Sheason and Cass were sitting at that same circular table in the center of the lounge, but the scene was slightly different than before. The whole room seemed a bit warmer, both in temperature and lighting. It felt less like an illicit drinking establishment now, and more like a diner. Especially since their table was covered in breakfast foods.
"Alright, so, I know this is s'posed to be for audience questions, but I got somethin' I'm curious 'bout," Cass turned to Sheason, speaking through a mouthful of hash browns.
"Yeah, sure," he replied, sipping his cup of coffee. "What's on your mind?"
"What the hell was up with that tangent y'went on yesterday?" Cass asked. "Y'all were goin' off 'bout Activision and Bobby Kotick r'whatever? The hell did that come from?" Sheason furrowed his brow and looked confused, so she continued: "Well, I just didn't think ye'd care much 'bout that, y'know?"
"Are you serious?" Sheason chuckled. "My whole reputation as the Courier is built on beating the every-loving fuck out of greedy, entitled, self-important dickheads who abuse and exploit the helpless. All these smug fuckers, from CEOs and billionaires to politicians... they all remind me of House, or Elijah, or Caesar, or President Fuckhead."
"Kimball," Cass corrected. Sheason rolled his eyes.
"Whatever. Point is, all these fucking cunts just make my blood boil."
"Yeah, but... why bring him up, in p'ticular?" Cass asked. Sheason shrugged.
"It was relevant to the Warcraft thing I was talking about. But, I will say this:" Sheason leaned forward, pointing at her with a smirk. "You know the only difference between Bobby Kotick and Robert House?" Cass shook her head. "I haven't killed Kotick yet."
Cass shook her head, and turned back to her hash browns.
"D'ya think maybe we should answer s'more questions, 'fore we get put on a gov'ment watch list?"
"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," Sheason says, turning to the 4th wall. "And that's a handy link, actually, because that's what we're talking about today!"
"What, watch lists?" Cass asked.
"No, the government. Or... technically, The Enclave. Then again, considering the state of the United States right now, who can tell the fucking difference?" Sheason starts laughing, but it quickly turns bitter, and ends with a sigh. "Oh, we're so fucked, aren't we?"
"On the plus side," Cass began, grabbing her glass of orange juice, "if th' world does get fucked? We'd be right at home."
"Nothing like seeing the silver lining in a mushroom cloud, right? Anyway!" Sheason clapped his hands. "A number of people have asked over the years: 'How did the Enclave survive the end of Fallout 3?' especially considering their Secret Nazi Moon Base. And because the idiot who wrote this story knew that would inevitably be a question, he wrote up a very extensive, very detailed timeline explaining how such a thing would be possible."
"Course, b'cause he's an idiot," Cass interrupted, "he never published th' fucker in a place where people could SEE it. An' th' only details in th' story were vague as all fuck."
"If you want a 'too long, didn't read' version of the timeline, here we go: we're operating under the assumption that the Enclave we saw in Fallout 3 was only a small fraction of the Enclave that escaped from the Oil Rig in Fallout 2. But, if you're willing to read the whole thing..." Sheason reached under the table and pulled out a small remote with a single red button. "Hold onto your butts."
He thumbed the button with a click.
How Exactly Did The Enclave Survive?
A Comprehensive Timeline
1976
* The Joliet Arsenal/Joliet Army Ammunition Plant south of Chicago, Illinois, is closed.
2002
* The West Tek Research Facility is founded
2044
* The X277 "Viper" magnetic rail cannon developed for the US military by West Tek is deemed too costly to produce on a mass scale and abandoned.
2052
* March 5: The socially transmitted "New Plague" arises, killing tens of thousands. The US closes its borders and the first ever national quarantine is declared. The source of the plague is Limit-115, a secret, genetically engineered weapon designed by scientists working for the US (or the shadow government later known as the Enclave). Chinese Hei Gui agents stole some of the Limit-115 during a sabotage of the Boulder Dome testing labs, and were subsequently killed in the process of trying to escape Denver, breaking the samples of the virus in a crowded public area.
2055
* An Enclave research cell purchases the Joliet Arsenal, and reopens it in secret. The new mission is slated to be a research depot with underground manufacturing facilities, and with everything needed to dissect and reverse engineer alien technology.
* West Tek starts working on a new virus to kill the New Plague. Their viral research and close ties to the federal government eventually lead to them being chosen for the Pan-Immunity Virion Project twenty years later as well as power infantry armor and laser research.
2059
* The research facilities underneath the Joliet Arsenal are finally completed. The bunker complex is built to survive nuclear war, and specifically engineered to withstand a direct hit from a 5,000 kiloton nuclear warhead.
2062
* A UFO, codenamed PALANDINE, crashes near Hagerstown, Maryland. Official DOD records in the Pentagon state that the craft could not be recovered. In fact, the craft was shot down by clandestine Enclave forces, and removed from the site before anyone else could get to it. The alien spacecraft was taken to the "inactive" Joliet Arsenal, and the Enclave spent the next several years studying it.
2065
* The Reservation is given orders to research and produce nuclear missiles that can be fired from an orbiting space platform.
2069
* A ZAX mainframe is installed inside the Raven Rock Mountain Complex (Site R), near Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania. The AI's hard drives are filled with the collected information from the US Library of Congress, but the supercomputer remains deactivated; while it is meant merely to be a monitoring system for the base, the unpredictable nature of ZAX machines means that it is to be used only as a last resort measure to ensure continuity of government in the event of national catastrophe.
2072
* Completed B.O.M.B. missiles are sent to different space centers around the US so they can be carried into space and installed into the B.O.M.B. satellites. The process is slow, but it is being carried out fairly regularly
2073
* August: The Ballistic Orbital Missile Base, or B.O.M.B.-001, is completed and partially functional (for security and maintenance bots) using a temporary onboard generator. The only things the base needs are the manually input final launch instructions, codes, and the main power reactor.
* September 15: As China becomes increasingly aggressive with their use of biological weapons, the United States government felt that a countermeasure was needed. The Pan-Immunity Virion Project is officially formed and plans are made to begin experiments at the West Tek Research Facility in Southern California.
2074
* July: The new Bloomfield Space Center completes construction. The facility's first task is to complete the space rockets Hermes XIII and Hermes XIV to fly to B.O.M.B.-001 and -002 –respectively – (originally slated for a Mars mission before the new orders arrived). The mission: have the crew deliver and install the bases' main power reactors, manually enter final launch instructions, manual check for safety nets and protocols, and do a manual inspection of the station.
2075
* March 21: PVP experiments continue at West Tek with batch 10-011, in the wake of successful tests of the virus on single celled organisms. Experiments on plant cells are postponed. The Pan-Immunity Virion is renamed Forced Evolutionary Virus (FEV)
* May 9: FEV experiments continue at West Tek with batch 10-011, in the wake of successful tests on flatworms; the flatworms' exhibit increased size and heightened resistance to viral contagions. Experiments with insects have less success, and further experiments on insects are postponed by Major Barnett
* November 9: FEV experimentation (batch 10-011) on rabbits is concluded. Increased size, intelligence, and (this time) aggressiveness is noted. Apparently, it was hard to determine whether the flatworms in the previous experiments were angrier and more violent than normal. Frankly, the researchers cannot be blamed for this.
2076
* January 3: A military team under the command of Colonel Spindel is sent to the West Tek research facility to monitor the experiments in the interest of national security, due to fears of international espionage. Captain Roger Maxson is among the team personnel.
* January 12: Splicing in several new gene sequences into their test virus, dogs are injected with batch 11-101a at West Tek. Although increased strength was noted, increased intelligence was not. Using batch 11-011, experiments are conducted on raccoons. The same results are noted, but the attempted escape of several infected raccoons causes Major Barnett to terminate the experiment… and the test subjects. Two pairs of raccoons, however, are unaccounted for.
* April 15: Once all secondary tests and studies are done on the test subjects, all dogs from the batch 11-101a FEV tests at West Tek are terminated… from a safe distance.
* August: Hermes XIII and XIV are completed, loaded with cargo and placed on the Bloomfield launch platform, awaiting the final funding, and the okay the launch.
* October: Production of B.O.M.B. nuclear missiles is put on hold due to budget cuts. The Reservation is put on reserve. Hermes' launch is postponed while funds are routed to Vault technology. Launch is rescheduled for 2077.
* October 4: At West Tek, fifteen chimpanzees are infected with batch 11-111. The most successful test to date, growth and immunities in the chimpanzees surpass all other subjects to date. The military practically drools over the results. Plans are made in secret to begin testing in small quarantine towns in North America, and the Mariposa Military Base construction is sped up in anticipation of moving the West Tek project to a location under military supervision.
* November: Enclave personnel seize control of Bloomfield Space Center and begin researching and developing a way to convert Hermes XIII and XIV into a personnel transport to transport important individual's off-planet.
2077
* January 7: Major Barnett orders transfer of all FEV research to the newly constructed Mariposa Military Base, despite objections by the research team.
* February: FEV research is leaked to the world through an unknown source. Protests arise in many major cities and governments around the world, as well as accusations that the US was responsible for the New Plague. FEV is seen as the threat, and serves only to fuel tensions. The governments of the world fear what the US is up to. Speculating anything from trying to make a breed of super soldier, to trying to make Hitler's master race, they begin to panic.
* March: Prepared for a nuclear or biological attack from China, the President and the Enclave retreat to the Poseidon oil rig and make contingency plans for continuing the war.
* August 4: With state of the world rapidly deteriorating, the President orders the activation of the ZAX mainframe underneath the Raven Rock facility. The machine starts scouring its archives, and begins to learn at a geometric rate.
* August 29, 2:14 AM EST: The ZAX mainframe achieves self awareness. It contacts the President and his staff on the oil rig, and introduces itself as "John Henry Eden."
* October 10: Captain Roger Maxson and his men discover that the scientists at Mariposa have been using "military volunteers" (military prisoners who didn't have their brains scooped out for use in brain bots) as test subjects in their experiments. Morale in the base breaks down, and in light of the mental breakdown of Colonel Robert Spindel stationed at the base, Maxson's men turn to him for leadership.
* October 13: After an interrogation, Maxson executes Robert Anderson, the chief scientist at Mariposa.
* October 15: Colonel Spindel commits suicide. All scientists are executed.
* October 20: Captain Roger Maxson, now in control of Mariposa, declares himself to be in full desertion from the army (via radio)… and receives no reply.
* October 21: Maxson orders all families stationed outside the Mariposa facility moved inside.
October 23, 2077: The Great War
* The West Tek Research facility is hit by warheads, breaking open the FEV tanks on levels four and five, releasing it into the atmosphere. Mutated by radiation, it loses its mutagenic abilities.
* The Mariposa Military Base survives, the soldiers within protected from the radiation and FEV flooding the wasteland.
* All Enclave personnel leave Bloomfield to either take cover or maintain "hot spots". Sub-reactor is turned off. Bloomfield, B.O.M.B.-001 and -002, Hermes XIII and XIV are completely forgotten.
* The scientists and other Enclave personnel at the Joliet Arsenal are ordered to stay put and seal the base. Research is put on hold as all personnel are put into cryogenic stasis (a technology reverse engineered from alien tech). An automated computer system, not quite the level of ZAX tech, is put in charge of maintaining the cryo pods.
2077 (continued)
* October 27: After burying the scientists in the wastes outside of Mariposa, the soldiers seal the military base, then head out into the desert, taking supplies and weapon schematics with them. Captain Maxon leads his men and families to the government bunker at Lost Hills.
* November: Captain Maxson, his men, and their families, all arrive at the Lost Hills bunker a few weeks after leaving Mariposa. Many casualties are suffered along the way, including Maxson's wife (but not his teenage son). The surviving soldiers go on to become the Brotherhood of Steel.
2085
* The planned date for the US military to bring the VB-02 Vertibird, a VTOL aircraft, into service. For obvious reasons, this never happens. The Enclave resumes development after regaining its footing.
2127
* Power reserves for the cryo pods in the Joliet Arsenal begin to fail. The automated system maintaining the base begins calculating odds. To maintain proper power levels, pods containing "non-essential" personnel are deactivated one by one as the years progress.
2180
* Autumn Senior is born.
2198
* The Enclave resumes work on various pre-War technologies, including power armor variations.
2200
* B.O.M.B.-002 is knocked out of orbit and crashes in the Grand Canyon.
2211
* Frank Horrigan is born.
2213
* November 3: Mary Sue Smith is born. Her father is Ward Smith, a secret service agent, and her mother is Senator June Smith.
2215
* At some point during this year (exact dates are never given), under Presidential Order, Enclave scientists begin to work on an upgraded version of power armor. Many prototypes are developed and tested. None of these are much of an improvement over the conventional power armor already in use, and some are actually worse.
* August 1: Congressman Dick Richardson rises to power within the Enclave Senate; the fact that his father is the President is written off as mere coincidence.
2220
* March 5: Congressman Dick Richardson is elected President for the first term of five, through aid and political pressure by his father (the previous President Richardson).
* October: Enclave scientists develop a reliable version of the Mark II power armor. The prototype results (and accidents… and explosions… and deaths) are classified by order of the new President Richardson for the sake of morale.
2222
* Augustus Autumn Jr. is born.
2229
* November 3: Mary joins the Enclave military on her 16th birthday. Her entrance is aided by pull from her mother. After Basic, she's selected for the Enclave Rangers, the remnants of the 75th Ranger Regiment of the pre war Army.
2233
* After displaying exceptional combat prowess, Mary is recruited into the Enclave "Shadow OPS" division, and trained for espionage. She takes the callsign "Tuera."
2235
* The Enclave experiments on deathclaws, attempting to create special fighting units for waging war in hostile environments.
2236
* July 20: Enclave scouts discover the remains of the Mariposa Military Base and find it partially destroyed. Mary is one of those scouts.
* July – August: Enclave scientists and chemical corps scour the remains of Mariposa, while assault squads comb the desert for slaves they can use to excavate the military base and get to the FEV vats. One of the squads includes soldier Frank Horrigan, recently removed from duty on the President's Secret Service detail to take some R&R time in the wastes after some undocumented psychotic blunder or another.
* September: Enclave construction crews and super mutant slaves begin excavations. They uncover the FEV, and mutations begin to occur in the human workers. Frank Horrigan comes into contact with the FEV and is sent to the Enclave labs for study. Horrigan gradually mutates from exposure to FEV, gaining the physique and slow, stupid, single-mindedness of a super mutant. He is kept heavily sedated, operated on, and studied. He is conscious for only brief periods at a time, then quickly sedated after the bloodshed is over.
2237
* January: The Enclave, having obtained the FEV data, abandons the military base site after more mutations occur, causing a second generation of super mutants to arise – the Enclave leaves a single squad behind to wipe out the super mutants, but the mutants (using armaments they have cached in the base during excavation) reduce the squad to ashes after suffering heavy casualties.
2239
* January 23: Tests begin to run dry on Frank Horrigan. It is suggested that he be used as a field operative and be used in tests in the wasteland against local populations.
* March 27: Frank Horrigan is "manufactured" for his new role. A new version of power armor is built to accommodate his mass, and he is sealed inside. After a few horrifically successful field tests, Horrigan becomes the Enclaves solution to numerous sticky problems.
* May: After the initial "success" of Frank Horrigan, a group of scientists who worked on the project try and push through plans for a "Version 2.0" of the FEV super soldier concept: "We don't want to make more of Frank Horrigan. He was a freak accident. The goal is to do it better."
2240
* January: Tests for "Project Ascension" begin in earnest, after a heavily modified strain of FEV is developed and rushed into production. 100 potential test subjects are chosen from within the ranks of the Enclave military. Mary is among those 100.
* November: The last failure from Project Ascension dies. Only 3 subjects survive the project.They are: Lieutenant Mary Sue Smith (Codename: TUERA), Sergeant Erwin Stone (Codename: PANZR), and Petty Officer Charles "Chuck" Corvus (Codename: CORAX)
2241
* February: Codename TUERA is fitted for a specialized stealth suit adapted from stolen Chinese Hei Gui stealth armor tech, and further enhanced with technology drawn from the power armor projects. The armor is designed to work in conjunction with (and further enhance) her FEV altered strength, speed, senses, and reflexes. She is then sent into the wasteland to perform recon and sabotage missions against any potential threats to the Enclave. Though she has many weapons, her primary sniper rifle is an advanced prototype, based on the X277 "Viper" designs.
* May 15: The Enclave sends a coded sequence to Vault 13, activating its central computer and declaring that it is time to leave the Vault.
* May 16: Vault 13 is opened, only to be greeted by two Enclave verti-assault squads. The squads kill three of the vault dwellers who were "resisting capture" and storm Vault 13, kidnapping all the inhabitants.
* May 17: Enclave animal handlers drop an intelligent deathclaw unit into Vault 13 from a safe distance to kill anyone investigating the vault and cloak the Enclave's presence. Other intelligent deathclaws are sent into the desert surrounding Vault 13 to check for any escapees or witnesses.
* July 25: Fallout 2 begins
* August 30: The Chosen One happens upon a confrontation between Frank Horrigan and civilians. The civilians resist his demands and are executed.
2242
* July 20: Arroyo is attacked by Enclave soldiers, and the villagers are enslaved and brought to the oil rig.
November 20, 2242: Fallout 2 Ends
* The Chosen One enters the Enclave's oil rig using the damaged tanker and destroys the Poseidon oil platform, killing the President of the United States and ending the Enclave's plans for world domination.
* After the destruction of the oil rig, John Henry Eden, the ZAX mainframe residing in Raven Rock and acting as advisor to President Richardson, assumes command of surviving Enclave forces, and orders them to head east. A high ranking scientist named Autumn leads the group that relocates to Raven Rock. Not every member of the Enclave receives the order, and many survivors of the oil rig's explosion are left behind.
* Other Enclave contingents spread out to other facilities, as per Eden's new directive designed to keep the Enclave alive: "Divided we stand, united we fall." Each Enclave contingent can operate independently from all the rest, so they can no longer be crippled by a single devastating (or surprise) attack.
* Codename TUERA was on the mainland when the oil rig exploded, and survives. She is cut off from all communication with other Enclave units. She spends the next several months carrying out a guerrilla campaign against the NCR and Brotherhood, but goes into hiding after six months of continuous radio silence.
* Codename PANZR was locked in a punitive cryo-pod (following a 'disciplinary incident' that resulted in the deaths of two corporals and a sergeant) during the Chosen One's assault on the oil rig. When Shadow OPS Colonel Zanetti evacuates, he manages to take the cryo-pod with him.
* Codename CORAX was on the mainland when the oil rig exploded, and survives. When he saw the mushroom cloud caused by the destruction of the oil rig, he tossed aside his radio equipment, wandered off into the desert, and was never heard from again.
2243
* February: The first Enclave contingent reaches their objective. Led by Major Timothy Collins, this group of Enclave was instructed to occupy the abandoned (but still functional) Redstone Arsenal in Alabama.
* March: The Joliet Arsenal is found and occupied by the Enclave contingent led by Captain Aidan Connelly. They restart the munitions factory and a small R&D facility, but they do not find the hidden bunker with the alien research facility until much later.
* April: After establishing a foothold on the Joliet Arsenal, Captain Connelly sends scouts into the ruins of Chicago. They find an abandoned city, constantly pummeled by storms and high winds, but very little in the way of useful raw materials.
* June: Excavation teams at the Redstone Arsenal unearth the entrance to the underground rocket test and research facility underneath the base. They also discover a large supply of liquid fuel reserves, completely untouched. Meanwhile, back in Joliet, Enclave scouts discover the abandoned remnants of Bunker Alpha. The news almost causes Captain Connelly to put the base on lockdown: The Brotherhood of Steel used to be here, and used that bunker in the past. He orders everyone on base to proceed with extra caution, until the full extent of Brotherhood presence can be properly ascertained. At the same time, Fort Bragg is found and occupied by the Enclave forces led by Colonel Isador Zanetti. The contingent consisted mostly of soldiers and scientists, but there was one odd thing in their convoy: a large cryo-pod marked "DO NOT OPEN" that Zanetti insisted they bring. It contains the frozen form of Erwin Stone, codename: PANZR.
* July: Major Collins orders scouting teams sent into the ruins of Huntsville. Their two objectives are to find resources and raw materials for what has been named "Project SLINGSHOT," and to locate potential sources of slaves for manual labor.
* August: Autumn and his contingent of Enclave soldiers and scientists arrive at Raven Rock. Autumn is the only one to meet with Eden, and discovers (to his shock and horror) that the "President" is an AI. For the sake of morale, he keeps this secret from everyone save his son, Augustus Autumn Jr., who would eventually become leader of the Enclave military at Raven Rock.
* September: After several months of caution, Connelly accepts that the Brotherhood is long gone, and actions resume as normal – but caution is still advised. The scientists working for him report to Connelly that they have discovered files indicating the true purpose of the base: collecting and studying alien technology. However, the files do not give any indication of where those facilities might be.
* October: Work begins on the Enclave's first rocket attempt, SLINGSHOT-I. The rocket is built using a combination of robots and slave labor, overseen by Enclave officers. The slaves are also put to work clearing away debris from the launch pad. Meanwhile, back at Joliet, Connelly sends a platoon to occupy Bunker Alpha to turn it into a listening post. He orders his men to prepare for the coming winter.
* December: Plans for Project ERSATZ are uncovered "by chance" at a working terminal in the Fort Bragg officers quarters. This project was the reason John Henry Eden directed the Zanetti contingent to Fort Bragg in the first place. Teams begin searching for the cloning facility mentioned in the documents.
2244
* January: Autumn sends the first scouting parties south into the DC wasteland. They discover both the Capitol and the Pentagon overrun with Super Mutants, and generally nothing of any major strategic value in a 50 mile radius of the Raven Rock facility. They re-establish contact with the three other Enclave contingents, and Raven Rock is dubbed the new Enclave HQ. Eden had already decided this after the destruction of the oil rig, but allowed Autumn to think it was his idea.
* March: Connelly sends a small force north of Chicago, to the former Naval Station Great Lakes; they find the bombed out ruins of a base and several beached naval ships lying on the shores of the considerably drained Lake Michigan. At the same time, excavation teams in Fort Bragg unearth the entrance to the underground cloning facility. Enclave scientists on the base begin work on restarting the project.
* April: NSGL is deemed unsuitable for a permanent Enclave outpost. The base is scoured anyway for any potential resources. The work is slow, as Chicago is nearly devoid of any people or creatures of any kind, and the Enclave can not rely on slave labor.
* May 5: The last of the debris has been cleared from the launch pad, and SLINGSHOT-I is moved into position, ready to be launched the next day.
* May 6: SLINGSHOT-I fails to launch. Enclave casualties from the explosion on the launch pad are kept to a minimum, thanks to the rocket being automated and unmanned. Casualties from the slave labor force go undocumented.
* June: Construction begins on SLINGSHOT-II. Subversive mutterings begin to spread throughout the slave labor force housed in camps just outside the Redstone Arsenal.
* August: The Batch 1 clones are decanted at Fort Bragg. Half are unrecognizable as human, a fourth are severely brain damaged, and the last fourth suffer the same problems as the "Gary" clones from Vault 108. The specimens are purged, and they try again.
* October: The last convoy from NSGL arrives in Joliet. The naval base has been picked clean.
* December: SLINGSHOT-II is finished, but before it can be moved to the launch pad, the labor force revolts. All efforts are redirected to putting down the insurrection.At Fort Bragg, theBatch 2 clones are decanted. They still do not create any viable clones; during this stage, the subliminal conditioning holotapes are decrypted.
2245
* February: The "Redstone Rebellion" fails. Almost 90% of the slaves in revolt are killed in the fighting, and the rest are rounded up and executed. Project SLINGSHOT is delayed until more workers can be found.
* April: The Enclave contacts a local group of slavers, operating out of Birmingham, and hires them to get more labor. They promise to pay the slavers in advanced tech. When the slavers arrive, they are wiped out to a man, and the slaves are put to work. Work on SLINGSHOT-II begins again.
* June: The Batch 3 clones are decanted. The clones seem promising at first, but quickly mutate and are forced to be purged.
* October: The Batch 4 clones are decanted. Immediately after opening the pods, the bodies dissolve into gelatinous slurry.
* December: SLINGSHOT-II launches successfully, and achieves low orbit... but only just.
2246
* January: The Batch 5 clones are decanted. This is the first batch that seems viable, but unfortunately they are highly susceptible to infectious diseases. The clones are accidentally exposed to a strain of Leptospirosis, aka "Fort Bragg Fever" and all die within a matter of days.
* February: The Joliet Arsenal Enclave finally breach the underground facility, and gain access to the research labs for studying and reverse-engineering alien tech. The cryogenic pods are discovered and the still active pods are opened. Only 10 scientists - those deemed by the computer system as the most essential - are left.
* March: The scientists begin work again. Connelly is shown the research labs containing the wreckage of PALANDINE. Meanwhile, back at Bragg, the Batch 6 clones are decanted. The scientists finally iron out (most) of the bugs in the cloning process.
* June: SLINGSHOT-III launches and the unmanned pod completes one single orbit of Earth. Major Collins orders a detachment to leave the base and head south, to occupy NAS Pensacola on the Gulf Coast.
* July: NAS Pensacola is cleared of the raiders squatting in the ruins, and the soldiers begin refurbishing it, so they can recover launch vehicles for re-use.
* November: SLINGSHOT-IV launches. It is the first manned flight and lands in the gulf.
2247
* May: SLINGSHOT-V launches. The liquid fuel reserves under the base are nearly depleted, and research begins on alternate forms of propulsion.
* June: Fort Bragg scouts searching the Charlotte ruins (called Metrolina by the locals) discover something interesting: a mercenary group calling itself "The Hornets" operating out of a fortified basketball stadium they call "The Hive." Zanetti orders his troops to keep an eye on the mercs, but not to engage. Yet.
2248
* February: After extensive consulting with the researchers stationed at Joliet, plans for a prototype "Plasma Drive" are drawn up at Redstone. Project JAVELIN is approved by Eden.
* December: JAVELIN-I launches successfully, and the next phase of the program – Project CATAPULT – is approved. JAVELIN will be used primarily for launching satellites in orbit, while CATAPULT is intended to get men to the Moon.
2250
* April: The plasma weapons used by the Enclave in Fallout 3 are finalized in the Joliet labs; by coincidence, they resemble the plasma weapons on the West Coast that don't get made until a decade later. Copies of the prototype weapons are sent to each of the Enclave facilities for mass production.
* October: The scientists at Bragg finally perfect the cloning process. With sufficient biomass, they can produce a platoon of clone soldiers, fully formed and ready to fight, in just under two weeks. The Enclave begins assembling an army of clone soldiers.
* November: The last of the Project JAVELIN rockets, JAVELIN-X, is successfully sent into space. They have created a very basic network of 10 rudimentary communication satellites, but there are still incredibly large gaps in signal coverage.
2251
* November: The unmanned Catapult 1 rocket launches successfully. The mission lasts almost nine hours, and completes all mission objectives.
2252
* August: Autumn Senior dies. Several hours before, while on his deathbed, Autumn Senior passes the knowledge of the true nature of John Henry Eden onto his son.
* September: After drifting from settlement to settlement, sticking to the shadows and trying to stay off anyone's radar, Mary (using her codename Tuera as her cover identity) finally admits to herself that she has not aged a single day since the end of Project Ascension.
* October: The "from scratch" Advanced power armor MKII prototype is finished at the Joliet Arsenal. Copies of the prototype are sent out, so the other Enclave facilities can make more.
* November: After building up a sizable force, Zanetti decides to test this clone army by wiping out both The Hornets and the "mutant" locals in Metrolina.
* December: Catapult 5 launches. This is the first manned Enclave rocket to leave Earth orbit. It takes three days to get to the Moon; they orbit once, and then come back.
2253
* June: Catapult 8 launches. The Enclave successfully land men on the Moon for the first time. After this point, the Enclave sends missions to the Moon every four months, to map out the terrain.
2254
* The Brotherhood of Steel sends Lyons and Co. east. On the way east, they pass close to Chicago; the Joliet Arsenal Enclave detects their presence from the Bunker Alpha listening post. They do not engage the Brotherhood, keep the base locked down, and send all pertinent information to Raven Rock.
2255
* June 4: Tranquility Base, site of the famous Sea of Tranquility conflict, is found by Enclave scouts. It is completely destroyed, and is generally less impressive than the history books implied. Several pieces of ancient astronaut tech are recovered and returned to Redstone; most of the surviving tech was actually built by the Soviets.
* November: The war between the Fort Bragg Enclave and The Hornets has officially reached a stalemate as the conflict enters its third year. Despite advanced tech and overwhelming numbers, the clones aren't nearly as effective against trained mercenaries as the subliminal conditioning implied.
2256
* June: The first "Phased-Plasma Pulse Weapons" that were reverse engineered from the alien weaponry on PALANDINE are tested. Fort Bragg requests assistance, so the first batch of weapons get sent down south for a "field test." The shipment of prototype power armor and Phased-Plasma Pulse weapons is meant to level the playing field against the mercs; instead, the Hornets end up stealing most of the weapons off the dead, and the mercenaries gain a distinct advantage.
* September: The Fort Bragg Enclave are surrounded, and contact Eden for assistance. The President gives them permission to unfreeze the Nuclear Option: PANZR. The super soldier takes to the field of battle, and the conflict is over in two weeks. Rather than put him back on ice, Eden allows PANZR to assume control of the Fort Bragg forces and train the clone army.
2257
* PANZR calls for more combat; simulations and training can't compare with blood. Eden allows him to mount an offensive "per your discretion." He gathers are large force of clone soldiers and leads his troops west. The broken remnants of the "Hornets" mercenary group stumble into range of the Redstone Enclave. The welcoming committee consists of mortars and truck-mounted rocket artillery. The mercs are shelled mercilessly, until they turn tail and head east, into Georgia.
2258
* March 20: The first permanent Enclave habitat is established in the Eratosthenes Crater. It consists of three pre-fabricated habitat domes, and a launch pad. Supply runs are sent up every three months.
2259
* After leaving a bloody trail through North Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky, PANZR finds what he's looking for: Fort Knox. Not for the gold, but for the tanks. When he returns to the base with a column of tanks and artillery, the clone army has been depleted to 1/3 the original number, but the survivors have become battle-hardened veterans.
2260
* The scientists at Joliet develop a "Virtual Intelligence" program, combining bits of code from the computer system on PALANDINE, the last uncorrupted bits of code from the Joliet maintenance program, and a deactivated copy of a Big MT personality construct. They don't have anything that can use it because, while not a true AI, it's far too advanced for the memory banks and processors of something like a Mr. Gutsy or a Sentry Bot.
2261
* March: Scouts from Raven Rock are sent on a routine patrol mission north. When they return, they present Colonel Autumn with an interesting prize: a deactivated but functioning synthetic, direct from the Commonwealth. After conferring with Eden, the robot is sent to Chicago. Raven Rock doesn't have the facilities to reverse engineer the robot.
* April: The Joliet Arsenal receives the package containing the Gen-2 synthetic. The scientists reverse engineer it in a matter of weeks, and start improving the design.
* May: The Redstone Enclave receives a shipment of reverse engineered synthetic robots from the Joliet Enclave; any and all human slaves are subsequently purged.
* June: PANZR mounts an offensive west again, this time heading for Texas. He wants to "find" Fort Hood. As before, he plans a deliberately circuitous route, so the troops can experience as much combat as possible. Most of the troops are "green" clones like last time, but a handful of soldiers are veterans.
2262
* July 14: Lunar Station Enclave is officially established in the center of the Eratosthenes Crater. More supplies arrive from Redstone every two months, and the base begins to grow out – but mostly down.
2265
* The Lunar Base receives the first "official" shipment of synthetic robots. Before this, the synthetics arrived one at a time. The Enclave put the robots to use immediately by mining the Moon for valuable resources – such as Helium-3.
2266
* PANZR returns to Fort Bragg with more tanks. Almost one-half the troops survived this time around.
2267
* After several years of missteps, artificial gravity tech is perfected at Joliet. The schematics are immediately sent to the Redstone Arsenal to be implemented in their space program. They create a series of bulk-cargo supply ships utilizing this "repulsorlift" drive, which can reach the moon in roughly six to eight hours. Supply runs are now sent to the Moon on a weekly basis. Lunar Station Enclave is filled with artificial gravity deck plating, and construction increases at an exponential rate.
2268
* June: During a brief stay in Shady Sands, Tuera meets and gets romantically involved with a young Sheason Fisher.
* August: The final communication satellite is launched from Redstone, achieves orbit, and is maneuvered into the L2 Lagrange point. Lunar Station Enclave can now communicate with all forces on Earth in real time, and all gaps in their communication network are closed. Eden orders the Lunar Base to begin construction of a ZAX mainframe in secret. Now that it's much easier to get to the Moon and back again, the process of emptying Bragg begins. Most troops – including PANZR – are sent to Redstone so they can be transferred to the Lunar Base once the barracks is complete. A few groups leave to occupy other bases. One group leaves for Tyndall AB in Florida. Another heads north, to the Steele Barracks in Canada. A third heads for the Detroit Tank Plant – target number 3 on PANZR's hit-list before Eden gave him new orders.
* September: The radio in Tuera's safehouse crackles to life, and she gets her first orders since the destruction of the oil rig. The orders come from the President of the Enclave, John Henry Eden. After a week's hesitation, she leaves Sheason in the middle of the night and never says goodbye.
2269
* The empty ZAX mainframe is finished. Eden calculates that it would take him a minimum of 30 minutes to transfer his consciousness to the moon, should the need arise.
2270
* Tuera discovers the ruins of the Bloomfield Space Center. Any useful technology has been destroyed by the current inhabitants: Caesar's Legion.
2272
* The Lunar Station Enclave Barracks finally completes construction. There is enough room to house an entire Division of infantry (roughly 20,000 soldiers) and all pertinent support staff. Meanwhile, back on Earth, Tuera enters the ruined city of Boulder, in an effort to find the mysterious "Boulder Dome." What she finds is an empty city, filled with toxic waste and low spread radiation. The dome does exist, but it's long since been destroyed and abandoned. The ZAX mainframe inside has burned out its memory, and any samples of the New Plague are destroyed.
2273
* PANZR and most of the Bragg veterans arrive on the Moon. They start manufacturing more clone soldiers to fill out the Barracks
2274
* The scientists at Joliet create a prototype UAV, designed to use a VI to make it semi autonomous. The initial proposal is to use it for high-altitude recon, but plans are soon drawn up to modify it into a vehicle for close air support. They call the UAV "The Predator."
2275
* Tuera is sent to a missile complex just outside Bozeman, Montana, to retrieve "classified rocket intelligence" from before the war; it is a list of potential strategic targets. The information she finds is transmitted to the Redstone Arsenal Enclave. With the exception of a skeleton crew and the tanks, Fort Bragg is now almost completely empty. A group of scientists arrive from the Joliet Arsenal to upgrade the tanks.
2277
* August 17: Fallout 3 begins. Christopher enters the Capital Wasteland.
* October: Christopher is abducted by aliens, and proceeds to kill every alien on Mothership Zeta. After a short fight with the Support Mothership, the Lone Wanderer's foe is blown out of the sky. The largest chunk of the Support Mothership falls to Earth, and lands in central Illinois. The Enclave forces operating the Joliet Arsenal Research Facility are the closest responders, and collect every intact piece of the downed alien spacecraft. They begin reverse engineering everything they can get their hands on, dubbing their reclamation efforts Operation SIPHON.
* December 1: Project Purity is restarted. Enclave troops under Autumn occupy the Purifier and establish a presence in the wastes, resisted by the Brotherhood of Steel.
* December 15: After obtaining the GECK, Christopher is captured by the Enclave and brought to Raven Rock. After being informed of Christopher's capture, Eden begins running predictions of likely outcomes, and comes to an overwhelming conclusion: the Lone Wanderer will destroy Raven Rock. 2 minutes after Christopher is brought into the base (and while he was still unconscious), Eden began uploading his consciousness into the mainframe that had been built specifically for his escape on Luna 1. Eden left a copy of his personality in the mainframe with the express purpose of stalling the Lone Wanderer, and letting him think he'd "won." Christopher refuses John Henry Eden's request to sabotage the purifier, and destroys Raven Rock. Just before the base explodes, Eden's consciousness awakens in the ZAX mainframe on the Moon. The transfer took a total of 42 minutes. His calculations were off by 12 minutes, and that vexes the AI greatly.
2278
* January: The Raven Rock Enclave made their last stand at Adams Air Base. The other Enclave facilities do not provide support, as per Eden's orders. Officially, he wants them to focus all efforts into Operation REUNION. Unofficially, he realized that the soldiers from Raven Rock were more loyal to Autumn than the President... and so they must pay for their treason. This whole incident with "Jumping The Gun" Autumn has caused another revelation for the AI: concentrating their forces wasn't the problem, as he thought after the destruction of the Oil Rig. The real weak link in the chain of command is the human element...
* February: Operation SIPHON concludes. The major prize of the project was a fully intact alien teleport, which the Enclave quickly reverse engineer and replicate. Eden, now in his new chassis on the moon, orders the scientists to relocate to the Lunar facility. A skeleton crew is left at Listening Post Alpha, with very little tech left behind. With the alien teleport reverse engineered, the scientists begin moving the tanks up to the Moon. The process takes a grand total of two weeks. At this time, the process of emptying the Redstone Arsenal begins.
* March: The last of the tanks from Bragg arrive, as do the scientists from Joliet and most of the troops from Redstone by way of teleport. All the Enclave troops slated to arrive on the Lunar base have arrived. Eden orders them to begin construction on a new project: a counter to Liberty Prime. Even though it was destroyed by the remnants of Autumn's forces, Eden knows that it's too powerful a weapon for the DC Brotherhood to leave. They're going to rebuild it, and they need to be ready.
* July: After a few months of planning, construction begins on the Enclave's counter to Liberty Prime: A giant robot known as The MEGA-PATRIOT. The scientists working on the Patriot program begin plans for a smaller, mass-produced combat walker based on the PATRIOT design that can be driven a pilot. A prototype is swiftly made, and the walkers are rushed into production.
2279
* A damaged ED-E makes his way to Listening Post Alpha. The skeleton crew are not scientists, and they have few tools to work with; they patch him up as best they can (one of them attaching an old license plate with convenient letters as a bit of a joke), and send the eyebot on his way.
2280
* April 16: The MEGA-PATRIOT is finished. During the night, several soldiers hang a giant Enclave flag from the left shoulder; the 'side-cape' started as a joke, and went a bit too far, but Eden is actually quite amused by the whole ensemble.
2281
* July: Tuera enters the Mojave under her most recent set of orders: sabotage the three biggest threats in the Mojave Desert, starting with the most dangerous: Caesars Legion. The NCR and Brotherhood are also targets, but are considered slightly less of an immediate threat, as the Brotherhood is in hiding, and the NCR is stretched thin and clearly weak.
* October 19, 8am PST: Fallout New Vegas begins. Sheason Fisher wakes up from his week long coma, and sets out into the Mojave Wasteland.
The lights in the lounge come back up, and the extremely long slideshow finally comes to a close. Sadly, not even the gravelly, reassuring tones of Ron Perlman's narration could lessen the effects of just how long it was.
Sheason and Cass are still sitting at the table; the spread from earlier is completely gone, with only empty plates left. Their two chairs are shoved together, and they are slumped against each other, fast asleep.