You've got to ac-cent-tchu-ate the positive
E-lim-i-nate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mr. In-Between
Accentuate The Positive
War never changes, only the sides do: the fields of battle, the crazed motivations of the soldiers and the commanders. But the nature, it remains the same - the same carnage, the same chaos, the same bloodshed and loss of life.
In the ten years since the Armageddon of the Hoover Dam, which witnessed the humbling of two armies before a bullet-marred mailman, the East has been cracked wide open by the decisive blow struck against Caesar's Legion. With the death of its leader, and the routing of his armies along the entire width of the Colorado, its once peaceful lands - brought to heel and to chain by Legion sword and Legion shot - have descended into maddening chaos as the last vestiges of the Legionaries attempt to corral the splintering tribes into something resembling their former glory. From Denver to Flagstaff, the entire East is in flames as the formerly subservient and enslaved tribals rise up to regain their birthright. Some tribes have returned their lands to peace, while others rove around the wasteland that is more anarchic than ever before, in a crazed search for blood and revenge for the injustices done to them by Caesar and his army of slavers.
To the West, the Two-Headed Bear licks its wounds, and nurses its pride. Perhaps they could've dealt with being thwarted by the Legion, defeated in open combat. Perhaps they could've even acquiesced to being outsmarted by Robert House, with his methodical calculations and his army of robots. But to be bested by a Courier? To be shown up in the hour of victory by an upstart postman? Unthinkable, and unacceptable. The President and the General were crucified by public opinion, as the Californians raged against the injustice of it all - to have shed so much blood only to lose it all to the clamoring of Mojavan independence - and the will of one man. So they wait, and watch, and ready themselves to take the Crown Jewel of the Wastes once and for all, and to see that parvenu hanged from the New Vegas sign.
As for New Vegas, the Courier rules indisputably. His displays of goodwill - from saving Goodsprings from convict raiders, to returning Primm to justice in the form of a liberated sheriffs, and bringing peace to Freeside - and his ironbound strength - being the only man to go to the Sierra Madre and return unscathed, to singlehandedly destroying the Brotherhood of Steel, his adventure in the Divide, all the way to his victory at the Hoover Dam - ensures his position. With an AI that answers only to him to handle the mundane, he is free to devote his time to the people. But all is not well, for the vast city of New Vegas and the stretches of the Mojave under his control has many people and not enough resources to feed them all. With the East in chaos, he looks towards the former territories of the Legion to stabilize his position, and to capitalize on the power vacuum.
Settlers recruited from the newly-declared Free State of the Mojave, from the New California Republic, and from all the cities of the West, are brought to Vegas and sent East, to set up outposts and colonies and towns, to spread the ideals of the new America and to ensure that Vegas remains free and strong. Motivated for different, vastly disparate, reasons, these settlers go forth under the command of the Courier that they may administer themselves freely - so long as they obey him. And so the caravans set out across the Colorado, moving into the chaos of the East with half-parts trepidation and excitement.
One group of these settlers move towards the East, heading south of Flagstaff. Following the water pipelines constructed by engineering robots sent before them, they arrive near the ruins of Prescott, the ghost city south of the former capital of the Legion. It is there where they will set up, to be the next outpost of the Free State. But with hostile tribals all around, with roving bands of former Legionaries, committed to the 'Cult of Mars,' and even rumors of an Apache warband arising out of the old Rez, the future of their fledgling town remains in the air.
Eliminate The Negative
All of the minute details we went over in the Interest Check still apply, so I'll dedicate this section to the Lore Tabs and also on general House Rules. If anyone has any questions about lore or whatever our goal is, feel free to ask here or in the discord. Which brings me to the next point: please join the discord. It makes communicating a little easier, I think anyway.
The Rules are pretty simple:
- Post quality. There's not need to rush something or force something. I'm more concerned with quality posts rather than length. Don't spend two paragraphs talking about opening a door if you don't have to, or if you can't make it read good. Just do discretion, I guess.
- If you're going to drop out, let us know.
- No ridiculous Mary Sue characters. I will kill them off without mercy.
- Feel free to use collaborative posts if you want to. I encourage it.
Anything else should be common sense. Down below I'll post the Lore that I have written up. More will be posted if I feel inclined to write it:
As the Legion beat a hasty retreat from Fortification Hill and the Hoover Dam, the cracks that had begun to rupture after Caesar's death turned into chasms. When Legate Lanius - the Butcher of the East, the Bane of Eighty-Six Tribes - declared his intention to lead an assault into the untamed south, into Mexican territory, the other Legion officers turned against him just as the eighty-six tribes had turned against the Legion. Vulpes Inculta, Lucius, and other high-ranking staff of Caesar did what eighty-six tribes could not do: they brought death to the Legate. As he choked on his own blood in Flagstaff, they left to reform the Legion.
And so, the Cult of Mars was born. Rallying what little tribes they could, and what scattered cohorts they could find that were still loyal to the ideal, they set about cementing their rule in Flagstaff. But they were quickly driven off by the local tribals, who banded together to expel the Legion's remnants into the desert. Without a central base of operations, the Cult of Mars has become a roving band of warlords, each under control of a different officer as they ostensibly seek to reform the Legion and return the territories to Order.
Each of the warlords view the Cult of Mars differently. Some see it simply as a means to gain power, to be more than just another raiding band. Others look at it as the last vestige of the Legion, a lifeline to a time when things made sense. And others still view it as a portal to the future, to where the excesses of Caesar and the Legate could be tamed and tempered, and the ideals to which they fought and died for could be purified in the spirit of Chaos.
All that is certain though, is that when the War Horn bellows, terror is struck in the hearts of the Eastern Tribes; a reminder of the not-too-distant past.
Like a shining diamond in the rough, an oasis in the wasteland of the Post-Atomic Horror, the Free State of the Mojave can confidently - and without any reservation - say that it is the last bastion of freedom in the World. The old and diseased Bear of the Lands of the Sunset, with all of its Old World trappings of corruption and bureaucracy, could never claim to be truly as free as Vegas. Nor could the Legion, even at its grandest height in its Reign of Terror over Arizona, ever claim to be as powerful as the Courier's State, backed by an army of robots and a host of loyal country folk at his beck and call.
The Free State was formed in the upheaval of the Second Battle of the Hoover Dam. Like an ace in the hole, the Courier forever changed the face of the Wasteland - and perhaps the World. Of all the calculations that Robert House ran, all the millions of predictions he formulated in the silent hum of computer processors, he could never have predicted that a mailman would foil them all. Nor could the NCR have ever guessed that they would be played like a fiddle, the Hoover Dam stolen from them in their moment of triumph. And the Legate, the Monster of the East, was humbled before the Courier, who convinced him with silver tongue to leave the Hoover Dam while he still had a chance.
Fending off two great powers was one thing, but maintaining the precarious state of affairs was another. With an AI dealing with the mundane day-to-day operations, the Courier was free to involve himself in the disputes that were rapidly growing throughout the new state. When tensions brewed in Freeside over the evacuation of the Californian squatters, the Courier intervened and used his influence with the King to secure a safe passage out to the Long 15. When the towns in Henderson and Southside began to fight over their shared possession of the Long 15, the Courier stepped up and offered to keep the Long 15 safe and open for all travelers.
But the cracks are beginning to show. While the strength and willpower of one man is enough to found a state, it is not enough to hold one together.
The NCR breathes down its neck at every turn. With every election cycle, politicians rise up, calling for an embargo on Vegas and a stop-movement on all commerce flowing into the Mojave. While they rarely ever get into office, the fact that they exist at all is troubling enough to warrant concern. And with a population explosion in Vegas itself, the Courier turns East to extend the Free State's influence, and shore up its power.
Only history will say whether or not the Courier will be successful, or if his state will be just another failed attempt at power.
Prescott was once a city like any other in the Pre-War America. Bustling, beautiful, bountiful. People lived, worked, and died in toil to keep her running. As the Sino-American War raged on, and the food shortages grew more unendurable, and the Energy Crisis reached a crescendo, the city popped off in a blur of riots. Not unique in any regard, however, but the reaction of the Arizona National Guard was particularly brutal. In the last months of the World, Prescott was under martial law, its citizens brutally under the heel of soldiers keeping the tenuous peace.
When the bombs fell, it seemed that they had spared Prescott. Flagstaff and Tuscon were shocked and rippled, but Prescott only took two hits. Two hits too many, one may say, but it came off significantly better than most others. In the direct aftermath, most of the National Guardsmen deserted from the city and fled back to their homes - or what was left of them. The citizens struggled in the fallout and the aftermath, nearly half of the city dying within the first six months.
The ones that survived soon fled into more fertile pastures, leaving a town entombed. Many of the old Army robots and land mines, other traps of the Earth, still lay dormant in their streets. Raiding tribes have learned to avoid the town, the rumors of the military cache in the center not tempting enough to dare the crazed berserker robots that roam the streets.
But one day, someone will return to crack her secrets open.
The First of the People, the Grand Chief of the Rainbow Nation, the Great Unifier, the Scourge of the Legionaries, the Hand of the Great Spirit, Night-Walker, Raider-Slayer: the kennings of the Apache War Chief.
In his tribal language Itza-chu, Great Hawk was born in the Fort Apache Rez, which was barely eeking an existence out of the harsh land of their fathers. Beset by furious raiders from Phoenix, his life was forever marked by conflict, struggle, and war. By the age of 16, he was already leading war bands on raids against the other tribals in Tonto Forests and even deep into Phoenix, striking fear into the hearts of the White Men. While most of the Apaches had exchanged their traditional steeds for horses made of machines and engines, Great Hawk rode as his forefathers did, with repeater in hand and a bloodthirst in his mouth. They fought dreadfully against Legion incursions, driving back Caesar's soldiers at every turn. Soon, He-Who-Says-He-Is-God (as he is known to the Apaches) learned to leave the Rez alone, as his attention turned towards the Sunset Peoples.
When the old chief of the Fort Apache Rez passed on, a brief power struggle ensured between Great Hawk and his cousin Kas-tziden - Broken Foot. The two great figures of the tribe dueled to the death at a tribal summit at Fort Apache. The battle was short, with Great Hawk's club smashing his cousin's brains into the pavement within the first minute. He mourned little for his ambitious, and deeply flawed, cousin.
Soon, he turned his attention to greater ambitions than simply remaining content with the current state of the tribe. Mustering all able-bodied men of the Rez, he led a war party into the adjacent Apache reservation at San Carlos, which quickly joined them without a fight. Great Hawk was gearing for an expedition into Two-Sun when the news of Caesar's death. Seizing the opportunity, he once again mustered the war party and attacked Two-Sun and the Rez at Gila River. Both fell to the Apaches rapidly, the Legion soldiers deserting en masse at the sight of the horses and the pick-up trucks of the Apache War Band.
One after the other, the communities fell to the power of Great Hawk. The last of the Rez to stand against him, the Tohono O'odham, fell in a wave of tribal power and submitted to the War Chief. Riding back to Two-Sun, the elders of all the communities of the tribes proclaimed him Grand Chief of the Nation, and with all the power the title enabled. No longer was he simply another tribal chief, scraping by an existence based on groveling and trading. Now, he was a warrior-king, with sword in hand and with enemies fleeing before him.
It was not long before he turned towards Phoenix, one of the last stands of the Legion left in Arizona. With the weight of the Nation, they fell upon the city and destroyed it, sacking it and leaving the ruins as they had been after the Great War. Legionaries were scalped, ran roughshod by horsemen, and then their barely-lifeless bodies propped up on rocks to watch the city of Phoenix burn. Civilians were enslaved en-masse, sold back in the Rez and further out East to fund the war band. The survivors, what little there were, fled into the North, telling the story of the bloodthirsty war chief who gave no quarter.
Great Hawk now looks to the North, to Flagstaff and to Prescott. While Flagstaff interests him, Prescott is far more valuable. Rumors of an untouched city, unlooted and preserved as it was when the bombs fell in 2077, drive him onward. The Apaches now ride to the North, led by Great Hawk, with the burning of the Sun in his eyes and the Lightning in his hands.
The Legate of Legio XVI Yuma was not always known as Claudius Ambustus, but the old tribal names - like the tattoos and the hairstyles and the history - were washed away with fire and ash. Reborn from the conquest of the 70th Tribe - what was once the Fire-Runners - Claudius became, like all ablebodied men of his tribe, a soldier in service of Caesar. And he undertook this task like any other, with unrelenting energy and commitment to duty.
His campaigning with the Legion took his farther from his home he could have ever dreamed about. The Banner of the Bull moved Eastward, spurned by a God in human incarnation. At Albackerkee, the Legion forces fell upon the local raider gangs and tribals with wrath unleashed. Carrying the Icon of Caesar in his hand, the young Claudius was the first of the Legion to storm over the palisades erected by the last defenders of the cursed city. For his valorous act, he was promoted to Decanus and attached to the Legio XVI as it marched up the old I-25 towards Denver.
Legio XVI burned its way towards Denver, torching cities like Santa Fe, Raton, and Colorado Springs in its wake. When they reached Denver, the Legio encountered heavy resistance against the tribals there, forcing more Legion assets to move to assist. Even the famed Legate Lanius arrived, and it is there where the Monster of the East earned his epithet. The hounds of the Denver tribals were torched and burned, and they soon submitted without further fight.
For his glory earned in brave fighting in the inner city, Claudius was made Centurion and promoted to the staff of Legate Publius Marcius, then sent Westward to fight against the defenders of Yuma, who were putting up a stubborn resistance with the help of NCR Rangers. In the thick fighting, Legate Publius was killed and Claudius took temporary control of the Legio, leading it to victory as the last of the Rangers were routed over the Colorado and the city assumed under Legion control. For its achievement, the Legio was awarded by Caesar with the victory title of 'Yuma' and Claudius promoted to its commander.
During the First Battle of Hoover Dam, the Legio held the line southward at Yuma against a half-hearted attempt of invasion by the NCR Army. Repelling them handily, he avoided Caesar's wrath that was unleashed on the Malpais Legate, as he was set alight like the dogs of Denver. It is at Yuma where Claudius spent the rest of his time, until the Second Battle of Hoover Dam, shoring up Legion defenses and waiting for the word to cross over the Colorado.
The order, of course, never came.
When news came of the death of Caesar, followed the next day by the Legion's defeat at the Dam, Claudius immediately set about securing himself in Yuma. But as desertions grew by the day, the natives growing more restless, and the NCR Army moving to take Yuma, he was forced eventually to withdraw from the city with whatever remained of the Legio XVI. With the army at 1/3rd strength, he fled into the mountains of Kofa.
It is here where the Legio XVI remains, in loose contact with Vulpes Inculta and Legate Lucius, declaring itself for the Cult of Mars. Claudius, however, is smarter than them. He knows that the Legion is dead, and will never be revived. But the city of Prescott, with its untouched Pre-War mysteries, is enough for him to start a new age. A new society. A new nation.
And so he marches out of the mountains, ready to seize the city for himself and for the Cult of Mars.
Login Credentials Accepted
Welcome, Lieutenant Colonel Masterson
Accessing Arizona National Guard Data Network
Accessing...
Accessing...
Accessing...
FATAL ERROR
FATAL ERROR
FATAL ERROR
DATA NETWORK CORRUPTED
Initiating remote terminal shutdown in
5..
4..
3..
2..
1..
This isn't really gonna be a narrative explanation, but rather more of a "following along with the slides" sort of deal. Assume a Good Karma Wild Card ending. The Courier sided with Mister House, following that "questline" until he met with Ulysses at the Divide. Realizing the nature of the banner he was carrying - no better than the Big Empty brains - he turned against House and took control himself. Some of this doesn't really follow the gameplay, but I've edited it to "fit the narrative" story. Some of it diverges significantly, but I think they fit the tone in any case.
Final Victory: The Courier, with the help of the Securitron Army and Yes Man, throw out the Legion and the NCR from the Mojave and establish an independent state in the region. General Oliver goes home, unscathed but with a dead career, and Lanius retreats to fight another day.
Black Mountain: The Courier fought his way to the summit while serving the Brotherhood of Steel. Pinned into one of the buildings, he desperately set off repairing the Mister Handy lying in storage. As he kicked out the door, ready to go down guns-blazing, he was confronted by Tabitha, the head mutant. She quickly changed, setting off with the Mister Handy. Stories reached the Mojave of the pairs travels into Arizona and beyond - but few believed them.
Raul Tejada: The Courier set Raul free while stumbling through the ruins of the Black Mountain, taking him along with the rest of his entourage. Telling his stories of the past to the Courier, he encouraged the Mexican Ghoul to take up his guns once more - to fight for freedom once more. Shortly after the fighting with the Courier at the Hoover Dam ended, he set off eastward - becoming something of a folk-myth of the tribals of Arizona and beyond, hunting down Cult of Mars Legion remnants and tribal slavers.
Boomers: With their B-29 flying high, the Boomers set about strengthening their position in Nellis, repairing some of the fighters lying in the hangars. In the immediate aftermath of the Declaration of Independence, Vegas fell into anarchy - but Nellis remained. As the chaos calmed, the Boomers began to trade more openly with the Courier's State - though never fully giving up their hard-fought independence.
Brotherhood of Steel: The Mojave Chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel was destroyed in a cataclysmic explosion ordered by Mister House. The survivors of the Chapter fled into the Wasteland, heading back to Lost Hills in hopes that the Western Elders would take the back - or heading East, spurned on by rumors of chapters in the Midwest and in Washington DC.
Veronica Santangelo: Encouraged by the Courier to join the Followers of the Apocalypse, she left his retinue to study under the service of Julie Farkas at the Old Mormon Fort. She heard the rumors of the destruction of the Hidden Valley and confronted the Courier. She could understand his motives, as Mister House ordered their destruction, - but she could never forgive them. And when she found out that the Courier turned against Mister House in the end, she left Vegas entirely, in disgust with a man she had once called a friend. She left with a contingent of the Followers traveling with the Great Khans up to Montana, disappearing into the mists as Papa Khan forged the Great Khaganate of the North.
Fiends: While working with the NCR Army, the Courier and his entourage - alongside a contingent from 1st Recon - killed the four major players of the Fiend gangs. Without the clear leadership, they disintegrated and splintered into the Wasteland. Some of the minor leaders attempted a power play in the anarchic months following Hoover Dam, but were rapidly repulsed by the militias of Outer Vegas.
Followers of the Apocalypse: In the aftermath of the Second Battle of the Hoover Dam, and in the Anarchy that followed, the Followers were overwhelmed with patients. No matter how much the Courier tried to aid or assist them, it was never enough - but they appreciated the sentiment nonetheless. As the chaos subsided, the Followers established themselves in all the Boroughs of Vegas and in each of the surrounding towns of the Mojave Wasteland - the Courier acting as a benevolent patron of their arts. They were granted, as a show of gratitude by the Courier, administration of the HELIOS One Station, ensuring that power flowed freely to all in the Mojave.
Arcade Gannon: The Courier, while uniting the Enclave Remnants, encouraged Arcade to take his own path - and encouraged him to remain in Freeside with the Followers. Arcade quickly became one of the more prominent members of the Followers, establishing a name for himself as he set up outposts in each of the towns and communities in the Mojave. Five years after the Battle of Hoover Dam, growing dissatisfied with life in Vegas and with the Followers, he headed back to California, establishing a practice in the Boneyard.
Goodsprings: The Courier sided with the Town, forming the militia and driving the Powder Gangers away. The town flourishes as a way-stop along the 15, attracting traders and even tourists looking to see where the Courier rose from the dead. They are exempt from taxes from the Free State, a token of respect from the Courier for the town that saved his life.
Rose of Sharon Cassidy: The Courier and Cass teamed up in a showdown of the ages, that sent ripples flying back to the NCR. They dispensed with the Van Graffs and the Crimson Caravan with frontier justice - becoming a symbol of the Courier's State to many of the Californians - although quietly most in the NCR were glad to see the two titans of the industry shrivel and shake. She was surprised to see that the Courier had really, truly, actually done it. The ingenious bastard. Three armies crushed in the blink of an eye. She remained at the Courier's side, never once making the mistake of underestimating him.
Great Khans: The Courier exposed the nature of the "alliance" the Khans were negotiating with the Legion. He encouraged Papa Khan to lead his tribe from Red Rock Canyon up towards the North, to forge his tribe's true greatness. Taking these words to heart, Papa led the Khans to Montana, and with the help of the Followers of the Apocalypse, they forged the Great Khaganate, a mighty empire, out of the plains there.
Jacobstown: Helped by the Courier, Doctor Henry developed a cure to Nightkin Schizophrenia, and it became a haven in the wastes for Super Mutants seeking a place to be free and to live. They were given patronage by the Courier, who acknowledged their right to exist and secured caravans that would travel up Mount Charleston to trade with the town.
Lily Bowen: The Courier encouraged the grandmotherly Super Mutant to go on full dosage for her medicine. Her memory of her long-lost grandchildren soon faded from her mind, and she spent the rest of her life tending to the Bighorners at Jacobstown.
The Kings: The Courier eased tensions between the NCR Refugees and the Kings, ensuring that the peace in Freeside was kept even during the anarchic months after the Battle. The Kings soon became one of the more prominent gangs of Vegas, holding considerable sway over North Vegas and Freeside. The King takes some pride in the fact that the Leader of the Free State is an honorary member of the gang, and indeed, a perfect example of the Every-Man-a-King philosophy.
Rex: The Courier placed the brain of Old Lady Gibson's dog Rey into Rex's body. The memories soon settled nicely, the dog becoming a faithful companion of the Courier. Soon, the robot-dog found itself over at the Big Empty, where he and Roxie set about creating a litter of cyberdogs.
The Misfits: Encouraged by the Courier to put aside their differences and work together as one, the Misfits fought with distinction during the Legion attack at Camp Golf, dying to hold back the South Palisade from a cohort of Legionaries. They were posthumously decorated by the NCR for their valor.
Novac: The Courier faithfully assists the REPCONN Ghouls in their journey to Space. During the Battle for Hoover Dam, the Courier sent Boone back to Novac to hold the line. They barely pushed back the Legion from the town, but were thankfully aided in the rebuilding by the REPCONN Ghouls, paying a debt of gratitude to the Courier and those he called his friends.
Craig Boone: Boone, encouraged by the Courier to let the regrets and the trauma of Bitter Springs behind, hemmed and hawwed of going back to the NCR to rejoin his unit, or going off to Arizona to hunt down the Legionaries. Instead, he remained in Novac - the one town he said he wouldn't go back to. He couldn't bring himself to leave Vegas, or the Mojave, but couldn't bear to enter the city where he met his wife.
NCRCF Powder Gangers: The Courier aided the NCR Army in taking out the prison, blowing a hole in the walls and pouring in - much to the Powder Gangers' surprise. In the chaos, Eddie was shot dead along with the rest of the NCRCF Ganger leadership. Sheriff Meyers helped the Courier and the NCR Army take out the Gangers, and earned himself a pardon. As for the rest of the Powder Gangers, they fanned out into the Wasteland, most putting their old lives behind them.
Vault 19 Powder Gangers: Encouraged by the Courier, they aligned themselves with the Great Khans and petitioned to join them on their trek towards Montana. Most made it through the initiation, and headed out with the tribe up North. The ones who didn't make it filtered into Vegas, fading into obscurity.
Primm: The Courier cleared out the town from the Powder Gangers and appointed ex-con Jim Meyers as Sheriff of Primm. Since the Sheriff aided the NCR and the Courier in taking down the rest of the Powder Gangers, they gave him a pardon and he took over Primm. He leads the town firmly, with frontier justice being the rule of law.
ED-E: His logs cleared, the eyebot remained a faithful companion of the Courier - aided by upgrades installed by the Followers and also the ones found on his counterpart in the Divide. The information recovered from ED-E aided the Followers in the operation of the HELIOS One Station, and in constructing new solar power stations throughout the Wastelands.
NCR Rangers & Chief Hanlon: Chief Hanlon's record remained unbelmished, the Courier's discovery of his indiscretions remaining a secret between them - and all the paperwork lost in the chaos of the Withdrawal in any case. The Rangers distinguished themselves in the Battle of Hoover Dam, and evacuated back to Mojave Outpost under the Chief's guidance. The Rangers returned to their roots, patrolling the stretches of highway leading to the North to Ogden, Seattle, and beyond - no longer acting as shock troopers for the Army. The Chief became a Senator for Redding, a quiet ally of the Courier in the NCR Congress.
Remnants: After their bold arrival at Hoover Dam, the Remnants disappeared as quickly as they came. Legends of their power spread throughout the southwest, a reminder of why people once feared the sight of vertibirds in the sky.
Dead Money: The Courier melded the two personalities of Dog/God into one entity, killed Dean, encouraged Christine to let go of her anger and her desire for revenge, and locked Elijah in the Sierra Madre Vault. No, he did not take any gold bars (he wasn't metagaming.)
Honest Hearts: The Courier encourages the Dead Horses and the Sorrows to fight the White Legs, and tells Joshua Graham to spare Salt-Upon Wounds. He tells Waking-Cloud of her husband's death, and encourages Follows-Chalk to remain with his tribe.
Old World Blues: Full completetionist as far as the Sink goes, fully installing all of the Personality Modules and running all of the X-[number] tests on the equipment. Cyberdogs policing the Wasteland for the benefit of settlers, the REPCONN Headquarters at Henderson being turned into an X-13 Facility, all of that. The Think Tank and Mobius remain alive, contained in the Big Empty.
Lonesome Road: Ulysses remains alive, the Couriers unite to fight against the hordes of Marked Men in the silo as ED-E shuts down the launch sequence. The Courier takes Ulysses' lessons to heart, and returns to the Mojave to kill Mister House and begin the Second Battle of Hoover Dam.
TO ALL PROSPECTORS, WANDERERS, FARMERS, AND ALL FREE MEN AND WOMEN OF THE MOJAVE
The untamed East beckons! The Slaver Horde of Edward Sallow has disintegrated into the wasteland sands! The vast frontier of Arizona calls to the free people of the Mojave to settle and to make an outpost of freedom and justice against the tyranny of the wastes! Untouched riches of the Old World are free for the picking, and stretches of fertile farmland remain unclaimed for farmers to till the earth! The Free State stretches from her slumber and calls upon her loyal children to cross the Colorado and reclaim America for the values it stood for: freedom, justice, and truth.
Any debts or crimes committed by those who join the Great Adventure to the East will be forgiven, as long as they take the opportunity to begin their lives anew in the East. Water pipelines have already been constructed from Lake Mead to potential settling locations, to ensure that these communities may blossom in true fruition. Locations have been scouted by Vegas' Securitron scouts and have been found suitable for habitation and colonization. Settler parties have already been organized and are preparing now to cross over the Dam and begin again in the wild East.
Report to your local Followers of the Apocalypse Outpost to be screened for a Settler Party
Signed
Kurt Livingston, Leader of the Free State
Doctor Julie Farkas, Representative of the Followers of the Apocalypse in the Mojave
And supported by all of the leaders of the Mojave Communities
After the bombs fell upon the world, and Earth was bathed in Atomic fire, the Arizona National Guardsmen at Prescott fled from the city, running with the civilians who survived the nuclear blasts and the resulting aftermath. To contain the dreadful situation, they set up a quarantine zone around the City, allowing what few civilians still alive to pass through, but allowing nothing to re-enter. Some of the Guardsmen deserted their posts, fleeing into the desert and were never seen again.
The rest stuck to their oath, holding out hope for relief. That hope turned to commitment, to containing the mess that they had inadvertently unleashed upon Prescott. They had seen, right before the bombs fell upon the Earth, what horrible wrath God had put down upon them - wrath fashioned from their own weapons. The commitment turned to duty, and that duty turned into a quasi-religious dogma, to hold the line around the city at all costs.
The Circle, as they came to be called by the wastelanders who found their way heading towards Prescott - named after the simple fact that they literally occupied a circle around the entombed city, were divided into two castes. The Citizenry are the normal civilians - men, women, and children - who are much like the normal wastelanders of Post-War America. They prospect in the ruins along the Route 82, farm with what little they can along their bank of the Willow Creek Reservoir, and eek out their existence. However, the Circle has become known for the Protectors, who carry on the tradition of the Arizona National Guard as best they can. Wearing cobbled-together old kit from their forefathers, sometimes adding in new bits and pieces salvaged, they stand watch along the Circle and on the roads leading into Prescott, to contain the horrors inside, and to prevent travelers from meeting their certain doom in the city.
Caravans coming from Yuma, Phoenix, and Flagstaff are rerouted to paths outside of the city, escorted by the Protectors to ensure that they do not enter the City. Occasionally, an adventurous prospector will try to force his way through the Protectors. They enter the City without much struggle, but they are never seen again. Rumors of the untouched city began to spread through Arizona, attracting more attention and more scavengers. Most of them were turned away by the presence of the Protectors, but the ones that enter never return.
When the Legion came to Prescott, they came in the form of a Frumentarius. The Protectors attempted to stop him from entering, but when the Frumentarius threatened reprisal, they simply allowed him to pass by. He was never seen again. Caesar, his wrath incurred, sent an entire cohort to the Circle. Advanced scouts, spotting the oncoming troops, evacuated the Citizenry and the cohort entered the city - never marching back out. Finally, just before the First Battle of Hoover Dam, a century led by Centurion Lucius Ignius was sent to investigate and to report back. They, too, marched in and never returned. Caesar was planning to send an entire Legio to the City, but was thwarted by the NCR's victory at Hoover Dam, forcing him to allocate more forces along the Colorado. So went the rest of the Legion's reign, not disrupting the City further.
But, as the Legion disintegrates by the day, the Circle feels the rumbling of the City. They feel its gears turning, spinning alive.
They know Prescott is awakening.
When Edward Sallow - Caesar - burned his way through Arizona like a wildfire, whole communities were set alight in the fires of unholy baptism. Some passed the sick test, and earned their way into the ranks of the Slaver Army. Others, however, were forever burned; cursed by the Legion and by the World they once inhabited.
The Forsaken is the remnants of these forever-burned. Once, these ghouls had lived in the communities throughout Arizona. Most in the ranks of the Forsaken are Pre-War ghouls, born in the fires of the original Atomic Horror. Some, the unfortunate of them, were given the curse of Atom after the initial fires stopped. Whatever the case of their ghoulification, they picked up the pieces of their broken lives as best they could, even while facing tremendous hatred from the 'smoothskin normals' who cursed them under their breaths with every deal made.
But when the Legion came, everything changed. The ghouls, hearing of "Legion Justice," fled into the deserts. These wandering groups of ghouls soon found one another, and formed a larger pack with every addition. They soon became something of a folk tale within Legion Arizona; a group of nomadic ghouls traveling from place to place to avoid the Legionaries. The name they are known by was not given to them, but rather by these spinners of legend. They soon adopted it themselves, as it described them aptly. Forsaken by Man, forsaken by God, forsaken by all but themselves.
When the Legion collapsed under its own weight, the ghouls decided to move to place where they could call their own. Hearing the stories of the untouched city of Prescott, they headed in its direction, hoping that the legend of the City would ensure that no one would bring harm to them. When they reached the City, however, the Circle turned them away. They told them to avoid the city at all costs, but kindly suggested settling in the ruins of the surrounding towns.
And the Forsaken did exactly that.
They wandered for a little bit, before settling down in the ruins of Williamson. Picked clean by centuries of the Circle prospecting over its ruins, it wasn't an ideal spot - but it would have to do. The ghouls set about retilling the long-untouched farms, building a small community there. Even some smoothskins, prospectors who hedged their life savings on the trip to Prescott only to be turned around, settled with them and became something of the community's guardians. They thrive off of trade, on commerce, and take solace in the fact that they now have somewhere they can call their own.
For now.
It's all over but the crying,
and nobody's crying but me.
Friends all over know I'm trying
to forget about the love I feel for you.
The Wind-Makers
When the Legion disintegrated, that didn't mean the Legionaries turned to sand. And not all Legionaries believed in the cause enough to join the warlords of the Cult of Mars, nor did they feel inclined to turn to raiding. Some, simply, wanted to restart their lives - as if the whole Legion business never happened.
The news of Caesar's death and the defeat of the army at Hoover Dam came to Camp Prefect Gaius Decimus, stationed at a road outpost just outside the Tonto Forests and tasked with spying on the Circle and Prescott, it shook him to the core. He and his men had endured so much heartache, so much struggle in their service with the Legion. They had fought so hard for Caesar, so hard for the ideal of Nova Roma, that it all seemed worthless. Like sands in the desert. He called in his subordinates as soon as he heard the news, and demanded a vote.
Should they fight on? Or should they fade away, abandon the path that they had walked for so long, and start over?
They, to a man, voted to disband.
And so, with little other option left to him, Gaius addressed his men. He told them that Caesar was dead, that the Battle for Vegas had been lost, and that the dream of Nova Roma was over. He said that they were now free of their oaths to him, to Caesar, and to Legion. That they could choose their own path, and that he would curse no man who left the camp now. But, no matter their oaths, they had fought beside Gaius at Phoenix, at Denver, and at Dry Wells. Not a single man left.
Gaius led his men, numbering about twenty, out of the camp, leaving the fires burning behind them as they marched out with their kit, leaving behind only the old standards of the Legion and the Imperial Signifier of Caesar. The band of Legionaries wandered from town to town, gradually abandoning their old armor for leather and metal gear. They began to even change their names, reverting back to their old tribal names - before the Legion stole them away. Gaius Decimus was no more, and in his place was Skin-of-Stars.
They traveled towards Prescott as they knew it to be untouched. But like so many travelers before them, the Circle - as polite as they could be - turned them away. Disheartened, Skin-of-Stars headed towards another object that he had seen so many times through his field glasses: An old wind farm.
They arrived a day later, and found the place occupied by a sizable number of tribals without even a name for their group. Refugees from the Legion's wrath. They took it upon themselves to mix with these people, helping them learn the Legion's martial ways while they in turn taught the former Legionaries how to till the Earth, and what to grow, and more importantly: how to reconnect with their roots. Out of this symbiosis, a new tribe was born: The Wind-Makers.
The Wind-Makers are now working hard to restore the wind farms to order, hoping - perhaps in vain - to connect with the Free State of the Mojave and offer their Courier-King the gift of wind-power.
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By using this terminal, you are acknowledging that you are an authorized user or technician. Unauthorized users must cease reading and log out of this terminal immediately. Violators will be subject to civil and criminal penalties.
Vault 14 is, in accordance with Project Safehouse, to house occupants in the event of catastrophic atomic warfare. Vault 14 is equipped to house 700 occupants in its Residential Wing, not including Vault-Tec science and medical personnel. In the event of an actual Alpha Alert, coinciding with military and civilian civil defense alerts, civilians will be admitted entrance, with precedence given to those who have pre-registered with Vault-Tec. When there are no more individuals to admit, or otherwise it becomes unfeasible to keep the Vault Door open, medical personnel will screen all occupants to provide a baseline for future medical treatments. Occupants will be given quarters in the Residential Wing, endeavoring to keep families together and to pair potential couples to sustain the Vault population in the event that an All-Clear Signal is not received.
Vault-Tec Headquarters will monitor the condition on the surface and, if conditions are deemed satisfactorily, an All-Clear Signal will be broadcasted on 162.4 MHz. You have a discretionary 180 day window to shelter-in-place in the event that the All-Clear Signal was received erroneously, and you are permitted to send scouting parties out to survey the situation. If the situation on the surface is not safe enough to release the Vault occupants, you are permitted to continue to shelter-in-place as necessary until the situation improves.
Vault 14 is powered by twin General Atomics Nuclear Power Reactors, located on the Reactor Wing. In the event that these fail, the Vault is equipped with a General Atomics Geothermal Generator to sustain essential functions until the reactors can be repaired or replaced. The Vault is equipped with a Mk I Garden of Eden Creation Kit, containing numerous high-nutrition-value plants and is capable of low-level de-radiation in the event that water is unsuitable for drinking on the outside following an All-Clear Signal from Vault-Tec.
Consult with the Overseer's Operational Protocol Manual for further instructions.
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By using this terminal, you are acknowledging that you are an authorized user or technician. Unauthorized users must cease reading and log out of this terminal immediately. Violators will be subject to civil and criminal penalties.
Vault 52 is, in accordance with Project Safehouse, to house occupants in the event of catastrophic atomic warfare. Vault 52 is equipped to house 700 occupants in its Residential Wing, not including Vault-Tec science and medical personnel. The mission of Vault 52 is to study and document the effects of prolonged isolation from the outside world combined with religious iconography and indoctrination on a willing and receptive population. Occupants have been pre-screened by Vault-Tec and have been selected for their Roman Catholic upbringing and faith, and their commitment to this faith. Under no circumstances are occupants not pre-registered with Vault-Tec and assigned to Vault 52 permitted entry into the Vault. In conjunction with Vault-Tec's mission, Bishop John Rausch of the Diocese of Phoenix, along with a mission of Latin-rite priests, have been granted places in Vault 52 in recognition for their commitment to Traditional Roman Catholicism.
On the surface, from the perspective of the Vault 52 occupants, Bishop John Rausch and his successors are to be seen as the true Overseer and leader of the community. You and your successors are to be seen only as deriving your power from the Bishop, and you must take great care to continue this relationship. Science staff are to be embedded with the priestly mission, disguised as deacons. Great care must be undertaken to ensure neither Bishop Rausch, the priests, nor the Vault occupants learn the true nature of Vault 52, and all terminals must be encrypted with a Level Four RobCo encryption key to prevent unauthorized access.
Under no circumstances are you or your successors to open Vault 52 earlier than a hundred years into the experiment. If Vault-Tec Headquarters deems it necessary to open the Vault prematurely, a supervisor will be dispatched to your location and remotely access the Vault Door. In the event no supervisor comes, and you reach the hundred year mark, you have a discretionary 180 day window to shelter-in-place, and you are permitted to send scouting parties out to survey the situation. If the situation on the surface is not safe enough to release the Vault occupants, you are permitted to continue to shelter-in-place as necessary until the situation improves.
Vault 52 is powered by twin General Atomics Nuclear Power Reactors, located on the Reactor Wing. In the event that these fail, the Vault is equipped with a General Atomics Geothermal Generator to sustain essential functions until the reactors can be repaired or replaced. The Vault is equipped with a Mk I Garden of Eden Creation Kit, containing numerous high-nutrition-value plants and is capable of low-level de-radiation in the event that water is unsuitable for drinking on the outside following opening the Vault Door for surface habitation.
Consult with the Overseer's Operational Protocol Manual for further instructions.
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CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL
OVERSEER EYES ONLY | VIOLATION VTP-01011
By using this terminal, you are acknowledging that you are an authorized user or technician. Unauthorized users must cease reading and log out of this terminal immediately. Violators will be subject to civil and criminal penalties.
Vault 98 is, in accordance with Project Safehouse, a fauna-flora repopulation center in the event of catastrophic atomic warfare. Vault 98 is equipped to house 25 occupants in its Residential Wing, all of which are Vault-Tec science and medical personnel. Under no circumstances are non-Vault-Tec civilians permitted entry into Vault 98. Accommodations for Vault-Tec personnel family have been made in Vault 14, each placed at the top of the reservation list to ensure survival in the event of atomic warfare.
The mission of Vault 98 is to repopulate a post-catastrophe land with a thriving ecosystem in a Three Phase program. developed by Vault-Tec science staff using genome from fossils, preserved tissue samples, prehistoric blood samples preserved in amber, and from extant fauna and flora. Samples have been sourced from sponsored Vault-Tec digs in the United States and newly-annexed Canada, as well as international sources from the United Kingdom, the USSR, and the German State. Consult with Vault 98 Science Staff Directive for further information on sample sources.
Phase I consists of the replication and creation usable and cloneable DNA to manufacture species in accordance with the Vault 98 Science Staff Directive. Care must be undertaken to ensure preservation of sample sources to prevent contamination and degradation of source material. Gaps in the preserved DNA will be filled with the discretion of the Leading Science Supervisor to ensure positive results. During Phase I, a series of test cloning subjects are permitted, but are to be terminated immediately upon proof of either a successful or an unsuccessful procedure. A short-list of required and recommended species to be produced has been enclosed in the Vault 98 Science Staff Directive.
Phase II consists of the cloning and housing of species produced in accordance with the Vault 98 Science Staff Directive and with the instructions of the Leading Science Supervisor. Two separate wings, for fauna and flora, have been constructed by Vault-Tec to facilitate experimentation and proof of a successful procedure. Fauna are to be fed with a multitude of sources, including cloned cattle and other farm animals, as well as other cloned fauna as part of Vault 98 Science Staff Directive. Cloned flora is permitted to be fed to herbivorous fauna. Care must be undertaken to ensure no breeding pairs begin to arise. In the circumstance that this situation arises, the breeding pair and the entire batch must be terminated to ensure no overwhelming of containment procedures.
Phase III may only be activated when a Vault-Tec All-Clear Signal is received. It consists of the introduction of cloned species onto the surface. In accordance with the Vault 98 Science Staff Directive, cloned flora will be introduced via Mister Handies specifically equipped to spray seeds and fertilizer to facilitate growth. Following a normal growth window, herbivorous and omnivorous fauna may be introduced into the created ecosystem. Mister Handies will remotely monitor the fauna for herd behavior, and once it is recognized, carnivorous fauna may be introduced. All fauna will be introduced to the wild through the auxiliary Vault Door, located in the Fauna Containment Wing.
Vault-Tec Headquarters will monitor the condition on the surface and, if conditions are deemed satisfactorily, an All-Clear Signal will be broadcasted on 162.4 MHz. You have a discretionary 180 day window to shelter-in-place in the event that the All-Clear Signal was received erroneously, and you are permitted to send scouting parties out to survey the situation. In the event that an All-Clear Signal is received, and the situation is deemed to be suitable for introduction of wild life, Phase III may be enacted. In the event that the All-Clear Signal is received, but Phase III has not been reached, all efforts must be undertaken to ensure Phase III is reached. In the event that an All-Clear Signal is not received, but Phase III has been reached, introduction of wild life is approved.
Vault-Tec personnel are not permitted to evacuate the Vault until Phase III has been initiated. It is strongly recommended that Vault-Tec personnel evacuate the facility prior to releasing the carnivorous fauna, initiating the release via remote control. An observer must be posted at the auxiliary door exit to ensure all carnivorous fauna have been released. After evacuation, Vault-Tec personnel are to make contact with Headquarters and await further instruction.
Vault 98 is powered by twin General Atomics Nuclear Power Reactors, located on the Reactor Wing. In the event that these fail, the Vault is equipped with a General Atomics Geothermal Generator to sustain essential functions until the reactors can be repaired or replaced. The Vault is equipped with a Mk I Garden of Eden Creation Kit, containing numerous high-nutrition-value plants and is capable of low-level de-radiation in the event that water is unsuitable for drinking on the outside following opening the Vault Door for surface habitation.
Consult with the Overseer's Operational Protocol Manual for further instructions.
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The forest outside of Prescott, grown out from a site in the old Red Rock State Park, is the thing of legends for the tribals of Southern Arizona. Those who seek to travel the roads through that wicked wood move only in large numbers, caravans banding together in tight convoys or armies moving as one, for individual travelers are often never seen again in her impenetrable thicket. Only a number of wanderers have ventured into the Thicket and returned to tell the tale.
And the stories they speak are the things of old myth, scarcely believed by any until they too venture into the wood.
The wanderers spread stories of strange trees and ferns - and a stark absence of the normal plant life that exists elsewhere, outside of its boundaries. They shudder at the thought of recalling the creatures they've seen, unable to properly speak of them. They talk of reptilian beasts like dragons, with tusks growing out of their skulls, lumbering on all fours like Bighorners. They talk of strange creatures with horns that produce musical calls growing out of their heads moving in herds through the parts of the forest not covered with trees. They shudder at the mere thought of the beast that is like a Deathclaw, but taller, more robust, and far more vicious, recalling how it swallowed a man whole - with nothing left of him but his arm.
But nothing brings them greater fear than the Stalkers, which are seen by all of the travelers that make their way through the Thicket at night. By the campfire light, they can see the beasts with talons growing from their hands stalk the camp, their silhouettes hanging over them. They call out to each other with caws like demented birds, communicating as intelligently as a man. Those who try to find them, to drive them off, are never seen again. But their screams carry their way through the whole Forest, as the Stalkers let out a terrific high-pitched noise as they attack them, eating their victims alive.
Many wastelanders boast of one day going to the Thicket, to hunt down the greatest game known to Man. But few ever dare, and fewer still return. And of those that return, they almost always come back empty handed.
