Name: Lucretia "LOCUST" Lockton

Gender: Female, straight

Age/DOB: 30@Arrival

Origin: Aperturth, Austin Texas facility

Family: Unknown, was single at the time of RC

Other: She may very well hook up with any insect-types, it remains to be seen just how human she is any more

Height: 5'0", looks taller from a distance, but she wasn't very tall to start, 5'10" with the antennae

Weight: ~100, compact and somewhat dense exoskeleton in addition to existing bones, though hollow they're very strong

Hair: none, modified into antennae? had been dark brown, similar to the color of her current covering

Eyes: had been brown, are now more amber colored, but faceted as a locust's

Appearance: swarthy to medium skinned human, as exoskeleton is still growing it will eventually cover her entirely, in a metallic and heavily textured darkish brown. She has as shown, a set of wings that actually go beyond the typical four (or two with a carapce) found in most bugs, and are capable of flight; they may grow much bigger, but they are currently quite strong and even at their size she gets around very well; she also has a slender tail for balance while flying, it's quite agile; she's growing spikes and other bits, she isn't particularly based on a specific breed of bug, rather containing many features from several types. She will eventually lose her human mouth and nose, her internal organs, as well as voice; currently she hisses and buzzes with a high-pitched sound to her English speech

Icarus Processing: none, but the Resonance Cascade as well as years of experimentation did this to her. See below. Physically, she's transforming into a human-sized flying insect, hence her name and associated abilities. She can fly with ease, very rapidly and with great agility, and her armored skin is stiff but not brittle, can withstand cutting, scraping, impaling, and some amount of bruising damage, but does not protect her from elements

Image Credits: Paragon

Genetic Abilities: In addition to the obvious physical changes that are going on, Locust is able to Vortally control insects of any type including Xenian or off-world creatures that qualify, as well as some number of undersea versions of insects. She can sense and sense through myriad numbers of small insects, from a hundred flies or a thousand fleas, or even just one dragonfly, she has an incredibly good volume sense due to this. A 250 meter sphere with her at the center, every bug of any kind (generally likes the ones with legs, antennae, wings, etc, rather than lower order worms and snails) can be sensed and uses in this manner, as well as commanded. Her power over them is absolute, they cannot resist her, and even up against Trinity's defenses Locust's will win. They all respond to her as though 'they thought of it', or 'their queen demanded it'. If they drift out of this sphere of influence, they will still keep doing whatever it is that others are, unless they are alone or not within 3 meters of another controlled insect. Then they just go their own way. No insect at all will attempt to sting or bite her, they do not see her either as a threat or as food. There's always a lot of flies, gnats, fleas, and roaches around her, though fewer of the larger and weirder mutant bugs like radroaches or cazadors. She can exert Vortal control over her dragon, with less direct purpose, however, this is a defensive ability that brings the most powerful critter to her and helps out. The dragon has never treated her with resentment, so one can assume it doesn't mind (or cannot?). As above, she can also fly and resist a fair bit of damage physically. She lacks other Vortal powers, and in fact is easily controlled by any Vortal mind with power over bugs themselves. (There aren't many, but... a few in the Mojave.)

Offensive power: Very strong Animal Control (insects) attacks---7x normal power level Defensive Power: Average Animal Control (single - ground) defenses ---3x normal power level---This power is barely under control Transport Power: Average Jumping (leap!)(fly)---3x normal power level Weakness: Mind Powers (bug form too)

Skills or Profession: Because she has always been good with insects and their habits, Locust is able to fully exploit her ability to command them. She has a very sound amount of scientific data and understands how to experiment, take information and apply it, and could run a lab even now if needed. But she'd rather find uses for the insects at her whim. She had been in charge of at least one or two 'Mantis Men' experiments, so she knew all about Aperture's agendas, she's a little relieved that she's not there any more, because now she can flex her ... wings, and do what she pleases: seek out hidden items, dig around in these ruins, keep her home safe from raiders and soldiers, and build a hive worthy of defending. She will become her own queen soon enough. She uses the inherent skills in, say, a paper wasp or a borer, to place materials and assemble shelter, and since there are always more bugs, she is usually commanding them to fetch things, or build. She's exceptionally good with multitasking.

Personality: She had been a different person once upon a time. Now, she is basically a hyper-focused bug. She does still recognize people, their value or threat, and doesn't want to entirely be ignored by those around her in the Mojave. She doesn't need to subjugate or destroy humans, supermutants, ghouls, or whoever else - but she will defend what she sees as 'hers', so even the dragons pay attention when she puts up a defensive line. She can still communicate well enough with those who have gotten to know her, that she will eagerly help out in combative situations, as long as she knows her home hive will be safe on her return.

Events or History: Lucretia was experimenting with bugs. She loves bugs. They'd always been what she'd show during show-and-tell, keeping crickets and grasshoppers in her room, rescuing spiders or shooing bees out of the kitchen. This naturally led her to a career in entomology, and she was quickly tapped for work at Aperture in the same field. Why they wanted it, well, she eventually learned that. Her rap sheet included Criminal possession of a chemical weapon or biological weapon in the third degree / Unlawful use of secret scientific material, but that's the same as all the other scientists that had been working on the project and were arrested by the government. Why then, would the government send them right back to their own workplace as punishment? That was both short sighted and insane, and it just goes to show that any dimension that allows Aperture to be the dominant scientific research company ... deserves what it got. She'd put bug DNA into her own body before, plenty of it, and that led to the radical changes found in herself and others on that bus.

Currently she resides near Goodsprings, in the Tribal Village - surrounded by Cazador nests, radscorpions, and plenty of other dangers. She and Jewel are hollowing out the hillsides near that area, and there's actually no telling quite how big her underground hive really is, or will be.

Dragon

Name: Jewel, Buppy, Buprestis
Gender: Female
Size/Shoulder/Length: Large (bulky) 15' s / 70' l / 110' ws and 55' carapace ws
*Colors: belly from chest to mid tail, spot markings, face accents dark yellowish tan; face, neck marks, main armor from neck to tail tip light dull green; limb armor denim blue; dorsal armor, face markings paler blue; face and neck accent, behind limbs, wing arms and carapace struts dark strong red; wingsails main turquoise green; wingsails carapace vibrant blue; antennae yellow, horns, dorsal spikes, claws wood tan; eyes cyan *Colors are iridescent only in direct sunlight or full-spectrum lighting, appear dull otherwise
Features: Beetlewing, proto-Silk, Hive, possible connection to Rainwings
Powers: Winged Flight, though remarkably burly Jewel is strong in the air for short bursts or power diving or jumping. She cannot sustain a long term flight, but her speed makes up for this, as she could easily cover the entire hundred-plus mile diameter of the Mojave Conglomerate within half an hour at the most. Longer than that, she would become exhausted, faster than that, a shorter trip would suffice. While in the air, however, she's also a binary - either she's doing very fast maneuvers in a low-altitude environment, or she's power flying in a single straight direction. Her carapace wings will help with moves, but tend to lock in place while she is getting anywhere fast. They allow her to burst into the air with tremendous speed, along with the power of her legs to jump of course.
Communication, Jewel isn't the brightest... well most intelligent of dragons, but she recognizes her little friend as such, and others associated with her, as well as their dragons. She can speak bits of English and Draconic, but it's a dialect most aren't familiar with, and her human's grasp on ... well, not just English but being human is tenuous at best, so they tend to commune in humming, buzzing, and pheromones, along with the Vortal component that Locust offers. They are tightly connected, and if Jewel resents being commanded, she's never commented or even really acknowledged.
Tunneling, Boring, Trundling, in addition to her winged flight, Jewel is really good with digging tunnels, boring out areas with her claws as well as her head, but also with magical assistance that works just fine in the soils and stone around the Mojave. At her size, she can take down buildings in minutes, reducing them to rubble, and then further crushing them, grinding them down, or even magically pulverizing them into useful dust. Who uses dust? ... Locusts and wasps. Most of the structures nearest their residence and chosen haunts have been completely taken apart in this manner, and the only things left are generally the mailbox and telephone poles. She works with stone, dirt, sand, and the like, avoiding stronger mineral deposits and wood or organic materials. In the desert clay and dirt, she can move about 10 miles an hour, once fully 'submerged' - and yes, a 70 foot long dragon submerged in dirt is exactly what you want around here... right? She's hollowed out areas of the hillsides near the cemetery and road, but left all of the exterior bits intact. Along with Locust's commands and insect help, the interior of those new caverns is quite well reinforced, and almost solid concrete under the surface, giving Locust a great place to build all her little experiments and whatnot. All the tunnels are obviously large enough for a very big dragon, or large numbers of humans - she could very easily tunnel out for a Vault. Which ... may be what they're actually doing. Additionally, on the surface itself, there's very little that can stop Jewel if she's walking around. She can be quite a lot more delicate than you'd expect of such a huge dragon, if she doesn't want to destroy a building, it remains just perfectly fine, even if she stands on it. Something about her magic allows a structural stability element, that is difficult to pin down genetically - almost like a spider running around on its own web, she can just 'do' this.
Scavenger, Carnivore, Whatever, what does a dragon this size eat? Anything she wants. Well, she does prefer in that order: already dead things, whatever she encounters if it's dead already she can smell it and will certainly be attracted to carrion. Even long-dead bodies, including those in the cemetery, are open game for her appetite. Even what the Undertaker doesn't eat - she will eagerly pick up. If pressed, she'll try hunting, but there are precious few things that are available in a size that she'd be getting anything from, and she's already been told that if it's in a pen constructed by a human, or if a human's nearby a cow... it's not open game, and it is someone's pet or their own food. She doesn't care to engage Deathclaws, but she's been given free rein when it comes to enemy humans or feral ghouls, dangerous attacking supermutants, or Combine soldiers. She can and does eat other organic materials, like ... telephone poles and fence posts, but they're very low on her list, and prefers to just find bones to chew. She eats surprisingly little given her size, but her metabolism might be able to get nutrients out of some weird stuff, so she doesn't have to go looking very far for carrion, and the remains from a small battle between, say, feral ghouls and Legion troops will have a month's meal covered right there.
Tastes Awful, for any creature that's ever tried to bite her... yeah, don't. Not only will you break a tooth or beak or stinger, her carapace armor is really, really nasty to the tongue.
Parentage: Unknown, and it's also unclear how she got here. Beetlewings have supposedly, according to all other dragons from their world, been extinct for thousands of years.
Origin: Adopted from LunarSolstice981 with lines from PeregrineCella on Deviantart, WoF by Tui Sutherland
Other Info: If there's one, there may be others. Maybe the portals reached into the distant past, or perhaps there's a pocket of these large dragons still on Pantala? It's a big place, who knows.