The Zeta Uprising is an armed conflict onboard the eponymous alien vessel Mothership Zeta between its Zetan crew and a rebelling group of human prisoners abducted from throughout Earth's history with some being brought out of cryonic suspension that has lasted centuries. The conflict serves as the guiding storyline of the Fallout 3 add-on Mothership Zeta.
Prelude[]
For a large amount of recorded human history, the Earth has been visited and observed by a race of aliens known as the Zetans,[1][2] though for what reasons and why is unknown to date save for an apparent interest in the abduction of humans and creatures as well as collecting world objects for study, cryogenic preservation and experimentation.
Since their arrival, they have spent a millennium or more abducting humans and other creatures from Earth as well as samples of Earth technology. Evidence of their presence on the planet dates back as early as the Japanese Edo period (late 16th century to early 17th century) with the abduction of the samurai Toshiro Kago from his home.[3] It was not until the abduction of Colonel Hartigan and the Clarabella 7 capsule from the United States of America in the 1960s that their influence became felt by modern society, with groups such as Quaere Verum formed to reveal the truth about them, though that group in particular was widely regarded to be a "crackpot" conspiracy group by the public. Quaere Verum attempted to use the MPLX Novasurge, a prototype plasma pistol somehow recovered by the group from the government, as proof that the U.S. government had been using alien technology, though the weapon was later recovered by the Zetans themselves, while the group itself was dismantled by the federal government for their role in stealing the weapon. Among other conspiracy groups, it was believed that the Enclave had based much of their technology on such reverse-engineered alien technology.[Non-game 1][Non-game 2]
Crashed in the Capital[]
While physical evidence of Zetan activity has been few and far between since the nuclear apocalypse in 2077 (minus an attempted invasion of West Virgnia around the turn of the 22nd century[4] and supposed sightings around New California later on), in 2277 shortly after escaping from Vault 101 to find their father James, the Lone Wanderer gets a first-hand encounter with the visitors from another world when they pick up a beacon being emitted from the crashed remains of recon craft Theta near Minefield, brought down to earth by unknown causes while on a mission of unknown purpose. Upon taking a look and approaching the remains of the dead pilot, the Lone Wanderer is caught up in a beam of light that lifts them off the ground and soon teleports them off the face of the earth.[5]
Conflict[]
Breaking out[]
After a sequence of being studied by their Zetan captors, the Lone Wanderer falls into unconsciousness and is transported to a holding cell they share with Somah, a wastelander like them. Together, the two form a plan to stage a fistfight in order to draw in their jailers, then given the chance, they turn against and defeat the aliens that came, arming themselves and starting to explore their surroundings. They can find at least two other abductees in their cell block from the Capital Wastes including a dead officer of the Enclave and a traumatized security guard from Rivet City.[5]
Going further through the ship leads the Lone Wanderer to meet and rescue Sally, a young girl with more maturity and wisdom than she appears to have. She agrees to help them navigate the ship and figure out how to defeat the aliens. Somah opts to stay behind and "watch [their] back" but promises they will meet up later.[5]
New recruits[]
Once the Lone Wanderer and Sally navigate their way out of the holding cells and through the ship's steamworks, fighting past more of the alien crew, they try to access a teleportation matrix to get to the main deck but find it deactivated. Thinking of a new plan, Sally leads them to reach the engineering core of the vessel. In an isolated section of the core, they reunite with Somah and come to an array of cryonic suspension pods, some of which are occupied; Sally indicates the pod containing the American astronaut Colonel Hartigan wearing a spacesuit as the one they most need to wake up in order to access the exterior parts of the ship exposed to space, though unfreezing him will wake up the others.[6]
Upon activating the stasis controls, all of the pods open and their occupants emerge into the unfamiliar surroundings. However, the hopes to get the astronaut's help end up dashed when he immediately collapses to the ground and dies, forcing the Lone Wanderer to take the spacesuit themselves. The other revived prisoners may be interacted with, showing themselves to be: Toshiro Kago, a Japanese samurai who cannot understand what the others are saying but longs to find something the aliens took from him; Paulson, a cowboy from the Old American West on a one-man revenge campaign for the supposed abduction and deaths of his family; and Elliott Tercorien, a U.S. Army field medic who was taken along with the rest of his military unit right off the battlefield at Anchorage in the 21st century.[6]
Sabotaging the ship[]
In order for the Lone Wanderer to reach the decompression chamber to get them outside the ship and use the teleporter, Sally says they will need to clear out the alien crewmembers that will try to stop them; rather than outright bloodshed, she advises them to search the other sections of the ship and locate critical generators that they can destroy in order to shut off the life support and suffocate the hostile forces barring them from the airlock, with one found in each area of the cryo lab, hangar, and robot assembly. Sally also recommends getting help from some of the uniquely skilled people they liberated from cryo-stasis.[6]
In the cryo lab, the Lone Wanderer can be helped by Elliot. There, they discover the aliens performing experiments on the members of his Army unit, and while they are unable to save all of them, Elliot discovers the two remaining members, Private Beckett and Sergeant Daniels still alive in cryo-stasis. The Lone Wanderer can advise they be left in their stasis, convince Elliot to euthanize them as a mercy from the experiments performed on them, or go along with his suggestion to revive them and give them a chance to use their remaining time to help finish the mission. In the latter case, Beckett and Daniels assist the pair in fighting past the aliens to get to the generator room, though if they survive the battle, they both end up succumbing to the toxins in their bodies from the experiments. The Lone Wanderer may have also caused chaos among the alien defenders by releasing the cryo pods containing their collected specimens of raiders, feral ghouls, and super mutants.[6]
In the hangar, the Lone Wanderer can be helped by Paulson. They fight against a multitude of alien defenders supported by waves of guardian drones and support drones though the Lone Wanderer may obtain the use of the drone control device from the robot assembly beforehand, ultimately cutting of the aliens' use of their hovercrafts.[6]
In the robot assembly, the Lone Wanderer can be helped by Somah. Soon after entering, though, she splits off, using a short-range teleporter to try and find a way to mess with the other systems in the area. After getting into the main assembly line manufacturing the aliens' legions of drones, Somah returns and gives the suggestion to explode through the central line's infrastructure to reach the generator while also depriving the aliens of further mechanized support. After their destructive entrance, the pair come across the assembly crew who deploy the last of the produced drones to take them out, including the foreman who carries the drone control device that the Lone Wanderer can subsequently take for themselves.[6]
With the destruction of all three generators, the aliens' resistance is temporarily thwarted trying to escape from the loss of life support, giving the Lone Wanderer a chance to use their spacesuit and go through the decompression chamber. Beforehand, they may have explored other off-hand parts of the ship including the cargo hold, engine room, and maintenance level, with the latter location giving them a chance to discover the samurai's lost sword for which he is grateful to receive. Once ready, they pass through the decompression chamber stepping out into the vacuum of space on a spacewalk. While observing the unfolding chaos below as the Zetan crew attempts to mobilize to regain control, the Lone Wanderer completes the process needed to access the teleporter, bringing them onto the upper level of the vessel.[6]
Taking the bridge[]
Reaching the observation deck of the ship, the Lone Wanderer operates the teleporter and brings their group of allies with them. Everyone attempts to head further onto the upper levels but energy gates block the way as the alien captain of the mothership reveals via demonstration that their vessel is equipped with a fully functioning death ray, necessitating that it be disabled before they head to the bridge.[7]
Fighting through the upper levels including the weapons lab and biological research lab, the rebels reach the teleporter to the death ray hub and go through. There, they fight their way through a large defensive force of aliens and drones trying to stop them from getting to the death ray control but to no avail. The rebels systematically overload and destroy the four generators powering the vessel's death ray. The Lone Wanderer may have also used the access to its controls to redirect the aim of the death ray, away from or towards the planet. After one last charge against the alien defenders in the living quarters, the allied prisoners reach the teleporter going directly to the ship's bridge.[7]
Once on the bridge, the Lone Wanderer faces off alone against the captain and their remaining crewmembers who all eventually fall to their former prisoners, putting the ship in human control instead. However, their victory is interrupted shortly after by a hologram message from another alien captain, arriving at the hijacked vessel in a mothership of their own and a still-powered death ray. With their allies teleported in, Sally directs everyone to take the controls of the bridge's systems so they can counter-attack, with Elliot maintaining a teleport jammer to prevent alien attackers from getting onto the bridge. Attacks from the enemy ship occasionally short out the active generators, lifting the jammer and letting attack groups through that the Lone Wanderer has to deal with. Once they turn the tide against the enemy ship, a blast completely takes out the jammer and attackers pour through with greater frequency, forcing the wounded Elliot to retreat through the main teleporter.[7]
Aftermath[]
The Lone Wanderer eventually manages to deal a killing blow to the enemy ship, destroying it in the atmosphere with the remains plummeting to the planet's surface. With the danger passed and a ship full of highly advanced technology at their hands, the alliance of prisoners dissolves and everyone goes their separate ways:
- The Lone Wanderer retains full control of the ship with the use of a homing beacon allowing travel to and from the surface.
- Sally, Elliot, and Toshiro elect to remain onboard, similarly feeling that the world below is as alien to them as the ones who abducted them in the first place.
- Somah and Paulson choose to disembark and venture to make new lives for themselves in the wasteland.
Appearances[]
The Zeta Uprising appears only in the Fallout 3 add-on Mothership Zeta.
References[]
- ↑ Fallout 4 loading screens: "If the conspiracy theorists are to be believed, Earth has been visited by an alien species on several occasions. These "Zetans" are said to be armed with powerful energy beam weapons that can completely disintegrate enemies."
- ↑ Amplified alien blaster description: "This much power is usually reserved for a Zetan cruiser."
- ↑ The Fallout 3 Official Game Guide states Toshiro Kago's armor is dated to the Azuchi-Momoyama period (AD 1568—1603)
- ↑ Events of Invaders from Beyond in Fallout 76
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Events of Not of This World in Mothership Zeta
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 Events of Among the Stars in Mothership Zeta
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Events of This Galaxy Ain't Big Enough... in Mothership Zeta
Non-game
- ↑ Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Game of the Year Edition: "Once thought to be covered up by a government conspiracy and believed only by “crackpot” groups such as the Quaere Verum, evidence of extraterrestrial life can be traced back throughout human history, but became nationally recognized after the mysterious disappearance of the Clarabella 7 space pod during the 1960s Space Race. It is said that Alien technology was the basis of many of the Enclave's more exotic and impressive weaponry and robotics, and even toy manufacturers such as Wilson Automatoys weren't immune to these accusations. Recently, after the discovery of an Alien body in Fort Bannister, the shocking truth was revealed. The Aliens are not only real and alive, but they’re back. And they’re pissed."
- ↑ Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Game of the Year Edition p.110 "A secretive prototype to the Enclave’s Plasma Pistol, the Novasurge functions in a very similar manner, and proves a conspiracy theory you long suspected. There are other bonuses too; the MPLX Novasurge inflicts more than three times the damage of a Plasma Pistol, with a bigger Crit % Mult too. Unfortunately, it is heavier and uses ammunition twice as quickly. Repair it using Plasma Pistols. It is found in a safe in the Debris Pile after you unlock it by hacking Reid Underwood’s Terminal inside the Mothership Zeta Cargo Hold [MZ2.11]."