Tempest

The Tempest is a large flying creature that appears in Gears of War 3. This "war-beetle" serves as the personal battle-mount of Queen Myrrah, the leader of the Locust Horde.

Overview
The Tempest resembles a giant beetle clad in golden armour. It has four expansive wings that grant it flight and six clawed limbs for grasping at surfaces. The beast attacks by firing an intense blast of light from its mouth. The heat from this blast scorches everything in its path and can toast a human being in a second.

The Tempest is a remarkably tough creature and can stand up easily to conventional forms of attack, save for two vulnerable spots on its back that can be inflicted with moderate damage from standard weapons. Attacking these unguarded parts on the Tempest's back will incapacitate the creature, but only heavy weaponry is capable of killing it. During the Second Battle of Azura, Marcus Fenix and Delta Squad ultimately killed the Tempest with the Hammer of Dawn, although it took multiple strikes to finally destroy it.

History
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.

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.

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.