There was an old saying that stated that war never changes. This man was correct. Even though methods of war are constantly changing, the reasons for it are all the same. Whether it be for religion, power, disagreements, or just simple, psychotic rage. When the Great War destroyed the earth many things remained.
Many of those things are the hunger for power, something that the Enclave demonstrated quite well. For years they've had a iron fist around the industrial state of Kansas (and part of Missouri). They seized it from the NCR in 2086, and have been ruling ever since. No one gets in or out of Kansas without the Enclave's leading commander knowing. Kansas was an area hardly damaged by the nuclear war, since there was no real power there. Many say it wasn't hit severely due to it being in the middle of the continental United States, so the missles that were heading for it were either destroyed, or they prematurely detonated. It was practically a gold mine for the NCR,
they annexed Kansas as quick as they ccould held a firm grasp on it's land for about five years. The Brotherhood of Steel and the NCR bickered over the land but neither of them backed down. The Enclave saw this as an opportunity and the NCR and the BoS were both "swept from under their feet". It was humiliating for both factions, so much so that many troops filed for early retirement or just quit. One of many of the NCR soldiers that backed out was former PFC Ron Davidson (many called him "Davey" at their base). He went AWOL (absent without leave) a month after the NCR lost control of Kansas. He stated "It is a disgrace that an army, as big as the NCR's, lost [Kansas] to a pitiful, pre-war remnant society." He met up with John DeFranco, a former private in the Brotherhood of Steel, and they immeidately connected, due to their disgust of both the NCR and the BoS. Some called them vigilantes, others called them heroes. But the NCR referred to Ron as a terrorist, and the BoS referred to John as a traitor. Bounty hunter after bounty hunter was sent to kill or arrest them, and they evaded each and every one. They never really have had a goal, they just simply want to make a name for themselves, and they do so by stealing extreme amounts of money from the NCR and the BoS and giving half of their "income"
to the poor, the week, and the dying. To the richer society (which usually harbor in Kansas City) they are nothing but "immature ruffians". To the poor and humble society, they are heroes who have taken their love for people to an extreme. After about seven months of working together they stumbled into Amanda Stroud, a vault dweller from vault 47 in Manhattan, Kansas. She left the vault to "find adventure" and so she thought to look for Ron and John. They graciously took Amanda under her wing, and they all have been traveling together ever since. But with the numerous bounties placed on them, life is anything but peaceful.