Welcome to the first in a series of posts in an ongoing narrative story using FWW settlement mode to create a living story that follows the NCR Patrol stationed at the newly founded settlement of Bonnie Springs. The story diverges from Fallout New Vegas canon, and should be considered as not canon but follows the lore faithfully to tell a story set in the deserts of the Mojave. My followers will have heard about my settlement mode games from my posts showing key moments on the gaming board, now you’ll get to read the full story for what has been months of planning and researching towards this series.
Todays post is the building blocks of the story which explains the origin of the established settlement, who runs the town, who the citizens are, the NCR soldiers who defended the town and a chronological timeline of events.
Enjoy!
Synopsis
After the events of the First Battle at Hoover Dam, the New California Republic initiated a settlement program designed to ensure the people of the Mojave that the NCR is the one and only choice as a democratic power to support and rule New Vegas. This was done to ensure the NCR could cover as much land as possible and enlist new blood into the military within these pocket settlements without straining resources and power from protecting the Hoover Dam.
It provided a positive front as to dissuade any misgivings or past injustices that the NCR may or may not have caused. In any cause these settlements guaranteed a citizen class above the life of a wandering wastelander, who may want to live in a protected neighborhood, with an elected mayor to oversee the settlements politics and ensure order and community be the prominent values for all to see.
The process of establishing a new settlement goes as follow:
- NCR patrols scout the Mojave to take notes on locations that could be settlement.
- These potential locations are then filed in an assessment document to be given to nearby NCR outposts or Station occupation. The files are reviewed by administrative staff who will check over observation notes, landmark layout, potential tactical set up of defenses and cross reference events that took place at the location.
- If location is deemed too hazardous, vulnerable to enemy attacks, difficult to reach by trade groups or considered too taxing to make it habitable, these locations are branded as ‘Not suitable for settlement program’.
- However, if they are deemed of considerable value to the program, then the location is marked as a priority objective for a selected squad to capture.
- Once they arrive at the location, they’ll check to see if there aren’t any squatters, residents, traps or enemy targets. It’s up to the Patrol squad on how to deal with the situation, so long as they don’t kill unarmed civilians and ensure the site is safe for the settlement to begin.
Bonnie Springs was a desolate ghost town that was slowly eroding by disuse, save for traveling wastelanders who squat in the buildings, a Cazador flock making a nest or Raider gangs using the site as chem farm or unspeakable acts of immorality. When the NCR Patrol arrived at the ghost town, they were faced against the Viper gang, who settled in the town as their own. The battle was swift as the NCR Patrol took down all of the raiders, though a few troopers were wounded from the firefight.
Once the town was in NCR control, one of the troopers will travel to the nearest NCR outpost to inform HQ that the site is secured. Then a second patrol travelled to Bonnie Springs along with supplies, material and essential items carried by Brahmin caravans. Civilians will follow too as the first settlers of the town to farm, trade, repair, guard and grow the settlement.
When they all arrived at Bonnie Springs, the civilians started work repairing a few buildings or build entirely new houses from scratch. Soon the essentials of starting the settlement are built including a store, electric supply, Maintenance shed, listening post, the mayor’s office and a nearby guard post.
Below is a list of residence, NCR military, town council and elected mayor in office [as of 2 months starting settlement in Bonnie Springs]:
Mayor office staff
- Mayor Philips of Bonnie Springs settlement
- Vice leader Sarah Andrews
- Administrative staff Lukas Wilson
- Local affairs Jane Marshall
- NCR ambassador Ellis Joll
Council members
- Dallan Gibson
- Ian Milton
- Julie Ronshaw
NCR
- Veteran Ranger Carlos
- Civilian Ranger Daniel
- 1st Recon Sniper Alistair
- Trooper Ashley
- Trooper Haines
Civilians
- The Anderson family
- The Julian family
- The Dean family
- The Erickson family
- The Flint family
- Greg and Mathis [Owners of the Skinned Gecko store]
- Clint [Owner of the Dusty Spine bar]
- Faris [Farmer]
- Wells [Farmer]
- Karen [Farmer]
- Basil [Head of Guard]
- Laurence [Guard]
- Neil [Guard]
- Tristin [Guard]
- Orion [Prison guard]
Chronological order of events-
2277
- After the First Battle at Hoover Dam, the NCR initiated a new expansion program aimed at bringing order, civility and prosperity to the Mojave. Both as a propaganda front to ensure that more will join the NCR ranks and taxes from these settlements will fund the NCR war efforts against the Legion and any other opposition of power.
- Three months later the program was set in place as NCR Patrols across the wasteland are told to take notes of any potential landmarks suitable for NCR expansion.
Arc 1 started
2278
- January 6th: Bonnie Springs was spotted by an NCR Patrol with observation notes taken as to the current state of the location. This was then sent to Ranger Station Foxtrot, who filed the location as suitable for settlement.
- January 23rd: After fighting took place at Bonnie Springs as the NCR Patrol took down the Viper gang, the initial process of settling down begun in earnest. The council was formed, Philips was elected as Mayor of the town and the essential structures for the town were built.
- February 11th: A lone Vault Dweller arrives at 188 trading post and sees a hooded trader at a roadside. It offers him a deal of Harry’s scrap for an odd-looking gun. Harry accepts this weapon and leaves the trader to set off west to find his kin in the hills.
- March 2nd: Mayor Philips was given a warning message by radio transmission as reports came in of a Super Mutant warband was spotted not too far away from Bonnie Springs. The severity of ignoring this could impact the future of the settlement’s prosperity, and Philips’s title as Mayor on the line. He informed Veteran Ranger, Carlos, of the situation and told him to take his team out to try and push the warband in the opposite direction. Fire on sight if they refuse to comply with the NCR.
- March 4th: The NCR Patrol Squad came under fire against the Super Mutants at a ruined town some miles away from Bonnie Springs, peace was never an option. In the battle Civilian Ranger, Daniel, had personally slain the Master Super Mutant thanks to Veteran Ranger Carlos’s precision lessons of pistol targeting. However, Daniel was severely wounded as he was ambushed by Super Mutants. Trooper Ashley took a big score of hitting a Brute, but she was beaten by the Brute in an unfairly close combat. Carlos came face to face with the Brute, but even he couldn’t kill the beast in combat. Only trooper Haines was still walking, he signaled a retreat as the Patrol came crawling back to the settlement.
- March 5th: The news of their return was of shock and horror as they came back bloodied, wounded and equipment in tatters. Mayor Philips was initially in anger of the failure that the patrol didn’t push back the warband, criticizing the team at length about the lives at stake if the warband reaches town. But NCR ambassador Ellis Joll argued that the team did achieve in stopping the mutants advance for killing the Master. Though the mutant threat was far from over.
- March 25th: After weeks of healing up and replacement gear sent to Bonnie Springs, Mayor Philips, now much more approachable in conversation, had been sent a dire message from fleeing townsfolk from a small independent town called Flynnstown. The Super Mutants had raided the town due to its lack of military protection and open space to ambush. The plan was set as so: the Patrol squad will distract the new Master and his warriors away from the town, whilst Veteran Ranger Carlos goes into town to rescue the towns leader and anyone else still hiding. As he came into the ransacked town, Carlos would find a Mr. Gutsy, the town leaders’ personal bodyguard who was scouting the area looking for a dog. He thought that Carlos was a Pre-war military policeman after scanning Carlos’s gear, though this was of mutual understanding. They fought off against a small search party of Super Mutants led by a Brute. The two of them were cutting down the beasts as they tried to find the dog, then Mr. Gutsy mentioned that the dog was the town leaders’ pet, Kell, who was trying search for his master by his scent trail. Carlos realized that the dog could be the key to finding the town leader, so they went towards the cabin. The dog was surrounded by two mutants, the Brute taking great pride in beating the dog as a meal. Despite the best efforts of Carlos and Mr. Gutsy, Kell was beaten to death. However, the dog fought hard against its enemies and single handedly killed the Brute.
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-34th Tribe
34th Tribe of the Vault Wargaming 