By December of 2161, the final preparations for the Unity’s invasion of the New California
Wasteland were nearly complete. The size of the Master’s Army of super
mutant soldiers was growing by the day, and if left unchecked, it would grow unstoppable. It
seemed as though there was nothing and no one that could stop the Master from achieving his
mad dream of uniting New California by converting its population into super mutants. That is,
until an unlikely hero emerges from Vault 13. This hero, known to wasteland legend
simply as “The Vault Dweller,” would leave his Vault on an epic journey across southern
New California in search of a water chip to save his people. The Vault Dweller’s
mission would soon turn from saving his Vault to saving the entire wasteland. In this video,
we will be covering the Mutant Crisis of 2161 to 2162 and the journey of the Vault Dweller.
[Vault 13’s Water Crisis] For nearly a century,
Vault 13, nestled safely beneath Mount Whitney in the New California Wasteland,
had kept a generation of its residents safe from the horrors of the outside world. Then,
in late 2161, the Vault’s water purification chip malfunctioned, leading to a rapid depletion of its
available reserves of potable drinking water. The Vault’s leader, Overseer Jacoren, was faced
with a difficult dilemma. As part of the overall experiment in the Societal Preservation Program,
Vault 13 was under orders to remain sealed for 200 years. But lacking a suitable replacement
chip on hand, Vault 13 would run out of drinking water within five to six months. The Overseer had
to send one of the Vault residents out into the wasteland in search of a new water chip.
Jacoren soon made his choice of who to send. The man the Overseer chose, who would become known to
legend as the “Vault Dweller,” was an outspoken critic of the Vault remaining sealed and isolated
from the outside world. He was the leader of a vocal group of young residents who wished to open
the Vault. And so, Overseer Jacoren was presented with an opportunity to kill two birds with one
stone: by sending the Vault Dweller out in search of a new water chip, it would also calm the flames
of dissension within the Vault. On December 4th, the Vault Dweller met the Overseer in his office,
and Jacoren briefed him on his mission: he would have to find a replacement water
chip within 150 days before the Vault ran out of water. Jacoren provided the coordinates for
the nearby Vault 15 to the east for the Vault Dweller to begin his search while also providing
him with a 10mm pistol and some basic survival gear. The Overseer then wished him luck on his
quest. At 7:21 AM on December 5th, 2161, the Vault Dweller set out from Vault 13 to begin
his journey. As he exited the cave leading out from Vault 13’s entrance beneath Mount Whitney,
the Vault Dweller shielded his eyes from the bright sunlight and gazed out at the
surrounding mountains and desert. It was his first sight of the outside world.
[Shady Sands] After leaving the cave,
the Vault Dweller set out to the east in search of Vault 15. The first few days
of his journey were a struggle to adapt to the harsh realities of the wasteland.
While wandering the desolate wastes, he battled packs of mutated rats and radscorpions. Finally,
after ten days of travelling, on December 15th, the Vault Dweller reached the outskirts of a
small walled agricultural village in the desert halfway to Vault 15: Shady Sands. The village
of Shady Sands had been founded by a group of former Vault 15 residents who had used a
G.E.C.K. to create their little settlement. They were one of four groups to leave Vault 15; the
other three factions split off to form the raider gangs known as the Khans, Vipers, and Jackals.
The Vault Dweller proceeded into the village and met with Aradesh, the village leader. Aradesh
was initially suspicious of the Vault Dweller and his intentions, but while discussing the
village’s plight with frequent radscorpion attacks, the Vault Dweller volunteered to
stop the mutant creatures at their source. Delighted, Aradesh pointed the Vault Dweller
towards the town doctor, Razlo, who informed him about the rad scorpion's rapid rate of mutation,
far too rapid to be caused by natural mutation from the war. The Vault Dweller destroyed the
radscorpions and their nests, eliminating their threat to Shady Sands. He also gathered samples
of their venom sacs to give Razlo to produce an antidote to the radscorpion stingers.
After that, the Vault Dweller returned to Shady Sands and began restocking supplies
for his continued journey to Vault 15. Before leaving, however, the Vault Dweller met two
more figures of interest: Tandi, the daughter of Aradesh, who was bored of her life in Shady
Sands and wished to venture out of the village to seek adventure in the wasteland, and Ian,
a merchant guard formerly employed by the Crimson Caravan Company who had been shot
by raiders and healed by the people of Shady Sands. As gratitude for their assistance,
Ian now resided in town as a guard. Talking with Ian for a bit, the Vault Dweller asked him if he
would like to travel to Vault 15, promising him “a piece of the action” if he came along. Intrigued,
Ian accepted the Vault Dweller’s offer, joining him. They then set out for Vault 15.
Two days after leaving Shady Sands, the Vault Dweller and Ian arrived at Vault 15,
finding the bunker in disrepair and ruin. The only creatures in the Vault were irradiated
rats and molerats. As the two fought their way into the lower levels, they found the accessway
to the control room blocked by rubble. With any prospects of finding a water chip at Vault 15
now off the table, the Vault Dweller and Ian returned to Shady Sands, where they intended
to rest before heading southwest to another settlement Ian had told him of: Junktown.
Before the duo could leave Shady Sands, however, Seth and a distraught Aradesh met with them.
They informed the Vault Dweller that Tandi had been kidnapped by the Khans to the south. The
Vault Dweller reassured Aradesh that he would rescue his daughter and bring her home. The
Vault Dweller and Ian then headed south, armed and ready to take on the raiders.
The Khans were a vicious band of raiders, and when the Vault Dweller met with their leader,
Garl Death-Hand, the raider refused to release Tandi. And so, Vault Dweller
and Ian gunned down the entire raider gang, save for one survivor who managed to escape
into the desert wasteland. After this massacre, the rescuers released Tandi
and the raiders’ other captives from their cells. They then returned to Shady Sands,
receiving a hero’s welcome from the villagers. With Shady Sands safe from further attacks,
the Vault Dweller and Ian set out to the southwest for Junktown, leaving Aradesh and Tandi behind.
[Junktown and the Hub] On December 30th, after a week-long
journey, the Vault Dweller and Ian arrived at the walled settlement of Junktown. Here,
the Vault Dweller assisted Junktown’s tough yet honest mayor, Killian Darkwater,
in stopping the plots of Gizmo, a corrupt casino owner who wished to turn the settlement into a den
of vice. During his stay in Junktown, the Vault Dweller acquired two new travelling companions:
Tycho, a wandering Desert Ranger hailing from the Mojave Wasteland in Nevada, and Dogmeat,
a masterless canine that would attach himself to the Vault Dweller and become his faithful
hound. With Tycho and Dogmeat joining the Vault Dweller and Ian on their journey,
they assisted Killian in driving out the last of Gizmo’s kind from Junktown.
After helping clean up Junktown, the Vault Dweller and company travelled further south,
reaching a large, growing settlement built around a desert oasis close to the pre-war
town of Barstow, now known as “The Hub.” Upon arriving at the Hub in early January 2162,
the Vault Dweller continued his search for a water chip. He investigated the downtown district,
talking to representatives of the “Big Three” merchant caravans: the Crimson Caravan, Far Go
Traders, and the Water Merchants. Although the Water Merchants didn’t possess a water chip
themselves, the Vault Dweller negotiated a deal with their manager to send regular shipments of
water to Vault 13, thus prolonging the Vault’s dwindling water supply in the short term.
Next, the Vault Dweller began exploring the Hub. He met the old ghoul Harold,
who, after being shown kindness by the Vault Dweller, told him his story of trying to find
the source of the frequent mutant attacks with his friend, Dr. Richard Grey, at an old military base
and how he never saw Grey again after the Doctor fell into a vat of green chemicals. Lastly,
the Vault Dweller and his party assisted Butch, manager of the Far Go Traders,
in discovering who was responsible for attacks on Hub merchant caravans. After being led to a nearby
cave and battling a powerful creature known as a deathclaw, the Vault Dweller discovered a mortally
wounded super mutant in the cave, and on its body, he found a radio and its communications log, which
linked the caravan attacks to a marauding band of super mutants and someone called “The Master.”
[Necropolis] With the Hub a dead end towards finding
a water chip, the Vault Dweller followed the only clue he could find: rumours of an underground
Vault beneath the ruins of the nearby city of Bakersfield, now known as “Necropolis.” The
settlement of Necropolis was inhabited by ghouls, former residents of Vault 12 beneath the city,
which had been exposed to massive floods of radiation due to its faulty Vault door,
intentionally left unable to seal. When the Vault Dweller and his party reached Necropolis on
February 13th, they were immediately attacked by packs of feral ghouls whose minds had rotted away.
The Vault Dweller and his companions navigated their way through Necropolis’ sewers, where they
met a group of peaceful ghouls who confirmed that there indeed was a Vault beneath the settlement,
and even better, it contained a functioning water chip. The Vault Dweller offered to fix
the Necropolis’ broken water pump in exchange for information on reaching the Vault. Upon
emerging from the sewers, the Vault Dweller and company were accosted by another group of ghouls,
this faction led by a ghoul named Set. Set informed the Vault Dweller that a band
of super mutants were occupying the water pump facility and asked him to eliminate these mutants.
The Vault Dweller and his companions journeyed to Necropolis’ water pump facility,
where they encountered the super mutants. The super mutants proved powerful opponents for
the Vault Dweller and his friends, with one even burning Ian to death with a flamethrower. Enraged
at Ian’s demise, the Vault Dweller killed the remaining super mutants. The Vault Dweller,
Tycho, and Dogmeat continued into the facility, and the Vault Dweller succeeded in repairing the
water pump. Making his way down a ladder to Vault 12, the Vault Dweller and his
remaining companions reached the Vault’s control room. Here, the Vault Dweller,
at long last, found a working water chip. Unplugging the chip from the Vault mainframe,
the Vault Dweller looked on triumphantly at the small device in his trembling hands.
A week later, the Vault Dweller returned to Vault 13, and with great satisfaction,
he delivered the water chip to the Overseer. While Jacoren began installing the water chip,
the Vault Dweller headed to the library to write a report on his findings in the wasteland and then
get some much-needed rest. [Searching for the Master]
A few hours later, the Vault Dweller returned to the Overseer, who was not pleased with what he
read in the reports. Jacoren informed the Vault Dweller that, based on his reports,
the mutation rate in the wasteland was far too rapid to be a result of the war
and radiation. With a grim look on his face, the Overseer stated that someone was generating
new mutants. Jacoren now had a new task for the Vault Dweller: to ensure the safety of the Vault,
he had to venture back out into the wasteland and destroy the source of the super mutant
threat. With a deep sigh, the Overseer expressed remorse for having to send the
Vault Dweller once more unto the breach. Nevertheless, the Vault Dweller rested,
re-equipped, and then ventured out into the wastes of New California again. After leaving
Vault 13, Tycho parted ways with the Vault Dweller, wishing him luck on his new quest.
The Vault Dweller returned to the Hub, where he picked up the trail
of his investigation. While unearthing clues, the Vault Dweller met Decker,
the leader of a shady criminal syndicate known as the Underground. Although Decker
and the Underground attempted to manipulate the Vault Dweller into doing their dirty work,
the Vault Dweller instead turned the tables on the criminals, informing Sheriff Justin Greene
of their sinister deeds and helping the sheriff take Decker and his goons down. In the process,
the Vault Dweller helped save a man being held hostage by Decker’s thugs. He informed the Vault
Dweller that he was an initiate of an order known as the “Brotherhood of Steel,” and the
initiate gave the Vault Dweller the coordinates for their bunker to the north at Lost Hills.
After leaving the Hub, the Vault Dweller and Dogmeat journeyed to the Lost Hills Bunker,
where he asked to join the Brotherhood of Steel, believing them to possess the
knowledge he needed for his mission. Instead, the Brotherhood sent the Vault Dweller on a
fool’s errand far to the south to a giant crater known simply as “The Glow.” This irradiated hole
in the ground turned out to be a treasure trove of pre-war tech from the former West
Tek Research Facility that once inhabited the site, and the Vault Dweller found the remains
of a power armoured soldier named Sergeant Allen, who had written a log of his final moments after
separating from Captain Roger Maxson’s group. Venturing deeper into the underground base,
the Vault Dweller discovered a ZAX artificial intelligence supercomputer,
which informed him of the base’s research into the Forced Evolutionary Virus.
Upon returning to Lost Hills bearing tech from the Glow, the power armoured guards were shocked
to see him alive but nevertheless welcomed his arrival and the tech he brought with him
in the form of Sergeant Allen’s holodisk. The Brotherhood welcomed him into their secretive
bunker and shared their knowledge on the super mutant threat while also providing him with a
suit of T-51b power armour. The Brotherhood’s scribes provided the Vault Dweller with a
holodisk containing their autopsy report on a captured super mutant: the super mutants were,
in fact, sterile, and their population would die out within a generation. With the information
he gained at Lost Hills, the Vault Dweller travelled onward to the Los Angeles Boneyard,
making a short stop at Necropolis en route to visit his old ghoul acquaintances.
But as soon as the Vault Dweller entered Necropolis, he sensed something was wrong,
and he learned that the super mutants had attacked Necropolis shortly after he left,
laying waste to the settlement and killing all its ghoul inhabitants. A single wounded ghoul survivor
revealed that the super mutants were looking for the Vault Dweller just before he died.
[Confronting the Master] Upon reaching the skeletal
ruins of Los Angeles, the Vault Dweller continued his investigation. He met with a group of doctors,
scientists, and scholars known as the Followers of the Apocalypse, who told him of the cult
known as the Children of the Cathedral, led by Morpheus, who was based further to the south.
He also learned of the truth behind the super mutants and that the Children were a front for
the Master’s Army and part of his planned conquest of the wasteland. On March 3rd, 2162, the Vault
Dweller arrived at the Cathedral in the southern part of the L.A. Boneyard. Stealing the robes of
one of the Master’s servants, the Vault Dweller infiltrated the L.A. Vault beneath the Cathedral.
Navigating through the dilapidated corridors of the L.A. Vault, the Vault Dweller finally
came face to face with the horrific sight of the Master. The leader of the super mutants now gave
the Vault Dweller a simple choice: join the Unity or die where he stood. The two soon engaged in a
vicious battle, but during a lull in the combat, the Vault Dweller managed to tell the Master that
his super mutants were sterile and presented him with the holodisk data provided by the Brotherhood
of Steel as proof. Overwhelmed with grief by the revelation that all his work was for nought,
the Master, briefly showing a glimmer of his former self, Dr. Richard Grey, decided
to issue a self-destruct sequence within the L.A. Vault, telling the Vault Dweller to leave while he
still had hope. The Vault Dweller then escaped the Cathedral before it exploded in a ball of nuclear
fire. The Master was dead. All that remained was to eliminate the source of the super mutant army.
[Battle at Mariposa] Returning to Lost Hills,
the Vault Dweller persuaded High Elder John Maxson to lend him a team of paladins
to assault the Mariposa Military Base, the source of the super mutants. On April 20th,
the Vault Dweller assaulted Mariposa with the aid of several power-armoured paladins and his
faithful canine, Dogmeat. After blowing open the entrance, the party navigated through the sterile
halls of the facility. They had to maneuver through several forcefields in their path,
and unfortunately, Dogmeat, being colorblind, died while running through one of the fields. Stricken
with grief at the death of Dogmeat, the Vault Dweller fought through hordes of super mutants
to reach the central control facility. There, he and the Brotherhood paladins
battled the Lieutenant, a super mutant officer in command of the Master’s Army.
After defeating the Lieutenant, the Vault Dweller reached the FEV vat chamber and initiated a
self-destruct sequence from the control console. The party then escaped the facility just before it
exploded, burying the Mariposa Military Base in a mountain of rubble. The Vault Dweller
looked over his handiwork and, his mission complete, made his way back home to Vault 13.
[Aftermath] The Vault
Dweller’s journey through the New California Wasteland impacted the lives of all those
he encountered. The death of the Master and the destruction of the FEV vats at Mariposa
brought an end to the Master’s mad schemes of conquest. Under pressure of an offensive
by the Brotherhood of Steel, the remnants of the Master’s Army retreated east towards the Rockies.
Thanks to the Vault Dweller’s assistance, the settlement of Shady Sands grew into a
major powerhouse in the region, and Aradesh and Tandi were later responsible for founding the
New California Republic. Junktown became a fair and honest community under Killian
Darkwater’s leadership. The Hub prospered, and old Harold brought the settlement’s ghoul
population into harmony with the humans. The Brotherhood of Steel helped the other human
outposts drive away the super mutant armies with minimal loss of life on both sides of
the conflict. The Brotherhood slowly began reintroducing their technology to the wasteland,
with little disruption or chaos, while wisely remaining out of the power struggle,
becoming a significant research and development house in New California. Now,
the only question that remained was, what happened to the Vault Dweller?
After returning to Vault 13 on May 10th, 2162, the Vault Dweller found himself facing Overseer
Jacoren at the Vault’s entrance. Overseer Jacoren expressed his gratitude for what
the Vault Dweller had done, claiming he had saved not only Vault 13 but possibly the entire
human race. With a great sigh, the Overseer then explained that his newfound popularity
would lead the younger residents of the Vault to want to leave, endangering Vault 13’s population.
Placing a hand on the Vault Dweller’s shoulder, Overseer Jacoren stated simply:
“I’m sorry, you’re a hero, and you have to leave.”
As the Overseer returned inside Vault 13, the Vault Dweller spent a moment in
stunned disbelief. He had fought against the odds and saved Vault 13 and humanity,
but his heroic deeds had also cost him everything he held dear. With shoulders
lowered and with his sad, tired gaze fixed to the ground, the Vault Dweller turned around out
of the cave and drifted into the wasteland, leaving Vault 13 and his former life behind.
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