本文介紹的是“辐射4”的主要设定. 關於战前的13个美国联邦,參見Commonwealths。 關於欧洲国家组织,參見欧洲联邦。 |
联邦(英文:The Commonwealth) (通常稱作聯邦廢土) 一个地理区域,主要涵盖了新英格兰的马萨诸塞州。 在其他地区,联邦包括前波士顿的州首府,并作为 辐射4的游戏世界。
背景[]
战前[]
马萨诸塞州是美国历史、工业和文化上的一股强大的力量,是最早的十三个殖民地之一。马萨诸塞州在成立之初常常被宗教殖民者定居,导致持续增长和宗教动乱加剧,其中包括暴行,例如1692年对塞勒姆女巫的审判。[1] 马萨诸塞州成为分裂主义情绪的温床。殖民者和英国王室之间的冲突,因为他们试图对殖民地征税,却不给他们在议会的代表权而加剧,最终导致了波士顿大屠杀和波士顿茶党。火药桶最终点燃于1775年,当时十三个殖民地在美国独立战争期间公开反抗王室。[2]
列克星敦和康科德的战役是战争的第一次交战,波及整个殖民地。马萨诸塞州是革命的重要战场,也是美国政治和精神思想的重要中心。随着国家的独立和成为美国的一部分,该地区成长为一个工业强国。直到20世纪中叶,尽管该州在1969年形成13联邦后开始发生变化,但其行业仍继续在20世纪中扮演着重要角色。[3]
21世纪的美国[]
这场演变改变了马萨诸塞州的面貌,由联邦理工学院领导的,充满活力的高科技部门的出现,增强了该州的经济实力。CIT位于剑桥,是美国最重要的高等教育中心之一,为它提供了许多优秀的人才,包括羅伯特·豪斯,他在CIT毕业后于2042年创立了羅科工業,并在5年内将其转变为全球最赚钱的公司之一。[4]
随着私人和公共利益涌入马萨诸塞州,这个州的面貌也发生了改变。摩天大楼遍布金融区,许多大公司建立了一些尖端设施。从2040年代到2077年,整个城市都遍布着复杂的高架高速公路和单轨铁路网络。 [5]
新旧的结合是美国多家公司和政府机构的主办地,包括大融合(该州的主要能源供应商),避难所科技公司(该公司还在全州建立了许多避难所),海神能源,通用原子国际,银河新闻网,幻露生公司,核子可乐公司(在该州西部建立了核子世界)等等。马萨诸塞的港口继续带来商业和交通,直到資源戰爭,特别是2076年中美戰爭的开始。波士顿轻松地转变了自己的新角色,为美国军队提供了在各方面与共产主义斗争的技术。剑桥聚合物研究所开发了纳米技术,以进一步完善军队的武器。该州西南部的普雷斯科特哨兵站是用来防御核武器的。[6]
然而,对公民权利和基本道德的侵蚀并没有使国家和人民幸免于难。公司的运作好像不受劳动法规或环境法规的阻碍,尤其是那些国家规定例外的公司。污染最终达到如此严重的程度,以至于海洋野生动物开始发生突变。[7] 军事检查站遍布美国,马萨诸塞州也不例外。军方经常以暴力回应粮食暴动,包括在波士頓警方配給站的大屠杀,在那里第184步兵团枪杀了饥饿的波士顿人而不受惩罚。[8] 尽管发生了暴力事件,波士顿号角报仍然以理性的声音著称,持不同政见的记者,不顾自身的危险,继续报道政权的暴行。[9]
此外,还有一些其他的军事设施和项目是以联邦为基地的。该地区曾是军用飞机的主要集结地。[10]史特朗堡是胖子发射器便携式核弹发射器的研发基地,也是陆军工程兵团 t-51b 动力装甲的试验场。美國空軍奧莉維亞衛星站和國民警衛隊訓練場等军事前哨也星罗棋布。国防情报局在全州范围内运作畅通无阻,操作着總控間和遍布全州的隐藏藏匿处网络,而联邦监控中心 k-21b 则监控着公民的行为。陆军与通用原子公司合作,在東波士頓地下建立了隐蔽的RB-2851设施,在那里俘虏将被收集用于制造机器脑。[11]
随着国际紧张局势的加剧和全球能源危机爆发到资源战中,随着中国渗透和核战争的威胁越来越近,联邦的军事力量进一步增强。随后,第104步兵团的Echo公司被派往南波士頓軍事檢查站,并于2077年8月1日开始对经过该检查站的所有车辆进行强制检查。 虽然检查声称要拘留“可疑分子” ,但他们歧视华裔,[12]其中许多人已经被关押在中国的拘留营里。[13] 当时的财务报告显示,军费开支的增加伴随着医疗保健、公用事业和公共交通的减少。[14] 再加上资源战争导致的能源成本上升,以及恶性通货膨胀和厌战情绪笼罩着这个国家,尤其是在加拿大被吞并之后,公共秩序成为了一个严重的问题,尤其是在美国暴行的图像被公之于众之后。格雷厄姆州长最终将波士顿置于戒严状态,[14]而在中国和安克雷奇前线服役的美国部队,发现自己被撤回来处理国内的动乱。
几乎没有人在爆炸中生还,除了那些能够进入波士顿及周边地区,各种避难所和防空洞的人。由于波士顿本身并非直接目标,大部分城市在最初的轰炸中幸免于难,包括麻薩諸塞州議會大廈,波士頓公園和芬威公园。军方试图在事后维持秩序,利用动力装甲帮助平息骚乱,并通过无线电波向其他联邦陆军士兵发送紧急频道 RJ1138承诺在南波士顿军事检查站提供食物,住所和援助。但是,由于其指挥机构破烂不堪,军队最终解散了。 至少在最初阶段,各个政府部门的负责人幸免于难,至少最初是这样,包括躲在波士頓市長避難所的波士顿市长。当避难所被愤怒的暴徒包围时,市长和他的家人都死了。[15] 最终,供应减少,通讯网络中断,以及缺乏明确的领导结构,使得任何形式的有组织的政府都无法在联邦重新获得控制权。
大战[]
2077年10月23日,大战的那一天,仅仅持续了两个小时的核战争,使整个国家陷入了混乱。在上午9:42对宾夕法尼亚州和纽约进行核打击后,上午9:47,一枚核导弹击中了波士顿西南部的指定地点,另一枚导弹同时袭击了华盛顿特区。[16]联邦的归零地有重要的工业和军事意义,武器工厂和制造工厂,[17]包括哨点。Additionally, the Chinese Yangtze-31 submarine, which infiltrated the bay and bypassed missile defense systems, fired two of its total six strategic nuclear SLBMs at the U.S. eastern seaboard. Before firing the other four SLBMs, the submarine was damaged by an underwater mine and was forced to seek shelter in Boston's harbor. The remaining four SLBMs had remained in the submarine, three of which were still operational and one had gotten stuck within its' firing pod, presumably during the launch of the two SLBMs that had launched. Despite the success of the Chinese attack, the 132nd Engineering Corps stationed at Sentinel site Prescott was still able to retaliate by firing their own nuclear stockpile before the Chinese missiles hit[18] due to early warnings via radar.
Following total nuclear annihilation, most of the Commonwealth was reduced to a "war-ravaged quagmire of violence and despair."[19] The brief bombardment spared most of the city, with military units stationed in and around the city struggling to maintain order. To the southwest, the Glowing Sea was born in the nuclear fire, with the aforementioned nuke in the megaton range detonating northwest of the sentinel site, turning a vast stretch of land into a radioactive hellscape that would persist for centuries, bolstered by the destroyed nuclear reactors seeping fuel into the atmosphere and the ground. Harsh crackdowns by the military only contributed to the chaos, with any semblance of order eventually collapsing in on itself.[20]
Post-War[]
The Commonwealth Institute of Technology was irreparably damaged. The staff had trouble surviving the conflagration, with the science staff taking refuge underground, slowly carving out subterranean habitat for themselves. The Institute was formally founded in 2110, as the children of the original survivors dug into the earth and built increasingly sophisticated habitats and laboratories, starting an ongoing process of expanding the Institute's facilities and infrastructure.[21] Isolated from the outside world, the scientists continued their work, disregarding the mayhem and destruction occurring outside of its grounds. As they worked on creating synths, they attempted to work peacefully with the people of the Commonwealth using first generation synths, but mutual mistrust ended that relationship quickly and they returned to isolation.[22]
The key element of the future Commonwealth was founded at the ruins of Fenway Park stadium in the mid-2130s,[23] when Diamond City was established. The settlement greatly benefited from its central location and the natural protection afforded by the baseball stadium, gradually rising to the position of the "Great, Green Jewel of the Commonwealth" and becoming an integral part of the region's history and its many factions. It also became the site of many of the region's miseries, such as when the Commonwealth Provisional Government, the first and only attempt to form a unified government for the Commonwealth, was wiped out by a synth from the Institute. Whether it was deliberate sabotage or a play made by one of the factions within the Institute, the loss of the CPG doomed any future attempts at organizing a government, and led to the Institute sealing itself off from the surface permanently after developing the molecular relay in the 2180s,[24][25]
The Minutemen came closest to becoming an organized army protecting the Commonwealth, rising to prominence after defending Diamond City from a super mutant attack in 2180 - the mutants being the first experiments released by the Institute into the wild as part of their research into organic synths.[26] Their rising star was snuffed out in the middle of the 23rd century, after the loss of the Castle to mirelurks in 2240, after a queen mirelurk decided she fancied the location.[27][28] The loss of their headquarters, radio station and General McGann sent the Commonwealth Minutemen into disarray. Without artillery support and their resources, they were picked off one by one.[29][30] The formation of Goodneighbor by exiled individuals from Diamond City that same year also signaled a shift in the Commonwealth. The Broken Mask incident of 2229 and the revelation of third generation synths to the general population established the Institute as a bogeyman and contributed to the mutual distrust and paranoia that kept the communities of the Commonwealth divided.[31][32]
Since then the situation has remained tenuous. The Institute continued to experiment on the surface and use it as a source of raw materials for the expansion of its underground habitats, raiders and Gunners preyed on the people of the wasteland, too numerous to be killed off, but too disorganized to take the Commonwealth over, while the Minutemen atrophied. The Railroad conducted a guerrilla war against the Institute, desperately trying to stay one step ahead of the Institute's pursuit. However, the fertile soils of the region, its technological legacy and the ready availability of salvage meant that region remained a crucial source of trade and resources. Tobar has once included it in his trading circuit,[33] while caravans from the north, south, and west continue to pass through the region, contributing to the wealth of Bunker Hill and especially Diamond City. An additional upheaval came in 2287 when the War of the Commonwealth started with the arrival of the Brotherhood of Steel, subsequently setting its sights on the Institute and the technology within.
Regions[]
Lexington and Northwest Commonwealth[]
This section of the Commonwealth has its borders roughly from Sanctuary Hills in the north, to the west among the foothills of the Sudbury River. To the east and south, this region ends at the elevated freeways, or at least what is left of them. In the southeast corner, at the congruity of the two freeways is Lexington, a gateway to the greater Boston area.[34]
Once a burgeoning landscape, this region still has the remains of suburbs and cities alike. Among the ruins are several settlements.[34] Among them are Abernathy farm, Drumlin Diner and Tenpines Bluff. Due to the high traffic and relative safety, thanks to relatively low background radiation compared to the rest of the Commonwealth, this region is home to several raider gangs who prey on the caravan traffic.
North Central Commonwealth[]
This section of the Commonwealth has its borders roughly established from the rolling foothills in the north, the south to the Mystic River, and the east and west by elevated freeways. This region was more developed the farther south traveled, at its center is the remains of the city of Malden.[35]
Although scarred by the Great War, this region along with the rest of the known Commonwealth was environmentally scarred by the greed and casual disregard of its inhabitants. One of the worst disasters was the case with Lake Quannapowitt. Once a popular fishing and swimming hole, this locale was used as a dumping ground by Mass Fusion. A local containment shed dumped waste via pipeline directly into its waters. The lake bottom is strewn with detritus and safety barrels.
Despite the lake and its tributary, the Saugus River, becoming dangerously contaminated, it remains one of the more hospitable regions surrounding Boston, with the settlements of the Slog and Greentop Nursery having become stops on the caravan routes. Settlers, however, are not this region's only inhabitants. Super mutants and raiders have made their homes in several landmarks, overrunning – such as the case with Breakheart Banks – and threatening nearby settlements such as the Forged at Saugus Ironworks. The ominously named Parsons State Insane Asylum is also located here.
Western Commonwealth[]
This region consists of foothills to the west descending into the suburban neighborhoods of the greater Boston area to the east. Mostly wilderness, even before the war, it is dominated by the remains of Fort Hagen township to the west. Once flowing directly northeast is the Charles River, along a deep natural navigational channel that was devastated by the cataclysmic destruction of the southern Commonwealth.[36]
Along its riverfront lies the ruins of several townships and developments that have since been flooded by the change in water flow. Such is the case with the Forest Grove marsh, once a burgeoning town on the waterway, its lock and dam stuck in the closed position. The nearby Weston water treatment plant flooded due to a failure in its machinery, despite it being constructed below the waterline. Another instance of environmental destruction is the site of Jalbert Brothers Disposal.
Despite this, the region is not without successful settlements. Graygarden was founded shortly before the war, and Oberland station, a recent farmstead built on the remains of a rail station, lies on the crest of the hillside east of the river. Among the ruins of the Mass Pike Interchange, the Gunners have constructed a major encampment. To the west is the ruins of the federal ration stockpile, once a place where the federal government stockpiled supplies, now a raider encampment. To the east is Vault 81, constructed near Chestnut Hillock Reservoir.
Coastal Commonwealth[]
The shores of the Atlantic Ocean to the northeast were once a vacation destination, as well as a destination for military and commercial interests. Salem, Nahant and Revere Beach lay on the shore, mostly abandoned due to a combination of raiders, feral ghouls and super mutants camped out at Revere satellite array.[37]
Natick and the Glowing Sea[]
One of the most desolate stretches of the Commonwealth, the Glowing Sea sits south of the township of Natick, covered in centuries worth of radioactive fallout, pollution, and torn apart by radioactive storms. The nuclear detonation at the Crater of Atom has devastated much of the state, making it uninhabitable to all but the Children of Atom. Precious facilities can be found in the Glowing Sea, but require special gear and preparation outside the ability of most Commonwealth denizens. The town of Natick sitting on the northern edge of the sea still has living fauna and flora, but the mutants pouring out of the sea and geological upheavals have driven the denizens off.[38]
Quincy and Southern Commonwealth[]
The areas south of the greater Boston neighborhoods, aside from the Glowing Sea, can be considered part of the Southern Commonwealth. Along rivers and treacherous marshlands, this region is the location of both West Roxbury and Jamaica Plain, two townships with their fair share of secrets. To the southeast is Quincy, which, like much of this zone, is under Gunner control. Some of the most dangerous areas in the entire Commonwealth include the coastal area past Quincy and the strange ruins of Spectacle Island, which may be an idyllic place for a settlement.[39]
Boston[]
The capital of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and one of the most densely urbanized areas on the eastern seaboard. It is a mix of centuries-old colonial architecture, civic and public buildings from the heyday of the United States, and expensive, high technology skyscrapers from its latter days. A vast network of elevated highways and monorails connected the city to the towns and districts beyond. Most of the city is abandoned and lies in ruins, although extensive reinforcement work, redundant draining systems, and excellent engineering prevented it from being reclaimed by the ocean, despite the near-constant fighting going on throughout the city. It is also home to three oases of peace: Diamond City, Bunker Hill and Goodneighbor, which also act as pillars of the region's economy.[40]
Nuka-World[]
Located in a dammed valley west of the Commonwealth proper, Nuka-World is home to a derelict amusement park that once belonged to Nuka-Cola Corporation. The crown jewel of the soft drink giant has since slowly withered away, its treasures preserved by a combination of hostile robots, isolationist ghouls, and terrifying wildlife. Heavily altered by Nuka-Cola's work and the climate upheaval of the nuclear war, the valley has mostly dried up and supports little in the way of vegetation. However, the bounty of salvage and advantageous location has endeared a substantial population of traders to it, who have fallen prey to an army of raiders as of 2287.[41]
Environment[]
A humid continental climate, the Great War has altered the Commonwealth in subtle ways, most noticeably an elevated ambient radiation count that increased environmental pressures and selected for mutated versions of local flora and fauna.[42]
The damage caused by the nuclear war and neglect caused much of the region's industrial facilities to deteriorate. However, while this has been negative for much of the region, such as when the nuclear reactors in the Glowing Sea exploded, contributing to the desolation, it was a boon in other places: The derelict sewage treatment station at Warwick homestead actually created the most fertile soil in the Commonwealth when it broke.[43]
Even before the Great War, Massachusetts was suffering from widespread environmental pollution and devastation. Pressure and payoffs from companies such as Poseidon Energy and General Atomics International ensured that this pollution would go unreported. In one case, the Nahant Oceanological society observed radiation and toxicity levels at Lake Quannapowitt that exceeded safe levels and showed a 1500% increase year over year. Exposure to such levels of pollution has resulted in rapidly increasing toxicity in marine species - including those fished for consumption - and increase in average mass by 14% in crabs and 12% in lobsters. The additional food necessary to sustain the shellfish population could lead to colony collapse and the implosion of marine ecosystems. When the Oceanological society tried to bring their findings of the growth and mutations to the press, Galaxy News Network simply took their story, and spun it into a story about how great the shellfish season was going to be.[44][45][46]
Flora[]
Like the rest of the United States, the changes in the ecosystem were due to a combination of factors, the most prevalent of which was the pollution and radiation. However, instead of reducing the number of plant types that could be grown, other mutated variants adapted to their place in the local environment(s). This can be seen with plants such as the tato, a plant that shares characteristics with the potato and tomato,[47] and razorgrain, the popularity of which is due to its ability, unlike wheat,[48] to be grown almost anywhere in the Commonwealth.[49]
The Commonwealth has quite a fertile landscape, barring the areas where pollution and radiation are at their most extremes. Most towns are agriculturally stable, if not thriving, both due to trade, as well as various locations throughout the region suited to grow particular kinds of crops, from the Sunshine Tidings co-op, to Graygarden, and the Slog. The worst of such places where plant life is at its most scarce is the Glowing Sea, a vast and true wasteland. This radioactive landscape was birthed from the nuclear weapons devastated the location and the continuous pollution from the destroyed nuclear power plants that dotted the area. The result of the vast mudslides of barren radioactive soil covers what once was a very populace area, burring whole communities and even elevated highways. This is where the region's radioactive storms originate, the effects of which continue to shower radioactive fallout across the Commonwealth.
Fauna[]
Pollution and radiation have effected the fauna of the region as well, resulting in the adaptation of existing species. Creatures such as radstags, mirelurks (of which there are at least three species), bloodbugs, bloatflies and the brahmin. Other creatures have weathered the mutations, such as dogs and cats. While not common in the conurbation of the Greater Boston Area, wolves can be found in the greater region. One detail about the Commonwealth's fauna is that synthetic wildlife exists, created by the Institute under the Watcher Initiative and efforts to reintroduce pre-War wildlife to the surface.
The ecosystem of the Commonwealth, while peaceful for the most part, is occasionally disturbed by the super mutants. Like their Capital Wasteland "cousins," these giant green beasts have a level of intelligence comparable to that of the Mariposa strain super mutants and are capable of constructing simple structures and armors, having a strength biased hierarchy, as well as operating tools of varying complexity. A fixture of the region since the Institute's FEV experimentation beginning in 2178, they became a permanent nuisance. However, production ceased sometime before 2287 due to Brian Virgil's sabotage of the FEV lab. Similarly to their D.C. brethren, they are considered pests, and are frequently hunted down.[50]
Politics and economy[]
The Commonwealth lacks a centralized government unifying the various settlements that dot the region. The Institute is omnipresent in the region, directly or indirectly influencing the politics of the wasteland. The closest the region came to a stable government was with the Commonwealth Provisional Government (CPG) proposed in the 23rd century, a grassroots initiative that proposed a unified government for the region. The initiative met an abrupt end when representatives sent to Diamond City were all murdered by a synth assassin. The Institute was blamed for the collapse, although it may well be that the destruction of the CPG was deliberate sabotage by isolationist circles within the Institute itself, opposed to active involvement on the surface.[51]
Since then, the various settlements across the Commonwealth have remained independent and forged their own path. Diamond City remained the biggest and most influential city thanks to a combination of effective governance by its democratically elected mayors, burgeoning economy, and defensive forces, remaining a vital hub for trade. Under Mayor McDonough, elected in 2282, this pattern continued, albeit the city's societal tranquility took a sharp turn for the worse that same year. Anti-ghoul rhetoric of the campaign culminated in the banishing of all ghouls into the surrounding wasteland.[52] McDonough also adopted a hard anti-Minutemen stance, which only hastened the demise of the organization.[53] McDonough was actually a synth infiltrator, sent to monitor the city and ensure it would not grow powerful enough to threaten the Institute.[54]
In contrast to the Institute is the Railroad, this institution was founded on the idea that synthetic people should have human rights. In their fight against what they perceive to be slavery have set up a shadow network of operators, to specifically fight the institution of machine slavery itself. In their efforts and failures, they influence some Commonwealth denizens in resistance against the Institute.[55]
Beyond Diamond City, Bunker Hill formed the second pillar of the region's economy, sitting on top of coastal trade routes. The income from caravans passing through the settlement and merchants operating out of the settlement allowed it to pay off the raider gangs operating in the area. Goodneighbor serves as another of Boston's major settlements, an anarchic haven for everyone who didn't fit in at Diamond City or Bunker Hill. Various gangs proliferated in the town, kept in check by John Hancock after his rise to power, while unrestricted trade in weapons, chems, and other vices grew. While neither Diamond City nor Bunker Hill had rules proscribing such trade, fees and taxes imposed by the mayor's office cut into profit margins, making trading in Goodneighbor (and smuggling into Diamond City) a profitable enterprise.[56]
Beyond these three, various settlements and factions operated across the Commonwealth, with various degrees of success. One of the most well known, the Commonwealth Minutemen, is a militia organized before 2180 and dedicated to the protection of the Commonwealth. Their faction entered a period of steep decline after the loss of the Castle, their headquarters and main armory, to a mirelurk horde in 2240. The fall culminated in 2287, after the town of Quincy was sacked by the Gunners and the last remaining Minuteman, Preston Garvey, led the survivors in an exodus across the Commonwealth, ending up in Concord with just five survivors in tow, besieged by raiders. The Gunners, on the other hand, rose to be a prominent faction in the Commonwealth thanks to a combination of military training and ruthlessness.[57]
As in many other regions, raiders continued to operate, forming a large number of uncoordinated warbands. Although various warlords such as Sinjin tried uniting them, these plans were universally stopped by character flaws, contractors hired by various major powers of the Commonwealth, or infighting. The largest of these raider armies formed in the ruins of Nuka-World, after enslaving its original residents, formed of three distinct gangs: the Operators, the Pack, and the Disciples, briefly united under Overboss Colter, before he was removed by the machinations of Porter Gage.[58]
In contrast to raiders, a new player to the region's power-politic has entered the wasteland. The Brotherhood of Steel, specifically their "Eastern division" already scouting the region, grew wary of their reports of the Institute and their synths. Seeing them as an abomination against mankind itself they established themselves at the abandoned Boston International Airport to destroy what they see as the next cataclysmic event against humanity and continue their mission of the preservation of technology as a whole.[59]
Notes[]
- The Commonwealth is mentioned in the Fallout Shelter quest Game Show Gauntlet, the multi-stage questlines The Great Tato Famine and Zines from the Commonwealth as well as the description for the bloodhound.
- Harkness, Dr. Zimmer and Armitage are from the Commonwealth.
- During the events of Broken Steel, Dr. Li leaves the Capital Wasteland on a trip to the Commonwealth, apparently to clear her head after the final activation of Project Purity. At an unspecified point, she joins the Institute.
- Tobar, captain of the Duchess Gambit, made frequent trips to the Commonwealth when his ferry was in better condition.
- Ishmael Ashur, ruler of the Pitt, mentions the Commonwealth, stating that it has reason to envy the Pitt.
- Marcella mentions the Commonwealth on her terminal in Point Lookout.
- Molly, a raider living in Appalachia, is from South Boston.[60]
Appearances[]
The Commonwealth appears only in Fallout 4, and is mentioned in Fallout 76, Fallout 3 and its add-ons The Pitt, Broken Steel and Point Lookout.
Behind the scenes[]
The name Commonwealth is a shortened version of the official name of the state of Massachusetts, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is one of four states that use this term, the other being Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.[61]
Gallery[]
References[]
|
|