 | The following is based on Fallout Bible developer commentary. |
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The Brotherhood-Vipers conflict was carried out by the Lost Hills foundational chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel against the desert raider clan known as the Vipers sometime in 2155. The event is mentioned in the Fallout Bible.
Prelude[]
Ever since first emerging from the confines of Vault 15, alongside eventual rivals the Jackals and Khans and the founders of the town of Shady Sands, followed by their subsequent organization under the leadership of Jonathan Faust during the Great Awakening, the Vipers raided and pillaged across post-War California largely unimpeded.
In 2125, they attempted to raid the Hub, a settlement in its formative years. However, thanks to a coordinated effort led by its leader Angus, they were defeated. The surviving members retreated to the north, roaming the wastes for many, many years, occasionally attacking caravans and small settlements.[Non-game 1] Despite their defeat, the Vipers continued to thrive, rebuilding their strength from slaves captured in the wasteland. They settled into the badlands north of Hub and south of Lost Hills, intensifying their raids to provide for their greater numbers. High Priest Asp, crowned after Jonathan the Great Snakekeeper grew too old and infirm to rule, was aggressive and confident.
Conflict[]
Though they had found much success preying upon lone caravans and wasteland travelers, the Vipers were completely outmatched by more technologically advanced factions, the most prominent at the time being the Brotherhood of Steel operating out of the Lost Hills bunker close by. The Brotherhood's then-leader, High Elder Maxson II, son and successor of the founder Roger Maxson first became aware of the Vipers in 2155; the Brotherhood's firm confidence in their power armor and pre-War technology caused them to see the raiders as merely excellent fodder for training exercises. However, they underestimated the religious fervor of the Vipers.[Non-game 1]
Sometime that year, the high elder himself led a squad of trainees in power armor against the Vipers, confident that their armored shells would be impervious to their weapons. That was correct up until the moment that Maxson removed his helmet for unknown reasons, allowing a chance incident of a poisoned arrow nicking him across the cheek, and he succumbed to its effects too quickly for medical treatment. The loss of their leader galvanized the Brotherhood. On the orders of the new Head Paladin Rhombus, they retaliated with a merciless extermination campaign. In the span of a single month, the Vipers were effectively wiped out, the few survivors driven deep into the mountains. Most fled California entirely, with only isolated warbands risking staying behind. By 2162 they were almost all gone.[Non-game 1]
Aftermath[]
The Brotherhood's dedicated effort to exterminating the Vipers altered the landscape of the West Coast wasteland by removing one of the more active raider clans around; by the early 2160s, the only substantial groups still posing a threat were the Khans and the mutant-supremacist Unity (the Jackals having been defeated by the Khans decades prior). Scouting parties sent by the Brotherhood trying to root out remaining Vipers in the region doubled as the early emissaries to the merchants of the Hub, with later formal negotiations serving to open the Brotherhood up to the benefits of interacting with wasteland commerce.[Non-game 1]
For their part, the remnants of the Vipers did not completely die out at the hands of the Brotherhood nor did they in skirmishes with the nascent New California Republic, but they never again achieved the threat level they once had.[1] By the 2280s in the late 23rd century, they have been reduced to opportunistic, petty raiders who forgot their heritage, skulking in the mountains of the Mojave Wasteland and ambushing merchant caravans to replenish their supplies.[2]
References[]
- ↑ The Courier: "Colonel Moore's "way"?"
Hanlon: "The colonel is an effective commander - one of the best - but she sharpened her claws on the Vipers and the old Jackals. Did four tours against the Brotherhood, too. She used to be a ranger until an injury took her out of action. Happens to a lot of us, unfortunately. She's better at making graves than making friends. Bring in Moore and the earth will be razed. Fields will be salted."
(Chief Hanlon's dialogue) - ↑ Fallout: New Vegas loading screen hints: "Brutalized by the NCR, the once-legendary Vipers and Jackals gangs have become little more than opportunistic, petty raiders."
Non-game
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Fallout Bible 6, The Vipers: [...] "The Vipers left Southern California after two incidents:
1. Defeat at the Hub in 2125: Their failed attempt to raid the Hub during the Hub's formative years, stopped almost solely by Angus, the founder of the Hub. Angus' defense caused the Vipers to retreat north, and they roamed the wastes for many, many years, occasionally attacking caravans and small settlements. Around the early 2150s, however, the Vipers had grown to their former strength from captured slaves and caravan drivers and had begun to establish a power base in the badlands to the North of the Hub (and south of the Lost Hills Bunker). Driven by a religious frenzy (and the need to provide for their much larger numbers of soldiers and disciples), they began raiding more frequently than before, attracting the attention of the Brotherhood of Steel. The Brotherhood sent out a few squads of scouts to track the raiders down - it was more of a training exercise conducted by John Maxson's father, as the Brotherhood was convinced that small detachment of troops in Power Armor would be sufficient to deal with a group of raiders, no matter how large.
2. Near Extermination by the Brotherhood of Steel in 2155: One Brotherhood squad found the Vipers, and during the firefight, John Maxson's father (who was leading the squad) was killed with a poisoned arrow. The response from the Brotherhood was immediate. The Paladins, now led by Rhombus, began a full scale campaign against the Vipers, tracking them down and wiping 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, but they were never heard from again. 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). So some good did come out of the Vipers' presence in the wastes, for what it's worth. [...]"