War. War never changes.

The Romans waged war to gather slaves and wealth. Spain built an empire from its lust for gold and territory. Hitler shaped a battered Germany into an economic superpower.

But war never changes.

In the 21st century, war was still waged over the resources that could be acquired. Only this time, the spoils of war were also its weapons: Petroleum and Uranium. For these resources, China would invade Alaska, the US would annex Canada, and the European Commonwealth would dissolve into quarreling, bickering nation-states, bent on controlling the last remaining resources on Earth.

In 2077, the storm of world war had come again. In two brief hours, most of the planet was reduced to cinders. And from the ashes of nuclear devastation, a new civilization would struggle to arise.

A few were able to reach the relative safety of the large underground Vaults. Vault Thirteen is but one of these immense vaults. Imprisoned safely behind the large Vault door, under a mountain of stone, a generation has lived without knowledge of the outside world.

Life in the Vault is about to change.

Jack Washington whistled to himself as the elevator silently rose through Vault 13. Jack was a moderately handsome individual, and stood at a good six feet. He had very short, brown hair like most others on the security force. Of course he had his hair like that, being the captain and all. He had a muscular build as well, though he wasn't too used to fighting. After all, the worst he usually had to deal with was a fellow Vault member having a bit too much to drink. He did tend to get a nasty bruise from breaking up brawls.

He wasn't in his uniform, though. He was in his regular jumpsuit: a plain blue piece of clothing with some yellow stripes and a big "13" on the back. He was called by Overseer Jacoren for something urgent. He was a kind, fair Overseer whom Jack had much respect for. The elevator arrived at the third floor and Jack stepped out. He walked quickly through the extremely clean, steel hallway toward the Overseer's office. He passed by a new security guard named Ben who nodded to him as he passed, which Jack returned with a small smile.

He arrived at a sliding steel door and pressed the button next to it, opening it for him. He walked into the Overseer's office, which had several complex computers, and of course the Overseer's chair which was seated on a metal pillar. Jacoren wasn't sitting in it as he usually was. He was standing in front of it, waiting for Jack. Jack stood in front of his boss. "You needed to see me, sir?"

Jacoren nodded. Jack could tell by his expression that whatever he was called for was not good at all. He was an older gentleman, the oldest in the Vault. Despite his age, he still seemed physically healthy and strong. He sighed and scratched his beard before speaking. "Ah, you're here, good. We've got a problem, a big one. The controller chip for our water purification system has given up the ghost. Can't make another one, and the process is too complicated for a work around system. Simply put, we're running out of drinking water. No water, no vault. This is crucial to our survival. And frankly, I..." He paused, not seeming to want to continue. "I think you're the only hope we have."

Jack frowned slightly. The water chip? Broken? When did that happen? He assumed recently, sometime that day. He would have been one of the first to know otherwise. And…he had to leave the Vault? No one ever left the Vault, it was unheard of! Jack thought for a moment before replying. "Is it safe to go out there, sir? Is there still radiation? Where would I even find another chip?"

His superior shook his head. "Our readings indicate while there are some pockets of mild radiation, it's nothing that should be lethal. When it comes to what sort of creatures are out there waiting for you, well…We just don't know. As for the chip, Vault 15 should have one. It's directly east of us, not too far away. We need you to do this, Jack. You're our only hope for survival."

Jack's frown deepened. Like any sane man, he wasn't exactly ready to go out into the unknown like that. But…he had no choice. It was his duty to protect the Vault at all costs. He gave a salute and nodded. "You can count on me, sir!" He wasn't even aware there was another Vault close by. He just hoped they had what he needed…

The Overseer gave a small smile and nodded back. "I knew I could count on you. Gather anything you need and head to the entrance. Phillip will be there to open the Vault door for you. Good luck, Jack. You'll need it." He said gravely. Jack nodded once more, and then headed out of the office.

After about thirty minutes of packing, Jack made his way to the entrance of the Vault. He had never actually been in this area of the Vault before. Few people had, really. He packed about twenty pounds worth of equipment for his journey. A knife, his 10mm Pistol, some ammo, some Stimpaks to heal himself if needed, two flares, some lock picks, a first aid kit, some Buffout, Mentats, and three flasks full of water. If that wasn't enough…hopefully they would let him back in for more supplies. The Overseer also sent someone to give him a Pip-Boy 2000 to put on his wrist. The map on it already showed where Vault 15 was in relation to their Vault. He eventually made it to the entrance room where Phillip, a young dark-skinned man, was waiting. He stood by a control panel near the large, thick metal door that led to the mysterious outside world. "The Overseer filled me in, Jack. You ready to go?" Jack simply nodded at him. "Alright, good. The Overseer said we have about a hundred and fifty days' worth of water, but Vault 15 isn't nearly that far away, so you should have plenty of time. Alright, here it goes…" He pressed a few buttons on the panel and a loud siren went off, there was a loud, almost unearthly grinding of metal as the door of the Vault slid out a bit and moved to the side. Jack couldn't see anything outside, just eerie blackness… "Good luck, Jack."

Jack nodded back at the younger man. "Thank you, Phillip. I won't let you all down, you'll see." With that, he slowly walked to the entrance and took his first step outside the Vault into the outside world…He looked around and noticed he was in a dark, cold cave. He just barely stepped outside when the sirens went off again and the Vault door screeched closed behind him. No turning back now. Jack immediately noticed something on the ground next to him. It…was a skeleton! He looked closer and saw it had a Vault jumpsuit on! How could that be? No one left the Vault! Unless…that was someone from another Vault? He noticed a small box of ammunition next to the bones, along with another knife. There was plenty of room in his backpack, so Jack quickly grabbed the items and put them in. Who knew what was out there? He needed everything he could get…

He took a deep breath and continued into the cave. He could hear slight scurrying sounds and slowly drew his knife. He couldn't see anything moving…not yet at least. He wasn't expecting things to be so…calm. To be fair, a lot of what he heard about the outside world was based on rumors from around the Vault. Some said there were giant animals, some said the radiation made corpses get up and walk again. He couldn't help but think of those things as he walked through the cave. He turned around the corner when suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his ankle. He let out a grunt of pain and looked down to see a furry creature had bitten his ankle. He saw one of those in a book once, they were called rats, he believed. That wasn't important though, what was important was that one was attacking him! He quickly kicked at a cave wall so the rat was rammed into it. There was a slight squishing sound and the rat let do and dropped dead on the ground.

He let out an annoyed noise and looked down at his ankle. It was bleeding a bit, but nothing serious. He sighed and kept walking, ignoring the slight pain with every other step. He soon saw another rat. He decided to take no chances and stomped on it. Again, there was a squishing noise and the rat died. He kept his knife drawn as he kept going. So much for giant animals, these rats seemed just as large as the books in the Vault described them. There was a bright light up ahead, and the cave was starting to get warmer. He realized that light was the sun. He squinted his eyes as the cave floor stopped and sand began. The sun hurt his eyes a bit, which was understandable since he never saw it before. He stayed by the cave entrance, feeling the natural warmth and letting his eyes get used to the sun. After what seemed like an eternity, he took another deep breath…and walked out into the wastes…

Author's Note: A short start, I know, but we're just getting started. The game is based off of my own playthrough of it, which will explain the specifics in caps and ammo counts in the future. The story will deviate a bit from canon, but things will remain essentially the same as the lore.