Mariposa
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« This is Captain Pickard reporting at checkpoint 1. Contact with checkpoints 2 & 3 has been cut off. We can only assume the worst. The monsters are swarming up the mineshafts. All efforts to delay them have failed. We'll try to hold them at this position as long as we can. » |
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Background
Mariposa Military Base was a top-secret United States military facility built to house Forced Evolutionary Virus research previously conducted at West Tek, located somewhere in the area of the Mariposa unincorporated community in California. The name Mariposa means "butterfly" in Spanish.
History
Pre-war history
The construction of Mariposa started in October 2076 when large progress was made in FEV research, and the government preferred to move the project to a location under military supervision. On January 7, 2077, Major Barnett ordered transfer of all FEV research to the newly-constructed Mariposa Base, despite objections by the research team. Along with the scientists, a military team commanded by colonel Robert Spindel, which previously monitored the experiments at West Tek was sent to Mariposa. Spindel's second-in-command was captain Roger Maxson. The FEV project was moved to Mariposa and tested on human subjects. The vats were giant tanks filled with liquid FEV. As part of the research project, human subjects were dipped inside them and then examined to learn how to control and harness the process. The experiments on humans were kept secret even from Spindel and his soldiers.
Wartime events
On October 10, Maxson and his men were horrified to discover that the scientists at Mariposa were using military prisoners as test subjects in their experiments with the Forced Evolutionary Virus. Morale in the base broke down, and Spindel suffered a mental breakdown, eventually committing suicide 5 days later. Maxson's men turned to him for leadership.
After interrogating Robert Anderson, the chief scientist, and learning about the extent of their actions, Maxson executed him, and the other scientists soon followed. Maxson, now in control of the entire base, declared himself to be in full desertion from the army via radio on October 20. Strangely, he got no response, as the rest of the army was busy fighting the Chinese threat. Three days later, the bombs were launched, and the Great War ended two hours after it started.
The Mariposa Military Base survived, the soldiers within protected from the radiation and FEV flooding the wasteland. Two days later at Mariposa, a scout in Power Armor (Platner) was sent out to get specific readings on the atmosphere. He reported no significant radiation in the area surrounding the facility. After burying the scientists in the wastes outside of Mariposa, the soldiers sealed the military base, then headed out into the desert, taking supplies and weapon schematics with them. Captain Maxson led his men and families to the government bunker at Lost Hills, eventually forming the Brotherhood of Steel.
The base was left sealed, but over the years, it slowly fell into disrepair, and eventually various creatures made their way inside, mutating due to FEV exposure and infesting the surrounding area, attacking fledgling human settlements and caravans. The problem was becoming increasingly severe, to the point when Harold, a caravan master from the Hub, mounted an expedition in 2102 to locate and destroy the source of mutants.
Master's Army
Dr. Richard Grey was one of the explorers who was part of the expedition. Harold led the men into Mariposa, but failed to account for the automated defenses, which were still online, and promptly attacked the explorers. Taking heavy casualties, they made their way to the deepest, fourth level, the F.E.V Vats, where a crane smashed into the two surviving explorers, Harold and Richard Grey. The former was knocked out, the latter landed in one of the virus vats, succumbing to a severe overdose.
In pain, horribly mutated, he crawled into the control room, as his intellect grew. In a few days, he was neurolinked to the base computer, drawing upon its sizeable databanks. As he created the idea of the Unity, wanderers began to enter the facility, and Grey patiently captured and dipped them, in order to create beings as perfect as him. When the first true supermutants were created, he set out to create a true mutant army, at the same time deciding to look for a permanent base of operations. In 2155, one of his patrols located a group of vault dwellers from the LA Vault, and he made the decision to transfer himself there, occupying the Vault.
The base was entrusted to the Lieutenant, one of the greatest supermutant minds to exist. Mariposa was rebuilt and cleaned up, once again becoming the magnificent military base it was before the war. Supermutants roamed the halls, restocking the armories and medical base and soon it became the staging area for their assault on humanity, as well as the only supermutant production center.
Then came the Vault Dweller in 2162. It is unknown whether or not he infiltrated the base or blasted his way in - suffice to say, once he was through, Mariposa was little more than a caved-in, smoldering ruin
Enclave's excavations
In 2236, the Enclave discovered the remnants of the Mariposa Base. Soon, assault squads combed the desert for slaves they could use to mine the military base and get to the vats. One of the squads included soldier Frank Horrigan. Enclave construction crews, as well as human and super mutant slaves began excavations. In September they uncovered FEV, and mutations began to occur in the human workers. Frank Horrigan comes into contact with the virus and is sent to the Enclave labs for study.
In 2237, having obtained the FEV data, the Enclave abandoned the site after more mutations occurred, causing 2nd Generation super mutants to arise. The Enclave left a single squad behind to wipe out the super mutants, but the mutants, using armaments they had cached in the base during excavation, reduced the squad to ashes after suffering heavy casualties. The remaining 1st and 2nd Generation super mutant slaves decided to remain in the Base, and the group formed a new community under the leadership of Melchior, whose magic talents had allowed them to hide the weapons.
Mariposa in Fonline 2238
- The bottom level differs from Fallout 1 and 2. The Vats has been replaced by a Micro Fusion Cell machine.
- To use the machine, one must first use the terminal, sucessfully using it will allow you to craft at the machine to the right of terminal.
- PK usually camp this area, so it is recomended to go in groups.
Sources
History, pictures and backgrounds were borrowed from these links;
