Swarm (Gears of War)

The Swarm is the term given to what the Locust species became after the second battle of Azura, which ended with the apparent extinction of the Locust and Lambent. However, although the Lambent were truly wiped out by the Immulsion countermeasure developed by Professor Adam Fenix, the Locust became encased in indestructible crystalline chrysalises. Believing them to be dead, the Human population of Sera buried them in mass graves, only for them to begin hatching 25 years later, in a new evolved form.

Possibly due to their awareness of their limited numbers, and the majority of chrysalises left unhatched, these new Locust utilised a biological process resulting from their advanced evolution to abduct Humans and transform them into creatures which may be considered Human-Locust hybrids.

The process of converting a Human into a Swarm Drone begins with entrapping a captured Human inside a cocoon to break down their body and reform it into the hybrid creature. Although they may be saved if removed from the cocoon at an early enough stage, they may still retain a connection to the swarm's hive mind until removal. This was demonstrated when Marcus Fenix, within the span of a few hours, was cocooned in this manner and freed from his cocoon before sharing what he had learned about this new Locust species and the fate of their other prisoners from his temporary connection to their hive mind.

Given enough time, the cocoon will eventually break down the human body and form a 'Juvie', the juvenile form of the Swarm, which displays considerable aggression and a reliance on numbers for a combat advantage in a similar manner to the Wretches of the Locust Horde. Eventually, these Juvies will seek out a Swarm nest in order to undergo a rapid metamorphosis into a Swarm Drone, developing a similar appearance, combat ability and even intelligence to the original Locust.

The original leaders of the Swarm are known as the Scions; Drones of the original Locust Horde who have undergone some form of mutation caused by the Immulsion countermeasure activated at the end of the battle of Azura twenty five years earlier. While these Scions retain much of their original appearance, they also boast a significantly larger body structure and durability on par with Locust Boomers, along with their preference for heavy weapons, and display what appears to be crystallised Immulsion embedded in their flesh (most likely from the chrysalises they mutated within). In combat, a Scion may emit some sort of pheromone gas which enhances the durability of nearby Swarm Drones.

Eventually, command of the Swarm was claimed by Myrrah, the original queen of the Locust Horde. Although she was killed by Sergeant Marcus Fenix at the end of the battle of Azura, her conciousness was retained in the hive mind of the developing Swarm. She eventually regained physical form by inhabiting the assimilated remains of her late daughter, Reyna Diaz, after failing to indoctrinate her granddaughter Kait to her side.

Variants

 * Canker:
 * Carrier:
 * Drone:
 * Hive Beast:
 * Juvie:
 * Kraken:
 * Leech:
 * Matriarch:
 * Pouncer:
 * Scion:
 * Snatcher:
 * Swarmak: