The Savage Locust are a group of Locust separatists that appear in Gears of War 3. Following the flooding of the Hollow, these Locust became cut off from the Horde and were left stranded on the surface of Sera. Without Queen Myrrah's leadership, they reverted to tribalism, attempting to mete out a harsh existence in the Deadlands and other desolate areas. They remained, along with the Queen's Guard, fixated on destroying humanity and claiming Sera's surface for themselves.
History[]
Fall of Jacinto and aftermath[]
When the Locust queen Myrrah sent her army to capture Jacinto, she planned to sink the city to destroy humanity's last refuge, although sea water would flood the Inner Hollow. The queen attempted to thwart Marcus Fenix and Dom Santiago's race to sink Jacinto to flood the Hollow 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 in the Hollows and in the city. 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. 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 respond 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. 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. The COG and Locust would not have contact with each over the next year until the Lambent invaded the surface.
The leaderless Locust started becoming feral and turned Savage, unlike their brothers in the Queen's Guard who remained loyal to Myrrah.
Lambent Pandemic[]
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 the sense of their former homes. A group of Savage Locust also took over Centennial Bridge in Hanover city and another group settled in in the ruins of Halvo Bay. A large force of Savage Locust were also making preparations for an attack on the old fortress of Anvil Gate, now occupied by COG forces led by Col. Victor Hoffman, to establish a base inside the garrison. The COG was aware of Locust presence near the garrison but dismissed it, thinking that there couldn't be a force able to penetrate the city's walls.
During the last days of the Lambent Pandemic, Augustus Cole and his fellow Gears defeated several Savage Locust on Centennial Bridge while it is presumed that any remaining Locust on the bridge were obliterated by a massive explosion caused by the destruction of a Lambent Leviathan beneath it. Afterwards a large Locust force arrived at the beachside where the human survivors had gathered (probably to scavenge upon the remains of the CNV Sovereign), which included at least two Brumaks, three Siegebeasts and a large amount of Savage Drones, Grenadiers and Boomers. The Locust assault was repelled and the survivors were able to regroup.
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 assembly 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 resource" 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 (presumably under Queen Myrrah's orders) 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 was forced to sacrifice himself to destroy all Lambent and Locust forces inside the city.
Elsewhere Cole and Baird went after reinforcements and a ship to Halvo Bay, wiping out most of the entire group at the city, which were once again aided by the Queen's Guard. They also discovered that previously thought extinct Ragers had joined the Savage Locust. Once Adam Fenix activated his weapon, all Savage Locust along with their brothers in the Queen’s Guard were killed with their infected cells being destroyed.
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[]
Although the Savage Locust can 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 upon.
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 on the Queen's army.
Despite their abandonment of several 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, since they lost their main compound at The Deadlands to the COG and with Myrrah's return and her promise of a new world for the Locust, along with the fact that this time she had a weapon that could 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 siege of Anvil Gate and the Mission to Halvo Bay on their search for Delta Squad.
Savage units[]
- Drones - No longer garbed in the trappings of the Queen's Guard, Savage Drones adopted a bolder combat strategy with whatever tools and weapons they could scavenge. They frequently made use of discarded COG Gnashers and Mark I Lancers that possessed a simple blade bayonet and a more erratic rate of fire.
- Grenadiers - Drones equipped with grenades as well as Boltok pistols and sawed-off shotguns.
- Boomers - Savage Boomers wore distinctly different armour than their loyalist cousins. They also made only sparing use of the Boomshot, preferring instead to use Digger Launchers or Cleavers.
- Therons - Theron Guards that have bleached their armour white. Instead of Torque Bows, the Savage Therons prefer to fight up close using Butcher Cleavers or sawed-off shotguns.
- Corpsers - With less resources and manpower, the Savage Locust have only been able to rear adolescent Corpsers to do their bidding. Though much smaller than full adults, these Corpsers are still extremely deadly and ambush their prey by burrowing into the ground and emerging from behind their targets.
- Brumaks - At least one Brumak was seen under the control of the Savages and retained the standard weaponry of those under Horde control.
- Siegebeasts
- Gas Barges
- Tickers