The Brotherhood-Enclave War is a limited military conflict fought between the Lost Hills foundational chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel and military holdings of the Enclave in the post-War territory of New California on the former American West Coast, beginning in the early 2240s and still ongoing (in a significantly reduced capacity) as of 2296. A remnant group that fled to Washington, D.C. on the East Coast was later almost entirely destroyed by the rogue Capital Wasteland chapter in a separate war in 2277-78. In contrast to the pitched battles between the factions of that conflict, most of the West Coast conflict's action has been limited to less overt operations, such as espionage and general manhunts, both appearing and being mentioned in multiple entries of the Fallout series.
Events[]
Surveillance and espionage (2241)[]
The Brotherhood of Steel first entered into conflict with the Enclave on the West Coast during the year 2241. The organization had become aware of the Enclave's existence in 2240. Their sudden appearance unnerved the Brotherhood, who were currently suffering from a stagnation in influence. They even considered directly contacting the Enclave, but instead chose to take a more cautious approach as they could not ignore the threat that the Enclave posed.[1]
As a result, the Brotherhood began conducting espionage operations against the Enclave in preparation for potential invasion. They reactivated three surveillance outposts in New California to observe the Enclave's activity and motives. These outposts consisted of subterranean bunkers in the Den, San Francisco, and the NCR capital of Shady Sands.[1] By 2241, Brotherhood agents had uncovered the Enclave's involvement in the region's weapons, narcotics and slavery trades. They recognized that these affairs were simply a buildup for the Enclave's true plans, which they were unable to discover.[1] They were also aware that the group had a "president," indicating some knowledge of its inner workings.[2]
The leader of the Brotherhood's San Francisco outpost, Matthew, believed the Enclave's vertibirds were its greatest threat and sought to steal a copy of their vertibird plans from the Enclave base at Navarro via espionage.[3] Prior to July 25, 2241,[4] he sent a single operative to scout the base and regularly deliver reports, but her reports soon stopped, and he believed that she had been killed or otherwise compromised.[5]
The Chosen One infiltrated Navarro later that year to obtain a tanker FOB needed to reach their headquarters, Control Station Enclave.[6] They may have helped Matthew by stealing the vertibird plans while they were there, but this is not confirmed to have happened. If it did, this would have resulted in retaliation by the Enclave, who would send Frank Horrigan to the San Francisco Brotherhood outpost to kill Matthew.[2]
Hunt for Enclave remnants (post-2246)[]
The Chosen One ultimately crippled the Enclave's plans by destroying Control Station Enclave. With the loss of its power, both the New California Republic and the Brotherhood recognized there was an opportunity to seize the Enclave's remaining assets. The Enclave itself also recognized this, and around 2242, most of the surviving forces regrouped and fled to Raven Rock on the East Coast,[Non-game 1][Non-game 2] though some stayed behind at Navarro.
Throughout this period, the Brotherhood was interested in capturing Navarro, but they did not act, possibly because they did not have a strong military presence in northern New California at the time and would have taken significant casualties in doing so.[Non-game 3] Sometime after 2246,[7] the NCR would do what the Brotherhood did not, sacking Navarro and killing its Enclave personnel.[8]
Any surviving Enclave remnants either tried to hide and integrate into the NCR or flee from its territory. Over the years, many of these remnants would also be hunted down by either the NCR or the Brotherhood.[8][9]
Acquiring cold fusion (2296)[]
Wilzig and CX404 fleeing the Enclave research colony
In 2296, Enclave scientist Dr. Siggi Wilzig defected from a research colony located in an unknown snowbound location, heading for Los Angeles to deliver a device capable of generating cold fusion energy. Clerics from the Commonwealth chapter of the Brotherhood somehow discovered Wilzig's escape as well as obtaining detailed information about their target, including his appearance and general destination. To track down their target and obtain the cold fusion "artifact," the Prydwen was dispatched on a cross-country flight from the East Coast, bearing a large force of knights and vertibirds, and bringing orders for one of the Brotherhood's western chapters to use every means to locate Wilzig. The chapter's leader, Elder Cleric Quintus dispatched the knights accompanied by squires to search the territories of the Wilds.[10]
Lee Moldaver leading her NCR forces during the battle against the Brotherhood
During the search for Wilzig, the squire Maximus, pretending to be his deceased knight Titus, tracked down Wilzig to the wasteland town of Filly but failed to capture him there after getting into a fight with the Ghoul. Maximus, joined by his own squire Thaddeus (still pretending to be Titus), later managed to recover Wilzig's head, containing the artifact, after it had been cut off and subsequently swallowed by a mutant gulper that they killed.[11] Much later, after Thaddeus tried to contact the Brotherhood to retrieve the head but was forced to turn it over to Maximus when he began to turn into a ghoul, Maximus attempted to disobey the Brotherhood by instead giving the head and artifact to Lucy MacLean, who in turn brought it to Wilzig's original contact, Lee Moldaver, leader of the NCR remnants inhabiting the Griffith Observatory near Los Angeles.[12] However, after being brought to Elder Quintus and having his ruse discovered, Maximus revealed the true location of the artifact, leading to the Brotherhood mobilizing in force. Following the Battle of Griffith Observatory, the Brotherhood eradicated Moldaver's remnants and seized the reactivated cold fusion generator and the power it provided to the city.[13]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Chosen One: "You said 'at one time.' What about now?"
Matthew: "Several months ago we came across a group known as the Enclave. Much to our surprise their level of technology surpassed even our own. We found this quite disturbing and considered contacting them. However, we decided on a more cautious course of action until we could determine exactly who the Enclave was, and the underlying purpose of their organization. To this end, we have reactivated small outposts near areas of Enclave activity from which we can safely observe them. Currently, we have activated such outposts in the Den, the NCR, and here in San Francisco."
The Chosen One: "Sounds interesting. What have you learned?"
Matthew: "We have found that the Enclave deals heavily in drugs, weapons, and slaves. However, these are simply trivial pursuits leading up to some higher purpose, which we have failed to uncover. We are still watching them."
(Matthew's dialogue) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Chosen One: "What happened to Matt?"
ACE: "Loading sequence..."
Matthew: "You and your so-called President will not succeed."
Frank Horrigan: "Is that so?"
Matthew: "The Chosen One has come, and he will rid the world of your evil."
Frank Horrigan: "I care nothing for your pathetic prophecies. Worse, you have become a nuisance through your meddling. That ends today!"
Matthew: "Killing me will stop nothing."
Frank Horrigan: "That may be, but seeing your body rotting on the ground will bring a smile to my face."
(ACE's information) - ↑ The Chosen One: "{131}{}{Before we go any further, why tell me all this now?}"
Matthew: "{132}{}{(sigh) The Enclave has developed Vertibird technology, flying machines that allow them to move deeply into surrounding territories. Without similar technology to counter this threat, the Brotherhood would be unable to stop an invasion launched by the Enclave. We need to have Vertibird technology, or a viable counter to it, for ourselves.}"
Matthew: "{133}{}{Now, recently the Enclave established a base north of here called Navarro. It's used as a stopover point for the maintenance and refueling of Vertibirds. It's my belief that such a base may have complete technical plans of the Vertibirds. All I need is for someone to infiltrate the base, steal the plans, and bring them here to me.}"
The Chosen One: "{135}{}{Let me guess. You want me to infiltrate this base for you.}"
Matthew: "{136}{}{Let me be frank with you,}{137}{}{. The Brotherhood of Steel is not the power that we once were. We believed ourselves to be the sole source of technology left to mankind. Secure in this belief we have let our order decline over the years. Now we don't have the resources at our disposal to deal with the Enclave. We need your help.}"
(Matthew's dialogue) - ↑ Start date of Fallout 2
- ↑ The Chosen One: "{144}{}{What the hell. I must be crazy, but I'll do it.}"
Matthew: "{155}{}{Excellent. Here is what I need you to do. Go to Navarro, infiltrate the base, and recover the technical plans for the Vertibirds. Return the plans to me.}"
The Chosen One: "{158}{}{All right, but... Just how do think I should go about this? This is a military base after all.}"
Matthew: "{196}{}{Navarro is relatively new and not fully staffed as yet. My sources tell me that they receive new recruits from time to time. Perhaps you could pose as a new arrival. I would suggest that.}"
The Chosen One: "{201}{}{You mentioned your 'sources.' Who would they be?}"
Matthew: "{202}{}{I had an operative go and scout the base. Her reports recently stopped; I can only assume the worst. Please be careful}"
"{203}{}{. I don't enjoy sending people to their deaths.}"
The Chosen One: "{205}{}{I'll be careful. Thanks.}"
Matthew: "{160}{}{Upon successful completion of your mission I will grant you access to our facility here. In the meantime it would be best if you got started immediately. Thank you,}"
"{161}{}{.}"
(Matthew's dialogue) - ↑ Part of the Fallout 2 main storyline: Retrieve the FOB from the base Commander
- ↑ The Courier: "What are you talking about?"
Arcade Gannon: "I wasn't always with the Followers, or with the NCR. My late father was an officer in a group called the Enclave, a remnant of America's Pre-War government. Memories being short around here, not a whole lot of people remember them. But they did bad things. Terrorized communities, kidnapped people. Eventually, someone stopped them. I was born a few years later at a military base on the coast, a place called Navarro."
(Arcade Gannon's dialogue)
Note: PlayStation Blog Meet the Companions establishes Arcade's age as 35 in 2281. This makes his birthyear, either 2245 or 2246, the lower limit for when Navarro could have been sacked by the NCR. - ↑ 8.0 8.1 The Courier: "What happened to Navarro?"
Arcade Gannon: "After the Enclave's command structure fell apart, it was only a matter of time before Navarro was overrun by NCR forces. My mother and I left with some of the troopers from my father's old unit, the same people I've kept in contact with over the years. Anyone who didn't get out was killed by the NCR. Even some of the ones who escaped were eventually hunted down by the Brotherhood of Steel."
(Arcade Gannon's dialogue) - ↑ The Courier: "Where did the Enclave go?"
Arcade Gannon: "A lot of different places. I only know what I was told. Some of them were cut down by the NCR and the Brotherhood. Some of them went east. My mother never told me what happened to my father, but she and I went south with some others and integrated into the NCR. When the NCR learned that Enclave personnel had integrated, we kept moving to the fringes. It's one of the reasons why I wound up out here."
(Arcade Gannon's dialogue) - ↑ Fallout TV series, Season 1, Episode 1: "The End"
- ↑ Fallout TV series, Season 1, Episode 3: "The Head"
- ↑ Fallout TV series, Season 1, Episode 7: "The Radio"
- ↑ Fallout TV series, Season 1, Episode 8: "The Beginning"
Non-game
- ↑ Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Game of the Year Edition p.41: "The Enclave
In the recent past, the Enclave—the remains of the United States government—were evacuated to an oil rig off the coast of California. Little is known about what happened to these forces, although the country has a new commander-in-chief: President John Henry Eden. However, recent reports and chatter have pinpointed the resurgence of the Enclave, with their base centered on a secure underground facility known as Raven Rock. Initial contact was made there 35 years ago.
During this time, the new President Eden has been slowly rebuilding his resources, thanks in part to the technology already available at the Raven Rock military base. Vertibirds, weapons, and robots were easy to construct, but human followers were more difficult to find. The answer was to rely on Colonel Autumn, who controls the Enclave soldier forces, as well as creating a propaganda-spewing series of Eyebots sent to roam the Wasteland, spreading hope. Eden could spout his pro-government rhetoric, and promise a return of the pre-war America of legend: a land of white picket fences, baseball, apple pie, and good, old-fashioned American global supremacy.
President Eden's secretive plan all along has been to rule over an America of the 'pure,' free from any mutation. He has learned of a ridiculously ambitious experiment known as Project Purity, and knew the time to strike had come: His Enclave forces would 'reclaim' the Jefferson Memorial. By controlling the purified water, Eden would control the Capital Wasteland, and the rest of the country eventually. What better way to administer modified F.E.V.- which kills anyone infected with any form of mutation-than through the water supply?"
(Fallout 3 Official Game Guide faction profiles) - ↑ Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Game of the Year Edition p.66: "Colonel Augustus Autumn
Autumn grew up on an oil rig off the California coast (the base of operations for the Enclave, the secretive contingent of the United States government that survived after the apocalypse). His father was the high-ranking Enclave scientist on orders from the president to move all high-ranking officials to the only other secure Enclave location with a functioning ZAX super-computer, Raven Rock. Colonel Autumn has proven to be far less subservient than his scientist father, often openly disagreeing with the president's decisions."
(Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Game of the Year Edition Wasteland Census) - ↑ Fallout Bible 9: "d) Did the BoS capture Navarro after the destruction of the oil rig?
No one knows what happened to Navarro after the Enclave was destroyed. It's unlikely that the BOS seized it after the events in F2 because they didn't have a strong military presence up North at the end of F2. They would have been interested in taking it, however - although they would have suffered serious casualties."