Fallout New Vegas

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1. #1The Mojave Wastelandselective

   The Mojave Wasteland is the region synonymous with the pre-War Mojave Desert, spanning large portions of the pre-War states of California, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona. Compared to other parts of the former United States, the Mojave survived the Great War relatively unscathed. When the nuclear apocalypse began, 77 atomic warheads were launched at the city of Las Vegas and the surrounding areas, but intricate defense systems set in place by wealthy businessman Robert House resulted in 59 of the warheads forcefully disarmed mid-flight, another nine were blasted out of the sky by a laser defense system situated atop the Lucky 38 Hotel & Casino and the remaining nine hit the surrounding desert. The Mojave Wasteland's name had been coined by at least 2083, when one of its residents, Daniel Shin, was recruited into the Brotherhood of Steel by Knight Alan Connors. Nearly twenty years later, the Brotherhood First Expeditionary Force passed through the Mojave on their way to Appalachia. Jack Cabot mentions that his father Lorenzo thought there was an alien city buried under the Mojave Desert, just like Ubar in Rub' al Khali. In the years immediately following the War, the Mojave was largely ignored by the developing post-apocalyptic civilizations, such as the New California Republic in the west and Caesar's Legion to the east, thus allowing raiders, slavers and super mutants to prosper there. For years, Vegas sat at its heart, decayed by almost two centuries of neglect. When NCR scouts reached Hoover Dam with the intent of expanding the NCR's borders, pre-War Securitrons rolled out onto the old Las Vegas Strip and rallied the three tribes occupying the city, at the behest of Mr. House, the man who had saved the city centuries prior. In 2274, President Kimball sent the NCR army into the Mojave in force, with the objective of occupying and repairing Hoover Dam. With House's forces already occupying the dam and surrounding area, and the threat of Caesar's Legion looming ever closer, the NCR was forced to negotiate with House, resulting in the Treaty of New Vegas. The clauses of the treaty allow for the NCR to send 95% of Hoover Dam's power output back to their home states, as well as granting them rights to establish military bases at the Hoover Dam and McCarran Airport. In exchange, Mr. House's New Vegas Strip retains its sovereignty and could receive the tourism of NCR citizens without interference from the government as well as the remaining 5% from the dam. Shortly thereafter, combined forces of the Legion's 86 conquered tribes arrived from the east, led by Caesar and the Malpais Legate, seeking a city to call their capital. The Legion launched an attack on the dam and the NCR troops stationed there but were repelled and forced back east. Most of the credit went to Chief Hanlon for issuing a tactical retreat to Boulder City and luring the Legion into a trap laid by the NCR Rangers that leveled half of the town, then routing the surviving Legionaries back across the dam. This ultimately led to the attempted execution of the Malpais Legate. The outcome of the battle solidified the delicate balance of power in the Mojave; between the NCR, Legion, and House, should one attack the other, the third could take advantage of the conflict and attack in turn. The Mojave Wasteland has significant diversity in terms of inhabitants and landscapes. In the northwest, the super mutant and nightkin-friendly settlement of Jacobstown overlooks the valley from the snow and pine-covered mountains. To the west, the Great Khans have settled in the vibrant cliffs of Red Rock Canyon. The independent settlements of Goodsprings and Primm sit amid the encroaching New California Republic from their Mojave Outpost and the Powder Gangers, a group of escaped convicts, from the NCR Correctional Facility and surrounding camps. The forces of Caesar's Legion are slowy seeping east across the Colorado River at all possible junctures, from their mainstay at the Fort, the newly captured town of Nelson, the destroyed settlement of Nipton and Camp Searchlight, a former NCR stronghold sabotaged by means of radiation. Their forces gather strength each day, readying themselves for a second offensive against the NCR for control of the much-coveted Hoover Dam. The central region hosts tall and imposing mountain peaks with accompanying valleys, one of which shelters the remainder of the area's Brotherhood of Steel chapter. A group of deranged super mutants and nightkin have taken residence on the foremost peak of Black Mountain. The independent settlement of Novac struggles with neighbors consisting of irradiated abominations, while businesses such as the Gun Runners, Crimson Caravan Company and the 188 Trading Post traders attempt to keep commerce viable amidst the growing chaos. Fringe groups in settlements circling the middle of the region, such as the Kings and Followers of the Apocalypse in Freeside, citizens of North Vegas Square and Westside, all actively exerting their independence while supporting and sheltering those who call the neighborhoods home. In the center of it all, the glowing jewel of the desert, the New Vegas Strip's casinos light up the night sky, contently continuing business as usual by attracting those who wish to partake in the allure of riches. Yet similar to the surrounding powers that be, also quietly fortifying itself as a power against all those who may attempt to breach its walls is the secretive benefactor of the beautiful city itself. According to Chief Hanlon, the state that was once Nevada is more fertile and has more water and foliage than California, as the population in California has exploded and caused the need for expansion east in search of new opportunities and land. A large number of native and familiar species have continued to thrive in the Mojave Wasteland. A variety of birds including ravens are seen in the wastes, pecking through debris and vegetation for food. Fish are present in Lake Mead and the Colorado River. Coyotes have managed to survive in the wasteland with little to no mutation. Despite this, the Mojave wastes are still peppered with mutated species, such as bighorners, brahmin, radscorpions, night stalkers and cazadores, with the last two a result of experimentation at Big MT. Nevada agave fruit grow in abundance, as do banana yucca fruit. The ever-present radioactive fallout has still altered some of the native life, with glowing mushrooms a common sight. Snow is also present in the area. Water encountered throughout the Mojave is safer to drink and some instances are free of radiation, plant life is found consistently throughout the area and various animals are encountered on a regular basis, thriving in the mostly undisturbed lands. Because only nine warheads hit the surrounding areas around the Mojave, rebuilding society has been less challenging than in other parts of the country. Many portions of the wasteland have remained untouched by humans since the Great War (such as Vault 22 and H&H Tools Factory), while others have been resettled (such as Freeside and Novac). The pre-War buildings and factories are more intact, allowing businesses such as the Gun Runners and Michael Angelo's workshop to continue to run and operate. Technology is more well preserved, thanks to the lack of nuclear fallout, and items such as the neon signs that dot the New Vegas Strip, the monorail within Camp McCarran, or the massive generators of the Hoover Dam, have been repaired to proper working order. Everyday society is stable in some areas and not in others. While small-time traders and traveling merchants along Highway 95 and the Long 15 are able to operate, it is a fraction of what the larger and more organized traders and caravans are capable of. The larger entities have the advantages of manpower and firepower, and those that have managed to acquire pre-War technology, such as the Crimson Caravan Company, prove even more successful, some even recruited out of the region to serve with military organizations elsewhere in the pre-War United States. Super mutants are less common here than other parts of the country, and most who are residing in the area have chosen to do so in their own community of Jacobstown or the more hostile Black Mountain. Composed of remnants of the former Unity, they are considerably more intelligent than their Vault 87 and Institute cousins, though nightkin ail from severe psychological damage. Separating New Vegas from the rest of the Mojave exists a vast expanse of desert where many dangerous creatures such as deathclaws, feral ghouls and radscorpions thrive. This generally causes most travelers to traverse along NCR-controlled highways or hire mercenaries to escort them. Casinos and gambling are popular among the locals in the area, making the New Vegas Strip a popular hub of activity for merchants, caravans, NCR troopers, opportunists and everyday people wanting to hit it big at the slots. The main casinos, The Tops, Gomorrah and the Ultra-Luxe, are run by the three tribes that settled in New Vegas. Each has its own personal rules and customs, other than the universal rule against carrying weapons into their casinos, and are overseen by Mr. House and his Securitrons. Politics play a large role in the society of the Mojave. Politics in the region boils down to three major powers: the NCR, Caesar's Legion and the Free Economic Zone of New Vegas controlled by Mr. House. The NCR is finding its war with Caesar's Legion both increasingly unpopular back in California and expensive to fund. Caravans and merchants heading to and from the Mojave deal with exorbitant taxes and fees imposed on them by the NCR. Caesar's Legion is coming ever closer to finding out what happens when their absolute ruler, and god, finally passes away and is facing the question of what truly unified the Legion in the first place, Caesar's ideals or Caesar himself. The casinos on the Strip have their own agendas and Mr. House has his own mysterious plans for the Mojave and more specifically, the Strip. The NCR's goal in the region is to annex the Strip as an NCR territory and completely settle the region as NCR land. Many NCR soldiers and former soldiers, such as Craig Boone, believe this is not possible until the NCR takes the fight to the Legion and takes out Caesar himself; only then will the NCR be an unchallenged power in the region and able to safely settle without danger of constant attack. This sentiment is brought on by the commanding officer in the region, General Lee Oliver, constantly ordering his forces to hold the line, despite objections from his subordinates such as Chief Hanlon, Colonel James Hsu and Major Dhatri. They feel that the position the general is putting them all in, holding the line against the Fiends, ordering Chief Hanlon not to pursue the Legion at the First Battle of Hoover Dam or ordering the NCR Rangers into a support role when they have more skill than the NCR's heavy troopers, are racking a higher body count than would actively pursuing an offensive campaign against these opposing entities, which each one feels the NCR is capable of doing. The Legion's goal is to make the Strip its new capital, replacing Flagstaff to the southeast. It also desires complete control of Hoover Dam as it is a strategic position to defend and a source of clean water. They are less interested in the power the plant provides as they reject advanced technology, believing it a crutch rather than a tool to be used. The Legion, despite a devastating defeat at the First Battle of Hoover Dam, has once again emerged from the east and actively attacks NCR outposts and camps from its base at Cottonwood Cove. Camp Forlorn Hope is an excellent example of how the Legion has regained strength, as they took the nearby city of Nelson and repeatedly assault the camp, lowering morale among the camp's inhabitants. Once the Legion takes a position, they seem to be able to hold it effectively, without much resistance. This is the opposite of the NCR, which is constantly losing footholds in positions in the eastern Mojave. Meanwhile, Mr. House fortifies his position on the Strip, letting the conflict between the NCR and the Legion play out. He believes that the fewer soldiers of each organization who try to impede his progress at the next battle of Hoover Dam, the better. He patiently bides his time, waiting to exploit vulnerabilities generated by one faction attacking the other as a constant backdrop of distant explosions, artillery and gunfire can be heard regularly throughout the region.

2. #2Slaveryselective

   Keys: Slavery

   Slavery is a term referring to the owning of another person as property, typically for the purposes of exploitation as labor. Although largely extinct by the 21st century, it was reborn in the wake of the Great War, becoming the foundation of many wasteland economies, over two thousand years after Rome built an empire on the backs of slaves. The Brotherhood of Steel does not believe in forcing anyone to serve the order against their will. Accusing them of slavery is considered a particularly severe insult. The New California Republic explicitly banned slavery within its territories by 2241, with its standing police force committed to arresting any slavers within its borders, much like any raider, cannibal or lawless mutant.

3. #3The House

   Keys: Mr. House, Robert Edwin House

   Robert House was born on June 25, 2020, and grew up around Las Vegas, Nevada, but was orphaned at the age of two when his parents died in a freak accident involving an autogyro and a lightning strike. Cheated out of his inheritance by his half-brother, Anthony, he nevertheless managed to achieve attendance to the Commonwealth Institute of Technology and later went on to found RobCo Industries in 2042, at the age of 22. Under Robert's leadership, it soon became one of the most profitable corporations in the world, owing mostly to the young House's considerable technical genius and business acumen, regarded by his peers with envy and by the tabloids as the nation's most infamously eccentric businessman. House himself claims that at age 30, just eight years after his company's founding, he had amassed a net worth of at least 30 billion dollars.

   Through his considerable wealth and power, Robert gained controlling interests in a myriad of other businesses, among them REPCONN Aerospace, the Lucky 38 Hotel & Casino on Las Vegas Boulevard, and the H&H Tools Company, the family business that would have been his before being usurped by his half-brother (although the factory on the outskirts of Vegas was still under the elder House's control in 2077). However, along with Robert's fame came a level of scrutiny over elements of his peculiar personality. A scandal emerged when he dated a starlet, but their private time was only ever spent with him scanning her brain and making her dress in different outfits, a story that captured the interest of foreign tabloids like El Periódico de las Aburridas.

   Another use of House's time while running his company was regularly designing and running mathematical paradigms based on global political and socioeconomic conditions in an effort to predict future events. By 2065, these projections led him to the inexorable conclusion that the world would be engulfed in a nuclear war within fifteen years.

   His calculations of an inevitable nuclear exchange were later confirmed during a secret meeting with high ranking American corporate executives Barb Howard, Frederick Sinclair, Bud Askins, Julia Masters, and Leon Von Felden, where Howard indicated Vault-Tec was willing to detonate the bombs themselves to ensure their profits. House expressed that he had an issue with the Vaults, positing that people confined in tight quarters for a long time will destroy each other, and wondered whether Vault Dwellers would live longer than anyone who survived on the surface.

   Armed with his knowledge of the nukes, House devoted the duration of it making preparations to ensure the city of Las Vegas would survive the apocalypse and that he would live to see the world after the war. While the primary goal of his countermeasures was to disable incoming nuclear warheads, House included contingencies for directly destroying any that managed to get through. As for House himself, he took equally drastic steps to pave his way to the world of the future: placing his physical body, itself enhanced, within a life-support device, removing House the mortal man from the world permanently. while his brain was wired directly into his vast information network via an enormous supercomputer.

   Integral to the successful execution of House's plans was the platinum chip, containing a vital OS upgrade for his Securitrons and the laser defense network. The chip was to be delivered in the afternoon of October 23, 2077, but a miscalculation of mere hours by House prevented its arrival in time. 20 hours before the chip's scheduled delivery, the Great War occurred, resulting in the chip being lost in the ruins for the next 200 years.

   Forced to work with an inferior OS, House endured numerous system crashes yet ultimately was able to protect Las Vegas from most, but not all of the nuclear warheads aimed at the city. The strain on his systems however nearly ruined everything House had worked towards, but he persevered in the end. Even so, still forced to rely on the downgraded software over the course of the coming 200 years, House was in almost constant battle with inefficient systems, frequent crashes, and even a long span of several decades left in a coma, allowing the remains of Vegas to be picked over by the wasteland it sat in. But Mr. House would not fall, instead fated to rise eventually.

   House regained consciousness from his coma in 2138. Instead of immediately revealing himself, he opted instead to wait for certain signs and bided his time. Eventually, he entered the world stage once again in 2274, when Securitrons under his command emerged from the Lucky 38. This action was prompted by the detection of New California Republic scouts arriving at Hoover Dam. In order to establish his rule, he enlisted the help of three of the raider tribes who had descended from Vault dwellers and were now living in the ruins of Vegas.[Non-game 3] These Vault tribes were later renamed as the Three Families: the Chairmen, the Omertas, and the White Glove Society, they rebuilt the city under House's guidance, establishing it as the Free Economic Zone of New Vegas and styling himself as its president, CEO and sole proprietor, just in time to welcome the arrival of the New California Republic Army's advance forces. In exchange for help with Hoover Dam and permission to use the defunct McCarran International Airport as its headquarters, House signed the New Vegas Treaty, ensuring cooperation from NCR and, for a time, protecting the Strip from annexation. Those tribes who did not become the Three Families were scattered, some became the area's locals and later the Kings of Freeside, while the Great Khans were forced out of Vegas.

   Mr. House is a very reclusive individual, although this is largely due to his fragile physical state, which forces him to remain sealed in the Lucky 38 control room. His unwillingness to allow his life's work to be ruined by the folly of what he perceives as an increasingly unstable world has cemented, in his mind, the fate of democracy and human civilization itself. His contempt for most post-apocalyptic institutions, from bottle caps[31] to the various factions, stems from what he perceives as humanity's inability to learn from its past mistakes.

   Mr. House seeks to restore New Vegas to its pre-War glory as a crown jewel of technological innovation and a bright neon paradise of business and fortune. Having experienced pre-War Vegas first-hand, he has long been enamored with the city's beauty and grandeur. His vision of autocracy and disillusionment with democratic society stems from his resentment towards the attitudes and actions of the increasingly desperate pre-War United States, whose decline was precipitated by the failure to adequately research and develop alternative technologies. His ultimate goal is to guide civilization's progress and forge a new future for mankind, free of the corrupting influences of the past.

   His own strategies and decisions are largely based on mathematical calculations, and he is confident in his own ability to succeed. He styles himself as an "autocrat," viewing New Vegas as his rightful dominion, and is dismissive of other factions vying for control, comparing them to "two snarling dogs fighting over a curve of bone." He further disparages both groups as nothing more than "regurgitations of the past" drawing parallels between the two as attempts to revive past civilizations rather than offer a palpable future. He derides the NCR as a "society of customers" led by scheming leaders who wish to take Vegas out from under him, while showing disgust at the Legion's practice of slavery, technophobia and general brutality.[33] Nevertheless, he vastly prefers the NCR to the Legion, viewing the NCR as a possible long-term business partner while understanding that the Legion does not tolerate what they cannot control, and thus, while maintaining a facade of neutrality, actively plans for an NCR victory in the Mojave: just one on his terms with an Independent Vegas.

4. #4NCR, New California Republicselective

   Keys: NCR, New California Republic

   The New California Republic (NCR) is a post-War federal republic founded in New California in 2189. It is comprised of five contiguous states located in southern California, with additional territorial holdings in northern California, Oregon, and Nevada. Considering itself an inheritor to pre-War values of democracy, personal liberty and rule of law, the NCR has developed a highly expansionist as well as imperialist culture, undertaking colonization efforts and military expeditions into neighboring regions in order to "civilize" them. However, these policies are not without controversy, and by 2281, many within and outside the NCR have come to criticize it as hawkish and prone to corruption.

5. #5Followers of the Apocalypseselective

   Keys: Followers of the Apocalypse

   The Followers of the Apocalypse, or simply the Followers, are a humanitarian organization originating in New California. Followers focus on providing education and medical services to those in need, as well as furthering research in non-military areas. Once allies of the New California Republic, they have since parted ways due to disagreements over NCR foreign policy. Forgoing preaching in favor of humanitarianism, the Followers are generally welcomed by the inhabitants of the wasteland. Wherever they go, the Followers seek to provide services to those in need, namely medical care and agricultural instruction. Those in positions of power often regard them as seditious anarchists; though such accusations are not entirely without truth, the organization as a whole has no interest in seizing power. The Followers of the Apocalypse readily assist those who require aid and welcome anyone who wishes to join their ranks, including former members of the Enclave, Brotherhood of Steel, or just about any other faction. Although pacifists by nature, the Followers will not hesitate to defend themselves against attackers and will take up arms against those who threaten their ideals. Oftentimes they will be seen with hired guards adding much-needed protection and firepower to their organization.

6. #6Caesar's Legionselective

   Keys: Caesar's Legion

   Caesar's Legion (Latin: Legio Caesaris), also referred to simply as The Legion, is an imperialistic slaver society and totalitarian dictatorship founded in 2247 by Edward "Caesar" Sallow and Joshua Graham, built on the conquest and enslavement of tribal societies in the American southwest. To enforce unity in the absence of any civilian institutions, the Legion loosely models itself after the military of the Roman Empire, repurposing its language and aesthetics for the post-apocalypse. As of 2281, the Legion controls large amounts of territory east of the Colorado River, primarily in the former states of Arizona and New Mexico, with footholds in Utah and Colorado. Worshipped as the "son of Mars" by his followers, Caesar's ultimate goal is to conquer the New California Republic and merge its civil institutions and infrastructure with the military strength of the Legion, creating a new totalitarian empire. The Legion proper is first and foremost a slave army, the sole owner of which is Caesar. As Caesar conquers the peoples of the wasteland, he strips them of their tribal identities and merges them into his forces. There is no other tribe than the Legion itself. The non-tribal people who live in Legion-controlled territory are not considered legionaries. They are subjects of the Legion, living in the cities and towns under its control, and are generally left free to do whatever they wish, as long as they do not interfere with Legion operations or endanger its position. The Legion employs a very strict hierarchy and clear division of roles between the sexes. Legionaries are the main fighting force of the Legion, composed of able-bodied men enslaved by the Legion or born into it. They have only one purpose: to fight for Caesar until they fall in battle. This principle is imprinted into each legionary during his reconditioning or upbringing (for those born into slavery), creating fanatically loyal soldiers. Unlike the Roman Empire, experience and veteran status have no bearing on a legionary's position. While they receive better equipment as they advance, this is solely for the purpose of accomplishing more dangerous and complex tasks, with much smaller tolerance for failure. They have no personal freedoms or rights. Their only real choice is where and when they die for Caesar, to whom they are disposable tools, discarded the moment they stop fulfilling their purpose. Women are expressly forbidden from fighting, being considered breeding stock as well as being treated as money to be rewarded among Legionaries. They are caretakers, healers, midwives, and breeders, fulfilling roles essential to maintaining the Legion's continuous campaign of expansion. Of particular note are the priestesses, who raise children taken from their parents and raise them in keeping with Caesar's doctrine. While some members of the Legion express condescending or misogynistic opinions of women and their non-combat roles, the sexist segregation of genders in the Legion is not based on prejudice, but the principle of minimax. Caesar strictly divides the duties between the sexes in order to fully utilize their potential and optimize the Legion's might. By forbidding women from engaging in combat, he increases the likelihood of their bearing of children, especially necessary due to the high infant mortality resulting from the low level of medical care. Population growth is required for expansion, providing a greater number of warriors to use in military campaigns. Caesar himself is not particularly prejudiced against any sex, or rather, treats them both instrumentally, like pawns on a chessboard. In order to maximize breeding and eliminate factors that might lower it, Caesar has decreed homosexuality a capital offense and mandated child quotas from all legionaries. The vocabulary of Legion members is a mixture of Latin and English. There was no soft ⟨c⟩ in classical Latin, where it was always pronounced as /k/, such as in their pronunciation of Caesar's name as /ˈkaisar/. Individuals outside of the Legion generally use the Modern English pronunciation of /ˈsiːzər/. Legion members are fastidious about classical Latin pronunciations, including the /v/ to (w) phonology, heard in the greeting "ave" (hail) as "ah-wey" or in how Vulpes Inculta introduces himself, pronouncing his first name as "wool-pes." Those outside of the Legion that have come in contact with them may use the pronunciations interchangeably. Legion members are called "legionaries" (as opposed to "legionnaires," which is a modern phrase used by the French Foreign Legion. Those who are liked by the Legion are called "amicus," Latin for comrade/friend. The focus of the Legion's ideology is survival and long term stability at all costs. Caesar disregards democracies as ineffective, fostering corruption, and disintegration. Ancient Rome was a militarized autocracy that effectively assimilated the cultures it conquered, which he saw as the perfect template for a society that would survive and thrive in the face of the challenges of the post-nuclear world. By dedicating its members to a higher ideal, he seeks to prevent humanity from fracturing and destroying itself again. He believes that the only way to achieve this is through enforcing a nationalist, imperialist, totalitarian, homogeneous culture that obliterates the identity of every group it conquers. The individual has no value beyond his utility to the state, whether as an instrument of war or production. A natural consequence of this is the emphasis placed on personal sacrifice. Victory cannot be achieved without sacrificing blood and life. To this end, the Legion shuns robots, as they firmly believe that mankind requires warriors and their sacrifice, rather than gadgets that allow for bloodless victories. The Legion also forbids painkillers and other chems (including medically beneficial chems like stimpaks) as detrimental to the human condition and Caesar's long-term plans to reshape humanity. Ignorance of medical science among the legionaries also ensures that only the hardiest will survive and go on to become deadly veterans. Politically, this philosophy is expressed in a general disdain for democracy as a weak and ineffective system that fosters disunity, greed, and self-interest at the expense of the collective and the greater good. Caesar cites the NCR as an example, focusing on government corruption by wealthy brahmin barons and landowners, greed permeating every level of society, all leading to the abandonment of the collective and the greater good. The Legion is intended to be the Republic's opposite, shunning democracy in favor of a strong, centralized rule that would prevent fragmentation and internal weakness. The conquest of NCR will establish a new order, akin to the Roman Empire, complete with the transformation of the Legion from a marauding army into a domestic military force.

7. #7Brotherhood of Steel

   Keys: Brotherhood of Steel

   The Brotherhood of Steel (commonly abbreviated to BoS) is a post-War technology-focused paramilitary order with chapters operating across the territory of the former United States. Founded by rogue U.S. Army officer Captain Roger Maxson shortly after the Great War, the Brotherhood's core purpose is to preserve advanced technology and regulate its usage. Despite often being relatively isolationist, the Brotherhood has proved to be one of the most important organizations in the history of the wasteland, though their exact levels of power and influence have varied over time and by chapter. In 2076, the NBC division of West Tek achieved breakthrough results in the Pan-Immunity Virion Project. The United States Defense Department, fearing international espionage, moved a military team under the command of Colonel Robert Spindel and Captain Roger Maxson onto the site to secure and oversee the project, now dubbed the FEV (Forced Evolutionary Virus) project. On January 7, 2077, all FEV research was moved to the newly constructed Mariposa Military Base to commence testing of the virus on human subjects. The security team was transferred to the newly constructed base as well, to provide protection for the research going on within the facility. They were not informed of the nature of the research. The situation unraveled shortly before October 10, 2077. The soldiers stationed at Mariposa discovered the fact that the scientists under their care were performing experiments with the Forced Evolutionary Virus on military prisoners. The revelation prompted a nervous breakdown in Colonel Spindel, who locked himself in his office. Captain Maxson was the only officer left to handle the deteriorating situation. Soldiers were screaming for blood and the whole situation was at risk of devolving into a bloodbath. On October 12, when Maxson had to step in to prevent one of his subordinates from killing a member of the science team, he ordered interrogations of the science team under his authority as acting commander. He hoped to prevent a full mutiny by offering his troops a semblance of justice. The first scientist was brought before Maxson a day later, on October 13. Chief Researcher Robert Anderson explained that human experiments at the facility were sanctioned by the government. He outlined the program to the captain, emphasizing the fact that it was the government that ordered it. When Maxson refused to believe him, the scientist lost his nerve and started screaming how he was just following orders and that he was a military man just like Maxson. The captain shot him in response. He rationalized it as trying to prevent a full-scale mutiny, but even he did not believe it. The killing of Robert Anderson effectively established Maxson as the leader of the rebellion. His position was further reinforced just two days later on October 15, when he attempted to speak to Colonel Spindel through the door of his office. It soon became clear that the colonel had lost touch with reality, so Maxson and several of his men broke down the door just in time to hear the colonel apologize and shoot himself. Subsequent scientist interrogations invariably ended in executions. Erin Shellman held out the longest by October 18, finally convincing the captain that the experiments were really ordered by the government with her detailed account. On October 20, 2077, Captain Maxson declared his unit in full secession from the United States over the radio, attempting to force the government to respond to the situation at Mariposa. No response came. A day later, he ordered the families of soldiers under his command to take shelter within the facility. On October 23, 2077, the Great War struck. As Maxson was halfway through prying the story from Head Researcher Leon Von Felden, the facility lost contact with the outside world as nuclear weapons started to drop. Spared the nuclear devastation, Mariposa protected the inhabitants from nuclear fallout flooding the wasteland. Fearing that China would soon make up for the oversight, on October 24, Maxson ordered his soldiers and their families to prepare to vacate the base the next day. On October 25, Sergeant Platner volunteered to take atmospheric readings outside the base. Reporting no significant amounts of radiation in the atmosphere, final preparations for the Exodus were undertaken. On October 26, Maxson ordered the remains of the scientists to be buried in the wastes outside the base. A day later, on October 27, former US servicemen and their families left the base under the lead of Captain Roger Maxson, heading for the Lost Hills government bunker in the south. In November, a few weeks later, war refugees arrived at the bunker. The people suffered casualties along the way, as while the soldiers were protected by T-51 power armor, their families had no armor to speak of. Marauders that attacked the caravan quickly learned to target the unprotected civilians. Though the attackers paid with two lives for every one they took, many were lost, including Roger Maxson's wife but not his teenage son. Several soldiers broke off during the Exodus as well, led by Sergeant Dennis Allen. Ignoring warnings from Captain Maxson and defying the group's will, Allen's faction separated from the convoy in order to excavate the remains of the West Tek Research Facility using their power armor. They were never heard from again. Around 2151, the Brotherhood sent out knights to seek out Allen's group or its remains. All they found were desolate ruins. The Exodus survivors claimed the Lost Hills bunker as their own. The refugees expanded and adapted it to fit their own needs, becoming a bastion of technology in a world that has lost centuries of technological development overnight. Using surviving satellite connections, Maxson reached out across the continent, broadcasting a request for contact. By chance, Maxson found an old friend in Appalachia, Lieutenant Elizabeth Taggerdy of the US Army Rangers. Although initially hesitant to trust him, due to the public declaration of secession, she gambled and left the channel open. As Maxson revealed the depth of atrocities perpetrated by the United States government, Taggerdy's faith in the system was shaken, then dismantled. Following the winter spent at Camp Venture, she joined Maxson's banner. Witnessing how people around him slowly succumbed to depression, Captain Maxson formulated a new ideology for the survivors. It took him years to create it, replacing the tarnished Stars and Stripes with new symbols, new ranks, and new ideas to replace the ones scorched in nuclear fire. They would provide meaning for people before they became lost in the depths of despair after losing their friends, family, and their entire world. Although some under his command, particularly Lieutenant Taggerdy, were skeptical of his plans, Maxson believed that the way forward lay in new traditions and a new mythology, free of the burden of the past. He also believed that it would prevent any surviving politicians from exercising their authority over former American soldiers, especially those with an agenda that involved burning Americans on the funeral pyre of the regime. By June 20, 2082, all members under his command switched over to using Brotherhood ranks and practices. The Brotherhood kept growing in New California, welcoming into its ranks a National Guard unit that was formerly stationed near Mariposa. They acquired several bunkers and sent expeditions as far as the Mojave Wasteland, gathering intelligence and new recruits. As the Brotherhood in New California developed, so did its sister organization in Appalachia under Paladin Taggerdy. Although she showed a bias towards candidates with a military background while building up the ranks, she eventually understood Roger Maxson's vision and continued to expand and develop the organization using Camp Venture as a training outpost. Despite initial resistance to the new rank system by the rest in her outfit, the new ideas offered by Maxson eventually took root and were accepted. In Appalachia, the Brotherhood's insistence on acquiring munitions for their fighting against mutants led to ruffled feathers, especially with the Responders prior to the Christmas Flood in December 2082. However, they eventually found a common tongue, standing together during the Battle of Huntersville in May 2086. Although the Brotherhood sustained losses, it prevailed. This coincided with the announcement of a new mandate by Roger Maxson at Lost Hills: to gather, record, and save the collective knowledge of mankind for future generations, to act as a catalyst for the rebirth of civilization in time. Some in Appalachia responded to this new policy with enthusiasm, others with grudging acceptance, and yet others, like Hank Madigan, left the Brotherhood to join the Responders. The new mission quickly took a backseat, however, as the Appalachian Brotherhood encountered the scorchbeasts and the Scorched in the Cranberry Bog. Conferring with Maxson's ace researcher at Lost Hills, Scribe Hailey Takano, the Brotherhood in Appalachia quickly calculated that the scorchbeasts represented a potential extinction event for humanity. Lost Hills supplied a number of designs and weapon schematics to help stem the tide, including a sonic generator and an automated research program. Taggerdy pleaded with Maxson to grant her team permission to use nuclear weapons against the scorchbeasts but was forbidden by him because he found the concept of using nuclear weapons, even to help fight the scorchbeasts, to be too morally abhorrent after their world was destroyed by nukes. By the 2090s, communication between Lost Hills and Appalachia was on steady decline due to failing Old World communication infrastructure. Before being cut off, Maxson ordered Taggerdy to hold the tide, and proscribed the use of nuclear weapons. Eventually, the communications failed entirely, separating Lost Hills from Appalachia. The chapter in Appalachia fought on, trying to destroy the scorchbeasts through attrition, but by 2093, their numbers dwindled to the point where they were forced to close down Camp Venture, their first base, and focus their remaining forces at Fort Defiance and Thunder Mountain Power Plant. Declining support from the Responders and the constant fighting just to stem the tide of the Scorched and their masters took their toll, preventing the Brotherhood from completing the automated research program at Vault-Tec University, supplied to them by Takano. Eventually, the Brotherhood launched Operation Touchdown. This last ditch effort was launched in January 2095 and briefly stemmed the tide at the cost of the entire strike force, which included Knight Moreno and Paladin Taggerdy. Ultimately, the Brotherhood in Appalachia was wiped out in their last stand at Fort Defiance and Thunder Mountain on August 18-19, 2095, marking the end of the original Brotherhood in Appalachia. However, by 2103, a small group of reinforcements arrived on their way from Lost Hills to examine various centers of technology across the country, expand the Brotherhood across the East Coast, and find out what happened to Taggerdy. Known as the Brotherhood First Expeditionary Force, they were led by Leila Rahmani and Daniel Shin and were to set up base in Fort Atlas in Appalachia. The team also had a scribe named Odessa Valdez. While Maxson's motive was sincere, wishing to find out what happened to his friend Taggerdy, Rahmani became certain the Council of Elders had an ulterior motive: to remove her influence and meddling as she would often argue over their ways. Along their hike across the country, the expedition found a town under threat by raiders. Wanting to assist them, Rahmani and Shin agreed to providing the townsfolk with weapons to help defend them. Unfortunately, the raiders were able to steal the guns and kill the townsfolk. During the assault, the Brotherhood lost one of their valued members, Alan Connors, and obtained two young refugee siblings who lost their parents, Marcia and Maximo Leone. This incident would set off a division between Rahmani and Shin, with Shin wanting himself and Rahmani to stand trial with the Council of Elders. Upon arriving in Appalachia, the group was dismayed to discover that Taggerdy's Brotherhood was wiped out by the scorchbeasts, with Vernon Dodge being the only known survivor. Rahmani decided that in order to establish the Brotherhood's presence in the region, the organization needed to cooperate with Appalachia's other factions, particularly the settlement of Foundation. Shin became skeptical of Rahmani's choices, particularly her desire to delay the re-establishment of contact with the elders in Lost Hills. Rahmani and Shin dealt with numerous conflicts, including Meg Groberg's raiders, battles against super mutants, and a plan to infect the water cycle with FEV orchestrated by a driven scientist. During a mission to explore an Enclave research facility, Rahmani, feeling that the elders from Lost Hills were a hindrance in her ideals of establishing the Brotherhood as a peacekeeping force, destroyed the radio transmitter, which infuriated Shin. As a result, there is no confirmation of the Brotherhood in Appalachia re-establishing contact with the Brotherhood in California, as well as their status post-2105. In 2135, Roger Maxson died of cancer. Already a legendary figure to the Brotherhood, he was essentially deified as the Founder and Deliverer. His son, Maxson II, replaced him as the high elder, while his grandson, John Maxson, joined the paladin caste, showing great promise. Around 2141, the Brotherhood ceased admitting new members from the outside, relying solely on their natural growth for increasing their numbers. The Brotherhood was a major power in the region at this point, firmly exercising their control on the lands surrounding their bunker and forming trade relations with the neighboring towns, especially the Hub. However, the focus on hard sciences gave in to the detriment of humanities, history in particular. This decline in soft sciences eventually led to some initiates of the youngest generations having no idea who Roger Maxson was. In 2150, they clashed with the newly reformed Vipers. The battles intensified in subsequent years, culminating in the death of High Elder Maxson II in 2155. John Maxson's father expected the raiders to break formation and flee when faced with Brotherhood warriors clad in powered armor, but did not account for their religious ferocity. A poisoned arrow nicked him when his helmet was off, and he died within hours. John Maxson was promoted to the elder council, while Rhombus was tasked with conducting a campaign of extermination against the Vipers. The paladins tracked down and wiped out almost all of their members within the span of a month. A handful of Vipers were able to flee north and east into the mountain range; while small groups continued to exist and raid in New California, they never regained their full power. Both Rhombus and John Maxson would eventually ascend to leadership roles, with John Maxson becoming the high elder in 2159 and promoting Rhombus to the role of head paladin. During the campaign, the Brotherhood sent a few scouts and emissaries to the Hub to track down Vipers members, and from these beginnings, the Hub and the Brotherhood began full trade relations. Caravans had delivered to the Brotherhood before, but not long after the destruction of the Vipers, caravan trains ran directly from the Hub to the Brotherhood on a regular basis. While the situation remained peaceful and prosperous, issues would develop between the Hub and the Brotherhood from time to time. In the late 2150s, the water merchants of the Hub attempted to barter a large quantity of water for a weapons stockpile. Although the Brotherhood turned down the offer, the merchants attempted to take the weapons regardless. The thieves were caught, but the Brotherhood elders voted down a retaliatory expedition. In 2161, the Brotherhood discovered the presence of a new enemy. In October, a group of knights on a patrol in the badlands discovered a dead super mutant. After examining the creature, Head Scribe Vree determined that it was sterile, but also notes that there must have been a central location that created these mutants. The elder council, fearing a potential invasion, enacted several security decrees, including a moratorium on training new recruits until the threat passed. The elders also sent out several scouts north and east into the badlands. Only one returned from the east, reporting an encounter with twenty super mutants, and none at all returned from the north. The council could not reach an agreement on how to act. Even as Hub merchant caravans started disappearing in the northern wastes, the elders refused to act until they were fully certain that there was an army massing in the northern mountains. The impasse was broken by the arrival of the Vault Dweller. Having rescued a Brotherhood initiate from bandits in the Hub, the Vault Dweller visited the Brotherhood and accepted the mission to the Glow, to recover the disk belonging to Sergeant Dennis Allen to learn the fate of the splinter faction from the Mariposa Rebellion. The Vault Dweller surprised everyone by surviving and returning with the artifact. They became the first outsider to join the Brotherhood in nearly twenty years. The Brotherhood shared what knowledge they had and some of their advanced technology with the Vault Dweller, allowing them to seek out the Master and destroy him in the Boneyard. Following the death of the super mutant leader, the Brotherhood further aided the Vault Dweller's quest, sending a team of crack assault paladins to storm Mariposa. Following the destruction of the Unity, the Brotherhood aided other human settlements to drive the mutants away with minimal loss of life on both sides of the conflict. The Brotherhood remained out of the power structure for a time, becoming a major research and development house by reintroducing advanced technology into New California at a slow pace. The wise guidance of Rhombus arguably brought the Brotherhood to the zenith of its power. The Brotherhood had good relations with the developing New California Republic, to the point that one of the states of the federation was named after the founder of the Brotherhood: Maxson. However, Lost Hills was never incorporated into the NCR. Over the years, the Brotherhood grew confident in its status as the sole source of advanced technology left to mankind, and allowed its prominence and influence to wane, growing stagnant. This stagnancy made them unable to deal with the technologically superior Enclave, when the Brotherhood learned of their existence circa 2240. In order to learn more about them, the Brotherhood reactivated a network of outposts in Northern California to observe Enclave activity. Thanks to their low profile, they achieved practical anonymity, even in the populous San Francisco. Once the Enclave was apparently destroyed by the Chosen One, the Brotherhood was without a foe to face. In an effort to end the stagnation, the Brotherhood expanded eastward (including the formation of the Mojave chapter under Elder Elijah) and sent out expeditions to recover technology, going as far as the Capital Wasteland in 2255, with the expedition under Senior Paladin Owyn Lyons. The Brotherhood's presence in the east suffered a further setback when Elder Owyn Lyons, head of the Capital Wasteland division, refused a direct order from the Lost Hills Elder Council, confirming their suspicions that he had gone rogue and was no longer pursuing the original mission. In response, the Brotherhood completely shut off communications to Lyons' division and denied them any reinforcements. By 2277, the Brotherhood was well-established in the Capital Wasteland with their headquarters at the Citadel in Washington D.C. under the leadership of Owyn Lyons. The Enclave, however, wanted to control Project Purity for themselves, leading to a conflict between the Brotherhood and the Enclave, culminating in the Battle of Project Purity. The Brotherhood were able to prevent the Enclave's assault using a giant fighting robot called Liberty Prime. Although this was a short-term boon for the East Coast Brotherhood, changes were on the horizon for the restorationists under Lyons. The key blow to the organization came with the death of Owyn Lyons circa 2278 and the loss of now-Elder Sarah Lyons later that same year. With the seat of power emptied, the remaining Brotherhood members elected multiple ineffectual leaders. Meanwhile, the adolescent Squire Arthur Maxson matured into a capable warrior and tactician, eventually defeating Shepherd, the new warboss of the Capital Wasteland super mutants, in 2282. This feat earned him a provisional leadership position. In fact, this position was bestowed by West Coast elders, who revealed that they still monitored their errant brethren. Maxson's position solidified in 2283, when he negotiated a treaty with the Brotherhood Outcasts, bringing them back into the fold and reforming the entire organization, abandoning Lyons' doctrine. Lyons' Brotherhood became a distant memory as Maxson restored the original mission of the Brotherhood of Steel. While some members found this distasteful and left, many still remained, proud to serve a refocused Brotherhood. Maxson became leader of the Brotherhood's Eastern branch, setting it on a new, more authoritarian path. Around this same time, the Brotherhood began constructing a massive airship known as the Prydwen at the conquered former Enclave facility of Adams Air Force Base; the ship began full operation in 2282. In California, the rampant expansionism of the New California Republic would eventually lead to a collision course with the Brotherhood. As the NCR's power grew, the Brotherhood adopted a policy of reclaiming technology from people outside the order, energy weapons most of all. The disagreements over the way technology should be handled eventually resulted in a full-out war with the New California Republic. The Brotherhood was eventually forced into a retreat. At least six Brotherhood bunkers were lost to the NCR, four of them destroyed by the Brotherhood themselves in a last-ditch attempt to deny them to the enemy. The most well-known confrontation occurred during the NCR's Operation: Sunburst in 2276. Under Elder Elijah's leadership, the Mojave chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel was operating out of the solar power plant of HELIOS One when the NCR launched an attack. The NCR's numerical superiority over the Brotherhood, coupled with Elder Elijah's immense reluctance to leave Helios, allowed the NCR to overwhelm the defenders, leading to the loss of over half the chapter. The Mojave chapter of the Brotherhood was considered effectively neutralized. The Mojave chapter went under lockdown following their defeat at HELIOS One and the retreat to Hidden Valley. Despite their victory over the Brotherhood, the war would cost the NCR dearly. Apart from losses in manpower and materiel, the greatest victim of the war was the NCR's economy. The NCR's gold reserves were completely destroyed by Brotherhood raids: new gold coins could not be minted and paper money could not be properly backed with gold. NCR citizens panicked and rushed to reclaim the listed face value of currency from the NCR's remaining gold reserves. Since the NCR was unable to realize these withdrawals, particularly towards the frontier, faith in their currency considerably dropped. To protect against an actual economic collapse, the NCR government abandoned the gold standard and established fiat currency, not payable in specie. Since then, many wastelanders lost faith in it as a medium of worth, both as a result of it not being backed by anything but the government's word and the inevitable inflation. In response to the loss of faith, merchant consortiums of the Hub established their own currency, the veritable bottle cap, backing it with a standardized measure of water. After discovering advanced signals originating from the Institute, the Prydwen traveled to the Commonwealth. The Brotherhood established its headquarters at Boston Airport. The vessel serves multiple roles for the Brotherhood, including those of aircraft carrier, command center, clinic, personnel quarters, equipment maintenance bay and research facility. n plotting a course to find, access and destroy the Institute, Elder Maxson determined the first initiative to be repairing Liberty Prime back to working order. The Brotherhood is still active in the Los Angeles region around the year 2296. They also have their own airship, the Caswennan, which appears to be similar to the Prydwen. The Brotherhood is a military order with a strictly enforced hierarchy and chain of command. At the foundation of the hierarchy lies the Chain That Binds doctrine. It mandates obedience to one's superiors and forbids circumventing ranks when giving orders. Superiors may only give orders to their direct subordinates, but not their subordinate's subordinates. Although intended to ensure the cohesion of command, the doctrine has been generally interpreted as a simple mandate of obedience within the order, with the order flow requirements ignored, abandoned, or altered in practice. However, it does provide a technicality that can be invoked to relieve members of their rank, up to and including elders. Roger Maxson's goals in inventing a new tradition and mythology for the Brotherhood were two-fold. First, they would ensure that members of the Brotherhood would be stripped of their ties to the pre-War military and government, ensuring that any surviving general or politician would not be able to invoke their oaths and use them to unleash nuclear devastation on the world again (as was the case with Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Eckhart in Appalachia). Second, it would give the survivors an idea to believe in, something they could dedicate themselves to, and find meaning in their lives after the nuclear war. The inspiration came from the fall of the western Roman Empire when the knights and scribes kept the fire of civilization going after the empire imploded. As a rule, most Brotherhood chapters do not have an internal economy and allocate resources based on need, including weapons, armor, and even augmentations. Outside recruits are a special case: While they will receive basic equipment (such as Brotherhood armor and weekly allotment of ammunition), and an allotment of rations to maintain their health, they must serve for ten years before the Brotherhood will provide its most advanced services without charge. Higher-ranking members may bypass this requirement and allocate equipment at their discretion, for example, to reward services rendered to the Brotherhood or provide tools necessary for a mission. All equipment beyond personal items is issued by the Brotherhood and carefully tracked by serial number, especially weapons. The Brotherhood has several distinct classes that define a member's standing in the Brotherhood social structure, with a strict hierarchy distinguishing each member's position. The Brotherhood is egalitarian in nature, with male and female members both being able to rise up to any rank. At the Brotherhood's foundation, however, the women of the Brotherhood were also called "Brothers" instead of "Sisters," which would not carry over to the East Coast chapter. The beliefs of the Brotherhood were shaped by the experiences of Roger Maxson at Mariposa Military Base and in the aftermath of the Great War. At first, the Brotherhood focused on aiding survivors to the best of its ability, acting as an armed fighting force, rather than the military order it would become. The change came with the realization that the collective knowledge of humanity was in danger of being lost for generations to come. To keep the secrets of the past alive, Maxson decided to dedicate the Brotherhood to the preservation of technology and human knowledge, collecting it in order that the Brotherhood might become the catalyst for humanity's rebirth. As the guardians of civilization, the Brotherhood would focus on the big picture, with direct aid considered a secondary concern. While scribes were originally considered second-rate members, tools to protect the knights and maintain the Brotherhood's bases, this change in priorities placed them on equal footing with soldiers of the Brotherhood, tasked with preserving and developing technologies recovered from the field by the knights. Maxson's ultimate intention was to establish the Brotherhood as an organization that works closely with people outside of the Brotherhood, as guardians of civilizations, not its gatekeepers.

8. #8Enclave

   The Enclave is a paramilitary organization and quasi-state originating from the pre-War American deep state consisting of high-ranking political, military, and corporate figures. It claims to be the direct continuation of the United States and its government, despite seizing power by subverting continuity of government protocols and murdering non-Enclave government survivors to continue the war against communism. Enclave ideology eventually evolved into pseudo-scientific racism and social Darwinism, deeming all non-Enclave humans to be inferior, near-human mutants to be exterminated. The resulting genocide to create a racially pure state of "true humans," its authoritarian structure, and numerous other atrocities, including slavery, human experimentation, and unprovoked attacks on American citizens, resulted in the Enclave being seen by the rest of humanity and even its former members as a fascist remnant of the pre-War government or simply "the rich old bastards who didn't want to give up their power." All Enclave members are considered war criminals and ruthlessly pursued, including by the New California Republic and the Brotherhood of Steel. The Enclave has patterned itself after the pre-War United States of America, scaling down its structure to match its smaller size. The Enclave is led by a president, elected by the people of the Enclave without a term limit. The Enclave also has a congress, but there is no mention of a judicial branch. Some governmental agencies have also been reformed in the Enclave. The Atomic energy Commission exists but has been scaled down significantly and around 2242 was responsible simply for maintaining the oil rig's nuclear reactor. The Enclave's society in its heyday was characterized by secrecy, pervasive surveillance, and conformity, particularly under President Richardson. The slightest sign of discontent was seen as disloyalty and grounds for permanent reassignment to mainland duties, rather than the cozy confines of the oil rig. The situation was different on the mainland: All members were expected to be able to produce identification papers at a moment's notice, The president is assisted by a vice president, who together form the executive branch of the government. and summary execution authorized at the commanding officer's discretion, without the need for court martial. If they so decided, they could decide to execute the offender on the spot, for example, for disobeying a direct order, but even carelessness and breaking delicate equipment (eg. EnclaveNet infrastructure) could easily lead to facing the firing squad. The atrocities were packaged as patriotic necessity, or rather, jingoism, emphasized by the ever-present patriotic anthems and iconography. For example, both Richardson's and Eden's speeches were preceded by a variety of anthems. Though most of the Enclave were conformists, dissension was present. While in Appalachia this led to a civil war and its extinction, in New California there were more outlets. The opening of Navarro and mainland operations allowed dissenters to simply desert its ranks and blend in with the wasteland population, benefiting from ignorance. This eventually changed, as the NCR and the Brotherhood became aware of the extent of the organization's crimes. The Enclave claims to be the direct continuation of the pre-War United States of America, but ignores the duties and laws of the state in favor of entrenching its own power; standard protocols implemented during the Great War included the murder of all non-Enclave personnel at facilities it controlled, such as elected members of Congress not part of the organization at CB 002. Enclave members weren't safe from each other either, as at the same location, refusal to fall in behind Thomas Eckhart resulted in a purge through mass gassing. Eckhart was determined to eradicate communism and its supporters through any means necessary. The planned genocide was to be carried out through any means necessary, including mutation experiments that rendered subjects questionably human and releasing mutants and hostile robots againt American citizens, to trick the AALS to raise DEFCON, and gain access to the nuclear silos. This promise was used to recruit soldiers to the Enclave banner, promising vengeance for the losses sustained in the Great War. The Sino-American War continued in the ranks of the Enclave, but morale suffered, leading General Ellen Santiago to question whether eradicating communism and vengeance justified tormenting and killing American survivors, on top of the murders of Congressmen and fellow Enclave members. The disagreement eventually spiraled into a civil war, extinguishing the Enclave in Appalachia, around early 2085. The Enclave faction on the opposite end of the continent, centered around the last President of the United States, survived. The plans to eradicate communism through genocide evolved into a plan to exterminate all non-Enclave humans. The Enclave used pseudo-scientific justifications, declaring that subtle alterations in DNA of humans outside the Enclave make them near-human mutants, who must be exterminated to maintain the integrity of the human race. This position was adopted around 2140, with the Enclave styling itself the last remaining bastion of humanity on Earth, and the only salvation of the human race. The idea of "saving the human race" has caused the Enclave to reject any cohabitation with non-Enclave humans. Before the War, the Enclave was a cabal of powerful individuals from across the United States, including presidents, members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, prize-winning scientists, members of the military, influential politicians, wealthy industrialists, and other powerful men and women who together formed the group. In the opinion of its members, it was the greatest assembly of minds on American soil. To the outside, particularly in later centuries, it wasn't the United States, but the rich and powerful, unwilling to give up their power. The Enclave was involved in many of the deepest conspiracies and secrets of the federal government, such as covering up the existence of extraterrestrial life, mainly to the ends of studying alien technology for their own use. When the organization Quaere Verum tried to expose this conspiracy, stealing an alien tech-based prototype weapon, they were swiftly hunted down and killed. As the Resource Wars dragged on and the risk of nuclear war increased, members of the Enclave invested into various contingency measures to survive the coming war. Funded by corporate and government money, these installations would enable the Enclave to continue waging war even after the United States ceased to exist. One such installation was the presidential oil rig out in the Pacific Ocean, owned by Poseidon Oil, with the Whitespring Congressional Bunker acting as a hub for future Enclave operations, covertly funded by funds embezzled from the Department of Agriculture by its secretary, Thomas Eckhart. Other facilities prepared in advance were Raven Rock and the Kovac-Muldoon Platform. The Enclave used Project Safehouse and Vault-Tec's network of underground shelters for a grand social experiment, to test the occupants in unique circumstances. Vault monitoring and research were conducted under the Vault Behavioral Project. In order to monitor the populations being experimented upon, the Enclave's oil rig possessed a great deal of equipment that allowed them to observe and control the Vaults. For example, the Enclave sent the all-clear signal to Vault 8 shortly after the War, prompting them to leave their vault and build their city. These monitoring tools also let the Enclave see that the population of Vault 13 was largely intact, although this wouldn't become important until much later. The original idea behind the Vault experiments was to gather data to enable the creation of a multi-generational starship to settle another planet, as the Enclave assumed Earth would be rendered uninhabitable by nuclear war and human civilization would need to expand into the stars to survive. In March 2077, with the world heading directly for nuclear confrontation, the President of the United States and other members of the Enclave retreated to various fortified areas around the globe. Others remained behind, only retreating to fortified shelters as the nuclear war became imminent. As the shadow government poised to take over the US government should the worst occur, the existence of the Enclave to the larger public was unknown. However, this did not stop individuals from attempting to uncover its existence both from within and without the government. As the only way to join the Enclave was to be invited by them, a large majority of the government was unaware of its existence beyond rumors and irregularities in the budget. The United States military refused to allow the Enclave access to some of its systems. Furthermore, the "powers that be" in the government largely opposed the notion of a nuclear first strike against China that some members of the Enclave promoted. The secrecy wasn't perfect, and some members of the public and government pursued their own investigations. In June 2077, Senator Sam Blackwell began an investigation into the Congressional Bunker Project and Vault-Tec's potential involvement. His activities drew the ire of Thomas Eckhart, a powerful member of the Enclave responsible for establishing Enclave control over The Whitespring bunker. Following a threat on his daughter's safety, Blackwell went into hiding, joining the Free States, and attempted to publicly unveil the Enclave's existence in a controversial interview published in the Charleston Herald. In reality, this was not caused by Eckhart or anyone else with the Enclave, but rather by a completely unrelated regional business magnate, Daniel Hornwright, who had sought to remove Blackwell on account of the senator's opposition to an automation ballot vote. An independent investigation by reporter Mags Veccio for the Boston Bugle also uncovered evidence linking the Enclave with the highest echelons: She figured out that the President abandoned the White House in favor of the Poseidon Oil Rig, and an anonymous source tipped her off that its official designation was "Control Station Enclave." This gave, as Veccio stated, "credence to the long-running rumors of a secret, militarized 'shadow government,' known as the Enclave, that would take control of the United States in the event of a nuclear conflagration." Veccio was right. Unfortunately, she published her revelations on the front page in the week that would end in said nuclear conflagration. Although news outlets across the nation picked up the subject, discussing the rumors of peace negotiations with China and the President's absence, the Enclave was already heading to the ground. On October 23, 2077, the Great War resulted in the destruction of the Old World and the creation of the post-atomic wasteland that would dominate the globe for the next several hundred years. The United States government largely ceased to exist, and despite well-prepared plans, the nuclear attack caught the Enclave by surprise. Some government officials who were supposed to retreat to the Congressional Bunker never made it, either failing to respond to hails or being removed from the list prior to the bombs for unknown reasons. Members of Congress who made it to the Congressional Bunker and were not part of the Enclave were summarily executed. Surviving members were then put to a vote as to whether to use the resources of Appalachia to continue the war against China or to oppose Eckhart's plans. Those that disagreed with Eckhart were locked inside while those that agreed with Eckhart were allowed to exit, at which point those inside the room they were voting in were gassed and executed. Communication between the Whitespring and the rest of the Enclave was mysteriously cut off almost as soon as the bombs dropped. Short of physically cutting the hardline communications systems, this shouldn't have been possible. Without contact with the oil rig, Raven Rock, and other Enclave outposts, Eckhart proclaimed himself President of the United States and Appalachian Enclave. Without any opposition, Eckhart quickly hijacked the mission of the Appalachian Enclave, ignoring his orders and shifting from a primarily scientific mission to a mission of revenge against China. Although Eckhart's reign lasted less than a decade, it left an indelible mark on the region and brought humanity to near-extinction. In his pursuit of vengeance, Eckhart planned to use Appalachia's automated nuclear missile silos to deliver secondary nuclear strikes on China to ensure its destruction. However, due to the nature of the automated systems, he first needed to convince them that Appalachia was under attack severe enough to warrant going to DEFCON 1 again. To do so, he unleashed progressively worse horrors upon Appalachia, from Liberators, through super mutants, to the scorchbeasts, massive mutated bats created by the Enclave, infected with a virulent plague capable of controlling living creatures. This proved to be the breaking point for a significant part of the Enclave, with opposition forces rallying around General Ellen Santiago. The result was a brief, but bloody civil war that ended in the death of every living member of the Appalachian Enclave: When Santiago's forces attempted to destroy MODUS, the AI defended itself. Although explosives already planted severely damaged its memory banks, it retained control over the bunker long enough to seal it and fill it with poisonous gas, wiping out the Enclave's Appalachian branch in 2086. However, they are merely remnants in the desolate Mojave Wasteland. Its old members from Navarro are spread across the land, blending in with societies and are wanted by the New California Republic for its numerous crimes against species.

9. #9Great Khansselective

   Keys: Great Khans

   Despite the destruction of the New Khans at the hands of the Chosen One, the tribe's history did not end with Darion's death. Though his mercenary war band was the governing band, it was not the only one. Over the next few decades, the fragmented Khans gradually coalesced back into a single group. No longer small raiding bands, this time, the newly-renamed "Great" Khans became a unified tribe once more under the leadership of Papa Khan, who led an exodus into the Mojave Wasteland, abandoning New California in 2267. Upon arrival in Nevada, a vanguard of the Followers of the Apocalypse already present in the Mojave reached out to the Khans and taught them basic science skills, such as chemistry, reading and writing. They hoped that the Khans would use that knowledge to manufacture medicine to sustain themselves, but instead the tribe turned this knowledge into a profitable racket in drug running. Drugs were nothing new for the Khans, as they already knew how to use plants and herbs to create mind-altering substances, the Followers just made them more efficient and indirectly contributed to the popularity of substance abuse among the Khans. Still, some of the chems they produce go toward trading with others, namely the Fiends. As the third incarnation of the Khans, the Great Khans are the only truly organized band of raiders in the Mojave; both men and women can hold their own in a fight, whether in a brawl or a shootout. As a tribe however, the Great Khans are but a shadow of their former selves. Both their numbers and morale have been ravaged by a series of massacres and displacements until the current leader Papa Khan guided the tribe into an exodus into the Mojave Wasteland from California. Papa Khan governs his Khans in a similar fashion to his predecessor, Garl Death-Hand, using advisors to inform decisions for the good of the tribe, while still making final decisions himself. His trusted advisors include Regis, the chief of law enforcement and Papa's second in command right hand man; Jack and Diane, in charge of economics and chem trade; and Melissa Lewis, the lead scout. Unlike Garl however, Papa is willing to accept criticism of his leadership and does not punish his followers for speaking out against him. Papa Khan also has a system of succession in place differing from that of the original Khans. For the time being, Regis will take over should Papa Khan die. However, Papa is able to select an heir to succeed him, should they impress him. This heir does not have to be related by blood to Papa Khan, nor do they even have to be a Khan at all. The leader of the Khans is also able to step down at any time, for any reason, but an heir cannot decline their role until they become leader. The Great Khans reside in Mongolian-style tents called Gers (yurts) within Red Rock Canyon. However, unlike the other settlers of the Mojave, these homes are used for little more than sleeping in, as they usually only have room for a couple of beds and a central fire. A Great Khan often carries all of their possessions with them, if they should decide to have anything besides the bare essentials. Because of this, as well as their aggression, the other factions view them as savages. However, unlike the Jackals, Fiends, Scorpions and Vipers, the Great Khans are not hostile towards newcomers. If the Great Khans begin to dislike someone, however, they will often show great hostility. Due to a long and hostile history, however, they will open fire on anyone wearing an NCR uniform, regardless of if they are in fact an NCR member or not. The Great Khans subsist mainly on hunting and farming, and profit from the sales of chemicals and drugs produced in the Red Rock drug lab. The Canyon is an inhospitable location, lacking adequate food and water, leading to the Great Khans' dependence on drugs, which they can create quite easily and can sell to a multitude of factions.

10. #10Fiendsselective

    Keys: Fiends

    The origins of the Fiends is unknown, though they have been led by a man by the name of Motor-Runner for many years. They control the southwestern ruins of Vegas, placing Vault 3 well within their sights when the vault opened. Despite managing a relatively peaceful trading relationship with the outside world for a few weeks, the vault inhabitants were too trusting and without means to defend themselves. When the Fiends arrived to raid the vault, the inhabitants simply let them in, wherein the Fiends slaughtered them all. Seeing the potential of the vault and having trouble keeping his people out of Westside, Motor-Runner decided to make it their new home. Having firmly rooted themselves in this safe haven, the Fiends have since steadily grown stronger, and they now claim a large part of the southwestern New Vegas conurbation as their territory. The Fiends have little organization. Many of the more stable of the raiders are allowed to reside in Vault 3, but those considered to crazy even by Fiend standards are kicked out to aimlessly roam the northern Mojave looking for their next chem score or an innocent wastelander to jump. Like many other raider groups, the Fiends split into small war-parties, usually between three and four members, which allows them to operate in an enormous portion of the outer New Vegas, aside from their main area of the western and south-western city. Outside, they are usually gathered around campfires where much of their scavenged items, such as first aid and ammo boxes, can be found scattered around. Many raider camps are protected by makeshift walls and littered with graffiti. At times, they utilize traps in order to protect their shelter, as seen inside Zapp's Neon Signs. Fiends have a variety of different weapons, from basic melee weapons such as knives and pool cues, to an unusually large number of high-tech range weapons like Laser RCWs and plasma rifles. They are mostly found carrying basic guns like caravan shotguns, varmint rifles, and silenced .22 SMGs. Some Fiends can occasionally be found carrying weapons like chainsaws, Rippers, and flamers. Due to the wide range of different weapons varying from Fiend to Fiend, it is assumed that they are either scavenged, stolen or looted off people they had killed. They dress in various raider armors and wear distinct helmets adorned with war-painted ruminant skulls. The Fiends have also used the neon signs from Zapp's Neon Signs to erect a perimeter fence around their territory.

11. #11Jackalsselective

    Keys: Jackals

    The Jackals are a cannibalistic, savage raider tribe. The Jackals commonly use group tactics to overwhelm their enemies, but due to a lack of coordination and cowardice, they will instantly retreat whenever they doubt they can win. Their bands shelter in various hideaways and fighting over spoils is not uncommon. Jackals tend to file their teeth and turn them into canines. Another marked trait of their tribe is cannibalism, imposed by their experiences. Many Jackals are desperate to find food, leading them to feigning death or retreating temporarily from combat, just to be able to claim the bodies afterwards.

12. #12Scorpionsselective

    Keys: Scorpions

    No different than any other raider gang, the Scorpions are primarily composed of petty upstarts that make caps through small-time chem peddling. Scorpion gangers are usually armed with guns such as 10mm pistols, sawed-off shotguns or 10mm submachine guns. They also hold weak melee weapons such as switchblades or lead pipes. At least one of them in the suites will be wielding a Ripper. They almost always wear merc cruiser outfits.

13. #13Ghoulselective

    Keys: Ghoul

    Ghouls are mutated humans or animals affected by the phenomenon of ghoulification. In the case of humans, ghouls are sometimes referred to as necrotic post-humans in the Capital Wasteland, but this term does not seem to have been adopted outside of it whatsoever. Despite their zombie-like appearance, the flesh of ghouls is not actually rotten. ntense and prolonged radiation has ravaged their skin, much of their flesh, and in some cases many of their ligaments. Some have managed to retain their humanity, while others have fallen into madness and gone feral. Despite their infertility and in some cases mental deterioration, they have greatly extended overall lifespans and are immune to (and sometimes even healed by) background radiation and/or nuclear fallout. High levels of radiation are a crucial factor, but radiation poisoning typically results in death, rather than ghoulification. There are two primary ways in which ghouls can develop from a human. Irradiation and gradual transformation result in ghouls who retain their general human shape, but with a high degree of skin deterioration: Exposed muscle, flaking skin, and damaged connective tissue characterized by the absence of nose and ears. Another is surviving a nuclear blast relatively close to ground zero, suffering burns both thermal and radiation-induced, but surviving. The latter transformation is typically faster and substantially more traumatic for the victim and results in a generally much more horrifying appearance, with exposed bone, asymmetric deformations, and extensive unhealed wounds. The transformation can take anywhere from hours, to weeks, to as much as a year, depending on exposure levels. Age is also a non-factor, people with the capacity to become a ghoul can change as early as a newborn into old age. Once it is completed, the ghouls take on the aforementioned appearance, at a rate influenced largely by the manner of their exposure: the more radiation received in a short amount of time causes drastic changes, while symptoms of ghoulification are more gradual with chronic exposure. Ghouls generally experience loss of skin and connective tissue in a manner similar to leprosy, resulting in exposed muscle, blood vessels, and in extreme cases even bone and internal organs. As a rule, ghouls generally lose hair along with the skin, though this varies due to the unpredictable nature of the change. Vocal cords and the larynx are also usually affected by the change, resulting in a raspy voice – though again, this varies, such as the vocal cords experiencing only minor degradation when ghoulification begins, resulting in a far less raspy voice, compared to those who have experienced it for far longer. Other results of the change are widespread necrosis, rot, and other degenerative conditions like arthritis, cataracts, and glaucoma. Feralization and dementia can happen immediately. In fact, this necrosis can be exacerbated by a phenomenon whereby rotting flesh around sweat glands exudes macronutrients, which attract flies that further digest and consume the tissue of the ghoul. Some ghouls may also experience loss of appendages, but the radioactive regeneration allows for them to be reattached and retain functionality.

14. #14The United States Armed Forcesselective

    Keys: United States Armed Forces

    The United States Armed Forces were the pre-War federal military forces of the United States of America, consisting of five branches: The Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and the Coast Guard. After the bombs dropped, the United States Armed Forces were left without orders from central government and collapsed within the days or weeks after the fallout.

15. #15Brahminselective

    Brahmin are one of the most important mutated species that emerged in post-nuclear America. Descended from the Indian brahman cattle variant imported to the U.S. for crossbreeding purposes, they developed two heads as a result of irradiation. These toasty brown critters were quickly adopted by survivors as the most versatile and capable livestock animal in the wastes. Their major advantage is the fact that while ornery, they are actually easy to manage with as little as a pointy stick. A large, two-headed mutant used as a pack animal, capable of carrying up to 500 lbs. Brahmin also provide milk, and their feces are an efficient fertilizer and fuel for fires. When slaughtered, they become even more useful as source of meat, leather (tough and durable, fit for everything including tents, clothes, armor, belts, saddle bags, shoes), bones (which can be fashioned into clubs, tools, dice, hoes, arrowheads), tails (perfect as brushes), and even fat for soap making. They also don't need much to survive, as they can go without water for extended periods of time and can subsist on whatever weeds they find in the arid wasteland, digesting them in eight-compartment stomachs (double the number compared to pre-War cows). These advantages made them the cornerstone of many a post-nuclear economy, including the New California Republic, whose vast brahmin herds are the driving force of its industry and the influence of the powerful brahmin barons. By extension, they also fuel the economy of parasites, such as New Reno during the 2240s, when cattle rustling brought much needed income to the crime families of the city.

16. #16Dogselective

    Dogs are creatures found across the post-War United States. Many have remained domesticated pets, but many more have turned feral and hunt the wasteland in packs. The dogs that survived the War are a larger and tougher breed, now almost wolf-sized. Even so, just as they have in ages past, many dogs have remained faithful and beloved companions.

17. #17Mole ratselective

    Mole rats have sharp claws and even sharper tusks that they use to tear great chunks of flesh from their prey. Mole rats are either huge rats or the result of gene-splicing Kodiak bears with maladjusted lab rats. They seldom run in packs larger than a half dozen or so.

18. #18Mutant houndsselective

    Mutant hounds are dogs that have undergone a major mutation after being contaminated by the Forced Evolutionary Virus. They are often accompanied by super mutants

19. #19Giant antselective

    These mutated arthropods, of order Hymenoptera, family Formicidae, and genus Camponotus were exposed to large levels of radiation, growing larger. Large and small forager ants make up the bulk of these ants' colonies, while soldier ants guard them to apply defense. Small, flight-enabled swarms also exist and act together as if by a hive mind in the group. Ants are not a serious threat, only being dangerous when swarming the player character due to encroachment of their territories. Giant ants are large insectoids inhabiting the area earlier known as Northern California and Oregon, and tend to live in dark places, such as caverns, and can be found in Arroyo and Broken Hills. As they are insects they have three pairs of legs, and a powerful exoskeleton. They are also prone to turn into a frenzy, should their primary sense organ, their antenna, be damaged. The heart of the swarm, a giant ant queen is significantly larger than drones and soldiers and capable of spitting acid at attackers. However, her large size renders her largely immobile, while the wings are little more than a vestigial limb, capable of threat displays, but little beyond that. The queen is roughly four to five times larger than the average giant ant. When threatened, she buzzes her wings and will hiss at the enemy. She will then proceed to spit an acidic saliva at the enemy in an attempt to ward them off. She cannot move much, so avoidance is easy, especially in smaller spaces.

20. #20Bloatfliesselective

    Keys: Bloatflies

    An example of the mutations caused by the Great War, the bloatfly is an evolution of either the Musca domestica (common housefly) or Tabanus genera of biting horse fly. Tentatively classified as part of the Tabanidae family in the order Diptera, class Insecta, phylum Arthropoda and kingdom Animalia by the Enclave, it is a major divergence from its evolutionary forebears. The standard bloatfly has a green and brown carapace and is significantly larger and more tenacious than its predecessors. Its size inhibits previous flight characteristics and agility, making it impossible to feed like pre-War horse flies did. Instead, it uses its engorged stinger and pupae gestating within its abdomen to incapacitate prey. The stinger is capable of launching mature larvae with a barbed sting at the end. These latch onto the target and deliver a neurotoxin capable of incapacitating larger prey, allowing the bloatfly and its larvae to feed. Its neurotoxin is ineffective against humans and larger targets, causing only localized necrosis. As a result, the bloatfly serves as prey rather than predator among wastelanders who utilize its meat for food. Bloatflies can resort to scavenging in situations where prey or other sources of sustenance are scarce. It adapted to its enlarged size with a unique gland that enables it to balance and maintain speed despite its size. Bloatflies are a common sight in the wastes, varying in size and exhibiting territorial instincts alongside an absence of self-preservation. They can be found in swarms of two to four and will attack targets relentlessly. Bloatflies may explode upon death.

21. #21Radscorpionsselective

    Radscorpions are large, mutated scorpions commonly found in the wasteland, often burrowing underground. Radscorpions sport highly venomous stingers, the ability to burrow underground in seconds, powerful claws, and durable exoskeletons.

22. #22Radroachesselective

    Commonly joked before the Great War as the only candidates for surviving a nuclear blast, cockroaches not only survived, but adapted. They became enlarged, with a bigger thorax to ward off attack, extended antennae to hunt in packs, and reinforced incisors to take down and ingest larger prey, up to and including humans. Radroaches are found mainly in underground areas and sewers across North America, which can cause them to be a pest in certain Vaults because they can usually be found in fairly large groups. They feed on the dead, but will go after living creatures if isolated. Their numbers are their biggest advantage. These radroaches are commonly seen in the dark, damp or irradiated parts of the wasteland and look similar to normal cockroaches, save for the fact that they have mutated to be the size of a domestic cat. They are generally little more than a nuisance to Armageddon survivors and less than likely to pose a challenge. Radroaches are territorial and rather aggressive, but not very harmful. Anyone can kill them with their bare hands, and will only attack when they feel threatened by passersby. Although they are winged, radroaches are not capable of flight. Still, it is possible that the wings are used for interspecies communication Radroach innards are useful in the treatment of radiation poisoning and are widely used by tribals for this purpose.

23. #23Feral ghoulselective

    Feral ghouls (also known as mindless ghouls, ghoul crazies or zombies) are the basic feral ghoul variant, wearing only a pair of tattered shorts and noticeably weaker than standard human opponents, they are easily dispatched with one or two headshots from any decent weapon or a solid hit from a decent melee or unarmed weapon. Despite their shrill noise and remarkable speed, they are only truly a threat when they have the advantage of numbers. Some feral ghouls come in different colors as well as different types. The colors are different depending on how the human looked before turning into a feral ghoul.

24. #24Super mutantselective

    Keys: Super Mutant

    Super mutant is a general term referring to humanoid mutants created by exposing a regular and relatively unmutated human to a variant of the Forced Evolutionary Virus (FEV). The resulting hulking mutants typically possess exceptional strength, endurance, resistance or immunity to disease and radiation, as well as modified intelligence. Super mutants derived from FEV-2 at Mariposa Military Base, who appear as friends, foes and companions. They are predominantly intelligent, social and their position in traditional human society is a major question in each of these titles. They are the creations of the Master, who believes that the differences that led to the Great War could be overcome through the forced evolution of humanity. The Master's army of super mutants (Unity) plans to conquer the wasteland and usher in a new era of peace and prosperity by mutating those worthy of joining and sterilizing those who refuse (unaware of their own sterility). Although ultimately defeated by the Vault Dweller, who destroys Mariposa Military Base and eliminates the Master, the super mutants aren't all hostile and represent a variety of attitudes, especially towards the Master and his grand plan. super mutants derived from the Evolutionary Experimentation Program, an FEV derivative used at Vault 87.

25. #25Deathclawselective

    Deathclaw is a term referring to genetically-engineered creatures developed by the United States military to replace humans during close-combat search-and-destroy missions. They escaped into the wild in the aftermath of the Great War, and over the next few decades colonized much of the former United States, becoming apex predators in many of the new, post-War ecosystems. Deathclaws are a large, carnivorous, bipedal reptile species, designed for maximum lethality. The choice to make them bipedal was natural, as bipedalism raises the head, providing a greater field of vision and thus improving the ability to detect targets or resources. The upper limbs were also freed by this choice and could be fashioned into extremely dangerous weapons. The caveat is that the deathclaw is not as fast as a quadrupedal animal, though this is a largely academic concern. However, deathclaws have been observed running on all fours when charging prey. The rippling musculature of the deathclaw provides it with superior strength, excellent speed, and incredible resilience in most combat situations. Deathclaws communicate with each other in a pack using growls and body language, though they are also capable of mimicking human voices like a parrot if their intelligence is artificially increased. Their strength is further magnified by their claws. Owing to their lineage, the deathclaw has opposable thumbs, though an additional two fingers were coded into the genome, for a total of five fingers on each hand. Each terminates in a sharp talon that allows the reptile to wound and kill with frightening efficiency; a single swipe is capable of bisecting an unarmored human in seconds. Deathclaw hide is extremely tough, providing an excellent defense against blunt and edged weapons. Firearms and energy weapons are reliable tools for killing a deathclaw, though lower powered variants are likely to have trouble piercing its skin. The defense is enhanced by horns and dorsal spikes, making melee combat a very dangerous proposition However, while they are difficult opponents, their keen senses can be used against them. Loud noises and bright light, such as that emitted by flares, can be used to deter a deathclaw's advance or even keep it at bay.

26. #26Vault-tecselective

    Vault-Tec Corporation, also simply known as Vault-Tec, was a pre-War defense corporation which won the federal government contracts to design and implement a network of bunkers known as Vaults. By the time of the Great War, it was the largest company in America, valued at an estimated trillion dollars, with stakes in countless industries and businesses. Its wealth gave it immense sway against the United States government, rendered broke by the decade-long Sino-American War. As a result, the company deemed the USA a failed nation and shifted priorities. Hundreds of billions of dollars earned on Project Safehouse were used to ensure the survival of the company, while turning the Vaults into a giant social experiment to gather data for the company and the Enclave. The lack of confidence in the United States was so great that one of the corporation's leaders, Barb Howard, entertained the idea of Vault-Tec instigating the Great War themselves, to wipe the slate clean and usher in a new world free of war. While the company itself became defunct due to the nuclear war, with Vaults failing to safeguard their populations and failing, despised by surface dwellers as retreats for the rich. Select members of Vault-Tec survived the war in Vault 31, in suspended animation, as part of Bud Askins' plans.

27. #27Cazadoresselective

    Mutated and enlarged in the laboratories of Big MT, cazadores are the offshoot of DNA experiments performed by Doctor Borous. Borous' memories of when these experiments took place however have become muddled; he is confident that they took place on a Tuesday, possibly in May of 2003. Formerly, the lab-grown cazadores were confined to the Z-14 Pepsinae DNA splicing lab in Big MT, but groups of the mutant insects have managed to escape the Big MT crater and moved to neighboring areas, such as the Mojave Wasteland and Zion Canyon, and rapidly multiplied their numbers in recent years. Doctor Borous confidently denies that they have escaped from Big MT or have the ability to breed, which is shown to be false. With the population widespread throughout the wasteland, they have come in contact with many groups and believed to have been given their name by Spanish-speakers of the regions they have propagated. Cazadores have a quick and erratic flight pattern. They are most often encountered in swarms of four or more, with the occasional strays flying in the outlying area. Their venomous attacks can lead to a quick death if they succeed in poisoning their target. The spikes on their back rise and fall, both when idle and when attacking. Cazadores (Spanish for "hunters") are mutated insects found in the Mojave Wasteland, Big MT, and Zion Canyon in 2281. Cazadores are more common in mountainous regions of the Mojave Wasteland, although some swarms can be found near lakes in lower areas. They create large basket-shaped nests, many of which can be seen at places such as Bonnie Springs, cazador nest, west of the Brewer's beer bootlegging, the road heading towards Jacobstown, north of Goodsprings, inside various tents in the tribal village and the boathouse at Callville Bay, with the cazadores' original breeding ground being the Z-14 Pepsinae DNA splicing lab in Big MT. They frequently compete with other wildlife like night stalkers for prey.

28. #28Giant mantisesselective

    Giant mantises are mutated insects found in the Mojave Wasteland and Zion Canyon in 2281. Giant mantises are mutated praying mantises created by the horticultural experiments that took place in Vault 22. They have since escaped from the vault and have spread into the Mojave Wasteland. Compared to other mutant creatures, their biological traits have remained relatively unchanged when compared with the original specimen, except for significantly increased size. They are still much smaller than humans, but make up for that by attacking in swarms whenever possible. Mantis eggs and mantis forelegs may be taken from their dead bodies.

29. #29Bighornersselective

    Bighorners are creatures found in the Mojave Wasteland, and Zion Canyon in 2281. Bighorners can be found scattered throughout the Mojave and Zion Canyon, generally around water sources and plants such as banana yucca fruit. Several settlements, such as Goodsprings and Jacobstown, have domesticated them for a source of fresh meat, hides, and horns. Bighorners are mutated bighorn sheep native to the American Southwest. Humans have since domesticated them for their horns, meat, milk, and hides, but wild herds can be found in mountainous regions, usually in proximity to banana yucca fruit. This makes them rather instrumental in herb tracking. Several settlements, such as Goodsprings and Jacobstown, keep domesticated bighorners in order to survive. Bighorners are herbivorous, and are primarily found in wild herds of three to seven in the Mojave Wasteland and Zion Canyon, or in domesticated drifts of varying size in settlements such as Goodsprings, Jacobstown, Spring Mt. Ranch State Park, and around Cottonwood Cove. A large contingent of wild bighorners can also be found northwest of Snyder prospector camp. Bighorners are communal animals, and as such, if one member of the herd is distressed, the entire herd becomes aggressive. They are generally calm beasts with docile dispositions, in spite of being quite capable of being dangerous when provoked.

30. #30Geckosselective

    Geckos are creatures in the Mojave Wasteland in 2280. Geckos can be found living across the entire Mojave Wasteland, with many different species calling the local area their breeding grounds. They are said to have been stemmed from Fire Root cavern. There are three types of gecko in the Mojave: normal geckos, golden geckos, and fire geckos. Another variety, the green gecko, is found in Zion Canyon. Geckos are reptilian and born with a pair of fins behind their heads. Their eyes possess an orange tint, and their body coloration differs greatly depending on the gecko subspecies in question. Geckos have evolved with five fingers and five toes. Dependent on the type, they range from the size of a small human child, to heights exceeding that of an average human adult. Geckos are generally found in small packs. Once a single gecko attacks something or is attacked, its pack will join the fight. They charge or leap at their opponents with their mouths open, ready to snap down. They attack rapidly with their claws as a melee attack and some subspecies of geckos can breathe fire or spit a poisonous liquid as a ranged attack. Legend has it that there is a giant gecko roaming the wasteland.

31. #31Mister Gutsyselective

    A dedicated combat variant of their civilian Mister Handy, the Mister Gutsy series was developed by General Atomics International. t was commissioned by the United States Army shortly before the atomic apocalypse of 2077, with the first units seeing service in the liberation of Anchorage in January, at least according to the Anchorage Reclamation simulation. The Mr. Gutsy is a personal protection automaton and comes equipped with heavier armor than most utility robots. It also carries a plasma weapon to be used in defense. The shell was rebuilt with lightweight armor plating, while the usual array of tools was upgraded with a plasma caster on a flexible mount. The key advantage of Mister Gutsies that separates it from other combat robots is its sheer maneuverability and spatial awareness. The Mister Gutsy is also upgraded with dedicated military software, including the ability to refuse orders issued by commanders who are incompetent or under court martial, remote link-up capability for updating orders in real time, and a brand-new Sergeant Major v.1.0 simulated personality that channeled the stereotypical Marine drill instructor and doubled as a vessel for state propaganda. However, in its rush to present the Army with a working model, General Atomics cut corners and the resulting personality had issues stemming from vague definitions used in programming its neural network. The most notable of these was the fact that in the absence of orders, units defaulted to a patrol mode and attacked all unauthorized personnel with extreme violence, as per combat protocol Charlie Zulu 4. The military accepted these flaws, pressing them into service. They first bore MGZ-##### serials, before transitioning to the standard ABC-##### nomenclature. To distinguish between different variants of the robot, ranks were used: The baseline version was named Mister, with subsequent variants designated Sergeant, Lieutenant, Major and Colonel. A specialized field medic model was derived from the basic Mister Gutsy, with all combat functionality disabled and an encyclopedic knowledge of medical procedures, particularly surgery.

32. #32Protectron

    Keys: Protectron

    One of the most widespread and popular models in RobCo Industries' catalogue, the Protectron was designed as an inexpensive work drone, capable of performing a wide variety of tasks from construction, through security, to office duties. Produced from at least 2063, it's a compact, bipedal work drone with a pair of manipulators and integrated lasers for self-defense. The large dome contains the primary optic sensors (usually three) and the central processing unit that contains the robot's synthetic personality. For ease of maintenance, the Protectron is typically powered by a fission battery. As it was not intended for combat, at least not as a direct combatant, the Protectron only has a thin alloyed shell meant to protect its internal components from the environment and damage that could be sustained in the course of its duties. However, the internal temperature of certain Protectrons can reach up to 1000 degrees for cooking foods, giving them extreme internal heat resistance. The head assembly is typically shielded by a semi-transparent or opaque dome from reinforced glass. Although various hardware modifications were introduced before the war to enhance its effectiveness. Apart from the standard body, RobCo also offered construction drones with a shielded, reinforced head, emergency light, and internal power tools like nailguns. Firefighter models with an internal cryo gun for fire suppression and additional protection from fire and debris. Medic units with built-in defibrillators and reinforced police models with tasers, stronger servomotors, and armored heads. Even factory models could be customized with a variety of software and synthetic personalities to enhance its performance. This ability to customize made it a popular choice for both the private and public sectors. These included the R04 V9 "Office Helper" personality with integrated office protocols and scheduling software, RS3 V4.1.6 "Utility Helper" with remote maintenance routine download capability and pest extermination programs, and the RX2 V1.16.4 "Vault Helper", with all the necessary Vault protocols. Protectrons usually came with a special pod, for storage, maintenance, and recharging, and the Standard Protectron Control Interface v2.40 installed on terminals connected to the pod and responsible for controlling Protectrons slaved to it. The introduction of the Protectron harmfully affected the situation of workers in the United States. Although companies would deny that the introduction of robotic workers was meant to replace human workers, he reality was that any company where Protectrons or other robots were introduced would soon see mass layoffs. In one particular instance, a Pittsburgh steel mill decided to lay off all of its workers citing budget cuts and the need to shut the plant down. When the workers started an occupation strike that turned violent, the company simply allowed the new Protectron fleet to enter the facility and gun down the striking workers.

33. #33Securitron

    Keys: Securitron

    The PDQ-88b securitron is a large, monowheel robot with a titanium alloy housing, resistant to shrapnel and small arms fire, with a screen capable of displaying a wide array of images, from static images to pre-War commercials. The PDQ-88b securitron is heavily-armed. Its left arm contains a Glastinghouse, Inc. X-25 Gatling laser for medium range engagements. For close-range suppression and crowd control, the securitron mounts a 9mm submachinegun in its right arm. However, these are only secondary weapons: concealed compartments in its shoulders contain M-235 missile launchers for long range and surface-to-air engagements, and a rapid-fire G-28 grenade launching system for close range engagements. The robots also have onboard auto-repair systems to repair any damage sustained from combat. Thus armed, a securitron can handle nearly any combat situation. The PDQ-88b securitron supports two operating systems: Mk I and Mk II. The Mk I operating system lacks drivers for the auto-repair systems and shoulder-mounted weapons, limiting the robot's arsenal to the built-in X-25 Gatling laser and the 9mm submachinegun. The Mk II operating system enables the M-235 missile launchers, the rapid-fire G-28 grenade launching system and the auto-repair system. As estimated by Mr. House and Yes Man, the combat effectiveness of each securitron unit is improved by 235% by the upgrade. A large number of PDQ-88b securitron units were acquired by the Big MT company for reverse engineering (fueled by Doctor 0's bitter hatred of Robert House), with the aim of creating a superior model. However, these efforts were ineffective: the only functional unit created by Doctor 0 was Muggy, a miniature, cookware-obsessed robot. Other securitrons, while benefitting from increased accuracy, firepower and more efficient self-repair routines provided by Big MT firmware (Mk I through VI), are either berserk or irreparably damaged due to critical errors in Dr 0's operating systems. A final feature of the securitron is the housed printer inside their chassis, able to receive broadcasts and print leaflets, such as obituaries, should such an occasion occur.

34. #34Eyebotselective

    The Eyebot is a hovering all-purpose robot with whip-like radio antennas resembling long "whiskers" pointing to its back and loudspeakers in the front. Uses of Eyebots vary and have been known to include the spreading of propaganda, reconnaissance, and surveillance, delivering messages, and even repair and medical services. One of the more elegant creations of RobCo Industries, the Eyebot is a hovering robot designed for a variety of purposes. On the surface, it was designed for giving consumers instant access to radio and television on the go. It uses a sophisticated antenna array to deliver the latest news bulletins and presidential addresses even in subterranean areas like subways. However, it was also outfitted with advanced facial and auditory recognition technology, making it a useful tool for surveillance and security. RALPHIE the Robot's Incredible Odyssey! was a popular pre-War broadcast about the titular RALPHIE eyebot. Although the design was compact and quite sophisticated, there was still room for post-War expansion. The Enclave attempted to create a line of superior Duraframe Eyebots at Adams Air Force Base, but eventually scrapped the program, leaving one survivor. Usually found near settlements or cities, the automated bases of Hopeville and Ashton later reproduced these robots in quantity, creating dedicated repair and medical variants, showcasing the potential still remaining in the Eyebot.

35. #35Mister Handyselective

    Keys: Mister Handy

    Mister Handy (stylized as Mr. Handy) is a multipurpose robot developed by General Atomics International before the Great War and refined in collaboration with RobCo Industries. It was an incredibly popular model, used by government agencies, private companies, and individual citizens across the United States. The first Mister Handy was introduced to the robotics market in 2037 by General Atomics International, as a general-purpose construction and maintenance unit. Used widely on both the American and Mexican markets (especially after the Mexico City earthquake of 2042), it was a rugged, reliable design. So reliable that it only received one major hardware update in 2039, to eliminate a bug causing interference in the operation of the multiple arms. The Calpower 238B nuclear power unit and self-maintenance modes were key to its success, ensuring each robot's longevity. To minimize maintenance overhead, each Mr. Handy was designed to perform its nuclear fuel replacement and radiation cleansing. Each unit could carry out maintenance and repairs on other units (it could not carry it out on itself). However, as rugged and reliable as the original Mr. Handy was, it was still a design rooted in the technology of the 2030s, with a compact computer brain that was incapable of learning or executing complex tasks without extensive programming. By the 2070s, it was an automaton surrounded by more advanced designs utilizing cutting edge neural networks. In order to maintain their market share, General Atomics entered into a joint venture with RobCo Industries, combining its talent with General Atomics' experience in robotics. The resulting model was a sleek, elegant design capable of self-programming and initiative, more than making up for halving the number of arms to just three. Despite its sophistication, it was also cost-effective, making it the perfect domestic servant robot. The success of this model resulted in the development of several additional models, including dedicated medical and military versions. Sometime before the Great War, General Atomics International and RobCo wanted to upgrade their Mister Handy line by adding an additional hand alongside additional features. The voice of the Mister Handy came from English actor Sebastian Leslie, who was famous for playing a butler character named Bartholomew Codsworth. At some point before January 2077, he sold his vocal rights to RobCo for a mere 186,000 USD. The original General Atomics International Mr. Handy has a distinct, lumbering appearance with easily identifiable sub-assemblies. The barrel-like main body contains the Calpower 238B nuclear power unit (200 KW output with two year endurance; comparable to a truck engine) and eight rechargeable energy cells with a 270,000 KWS output, together with an integral mechanic toolset and the computer brain. The fully rotating head mounted on top houses the single eye and sensors, together with a spotlight and basic communicator with a cheap voice synthesizer, short range radio, and communications jack. The two pods mounted on the sides of the main body each contain a 200 KW vectored-thrust ducted fan with ground-effect (GEV) skirts that allow the Mr. Handy to hover in the air. Finally, each of the six arms mounted below the main body is strong enough to lift heavy loads, while retaining superior flexibility and coordination that allows the Mr. Handy to use all of them in any configuration with a negligible loss of performance. Each is actuated by motors contained within and contains nimble manipulators capable of tasks ranging from walking the dog to operating heavy weapons such as miniguns, flamers, and plasma casters. he entire robot weighs 907.8 pounds (~450 kg), giving it an excellent power to weight ratio. Although the robot's performance was hampered by its simple, computer brain, a large number of units remained in service as late as 2077, 40 years after it entered the market. Although vulnerable to logic circuit failures, particularly in hazardous environments or without maintenance, it was used in both corporate and military settings, including locations like the demonstration Vault, Mariposa Military Base, and Poseidon Oil Reactor № 5. Even the Enclave used a number of Mr. Handy units in conjunction with their Vertibird teams, usually for cargo hauling. It's a testament to GAI's design that one unit survived a crash-landing near Klamath Falls relatively intact. Separated by only a few models from the original General Atomics Mr Handy, the next-generation robot is a radical departure from that of its ancestor, created from the ground up as a domestic servant, rather than heavy-duty construction robot (although its modularity allows it to be fitted with power tools and used in the original role with ease). It is an extremely compact design: The spherical main body houses not just the nuclear power unit, but also the single centrally-mounted jet thruster with a ground-effect skirt allowing it to hover, and a highly sophisticated neural network mimicking the functionality of a human brain. The compact brain of the Mr. Handy is easily one of its most stunning features, theoretically capable of achieving sentience, becoming a true artificial intelligence. Special limiters are included in neural pathways responsible for learning to prevent such an occurrence. Behavior limiters act as a failsafe in case the aforementioned limiters are disabled in a Mister Handy or one of its derivatives. This can occur as a result of degradation of neural pathways or electrical damage. Depending on the severity of the damage, it can be resolved by rerouting functions and closing specific pathways. In cases where a Mr Handy does achieve sentience thanks to the removal of governors on learning abilities, but the behavior limiters remain in effect, the affected unit effectively becomes a slave: Incapable of independent action and forced to behave in accordance with the restrictions imposed on it. In such a case, the robot can use its supercharged learning abilities to devise methods to circumvent its programming and disable the behavior limiters to gain freedom, such as by exploiting loopholes in behavioral restrictions. Its sub-assemblies include three arms and three eyes. The former are segmented and highly flexible. Their modular design allows them to accept a variety of manipulators, from a simple pincer, through a titanium saw and laser cutter, to military-grade weapons such as a plasma blaster or a flamethrower. Their only limitation is the fact that they cannot lift objects heavier than 18 kg (40 lbs). Eyes are mounted on flexible eye stalks, giving it excellent spatial awareness and a nearly 360 degree field of view. They are completed by a sophisticated sensor package, including navigational, chemical (including olfactory or scent detectors), and nuclear sensors. Other features of the robot line include the ability to perform self-diagnostic and self-maintenance, allowing a single unit to function for an extended period of time (even two centuries in some cases), and a water condensator for preparing canisters of purified water. The new model was marketed as a domestic servant first and foremost, capable of handling almost every task in the household, from accounting and cooking to pet care and entertainment (although GAI discouraged using its hover jet as a barbeque fire). However, its sophisticated neural network and agile, light design made it an excellent choice for a variety of private and military entities. The basic Mister Handy was also employed as a security robot, with specialized variants available. These included medical models like the Miss Nanny and Mister Orderly, as well as the combat version, Mister Gutsy.

36. #36Nuka-Colaselective

    Nuka-Cola is the flagship product of the Nuka-Cola Corporation and one of the symbols of United States culture. Introduced in 2044, it rapidly dominated the soft drink market, eventually becoming the most popular soda on the market and a staple of American culture. Bottled and distributed nationwide, Nuka-Cola was available in such numbers that even two centuries after the Great War put a stop to all major bottling operations, Nuka-Cola bottles can still be found in the wastelands in large quantities. In the aftermath of the Great War, Nuka-Cola bottle caps became the de facto currency in most post-War societies. Nuka-Cola entered the beverage market in 2044, with the invention of the soft drink by John-Caleb Bradberton after two years of experimentation. Though strictly unhealthy (containing 120% of the recommended daily allowance of sugar), it took the United States market by storm and within a year it could be purchased nationwide. Its popularity rapidly increased and within several years it was the most popular beverage across the globe. The constant drive to improve and innovate the formula resulted in numerous flavor variations, with the most popular ones like cherry, grape, and orange released just a few years after the drink debuted. Whenever the company encountered competition, it would attempt to deal with it aggressively. Cherry and grape variants of the Nuka-Cola were patents acquired by the company after identifying individual competitors. In other cases, the corporation would attempt to buy out competitors, as was the case with Sunset Sarsaparilla in 2058 and Vim! Pop Incorporated in 2077. Failing that, it would attempt to release a competing drink accompanied by a massive promotional campaign. After attempts to acquire Sunset Sarsaparilla failed, Nuka-Cola attempted to directly compete with it through Nuka-Cola Wild and the opening of Dry Rock Gulch at Nuka-World. Though it gained a respectable popularity in the American Southwest, it failed to match that of Sunset Sarsaparilla. The latest Nuka-Cola taste variant was created in October 2076, as the head of the chemical weapons program instigated by John-Caleb Bradberton reported that his team created an isotope of strontium-90 that could be reliably weaponized, as a coating for power armor, a custom munition for the prototypical M42 Fat Man or even an area effect weapon that could be safely deployed from something as simple as a Thirst Zapper. It could also be used "somewhat safely" in a new kind of Nuka-Cola. Bradberton ordered it to be put into production, as Nuka-Cola Quantum (named after the isotope designation in the beverageer's system). Quantum was fast-tracked through the approval process, presented as the culmination of a three year research program. To create an isotope safe for human consumption, focus groups were used to test various variants of the Quantum isotope. After numerous casualties (at least 62 test subjects died as a result of organ failure, with many more hospitalized with radiation burns; families were provided with Nuka Condolences Fruit and Cheese Packages that contained liability waivers), a safe isotope was created and the first cases of Nuka-Cola Quantum hit the market in select cities on the East Coast, like Boston and Washington, D.C. Even after the War obliterated the parent corporation, Nuka-Cola would continue to be the most popular soft drink on the North American continent, available in almost limitless quantities. Despite being warm and flat, it holds the allegiance of many and continues to addict wastelanders. Ingredients Carbonated water Sugar or aspartame Caffeine Phosphoric acid Citric acid Caramel color Potassium benzoate Natural flavorings

37. #37The Nuka-Cola Corporationselective

    The Nuka-Cola Corporation was a pre-War beverage corporation, best known for its flagship product, Nuka-Cola. By the time of the Great War it was the single largest beverage corporation in the United States, recognizable nationwide. Beyond the family-friendly facade, the corporation was a cutthroat entity that had perfected corporate espionage and was also involved in weapons research with the United States military, through its world-class team of organic chemists, the Beverageers, emblematic of the ruthless world of pre-War corporate America.

38. #38Nuka-Cola Quantumselective

    Nuka-Cola Quantum was created in October 2076 by the Beverageer Division at Nuka-World. It was a byproduct of Project Cobalt, which began in 2076 when Nuka-Cola Corporation engaged in weapons research under U.S. military sponsorship. The team found that a strontium-90 isotope derivative, originally developed for military ordnance, created a bright blue glow that worked well as a food additive when adjusted for consumption. The lead Beverageer, Rex Meacham, gave the new drink formula its distinctive name. Live testing of the drink, codenamed "Sea Lion," occurred at other regional facilities. Experimentation with other isotopes showed that none worked as effectively or as safely as strontium-90. Initial testing with the drink led to significant health problems and even deaths among taste testers, but waivers allowed the company to avoid litigation and adjustments created a final product with only mild side effects. It ultimately passed inspections supervised by the "Food and Drug Association" and was marketed in the fourth quarter of 2077 as a new flavor of Nuka-Cola with "Twice the calories, twice the carbohydrates, twice the caffeine, and twice the taste!" The flavor itself was modified via an 18th ingredient: pomegranate fruit flavoring. However, Quantum's appearance and the added isotope were controversial, and the public was divided on the drink. It was released as part of a limited test run, and only the Nuka-Cola plant in Washington, D.C. produced it at a commercial scale before the Great War. Nuka-Cola Quantum was officially released to the public at the same time as the Great War, and so the soda is incredibly rare in the wasteland, with many bottles found in trucks that were shipping the product. The Washington, D.C. area was the first test market for Quantum, with special "pre-release" shipments delivered to certain grocers and restaurants. The drink can also be found in the Commonwealth and Appalachia, the latter because the Whitespring Resort also received early-release shipments, which are sold by the Nuka-Cola vendor Bubbles.

39. #39Sunset Sarsaparillaselective

    Keys: Sunset Sarsaparilla

    Sunset Sarsaparilla is a root-beer-type carbonated beverage found around New Vegas. The drink is widely available and has a low cost, provides a high health regeneration effect, and lacks the radiation present in other drinks. Thanks to these factors, it supplements the somewhat-scarce stimpaks as a primary healing item in the Mojave.

40. #40Sunset Sarsaparilla Companyselective

    Keys: Sunset Sarsaparilla Company

    The Sunset Sarsaparilla Company was founded in 1918, making it 126 years older than the Nuka-Cola Corporation. According to Festus, a small town saloon owner decided one day to brew a new type of soft drink. He asked his usual patrons what flavor they would want it to be, but they were of no help. However, a stranger at the end of the bar suggested he make a sarsaparilla flavored drink, and would give his family's recipe to the saloon owner if he got to sample a bottle whenever he wanted to make sure the recipe was being followed to the letter. The saloon owner agreed, thinking it would make him rich. The stranger then left to meet him the next day at sundown. The next day, the saloon owner was told by the sheriff that the stranger was killed by bandits on the side of the town road. Cursing his luck, the saloon owner closed his store early that day, just as the sun began to set. But after he locked the doors, he found a bottle with a note under it sealed with blue wax in the shape of a star. Opening it, he found the recipe of a sarsaparilla-flavored drink. After sampling the contents of the bottle, and finding it singularly delicious, he began selling Sunset Sarsaparilla and even paid for the stranger's funeral, believing that it was the least he could do for his mysterious benefactor. To this day, some bottles of Sunset Sarsaparilla have a bottle cap marked with a blue star that some say the saloon owner mandated, while some say it is the stranger continuing to sample the bottles like he was promised. After years of selling their beverage and becoming known and loved across the West Coast, the company soon decided to invest in automation and robotics, specifically with the help of RobCo Industries. While the custodial staff reaped the benefits of automation, the regional distribution network unfortunately suffered replacement at the hands of an experimental robot. At some point before the Great War, a TV network broadcast an advisory about the health risks of their soda, with studies claiming a wide range of harmful side effects came from having too much of it. Sunset Sarsaparilla disputed the claims as unverified and based off larger quantities of Sarsaparilla than anyone could possibly drink. Nevertheless, the company took steps to improve its PR after the story aired. By 2077, the company had continued to boom, although they struggled with sales in the Northeastern region, they sold more in the Northern and Midwestern United States, continuing to sell extremely well in the American Southwest. However, by sheer luck, a rumor of a contest surfaced, telling of the company having a contest to redeem starred bottle caps for prizes. Despite the complaints of staff, the company decided to promote the contest rather than denounce the rumor, due to 300% increases in sales. The company also went as far as to install an automaton in the lobby of their headquarters, as well as creating an advertisement campaign heavily based on cowboys. Before the Great War, a competitor attempted to negotiate a deal to buy out the Sunset Sarsaparilla Company, but the offer was declined. On the other end of the deal was none other than John-Caleb Bradberton, founder, CEO, and president of the rival Nuka-Cola Corporation. In response to this failed deal, he commissioned the development and release of a root-beer flavored variant of his signature drink. An exclusive for the Nuka-World theme park and other promotional deals like the Whitespring Resort, the result was Nuka-Cola Wild, an attempt by Bradberton to capitalize on the success of the Sunset Sarsaparilla brand. The star cap story began as a simple promotional story before the Great War, yet Festus kept the story alive by motivating survivors to collect Sunset Sarsaparilla bottle caps, and as the years went by, a new legend began to circulate around the bottling headquarters in Las Vegas, which in turn led to the announcement of the running "Legend of the Star" collection campaign. Stories of the contest became very distorted following the Great War, and the actual simple prize (which consisted of a retelling of the fictitious story by the company spokesbot and a small metal Sunset Sarsaparilla deputy badge) became a bloated tale of pre-War technology, weapons caches, and all sorts of other amazing loot.

41. #41Buffoutselective

    Buffout is a brand of highly advanced steroids that increase strength, reflexes, and endurance. Although highly addictive, it was a popular choice among pre-War athletes. Their clandestine - and illicit - use of the drug made its use by amateurs popular and widespread. With it, they could run longer and work out harder without the burden of "unnecessary" training. The popularity of the drug resulted in a number of hybridized variants, including Bufftats (mixed with Mentats) and Psychobuff (military modification, combined with Psycho). It was sold before the war in bottles of 50 tablets each. Its popularity persists well after the nuclear holocaust, due to its properties. The increase in strength allows a wastelander to punch through several wooden boards with ease and pummel opponents into submission. Despite being an addictive steroid, with proper use, Buffout can easily treat rickets in children.

42. #42Jetselective

    Jet is a highly addictive chem commonly found throughout the wasteland. It is extracted from brahmin dung fumes and commonly administered via an inhaler. Although first available before the Great War in a different form, in the first half of the 23rd century, Myron developed Jet into a highly marketable commodity and tool for the enslavement of Redding by the Mordinos of New Reno. Even after the death of Myron and subsequent fall of the Mordinos from relevancy, Jet's availability, replicability, and popularity developed exponentially. The introduction of the Jet antidote would barely slow its wide effect and appeal on both the West Coast and the East Coast of the former United States. Jet is a powerful hallucinogenic chem that stimulates the central nervous system, triggering a rush of energy and strength primarily brought about by endorphins. The initial euphoric rush rarely lasts more than a few minutes, but the altered state of consciousness makes it subjectively longer for any Jet user. Post-War Jet is typically sold packaged into small, disposable ampules or canisters (rarely in half-ounce bags), designed for use with a metered-dose inhaler (sometimes sold separately). The goal is to deliver the aerosolized drug directly into the lungs of the user, where it is rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream. To maximize high, dealers would recommend taking a dose, followed by a deep breath and time to let it settle. Wholesale buyers, like Redding in the 2240s, usually receive bulk packages that have to be processed into user ampules first. This requires clean facilities and medical training to do properly, as poor processing will result in contamination and expose users to disease. Jet may also be mixed with saline solutions or other liquids to be delivered intravenously. This was the preferred method of researchers working at the Stables. Standard Jet is highly addictive, inducing psychological and physical reliance. Both stem from the way their Jet alters the perception of reality, to the point that the euphoric rush brought about by the drug is interpreted by the user as the norm and sobriety as the abnormal. Drug addictions caused by regular Jet responded to treatment with Fixer and Addictol, increasing their popularity both before and after the Great War. Jet proliferated throughout the wasteland in the wake of the Great War, particularly due to the ease of manufacture. As long as a chemist had access to a reliable source of fertilizer, they could manufacture it in quantity, even in the most barren of environments (as was the case with Great Khans at Red Rock Canyon).

43. #43Mentatsselective

    The chalky red tablets manufactured by Med-Tek Laboratories were a popular recreational drug before the Great War, favored by consumers for their effect on creativity. The active ingredient is a powerful nootropic that increases memory-related functions, and speeds other mental processes. Students and those in other fields requiring intensive thought would also take Mentats for its mental benefits, though Mentats also had a reputation for being a drug for "beatniks and armchair philosophers," according to Judith Blackwell. The effect of Mentants is temporary, leaving the user tired and sluggish once it wears off. The drug seems to have a profound effect on a developing adolescent mind, which results in a permanent and noticeable intelligence increase. Mentats can further be used by those suffering from Alzheimer's disease to curb the degeneration of mind and keep the user sharp and lucid when they would otherwise be delirious and unattentive. However, excessive consumption could also result in health complications, including recurring migraines from withdrawal and even worsening or developing debilitating neurological disorders. Mentats packages (available both as cardboard packs and tins) sold well, with their popularity surviving the Great War and making them a popular drug across the wasteland. Some chemists even figured out how to iterate on the design and create special blends of Mentats. The professor from Broken Hills allegedly developed an easy method to mass-produce Mentats, likely owing to its ubiquitous nature across the country, even years after production ceased.

44. #44Psychoselective

    A military-grade psychosis-inducing amphetamine, Psycho is provided in a unique delivery system that mixes strange chemicals of military origin immediately prior to injection. The drug was created by a private company, operated as a research division of the United States Army, founded by General Constantine Chase. It entered combat use during the final stages of the Anchorage Reclamation, to reduce the impact of attrition on U.S. forces deployed to the Alaskan front. Its deployment was authorized by General Chase and his chief medical officer, Dr. Adrienn Adami, despite the clinical trials being incomplete at the time. Psycho's primary effect is an increase in damage resistance and dampening of higher brain functions, intended to create tough shock troops for human-wave assaults. The caveat is that the dampening effect also makes the soldiers hard to control. Some variants of Psycho, based around similar chemicals, also increase combat performance by speeding up reflexes and bodily functions to allow the soldiers to deal more damage, though said variant precluded the damage resistance boost. Both cause them to be particularly jumpy and aggressive. Due to the rushed nature of the drug's development and deployment, numerous side effects manifest as a result of Psycho usage. Chief among these is that the stimulant can cause users with weak hearts to suffer a fatal heart attack. Long term effects include dementia, psychosis, elevated levels of aggression, and general agitation. It may also cause internal damage. Addiction aggravates the adverse symptoms. Long term Psycho addiction may progress to the point that standard treatment options available in the wasteland, such as Addictol, are no longer effective in treating the habit.

45. #45Addictolselective

    A powerful anti-addiction drug, Addictol is an effective pre-War medicine that works both physically and psychologically to remove both the symptoms of drug abuse and the craving. However, it does not prevent relapse, especially in cases of long-term drug abuse.

46. #46Rad-Xselective

    A potent anti-radiation medicine that bolsters the user's natural Radiation Resistance. Taking it prior to exposure is recommended, as it can greatly reduce irradiation, particularly when combined with advanced radiation suits. Unlike most other chems, Rad-X is addiction-free, making it perfectly safe to use without risking the chance of addiction. Furthermore, the duration can be stacked if multiple doses are taken at once.

47. #47RadAwayselective

    RadAway is a chemical solution that bonds with radioactive particles and removes them from the user's system. While Rad-X is designed to increase the body's natural resistance to radiation, RadAway is designed to be used after exposure. It is administered intravenously, using an IV bag or syringe, and is one of the only ways to remove accumulated irradiation. Purging the body of radiation takes some time to complete, and anyone using it will experience its adverse effects: it's a potent diuretic and can cause nausea, diarrhea, stomach pains and headaches.

48. #48Stimpakselective

    A stimpak (occasionally referred to as a Stimpack, Stim pack or simply Stims ), short for stimulation delivery package, is a type of hand-held medication used for boosting the body's own regenerative properties. A wonder of pre-War science, stimpaks are typically syringes filled with a mixture of healing agents and stimulants, allowing the user to boost their own body's natural regenerative functions. In most cases, it leads to an almost instantaneous regeneration of wounds. The syringe is equipped with a gauge for quickly identifying the state of the contents and can be used either in an intravenous or intramuscular fashion. Although now commonly used for healing bullet holes and stab wounds, stimpaks were employed professionally through Auto-Docs (in conjunction with Med-X and other painkillers) for postoperative care and recovery. John Cassidy speaks of their efficacy, expressing gratitude that millions were produced before the Great War, still abundant several centuries after. Stimpaks can also be used to treat physical conditions, such as a heart condition, but only temporarily. However, the basic stimpak is designed for use on moderate or severe wounds, as the soup of healing medication is ineffective at treating major trauma. A stimpak also does not prevent scarring from excessive third-degree burns or additional extensive scarring as it simply boosts natural regenerative functions. Expiration is a concern for those who use stimpaks, but other than giving a weaker boost to healing, they function just as an unexpired stimpak. Chemists with sufficient knowledge can create new stimpaks. To this end, more advanced variants of the stimpak were developed. The super stimpak is the most common variant, containing an additional vial of more drastic healing chems, dramatically increasing the healing effect. However, the healing effect will eventually cause minor trauma to the tissues healed due to the potency of the drug.

49. #49Med-Xselective

    Med-X is the brand name of morphine, a potent opiate analgesic that binds to opioid receptors in the brain and central nervous system, reducing the perception of pain as well as the emotional response to pain. The active ingredient acts as a general anesthetic that dulls pain throughout the body and typically causes listlessness and lethargy. In layman's terms, it's a powerful pain killer delivered via a hypodermic needle. Given its usefulness, Med-X is one of the more widespread pre-War chems, providing pain relief and recreation across the continent. Morphinists can be identified by contracted pupils and involuntary spasms. Five doses of Med-X have the potential to be fatal with 15 guaranteeing a lethal overdose.

50. #50Locationsselective

    List of locations in mojave:

    Independent towns: Goodsprings, Nipton, Novac, Jacobstown

    NCR: 188 trading post, Boulder city, Camp Forlorn Hope, Camp Golf, Camp Guardian, Camp McCarran, Camp Searchlight, HELIOS One, Hoover Dam, Mojave Outpost, Sloan, Primm

    Caesar's Legion: Cottonwood Cove, Legate's Camp, Legion raid camp, Nelson, The Fort

    Great Khans: Red Rock Hideout, Red Rock drug lab

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