REPCONN Aerospace (Rocket Engineering and Production COmpaNy of Nevada)[1] was a company based in Nevada that specialized in rocket manufacture, primarily for the U.S. government. Their headquarters and test site can still be found in the Mojave Wasteland.
Background
REPCONN corporation was an up-and-coming regional aerospace firm, and keen contributor to Las Vegas political campaigns. They operated a test facility in the Black Mountains to the south (much to the chagrin of the local populations, who long complained of the “REPCONN bombs” landing in their fields and destroying property). The company was purchased by the giant RobCo company just before the Great War, in a hostile takeover. New security countermeasures were installed, and more militaristic plans were undertaken, especially after the discovery of a special radioactive igniting agent that interested senior RobCo management staff.[2]
It was formed in 2054 after the famous Delta IX rocket was developed and launched. Its original purpose was to develop orbital propulsion systems. Its first line of research was into nuclear fission based propulsion. This was soon succeeded by plasma based propulsion.
The company was seen as having great potential. So the two corporate giants, Poseidon Energy and RobCo Industries, made attempts to buy out the company. While the former's bid was seen off by a decisive action by REPCONN's board of directors under the lead of Vice President Leonard Steeple and Chief Financial Officer Julia Masters, the latter succeeded.
Steeple tried to rally the board again and sought help from Masters. While Julia officially agreed to support him, she was working with General Manager Piers Isley to undermine Steeple's position in the company and get the board of directors to give the Vice President a vote of no confidence, after he refused to even consider selling his part of the company, in order to maintain their independence and integrity.
In 2075, Steeple stepped down from his position as vice president as the board voted against him and the company was acquired by RobCo Industries, following a disastrous accident during the test of REPCONN's newest type of rocket. Carl Rook became the next vice president and his first move was to enhance security around the company and initiate a weapons research program for Colonel Moretti of the US military. Later, Steve Reynolds, the cause of the accident (he pushed the R&D team too hard and cut corners) forced Senior Engineer Martin Neimeyer, who was aware of Reynold's role in the incident, to resign.
REPCONN and its parent company RobCo took major hits to their public image sometime after the latter's acquisition of the former. In a promotional effort, REPCONN rolled out a line of rocket souvenirs filled with liquid and an actual rocket igniting agent to make them glow. Some pre-War children opened them and drank them, thinking it was some kind of Nuka-Cola, causing them to come down with what was called the REPCONN Shakes. The souvenirs were dumped, the idea of them scrapped, and internal problems arose in the wake of public outrage over the incident.
By 2076, the Q-35 matter modulator project (based on REPCONN's salvaged proprietary plasma rocket propulsion system) was underway. The first fully working prototype was completed using stolen Project Semele schematics, acquired by Carl Rook's sources inside Poseidon Energy.
Notes
The company's name is misspelled as REPCON in some of the posters.
Behind the scenes
- REPCONN is a reference to the real company PEPCON, which until the 1990s, operated a space fuel production facility also in Henderson, Nevada, near Las Vegas. The PEPCON facility was destroyed in a fire and subsequent massive explosions of improperly stored space shuttle fuel oxidizer.
- The REPCONN logo also resembles the font style and logo of Boeing, a major defense/aerospace manufacturer.
Gallery
References
- ↑ Fallout: New Vegas Strategy Guide
- ↑ Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide
