A/N: This is a new idea for me, though by no means is it original. I got way into College Fool's (Who is undoubtedly my superior) Fallout: Orleans, and wanted to do something similar. Thus, this is my crack at a game concept... thing, and well, here it is. Obviously I own nothing.
Fallout: 4 Cities
War. War Never Changes.
When the bombs fell, humanity went with them, save for the vaults, bastions of civilization across the planet humanity had long thought they'd mastered. Machines, however, remained. The steel golems built before the war long outlasted their builders, and The Wasteland still teems with these metallic warriors.
The Arsenal Island, a pre-war capital of military production, may be the best example. Mr. Robert House's RobCo was contracted to build the finest security network the world had ever seen, as to protect the military secrets, and advanced weapons and armor developed, tested, and built there. After the bombs, the machines lived on. Untouched by the war, they remained, unyielding, mighty, and ready to protect the great arsenal's secrets.
Around 100 years after that great war, The Midwest Brotherhood of Steel expanded their domain from Chicago to Colorado. They attempted to invade this Arsenal, yet they failed. Miserably. The Securitrons, Protectrons, Robobrains, and even Liberty Primes proved too great a challenge, and though the security's hold on The Arsenal was weakened, those grounds remained untouched since that fateful day in October of 2077.
After many more years, The Midwest Brotherhood began to crumble. They found themselves spread too thin, and their domain over what was once called Illinois ended, via mismanagement, draconian policy, and an understaffed military force. West of the Mississippi, they remain, still stretching into the mountains of Colorado, but with only one center of power, a base in Eldridge, Iowa. For decades, they have been researching, stockpiling, biding their time. They will do whatever they deem necessary to reclaim the land they'd conquered over a century ago.
A few wealthy individuals from the world over also came this place, called the Prairie Wasteland, in hopes of expanding their empire. These men and women, born of wealthy pre-war families from such far flung locations as England, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Singapore, and Russia, they came with the hope that their families' already well off enterprises might benefit from the cache of advanced weapons technology stowed on this fabled island. They found what they were looking for, and much more; not all of it good. This group, calling themselves the contractors, established themselves on the Iowan banks of the Mississippi, driving what remained of the Midwest Brotherhood out, and establishing a rudimentary control over the towns once called Davenport, Bettendorf, and LeClaire.
From far to the west came another group, simple researchers calling themselves The Followers of the Apocalypse. They came to the Prairie Wasteland in hopes of aiding the denizens. Providing medicine, food, and care to those in need, and ever researching methods to make the wastes just a bit more livable. What they discovered, however, was nothing short of terrifying. The harsh conditions, widespread violence, and distrusting nature of the people they found forced The Followers to make a difficult decision: Become like the people there in the Prairie, or hang on to their old ideas, and die a slow, painful death in this land. They chose the former, and through aggressive recruiting borne of conquering whatever territory they could, using their scientific knowledge as a bargaining chip, and charismatic speakers, established themselves as one of the dominant military powers in the Prairie Wasteland. Still, they cling to the ideals they were founded on, and continue to devote a good deal of effort toward infrastructure and scientific development. This also comprises their greatest flaw. In their pursuit of help for those under their authority, they fail to provide solid governance, and depend on local leaders in their territory to keep order. However well this works, the fact remains that they have successfully accrued half of the town of Rock Island, as well as East Moline in its entirety. The town of Moline, between these two domains, is independent. Many towns are present in that stretch of waste, but none rule it. The Followers, however, have turned their attention away from Moline, and are currently vying for the remainder of Rock Island, now under the control of a loosely organized faction called The Bluesmen.
Different though these three may be, they are all united in one purpose: Take The Aresnal, and eliminate the other two. You are the one who decides the fate of these three great powers. You, a simple Treasure Hunter. Born in an insignificant town in an insignificant stretch of waste in what was once called Ohio. Your family's endless quest brings you to this unfamiliar place, and now, you must decide its fate.
Further Notes: One of the few ways this will be different from Fallout: Orleans, is that it will be thought of as a hypothetical video game for the purposes of my writing, rather than the more open ended nature of College Fool's concepts. This is not to say that it should only be thought of as a video game. If you want to use it as a setting for a Tabletop RPG, or something similar, there's nothing stopping you. Granted, I'm not familiar with how such things work, so I'm not sure how the content of this fic will translate to that format. Also, I freely admit that I have not had nearly the time to think of this that my main influence did and thus freely admit that it lacks polish, and is in no way FO:O's equal.
Moving on, I feel it's necessary to exposit a bit more on the setting. Unlike most of canon Fallout, this does not take place in an immediately recognizable place in America. Rather, it takes place in an obscure set of towns in Illinois and Iowa collectively referred to as The Quad Cities (though there are more than four, the name is an artifact from when there were only four). In our timeline, this area was an industrial capital until the 1970s, when manufacturing jobs largely left America. In Fallout's timeline, however, it isn't a stretch to think that the increased nationalism would allow these factory jobs, and associated office jobs to remain, and thus, the Quad Cities became an important center for US government, and its arsenal one of the most important military installations leading up to the war. Additionally, this will use a few story elements from Fallout Tactics, such as the Midwest Brotherhood's conquering of the midwest, and I am aware that that particular game is somewhere between canon and non-canon, so keep in mind that this was not envisioned to be 100% in line with lore. I've tried to avoid breaking lore, but if you see anywhere lore is broken, feel free to say so, and I'll try to fix it.
I'd like to thank College Fool for giving me the idea. If you're reading this, thank you for creating such an incredible concept, and thank you for inspiring me.
Finally, let's devote a brief section to the iconic character of this hypothetical game: The iconic Treasure Hunter is a Followers' trooper, wearing Reinforced Followers Armor, which is similar to the Reinforced Sierra Madre Armor from New Vegas' Dead Money DLC, but with the yellow fabric replaced with black, and the kevlar replaced with steel, and a Followers logo painted on the breastplate. The helmet is similar to the Reinforced Sierra Madre Helmet, but black and with a mirrored visor.