Locust Horde


 * "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 Locusts 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..."
 * — Human Scientist dubbing the name of the Locust Horde

The Locust Horde was a race of reptilian humanoids that until Emergence Day, appears to have remained in the subterranean regions of Sera. The Locust Horde has decided that its secondary goal is the extermination of the human race down to every man, woman, and child. The Locust Horde's primary goal is to populate the surface of Sera. The Locust wage a tactically beneficial war of genocide against the Humans due to the existence of a civil war between the Locust Horde and the "Lambent Locust." This civil war has been going on for an undetermined amount of time, and is gradually forcing the Locust out of the Hollow and into a war with humanity over who controls the surface world.

All known attempts at negotiating with the Locust Horde have ended in violence (although Adam Fenix believed he could end the war peacefully). The Locust consist of a common race of drones and all manner of other animals that are indigenous to the underground tunnels known as the Hollow, which is a short term used to describe the hollow portions of planet Sera which is mainly controlled by the Locust Horde. Under Mount Kadar is the Locust capital Nexus.

The majority of the Horde's technology was stolen or salvaged from what the Humans dumped. It appears to be at around the same level as that of humans with similar firearms, although the Locusts' arsenal seems to be more biological based with the use of Tickers, Nemacyst, Brumaks etc. Locust troops will use nearly any weapon, whether it is one of their own design or human-made. Origins

The origins of the Locust are a mystery, although they existed long before the Pendulum Wars. In the history of the Nation of Tyrus, there are stories and legends of creatures stealing disobedient children, which are likely based on some truthful aspects. During Operation Hollow Storm, Delta-One was sent to New Hope Research Facility and discovered that during the Pendulum Wars the COG created 'the genetic bridge to the future' known as the Sires as well as another group of subjects only referenced to as children. There is an unknown link between the Locust regarding New Hope, in particular regarding Mount Kadar. The occupants of New Hope were sent to Mount Kadar, where many years later Delta-One would find the entrance to the Nexus. Thus it is possible that the occupants encountered the Locust here which triggered the events that culminated in Emergence Day.

Other alternate theories are suggested by the remaining human population. One such example is that the Locust came from a neighboring planet (or one of its moons) and feed off Imulsion. However rumors such as these are generally regarded as false.

Physiology
A typical Locust is a hulking brute of a creature, nearly 7 feet tall, though many are larger. They are bipedal, muscular creatures, with tough skin. They are considerably more bulky than a normal human, and notably stronger physically. Their bones are heavier and show signs of extensive thickening. Grenadiers show further toughening and occasionally scarification, which appears to further toughen the Locust's flesh.

Locust Blood is a deep reddish-orange in coloration. A Locust has multiple internal organs, as hinted by hearing multiple heartbeats from a given Locust when they run or are at critical health. This, likewise, hints at an active attempt to breed Locust towards combat survival. Locust require oxygen like any other species, though they seem somewhat more resistant to environmental hazards (most likely due to their harsh environment).

Locust have large eyes with good depth perception in spite of the fact that they are a subterranean race. They have a noted vulnerability to flash overcompensation response (Flash-blindness), a weakness many offset with polarized goggles or blinders. Some subspecies have particularly strong eyesight and incredible depth perception; it is strongly hinted that Locust can see perfectly in total darkness, and most seem to possess superior senses of smell.

It's interesting to note that Berserkers and Myrrah are the only females. The only known method of Locust reproduction is the mating of a Berserker and a Drone by tying the female down and raping her to prevent the blind beast from killing her mate(s).

History

 * "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 Bardly Salaman describing the Locusts

The early origin of the Horde is shrouded in mystery. Early human records speak of the legend of Romily, mentioning a demon from underground stealing children, legend later attached to the Horde. It seems the Horde used weapons dumped from the humans since they used the Hollow as a dumping ground. But it seems the Horde has been breeding its soldiers from birth to kill humans. It is known that as they live underground, they were able to coexist with many creatures of the Hollow, like the Rockworm and Bloodmounts, while remaining fearful of the Kryll and Heart Leeches. Other speculation exists saying they came from Hell or outer space.

Victory after victory

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

The Horde, having caught humanity off-guard, and having slaughtered a vast majority of the human population during the first year of the war, enjoyed the advantage of sheer numbers. With many hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of the most battle-hardened Gears in the COG Army having been killed in the initial attack, the COG was forced to recruit from the infirm, the young, and the imprisoned to try to hold off the advancing Horde. As a result, not only did the Locust also benefited from an advantage in the average quality of soldiers. As a result, the War went horribly for humanity, but went exceptionally well for the Locust, who seized Landown in AE 5, during the Winter of Sorrow, and the COG capital of Ephyra in AE 10. It was during the fall of Ephyra that the Locust supposedly killed the COG's most prominent scientist, Adam Fenix, the father of Marcus Fenix.

The tipping of the balance
In AE 14, Colonel Hoffman, the highest-ranking COG military leader, directly underneath Chairman Prescott, devised a plan to win the war once for all. Squads of Gears were deployed in what was known as the Lightmass Offensive across Ephyra city, though many suffered heavy, if not total, casualty rates. However, a single squad of hard-bitten veterans of the war were able to break through the Locust forces and deploy a device known as the Resonator, a sonic-mapper that was, in theory, supposed to map out the tunnel networks of the Hollow. Unfortunately, the device was severely limited in its capabilities, barely mapping even a fraction of the network. Not all was lost, however, as Delta-One, the aforementioned squad, was able to find a new data source, located in East Barricade, that provided a much more sufficient geo-mapping of the Hollow. Upon securing the data, the squad was deployed to Timgad East to liberate the captured Tyro Pillar, which held the Lightmass Bomb. Delta was able to defeat General RAAM, the leader of the Locust Army, and his forces aboard the train, and deploy the Lightmass Bomb. This act resulted in the destruction of the entire Outer Hollow, causing incredibly high casualties to the Locust Horde and annihilating the entire population of the Kryll.

Re-emergence
Unfortunately, the Locust proved incredibly difficult to beat, even with the most powerful weapons of mass destruction in the human arsenal, even delivered right onto their doorstep. The Locust continued to mobilize and build their forces, determined to break the back of humanity. Bolstered by the awakening of the Riftworm, the Horde launched a major counter-offensive across Jacinto Plateau, attacking the city of Jilane and butchering the entire population, depriving the COG of another Farm. They also used the Riftworm to sink several cities surrounding Jacinto City, and destroy several COG military bases. Across the Plateau, the COG suffered heavy causalties, mainly in the Pirnah Badlands and in several failed search-and-rescue missions in Tollen and Montevado. The Horde was also able to force the COG to abandon North Gate Agricultural Depot. However, this was just a precursor to the Siege of Jacinto, which forced the COG's hand into retaliating with a mobilization on the scale that had not been seen since AE 1. However, most of these Locust attacks were done out of desperation; throughout the entire war with humanity, the Locust had also been fighting the Lambent, and they were losing ground in the Hollow at an alarming rate.

Hollow Storm
After months of fighting across Jacinto Plateau, the Horde was able to lay direct siege to Jacinto City itself, having cut off a great amount of its water and food supplies. The Horde made its first incursions by attacking Pomeroy Depot, and then later Jacinto Med, though the latter was a total disaster for the Locust, who ended up having to beat a hasty retreat. Nevertheless, the incursions into the last stronghold of humanity showed the COG how truly desperate their situation was; their backs were against the wall, and they had no choice but to launch a desperate all-out attack on the Locust Stronghold. It was a high-risk maneuver; the odds of a payoff were understandably low, and in the likely event it should fail, it would leave Jacinto utterly and totally defenseless in case of a Locust counterattack, but if it succeeded, it could buy humanity time to regain its footing, if not end the war entirely. And thus a massive fleet of Assault Derricks, King Ravens, and Centaurs converged on the Locust-held city of Landown; the perfect spot to launch a massive grindlift assault right into the heart of the Hollow. The attack did not quite go as planned for either side; the Locust, who themselves had their backs against the wall in regards to their conflict with the Lambent, were preparing a final assault on Jacinto in an attempt to take the city and sink it, to flood their old home with seawater, to kill the Lambent once and for all. For the COG's part, during the initial assault, they found themselves attacking little more than staging areas and outposts rather than the heart of the homeland of the Locust forces, but Delta Squad did manage to kill the Riftworm preventing that method of attack from working again. However, they were later able to pinpoint Nexus, the centre of all Locust civilization, and in their own desperate bid to annihilate their foes, they did exactly what the Locust were trying to do; they sunk their own city, in order to wipe out their foe resulting in much of the Locust forces being annihilated. Queen Myrah's fate was left unknown as she escaped Nexus before the sinking, but Skorge, the new leader of the Locust Army, was presumably killed when Delta Squad destroyed his Hydra

Lambent Invasion and Survival of the fittest
Only hours after the sinking of Jacinto, Locust stranglers were spotted around Port Farrall, resulting around multiple battles around the city, eventually forcing the COG to look for a new home. 18 months after Operation Hollow Storm, the Horde took to the surface of Char to fight the humans and the Lambent, who had survived the flooding of the Inner Hollow, and returned in numbers greater than before. Queen Myrrah went missing making the Locust Horde leaderless. The remnant of the Horde would degenerate into the Savage Locust.

Hierarchy
The Locust Horde was a Matriarch based Monarchy that was divided into classes. The only known class was the Kantus monks lead by Skorge until A.E. 15. The Kantus monks followed a strict religious code. While the lower class of the Horde (Drones,Boomers) are willing to die for the Queen.

Drones
Drones appear to be the common race among the Locust Horde. They are larger than humans and have chalky white skin with gray, scale-like patches that most likely are hardened to protect them from minor damage. Sniper Drones often wear goggles for increased accuracy. They were bred in the Hollow to be bloodthirsty fighters. When ordered, Drones will throw their lives away by the hundreds to kill one entrentched Gear. They often crawl out of "emergence holes," which the Locust use as bridges between underground and the surface world. Drones follow basic infantry tactics of flanking, dominating the terrain, and setting up ambushes as well as more advanced tactics, which would suggest that Drones themselves are intelligent rather than brutes, or a combination thereof. Almost fearless, they know little in the way of self-preservation and almost never retreat. Drones are often heard shouting words such as "Groundwalker" or "Hominid" when they spot any human.

They will usually wield the Hammerburst assault rifle. While some regular Drones have taken to using the human Lancer assault rifle, Cyclops are a drone with a slightly different head to other drones and are dubbed for the headgear they normally wear in tandem with wielding the Lancer, will use the chainsaw bayonet very often. Most basic drones wear a helmet and body armor while Grenadiers mainly go into battle armorless except for shoulder plates.

Drone classes:
 * Cyclops
 * Grenadier
 * Grenadier Elite
 * Flame Grenadier
 * Sniper
 * Spotter
 * Gunner
 * Bolter
 * Beast Rider
 * Grappler
 * Savage Grenadier

Theron Guards
There are two sub-sets of Theron Guards, each with minor differences
 * Theron Sentinels
 * Palace Guard

There are several different combat variants of the standard Boomer.

 * Butcher
 * Flame Boomer
 * Grinder
 * Mauler
 * Digger Boomer

Locust creatures
The Locust Horde use many creatures as vehicles, machines, and weapons of war. The origins of these creatures is largely unknown; they may be indigenous to the Hollow, or have been genetically engineered by the Locust, such as the Brumak.

It is interesting to note that Locust beasts often have a helmet-like device on them. Coupled with the 'controls' on Reavers and Brumaks, these helmets could be used to control the animals, and would explain how Delta Squad were able to pilot two Reavers and later a Brumak during Operation: Hollow Storm

Nemacyst
The Nemacyst are the small Ink Mortars that are spawned from Seeders. They will hover in the air as easy targets until an enemy is spotted, upon which they proceed to dive bomb kamikaze-style and decimate the area of impact. They are roughly the size of three or four wretches and have tentacles protruding from their undercarriage. Because of their explosive nature they are very weak, and basically anything that can cause damage can kill it in one or two shots. They are used like long-range artillery bombing COG positions or attacking exposed vehicles, such as King Raven helicopters.