After taking a break from watching Fallout Lore, Doctor was eating a sub sandwich he got from the mess hall. The Wasteland experience he watched was both interesting and intrigued him and he at least took notes in hopes on never experimenting on nuclear atomic warheads for alternative energy source.
Once he was done with his sandwich as he toss the plastic wrapper into his trash bin, he went back to his computer to continue his work, he types down whatever he was doing and wondered where was his assigned assistant was?
"Doctor? Are you in here?" Jessica slowly pokes her head outside the door to look inside and saw the person she's looking for.
"Oh Jessica? Do you need something from me?" Doctor said to Jessica.
Jessica calmly heads inside his room and sat down in front of him, she heard from both her superiors Franka and Liskarm went to Doctor's room and watch this video called Fallout Lore. It apparently shows a world completely different from their own and humanity almost went extinct because of corrupted governments of that world.
"Um... I heard from both Franka and Liskarm that they came to you and watch a video Fallout Lore." Jessica replied in a low tone voice.
Doctor raise an eyebrow and quickly realized what Jessica is trying to say.
"You want to watch them with me right?" He asked her, Jessica nodded back and was thankful for his understanding.
"Well, I was about click onto the next one anyway, come here and bring that chair with you and sit next to me." He motions her to come over to him, Jessica blushes a bit before did as he asked her to.
Just when he was about to click play, his door opens again and thus low and behold Franka and Liskarm is here once again.
"Oh? It seems our shy girl wants to watch along with the Doctor, huh Liskarm?" Franka tease Liskarm but felt static in her body.
"Enough Franka!" Liskarm tries to ignore the blush on her face, she was a bit lonely without the Doctor's company in the last few days and thought to herself on visiting his office again, she remembers about the Super Mutants and hopes she'll never come across them in their world.
Franka grins but didn't push it further, she already got what she came for. So she took Liskarm's right arm and pulls her into the room, she got the two nearby chairs and sat alongside Doctor and Jessica.
Liskarm sat beside Doctor, Franka was behind him, and Jessica was on his right. Three members of Blacksteel Worldwide and one member of Rhodes Island, it seems it's going to be the common trend in the foreseeable future.
Doctor sighs before he finally click play on his monitor, the girls look on and curious what they are about to see.
As far as anyone knows, this wasteland is the best damned wasteland in the world. When America and China went head-to-head two hundred years ago, both sides launched everything they had and most people assume that China was blasted back to the Stone Age. The only way to know for sure is to jump in a boat and paddle across the ocean so folks just assume that China, Europe, Canada and the rest of the world got hit at least as bad as America did. People look out at this land and some of them just know in their hearts that it's the garden spot of the whole world. Maybe that's why we can't go more than few decades without someone trying to take over the place.
"War. Just how much bloodshed these people are willing to get if they come out victories?" Liskarm didn't understand why war is such common knowledge in that world.
"Maybe the people fighting didn't think there are any other options besides war, but from what I understand it seems pointless and draining their resources further from all this fight." Franka shrugs her shoulders and thought the people of the Pre-War era are idiots.
Jessica didn't say anything and was focus on watching the scene played out in front of her, it was interesting but more horrifying to see men and women fighting for pretty much nothing but land.
When humanity was just beginning the struggle to rebuild after the war, there was no sign of the government helping out. People formed tribes lead by the strongest warriors and the smartest scavengers. The chain of command and the line of succession meant nothing to people who needed things done fast. The closest thing to a government that emerged was tribal elders, or the mayors of small villages.
"So after the war the government didn't help their own people?" Jessica said softly as she didn't understand why the government didn't bother helping out the rest of society.
"Because those assholes started this whole mess to begin with." Franka didn't bother to hold back her anger and just knew that those corrupt government has something to do with this.
Liskarm was just the same as Franka but hold out her anger much better than the former, she has dreams and wishes to help people just like Rhodes Island, but these corrupt government officials seems to care more about money and power instead of defending their people from the atomic bombs.
Eventually, in 2189, some of the larger towns in California banded together and formed the New California Republic, but they never claimed to be THE government.
"So the people in 2189 formed their own government? I guess that's a good thing right?" Liskarm commented and this is a right move for those who wanted to rebuild civilization from the ground ups.
The Doctor however wasn't convinced, sure it's good that the folks in this California place banded together instead of fighting, but it's gonna be a matter of time before corruption takes place.
With no communications from the pre-War government for over a century, the memory of it faded as new generations and his kind were long dead, but the wasteland ain't so lucky...
"That's so sad." Jessica look and couldn't help but feel bad for the new generations born in the wasteland.
"I guess with the old government gone, the generations after them is going to have to live a harsh life without books or technology on their side." Franka said but remembers hearing about the BoS from Specter's lips if that's possible. Apparently these BoS guys has advanced armor and laser weapons or something.
"New California Republic..." Liskarm tested the words within her lips, the name sounds cheesy and it seems the folks in this republic truly wishes to help people. But she still has doubts that's all what they are after.
Two hundred years ago, in the last days before the Great War, a secret coterie of America's top-ranking political and corporate leaders decided to duck and cover - big time. They scurried right off the continent and hid inside a secret offshore base than cowered there while the rest of the country suffered a nuclear holocaust the government had caused.
"Politics... it's always has to be them." Franka glares at the five political presume leaders on the screen.
Doctor sighs and knew that the government has fail to keep their people safe from the oncoming threats, but he couldn't blame them for hiding out in a bunker like rats before the big bad came. It seems they knew the bombs were coming before the rest of society found out about it.
There they stayed, safe and hidden for decades, and the group we know today as the Enclave is the result of ten generations of breeding between politicians, military brass, and corporate executives. The direct descendents of the people who caused the apocalypse? Not many people would make up a story like that, so it's probably safe to take them at their word about their ancestors.
"So these are the remnants of pre-War descendants of this "Enclave" people?" Liskarm looks at the screen showing two armored men, three children, and two adults in the cafeteria. It seems they are enjoying themselves while the rest of the wasteland suffers.
"Bastards..." Franka rarely gets angry on something, but if there's anything she hates is those hoarding all the good stuff to themselves, one of the reasons she joined BSW in the first place is not only making money but helping those who needs help.
Jessica couldn't help but agreed with Franka on this one, the government of this world has up and abandoned the ones they were supposed to care for. She wonders if the people of the Enclave regrets not making the right choices?
Regardless of who their great grandparents were, the Enclave certainly has access to an abundance of pre-war tech and weapons. They hoarded it on man-made island - a metal city that grew out of the ocean floor. It was once used to refine oil, back when people could pull oil right out of the bottom of the sea. The Poseidon Oil rig was inaccessible to people of the mainland, so no one knew they were out there until they began their plan to rid the wasteland of everyone who didn't fit their definition of a real American.
Doctor almost gasp as this Oil rig seems similar of Rhodes Island fleet, a mobile city out in the ocean floors, and almost identical just like them. But it doesn't seem that this ship seems to move, or perhaps it just this video only showing them what it looks like.
Meanwhile the BSW operatives look at the shiny gizmos two scientist workers are doing. All that tech and weapons... it seems the Enclave is gearing up for war, Franka thoughts how those weapons could be better suited if BSW has them.
Jessica saw a high-tech pistol on a table on the screen and wonders if it fires ammo like arts?
Liskarm was a disappointed that the Enclave hoarding all these technologies for themselves, the things they could do for the people if they share, teaching others how to survive and join their ranks seems like a good goal. But alas it wasn't meant to be...
The Enclave had spent decades learning to improve upon pre-war weaponry- they weren't just collecting artifacts of the old world like the Brotherhood, they were looking toward the future. They had devices more advanced than anything seen in the wasteland, including the Brotherhood. It wasn't just better guns, or the ginchiest armor - The Enclave had a fleet of flying vehicles they called Vertibirds.
"So if these Brotherhood guys are like the same as the Enclave, then why aren't they on the same side? They both have the technology and can help people if they tried?" Liskarm ask her fellow seekers.
"If you look at it this way Liskarm, one side doesn't trust outsiders much, while the other half wants to exterminate them. The Brotherhood sees outsiders as savages and ain't worth shining their boots, The Enclave however just wants to kill them for no reason, other than not being American enough at this point since the bombs." Franka responded to her friend's question.
Most folk had never seen a car move unless it was hitched to a team of brahmin, so these Vertibirds gave the Enclave an edge over every other human group in the wasteland. They could send in drop teams to kidnap whole villages at a time to use a test subjects. They could suddenly appear at remote locations, then just as quickly disappear. Most importantly, they could travel to and from their offshore base secure in the knowledge that no one could follow.
"WHAT!?" Liskarm couldn't believe she is hearing, The Enclave is kidnapping people!?
"Bastards, it doesn't matter if the people in the Enclave are misguided or brainwashed, you'd never do something as inhumane like that." Franka growls a bit on the screen.
Jessica grabs onto Doctor's right shoulder for cover, scared that she will be taken by the Enclave except that fact it's just a story from another world.
Well, almost no one. There was a person back then who seemed to have a knack for getting vehicles up and running again. People who lived in the Den swear up and down that somewhere around 2242 they saw a person in Vault jumpsuit driving around in a old Chryslus Highwaymen - with a big green mutant taking up the entire backseat, and a cyberdog poking his nose out the window.
The girls were surprised to see a friendly green mutant with two others, Franka and Liskarm didn't think a Super Mutant could ever get along with a human, while Jessica was freaked out on seeing the mutant on sight.
Doctor couldn't help but think about that mutant on the screen, it just shows that not all mutants are mindless brutes and if they can be reason with, he was more focus on the cyberdog and wondered where did the person in a vault jumpsuit manages to find a creature like that?
That's the sort of tall tale that would be easy to dismiss, but it happened in the same year someone managed to get a ship seaworthy again. They sailed that tanker right out into the ocean to the Enclave's base and took them down.
Stories like that - fill a body with hope, maybe with enough work we could all be driving around in pre-war cars, living the good life. In a way, that sort of hope for the future was what the Enclave wanted, and they got it at the cost of their own lives.
"Damn... I can't help but pity the Enclave, They maybe bastards sure, but... they are people as well." Franka pity the people within the Enclave, while their might be good people in the group, she can't forgive them for doing bad things and tormenting people like test subjects.
Liskarm agreed with her friend, the Enclave may have done horrible things and can't justify their actions, but she only hopes that with them gone the remnants will try to let go of their past and focus on the future living in the wasteland.
Their ambition was their downfall. They weren't content to live out their lives in prosperity, they had to take back their country from the people they viewed as sub-human. To do so, the Enclave engaged in the sort of daredevil science that brought about the end, the Great War. They engineered a virus tailored for genocide performed inhuman experiments, and even took to playing God by creating a species of intelligent deathclaws- just like their ordinary brethren, they were giant beasts that could rip a man in half, but smart enough to think like you and me and even mimic human speech.
The girls couldn't help but shriek on seeing a Deathclaw for the first time, Doctor however was both horrified but intrigued about the Deathclaw. From what the narrator spoke it seems there are two kinds of Deathclaws, one is the smarter ones and the other is the mindless ones.
But even the deathclaws were nothing when compared to the Enclave's deadliest creation... A man named Frank.
It's hard to say just what Frank Horrigan was. People who saw him in person tended to do die quickly and gruesomely. At some point he must have been a man, a brutal killer, but still human. But when the Enclave discovered the old Mariposa military base and the Forced Evolutionary Virus vats within, Horrigan was exposed by accident. He was among the first of a new generations of super mutants created years after the Master's downfall.
That makes everyone nerves....
The arrogance of the Enclave's leaders led them to believe that they could improve upon the virus. The FEV and Horrigan were used for horrid experiments that would make the Master cringe. When they could learn no more from his suffering, the Enclave turned Frank into their most devastating soldier, a mutated cybernetic terror encased in their finest power armor.
Everyone in the office couldn't believe what they are seeing, a Super Mutant in power armor? That's sounds like a bad joke, but its true. Just how far the Enclave is going to take until they are satisfied?
It's hard to imagine how anyone managed to defeat arguably the most dangerous being to ever walk the wasteland and bring down his Enclave masters... But somehow the "Chosen One" of an obscure northern tribe destroyed the Enclave oil rig, forcing the Enclave to flee New California.
"Hey, is that the same person with the mutant and the cyberdog?" Franka pointed out to the man standing on a console about to blow the oil rig to smithereens.
"So he's this supposed Chosen One... how did he earn that title?" Liskarm couldn't wrap her head how on Terra did this Chosen One beat the power armored mutant known as Frank Horrigan? It just sounds impossible in her eyes.
Jessica look at the now dead mutant on the floor, she doesn't know if she could ever fought anyone that massive with just her gun alone. That's why she has other operators with her in missions that seems impossible, but with Doctor's guidance and absolute faith... she prevails.
The Doctor was impressed that the Chosen One took down the Enclave's best soldier. If he were real he might have to assign the Chosen One as his assistant immediately, perhaps a good bodyguard when he's on mission duties.
Leaderless and directionless, they soon rallied behind Autumn, a senior scientist who was contracted by a new Enclave President. It didn't take long for the remnants to reach the East Coast with their Vertibirds. They had no fancy oil rig this time, but they soon nestled into Raven Rock and Adams AFB, pre-war bases that were nearly as impregnable. They changed their routine in Washington DC. promising that they could guide America back to the golden age of malt shops and drive-in movies.
"When are the Enclave going to learn to give up? They lost their fancy oil rig and perhaps half of their soldiers with it." Franka couldn't understand why the Enclave refused defeat.
"They are desperate Franka, The Enclave are fighting for what they believe is right and refused to admit defeat. To them defeat is unacceptable and strive to continue regardless if they lost half their chapter." Doctor replied to Franka this time, and give out what he thought about this situation.
"But still..." Jessica wished the Enclave just gives up, find another purpose in life and be a good people defending the weak instead causing more war.
On the West Coast, they had a man who claimed to be the rightfully elected President of the United States, but by the time they reached the Capital Wasteland, things had changed a little. Now, their "President" remained unseen and only addressed the pubic through a swarm of floating propaganda robots that spewed "Stars & Stripes Forever" along with political rhetoric so hollow it sounded like it was written by a random word generator.
"Wait, so their president is a machine?" Liskarm asked this time since she can't fathom why a machine of all things is the so called "President" of the Enclave.
"Now I've seen everything..." Franka mutters but even she couldn't believe a machine is the president.
The war for control of the Capital Wasteland was a trial for the Enclave. Bereft of their island fortress, and without the unstoppable brutally of Frank Horrigan, they had to fight a hard war to gain territory. The Brotherhood of Steel had a strong presence in Washington DC, and super mutants roamed the streets looking for humans to abduct.
The Enclave still had their technological superiority, and their Vertibirds. They even took control of pre-war satellites, and could fire missiles that had been waiting in the sky for hundreds of years. But, their greatest weapons were deceit and manipulation. The Brotherhood relied on a local wanderer for help in combating the Enclave, and it is possible that the Enclave managed to convince this individual to implement a more subtle plan that could accomplish their goals even after their repeated defeats at the hands of the Brotherhood.
"Oh my god... JUST. GIVE. UP. ENCLAVE!?" Franka has enough and wants the Brotherhood to shut down the Enclave for good!
Yet it did not saved them. In 2277, following their disastrous defeat by Liberty Prime at the Purifier, the Enclave was shattered again and with its leaders dead or missing, its major strongholds were soon annihilated by Brotherhood strikes. They few surviving members probably wish that they had stayed hidden on their private island out in the Pacific. Now the once mighty remnants of America's elite have been reduced to a handful of wishful old men hiding out in the wastelands.
Most gave up on the Enclave's vision of the world, and settled down to live quiet lives, getting as much peace as a person can in the wasteland. Travelers who visit a certain old motel in Novac can speak with a former Enclave pilot who isn't as bad as the legends make the Enclave sound - she's a tough old broad, but she's no Frank Horrigan.
"I'm glad some of the remnants of the Enclave gave up, now they realized the world they dreamed will remain a fantasy." Liskarm was glad some of the remnants gives up after their first defeat, but wished the remaining remnants also stops.
"It's a tough life but that's life for you, if I was born in that world I wouldn't think dreams can be reality either." Surprising the three it was Jessica who spoke.
"Wow, Jess? I didn't know you think that way?" Franka was a bit freak out from Jessica.
Jessica quickly reverting back to her shy self, she can't believe she just said that so calmly and cool...
Out East the Enclave continues to operate in small bands that harass the Brotherhood, and anyone else who strays too closely to their remaining outposts, but they are devoid of leadership or any long-term plans. In the West, sharp-eyed travelers can sometimes spot the rusted hulks of crashed vertibirds, but there is little else remaining of the Enclave - or at least the Enclave wishes to reveal. Could an organization with such resources be entirely stamped out? Much like radroaches the Enclave has shown remarkable resilience, and the people of the wasteland should be prepared to deal with another hidden nest of these relics of the old days.
"At this point if I was in their position, I stand down no matter what my other superiors said." Franka just speaking facts, it's a lose-lose situation if she was apart of the Enclave.
"Agreed, I would've focus more of surviving instead of the future that'll never transpire." Liskarm still has a goal and dream she wants to fulfilled, and if she was born into the Enclave her goals will never be reality.
Jessica already knows that the Enclave wasn't bad people, just misguided and were taught since they were children. But sometimes it's best to not look back and focus on the future they have right now, the wasteland isn't perfect but then again... no one is.
For now, the Enclave has joined the ranks of those who fancied themselves the rightful rulers of the wasteland. Their glory has faded along with that of others like The Master, but it seems like some lessons are never learned, and there's always someone new looking to claim our wasteland as their own. The New California Republic has flourished even as the Enclave faded. And while the NCR has ruled their lands with relative peace and prosperity, even this period of stability is threatened by a new world-be tyrant that seeks to rebuild yet another fallen empire...
"NCR..." Doctor looks at the three dark cloaked figures on the screen.
"Woah, Now they seems more interesting then the Enclave." Franka stares at the far left one holding a sniper rifle, that rifle looks like it packs quite the punch.
Liskarm look at the one in the middle, it seems to be an upgraded versions between the other two, she wonders if she needs upgrades in the near future...
Jessica look at the ranger holding a revolver, from what she can tell these people doesn't seem to have fear and full of confident. She wished she can overcome her fears and hopes those she can.
But that- is a story for another day.
"That was quite something, I think I learn a thing or too about hoarding technology to yourself." Franka joked a bit, getting both her partner and Doctor chuckle a bit.
"Doctor? Do you think we could watch another one with you?" Jessica asked Doctor, she wants to know more about the men in dark clothes.
"Sure, I guess we have another hour or so before the day ends." Doctor clicks play and the four of them continues where they left off.