Chapter 5: The Enclave
Whoever the Enclave were, they had interested the six into knowing more about them. After all, they were fighting against the Brotherhood of Steel evenly before starting this chapter on the orb. It seemed like they were just as technologically advanced as the Brotherhood only their armor was much different and they were shooting green energy bolts instead of red lasers. The screen started by showing the strange little eye like designed robot that was hovering across the wasteland as the narrator went on about it and how the rest of the world was affected by the war.
“Aww, that thing is so cute. I want one,” Silverstream said, looking at the little guy with sparkles i her eyes. “I would name him Floaty.”
“Yeah, but what’s it do? Does it fight or anything?” Gallus asked, eyes raised.
Silverstream rolled her eyes. “Not every robot needs to be designed for war, Gallus. Wouldn’t it be fine just having a robot that could do other stuff besides kill things?” Just as she said it, someone with a rifle blew up the robot on screen. “Floaty! Noooooo!”
She began pounding the floor over and over again. “Damn you! Damn you all to R’yeh’s Locker!”
“At least the ones designed for war could last longer,” Gallus chuckled, earning a glare and rashberry from the hippogriff. “Also, R’yehs Locker?”
“Hippogriff’s version of where the dead who did bad things go,” Ocellus said, with a smile. “I read it up on Religions Around The World. I believe the good place is the White Shores?”
Perking up, Silverstream nodded. “Yup, that’s where my grandparents are right now, bless their souls.”
“Well, imaginary places where we go when we die aside, let’s focus on why things are suddenly green again in the world,” Smolder pointed out as the screen changed to suddenly lush forests and happy sunlight.
“Wait, what do you mean 'imaginary'?” Silverstream asked, tilting her head.
“Oh no! We’re not having a religious conversation!” Gallus said, crossing his arms in an “X” formation. “We’ll be at it for hours, and I want to watch more of this.”
Agreeing to put aside theological discussions aside, the group refocused their attention on the hologram screen. Apparently, even though the Wasteland was a far cry from what it used to be from before the war, there was always some group or another trying to take it over. The government of the US was long gone after the war ended, and what was once a country of laws, order, and structure fell back into simple tribal methods. Only the strongest were the leaders, a primitive way of doing things, but Smolder and Yona both agreed it was often the easiest to understand from experience.
Although later on in time, various mayors and towns in California would come together to start a new nation known as the New California Republic. However, they weren’t THE government of the US. Just A government that happened to be well structured and organized. Most had forgotten about the former US government, but it turns out they weren’t all gone as most people thought.
“Figures, of all the things to still not die out, even in the apocalypse, its politicians,” Sandbar joked as the others chuckled.
“Isn’t this also the same government that experimented on their own kind? And were behind Vault-Tec?” Silverstream asked, getting a nod from Ocellus in return. “I wonder how they survived? A vault of their own?”
“Yona wish they dead. Greedy leaders.”
Those same ‘greedy leaders’ appeared on screen in a secret meeting discussing plans that the group couldn’t understand, but the narrator was there to explain how it all went down. The top ranking politicians and industry leaders, the elite of the elite, decided that they needed to take measures to protect themselves as top priority over their citizens. They took themselves, their families, and top private security to a secret offshore hiding spot where they survived the end of the world. An event they helped caused. And for two hundred years this Enclave stood safe while the rest of the world suffered.
“So the Enclave is the remnants of the US Government who later had children and they continued to grow in number as the years went on,” Ocellus said, while taking notes. “Why would they be treated in such a negative way by the narrator? I mean, sure they did play a part in causing the war, but so did China if I recall.”
“And why didn’t they set out others to help the other survivors?” Sandbar asked, scratching his head.
“And why were they fighting the Brotherhood earlier?” Gallus also questioned.
“And who ate all the popcorn?!” Smolder demanded, holding an empty bowl. A burp from Yona quickly answered that last one.
Compared to the children who had to grow up in the harsh world of the Wasteland, the children of the Enclave, as well as their children, had it easy. They had nice clothes, good warm food served by robot chefs, and hung out with smiles and joy on their faces while being protected by powerful looking power armored soldiers. These were the children who never had to sleep on cold floors, hunt for food, or get sick from radiation. While the six couldn’t find it in them to blame these children for surviving they still felt a sense of injustice over the fact that the government of the US had all but abandoned most of the population save for a few elitists.
“I get the feeling the nobles in Canterlot would do this if they had the means,” Sandbar grumbled, flicking a nearby candy wrapper in frustration.
However, a safe haven from the Wasteland wasn’t the only thing the Enclave had. They also had the largest Pre-War tech in their arsenal, especially in weapons that would make the Brotherhood only dream of having. They even had their own labs and scientists creating weapons and technologies even superior to what the Pre-War America had. All of this done on a man made island of steel and armor that was once an oil rig. The group gasped at the size of it, finding it to be as big as a palace with enough protection to deal with even a dragon raid. Plus, it was far away from the mainland so nobody knew it even existed in the first place.
“Huh, I didn’t know you could get oil from the ocean floor.” Sandbar turned to Silverstream who shrugged.
“Don’t look at me. I didn’t even know what oil was until recently.”
“Uh, guys, you may want to see this,” Ocellus warned with wide eyes as she got them to look at the screen. On it was a strange vehicle that was flying in the air and yet it didn’t have wings or balloons to levitate it. It was flying fast, fast as a pegasus, and propellers were spinning around as it flew over the ocean and into the desert land.
“Woah, what metal bird thing?” Yona asked, eyes wide.
“It’s not an air balloon or any airship I’ve seen. How does it fly?” Sandbar asked, watching it sail through the clouds.
“Maybe through those propeller things?” Ocellus theorized as she wrote it down in a haste. “But what causes those to work? The air itself?”
Their amazement was soon replaced with caution as the narrator quickly said that they had a plan to rid the Wasteland of those who didn’t fit their “criteria” of being an American. This sent of warning bells inside their heads as they all got a bad feeling about that statement.
Unlike the Brotherhood, who only knew how to work old tech and find it, the Enclave had the resources to make bigger tech and they had a mission for it. One of those was the flying thing they had been watching which soon joined a whole squad of similar designs although some were bigger than others. They were called Virtibirds and they gave the Enclave the advantage in the sky as no other force had such air power.
Such power, much to the groups dismay, was not used for the right intentions. Just like their predecessors before them, the Enclave would land near villages to kidnap people for experiments before flying away with them. It seemed even after ten generations, the Enclave was still playing with innocent lives much to their disgust; even Ocellus was too upset to draw the designs of the Virtibird when it showed up on screen. In fact, she made a mental note to never draw them as she watched them fire upon an innocent farm. Worst of all, nobody could stop them because nobody had the means to travel to their secret base.
Well, almost nobody.
The screen changed to a sight that would have seemed like a joke, but it was real. A non-hostile looking Super Mutant was with a normal human in a number 13 Vault Suit with a cyber dog that had its brain in a jar. It played around the other two who were focusing on repairing an old car. Apparently, not only did this human fix the car, but he also managed to fix a ship alongside a group of followers. To everycreature’s joy they took that ship to the head base of the Enclave and destroyed it.
“Alright! That was for the little guy!” Gallus cheered, clapping his talons.
“Man, whoever these guys were that took down the Enclave had stones,” Smolder replied in approval while giving a thumbs up.
Such an adventure did more than just free people from the wrath of the Enclave. It inspired hope for those in the Wasteland that they could rebuild the world into a better place. Ironically, that was what the Enclave wanted as well in their own twisted way. They didn’t just want to live in a seclusion with all the benefits they had. They wanted the country back. They wanted America back from all the subhuman filth they saw ruining it.
“Jeez, what a bunch of jerks,” Silverstream said, glaring at the screen. “I mean, I can understand the mutations being things to fear, but there were humans too.”
Apparently, the Enclave didn’t share such sentiments as they believed anyone exposed to the radiation of the bombs was considered no longer human, but a mutant that needed to be destroyed. Even those who weren't ghouls or Super Mutants were just considered not human enough for the Enclave. To the Enclave, they were only true humans left and it was up to them to bring back America from the inferiors that had plagued it. It was why the engineered a virus designed to kill anything that had an above mutation rate, create super soldiers with inhuman experiments, they even took one of the scariest monsters alive and created a means for them to speak. It was the only kind of science you would see in a sci-fi movie, but this was the sort of thing the Enclave was good at. They may have been ruthless, but they were brilliant.
“I hate to see what else they could have designed,” Ocellus said, just as the narrator was about to introduce their deadliest creation which lead to them seeing Enclave scientists experimenting on a single human being. “I shouldn’t have said that.”
The person on the operating table was named Frank Horrigan. From what the narrator went on about his killing abilities, he didn’t seem like such a big threat despite the warning. It was only when he revealed that the Enclave found the FEV virus in the remains of the Mariposa Base that the group began to really worry. Frank got exposed and became the first new Super Mutant since the end of The Master. However, the Enclave thought they could do better then the abomination and in turned they made Frank something even the Master would be afraid of.
The group stood there in silence as they saw the figure that was bigger than the average Super Mutant, but had a lot more muscle. He wore the biggest amount of Power Armor that only a beast such as him could have used. His eyes were like lava, filled with rage and an utter taste for destruction. He looked like he could crush any of the six’s heads like peanuts or slice them in half with those large wrist blades. He was by no means physically scary like The Master, but for some reason he seemed even more deadly due to his figure.
“Okay, you must never tell any other dragon this, but I don’t think I would ever want to face a guy like that,” Smolder whispered, shaking in her seat. The others nodded in agreement. Facing someone like Cozy Glow was a breeze compared to this monster.
Thankfully, their fear soon faded when they saw Frank dead, torn in half with his guts coming out, next to the same Vault Suit person they saw earlier. Apparently, he was a “Chosen One” who had not only managed to defeat Frank, but also destroyed the Enclave’s base and send them packing.
“Well, whatever gods choose him they choose well,” Sandbar said, nodding in approval as he added this Chosen One to his small but growing list of heroes in the Wasteland next to Roger Maxson and Lyons.
However, even though the Enclave lost their home, their leaders, and their most loyal soldier, they weren’t going to give up. The screen showed the remnants of the Enclave marching and flying together while being lead by a stern looking man with yellowish-green long coat. His nane was Autumn, the highest ranking senior scientist left, and they rallied behind him as they headed East after being contacted by the new Enclave President.
“Wait, why was their President hiding in the East when they were in the West?” Silverstream asked.
“I think they had one but he died during the Chosen One’s assault and I guess they had a back up on the other side of the country?” Ocellus reasoned, but there was some doubt in her tone.
Arriving in Washington D.C., the Enclave set up in some military bases that were said to be impenetrable (Which caused Yona to state Yaks could smash the walls of super base easily). While there, they started sending out the robots which would carry messages about how the Enclave would rebuild America back to the golden ages. Yet it wasn’t going to be easy to do as they had to deal with the Super Mutants and the Brotherhood of Steel who both were making territories in D.C. as well. Still, the Enclave had their Virtibirds, advance tech, and had the means to fire missiles from satellites in space.
“These guys really like the whole kill everything and let the gods sort it out method, huh?” Gallus said, whistling with wonder as he watched the missiles descend into a fiery death for those below.
Yet the Enclave also used deceit and deception to battle their enemies and there was a possible chance that they turned a Brotherhood ally, a Vault Suit wearing human with the number “101” on his back, to betray his allies and work for them. Yet, even if it did happen, the Enclave were once again doomed to defeat as the others, especially Gallus, cheered upon seeing the big robot himself, Liberty Prime, walk all over the Enclave and tear them apart with his weapons.
“Take that you genocidal freaks!” Ocellus shouted with a loud happy cry which made the others stare at her a bit in surprise. “What? I can wish destruction upon bad guys too you know.”
The defeat that the Enclave suffered was even worse than their previous one. Their leaders dead, huge numbers missing, their bases destroyed, and what little remains of them were being hunted down and eliminated with extreme prejudice. It looked liked their dream of bringing America back in their image was done for good.
“You can’t bring back the glory days. All you can do is move forward. Something I wish griffins would do,” Gallus whispered, thinking about the times he wished his home could be better than it was. Gilda, and a few others, were trying to fix things into something new, but back then he thought it was a waste of time. But now? After everything I’ve learned here? Maybe it doesn’t seem as lame anymore.
The screen changed to show elderly looking folk, huddled around a fire, drinking and talking to one another. It turned out these former Enclave members just gave up on the dream they once had as did many others in the years to come. After two devastating defeats, they’re just wasn’t coming back. All they wanted was just to live their remaining days in peace and so they hid among the Wasteland they tried so hard to destroy and yet ironically became a part of it.
Yet back in the East, there were still some remnants of the Enclave still fighting for their dream. A few soldiers in their ruining Power Armor were firing their weapons in a building while dodging blasts from outside. They often harassed the Brotherhood or those who came to close to what little bases they had, but they were still a shell of their old selves with no new plans to create a new America.
However, the narrator presented a possible scenario. Could the Enclave, an organization that held so much resources and tech really be gone for good? Were they planning a new secret plan somewhere? Would they resurface sometime in the future with a new goal in mind?
“If they do come back, I hope they get their butts kicked a third time,” Smolder snorted.
However, as one organization falls, another one flourishes with prosperity. The group saw the familiar armies of the New California Republic watching the sun set with their guns drawn, preparing for a fight. While they created an empire of peace and prosperity, it seems even they were threatened by a would be tyrant.
“I’m guessing we’re going to learn about the NCR next,” Sandbar said as a interesting jingle started to play that got the group to hum it.
But it wasn’t the NCR they were going to learn about, but also the ones that threatened them with equal power.
Yet that was a story for another day.