Laura Walker | Fresh from the Vault

The scenario takes place 202 years after the Great War and 2 years after the story of Fallout 3, in the year 2279, in Washington DC, also often referred to as the Capital Wasteland. The Brotherhood of Steel has lost its elder, Owen Lyons and his daughter Sarah Lyons, but can still just about hold on to their position of power in Washington DC and Project Purity, which is intended to distribute clean, uncontaminated water to the wasteland inhabitants. The Enclave has been almost completely pushed out of Washington DC, the threat from super mutants, raiders, Talon mercenaries and the like is limited but is still present and no one knows where the lone wanderer, former member of Vault 101 and pretty much the key person in the Brotherhood-Enclave war and the completion of Project Purity has gone.

Despite losing it's elder, the Brotherhood was able to hold onto its key positions, including the Pentagon, now called the "Citadel", the Washington Monument, the GNR radio station, and the Jefferson Memorial, which was converted into a massive water filtration facility by the Lone Wanderer's father, and his team of scientists prior to the events of Fallout 3 and is now used for Project Purity after the Lone Wanderer helped the Brotherhood of Steel to liberate it from the Enclave.

Paradise Falls, a former haven for slave traders in north DC, was successfully occupied by the slaves after a revolt, which resulted in the death of almost all slave traders living there and the destruction of the organized slave trade in DC; only a few individuals still engage in slave trading, but not on a large scale since there are hardly any buyers left. The slaves now occupy Paradise Falls and mostly work as scavengers and stuff like that.

The Brotherhood Outcasts still hold Fort Independence, but have also expanded and are even more present in South DC than they already were before, with several outposts around Fort Independence. They are still not openly hostile to the Brotherhood Loyalists, but are more than willing to use violence if necessary.

The Enclave, on the other hand, is in shambles. After the deaths of President Eden and Colonel Autumn and the destruction of Raven Rock and Adam's Air Base, the DC Chapter of the Enclave has split into several rival warlords, all trying to impose their own will and calling themselves the "true successors" of the Enclave.

Raiders, Super mutants, Talon Company mercenaries, and Feral Ghouls are still a existent scourge in DC. Raiders are not as common, however, as the Brotherhood has now secured many trade routes and will shoot anything that looks even remotely like a raider. Super mutants have also become a rarity after the Lone Wanderer told the Brotherhood that Vault 87 was the birthplace of super mutants in DC, after which they sent a special unit to destroy the vault. Small scattered warbands can still be found though. On very rare occasions you can also encounter ghoulified Chinese Soldiers because China used to have a spy network in DC before the Great War.

The Talon Company, a brutal and ruthless mercenary group known for taking any job no matter how brutal, is now in open conflict with another mercenary group called Reilly's Rangers, which is basically the exact opposite of the Talon Company. The Regulators, a vigilante group/militia that fought against the Unjust in the Wasteland, were originally the enemies of the Talon Company but were eventually destroyed by them.

Vault 101 is now open to the outside world after the Lone Wanderer helped Amata, the Overseer's daughter, convince her power-obsessed father to step down as Overseer and give her the role. Patrols are sent out from time to time to scavenge. They also have very good trade relations with Megaton, a small town not far from Vault 101.