or die trying.

Lambent Invasion

Sometime after the sinking of Jacinto during Operation: Hollow Storm, Queen Myrrah used the Tempest to navigate the surface of Sera after departing from one of the Reavers in her palace. Delta-One first encountered Queen Myrrah and the Tempest in the Deadlands on their way to Anvil Gate.

" Damn that beetle of her's must be turbo-charged-she's too fast to target!"

— Dominic Santiago after the Temptest starts igniting their hijacked barge.

Desperate to prevent Marcus Fenix reuniting with his father at Azura, Queen Myrrah would later reappear again with the Tempest, this time personally attacking the members of Delta-One atop their hijacked Gas Barge as they continued to make their way to Anvil Gate. It was during this attack that the Tempest first revealed its unique ability to generate an intense amount of heat from its mouth; capable of quickly setting the barge alight in flames and sending it plummeting down to the ground.

In yet another attempt to prevent Delta-One from reaching their destination, the Tempest would reappear and kill everyone but Dizzy Wallin and Aaron Griffin while Delta-One were looking for fuel in an Imulsion refinery in Char.

When Myrrah gave orders to several Armored Kantus to prevent Marcus from reaching a submarine at the Endeavor Naval Shipyard to take him and Delta to Azura, the Tempest is visible behind Myrrah.

In a final attempt to prevent Marcus Fenix from meeting his father, the Tempest would launch yet another assault on Delta-One three floors beneath Adam Fenix's room. Using their ingenuity, Delta-One cut the cables supporting a counter-weight at the top of the tower, sending it crashing down onto the Tempest and Queen Myrrah, seemingly killing them.

" Marcus, the system's online and powering up. Grab the Hammer of Dawn while you can-it's the only way to kill it."

— Adam Fenix telling his son to use the Hammer of Dawn to kill the Tempest.

Despite ultimately failing at keeping Marcus and Adam Fenix apart, Queen Myrrah commanded the Tempest in one final attack to prevent Adam Fenix from launching his weapon and killing the Locust Horde along with all Lambent. The Tempest attacked all members of Delta-One, and even managed to counter a surprise attack from Clayton Carmine aboard a UIR King Raven. The Tempest went so far in its desperation as to attack the tower holding (and charging) the weapon itself, thus exposing its back to open gunfire. Through excessive use of weaponry and multiple Hammer of Dawn strikes, Delta-One finally managed to kill the Tempest.

Overview

"Goddamn, my ass feels medium rare now."

—Augustus Cole

The Tempest was a massive, flying beetle-like creature from the Hollows. It had four "legs," four wings, and a mouth that could shoot a powerful beam of intense light that lit everything that it hit on fire. When it came into the ownership of Queen Myrrah, the Tempest was suited up with a set of golden armor. This armor was so thick and well built, only the Hammer of Dawn could kill it, very much similar to a Berserker. The Tempest also had the ability to summon Shriekers. It is unknown if the Tempest was the only one of its kind or if there were others like it.

Behind the Scenes

• During development it was originally called "Locust Dreadnaught" before it was renamed to Tempest.
• The Tempest's role in Gears of War 3 is somewhat similar to the Hydra's role in Gears of War 2; both being used as personal mounts for high-ranking members of the Locust Horde (Queen Myrrah and Skorge respectively).
• Adam Fenix seems to be acquainted with the Tempest, stating that the Hammer of Dawn is "the only way to kill it".
• The Tempest is the final boss of Gears of War 3, succeeding General RAAM and the Lambent Brumak from Gears of War and Gears of War 2 respectively.
• The Shriekers appear to be the Tempest "offspring" due to their resemblance to the Tempest and the fact that the Tempest "spawns" them.