The Responders - Early History

 

Source: https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Responders

 

Post-War
In the aftermath of the Great War, first responders in Appalachia mobilized to help their fellow citizens. Eventually becoming a unified group known as the "Responders", they encompassed government and crisis relief duties in Appalachia, providing automated survival training to those who needed it. Their goals included helping people who made it through the nuclear holocaust or were born after the dust had settled, as surviving in the post-War world became paramount. They set up numerous locations across West Virginia in a bid to establish some semblance of law and order.

 

The West Virginian capital of Charleston became the heart of Appalachian reconstruction with the Responders at the forefront, the city itself showing great promise of rebuilding in the aftermath of the Great War.  Among these refugees desperate for help were those from the Pleasant Valley Ski Resort, far away in the Savage Divide; left without help, they banded together under one David Thorpe. Thorpe rallied them into what would be the first of the region's raider warbands - and what would soon be a major threat to the Responders' mission.

 

The Christmas Flood

Weathering post-War hardships, the Responders held steady, despite the new threat of the raiders. The city of Charleston grew with its success and proved to be a safe haven against raider attacks. However, that was to change by 2082; a raiding party led by Rosalynn Jeffries, David Thorpe's lover, was routed handily by the Responders, despite some casualties. Most importantly, some raiders were captured alive - Rosalynn among them. With a powerful bargaining chip, the Responders hoped that they could negotiate some sort of ceasefire in exchange for their prisoners. Thorpe, on the other hand, was convinced that Rosalynn was dead. In a sheer display of cruelty, on Christmas morning, the Summersville Dam was rigged with mini nukes on Thorpe's order. The subsequent destruction of the dam resulted in catastrophic flooding that killed countless Responders, refugees, and other innocents. The survivors resettled at the Morgantown Airport.

 

Morgantown

Despite the devastation, the Responders did not give up. Morgantown proved to be a jackpot, as after containing the trouble with the local gangs, they had a centrally-located base, distance between them and the nearest raider clans in the mountains, and contact with the Free States and the Appalachian Brotherhood of Steel. They also expanded into Flatwoods and began restarting some of the old infrastructures in the town to produce food and provide security.

 

Their access to food, medicine, and other essential supplies was the foundation of their relationship with the Free States and the Brotherhood, with caravans crossing through the Savage Divide regularly. Four years after the flood, in January 2086, they reached the apex of their power and influence as they fought against the super mutants in Huntersville alongside power-armored troops of Paladin Taggerdy. The victory seemed to signal the beginning of a new era for Appalachia, as the Responders and Brotherhood forged an alliance and their patrols even managed to suppress the mountain raiders.  Sanjay Kumar and Miguel Caldera were indispensable for maintaining the fleet and keeping it operational.

 

However, things would not go their way. The Enclave, hidden away from prying eyes, split apart in the civil war after President Thomas Eckhart decided to have his way and force the automated security systems to raise the DEFCON level by releasing scorchbeasts on Appalachia, after subjecting it to Chinese drones, the Huntersville mutants, and other monstrosities. The civil war that destroyed the faction set the scorchbeasts loose, which rapidly infested the Cranberry Bog and started spreading out into the adjacent areas. The appearance of the Scorched was a shock to all survivors who came into contact with them, as was the plague they spread. The Responders decided to fight back, organizing a special fighting force called the Fire Breathers using the experience of Melody Larkin and Hank Madigan, a Brotherhood deserter, to train and organize the elite fighters. They would face the horrors of the wasteland and protect the lands west of Appalachia from the Scorched, encountering strange hostile creatures along the way.

 

 

Scorched

However, the Responders failed to consider the big picture. Maria Chavez, their de facto leader, did not believe the threat was as severe as the Brotherhood made it out to be and disliked their militarism and repeated demands for supplies. What just a few years earlier promised to be a long-lasting alliance was unraveling fast, culminating on March 12, 2095, when the Brotherhood demanded information about Amy Kerry's project. At gunpoint. Although Chavez relented, the relations were soured permanently.  The fall of the Brotherhood in August 2095 left the Responders alone on the board and it was a matter of time until the scorchbeasts finally took them out. The raiders, desperately fleeing the Savage Divide, swept through the Forest, taking out many of the Responder outposts, including Flatwoods.

 

The research project into a Scorched vaccine at AVR Medical Center was launched too late to provide a cure in time to protect the Fire Breathers. By September 2096, all of the pieces were in place to create it, but communications breakdowns due to constant Scorched attacks prevented Dr. Hudson from completing it and the Fire Breathers were forced to launch their operation to seal the Big Bend Tunnel and buy time for Appalachia without it. The operation took place in late October and failed. So did Hank Madigan on his attempt to establish the Scorched Detection System developed in conjunction with the Free States, captured and killed by the raiders. Finally, Morgantown Airport fell after a desperate defense against hordes of scorchbeasts and their minions on November 7, 2096. The Responders were wiped out.

 

Resettling

By 2103, however, as people came back to Appalachia, Heather Ellis, who had returned with the Settlers, moved to Flatwoods, discovered the history of the Responders, and decided to revive the group and their efforts by becoming one herself, continuing to live in Flatwoods with her dog Chloe and wearing the Responders paramedic jumpsuit to show her support to revive the group.  Another woman, Tiffany Brantley, decided to join the elite Fire Breathers and is with Vendor bot Mack and the firefighter Protectrons at the Charleston Fire Department, already suited up in her Fire Breather uniform, currently stuck on having to take the exam.

 

Full Reformation and the Refuge
Around 2104, a woman named Rucker returned to Appalachia and found some of these people wearing the Responders uniform. Rucker researched the history of the original Responders by finding people who could tell her about the old group and expressed a desire to truly re-form the Responders.  Rucker helped the ideals of the original Responders grow, reviving the faction and eventually needing to set up a permanent base. With waves of refugees coming to Appalachia, the new Responders needed a large place suitable to treating and housing the refugees. They eventually established themselves at the seemingly abandoned Whitespring Resort, turning it into a refuge. After setting up shop, they received the assistance of the enigmatic Orlando, who claims to be a liaison between the resort's "Management" and the Responders.

 

During this time, the new Responders also managed to find and repair a vertibird, which allowed them to explore and help the regions outside of the Appalachian wasteland. One of the first groups they contacted were the Union, a group of survivors found in the ruins of Pittsburgh, now known as "The Pitt" following the Great War. Orlando and the Management provided the Responders with Ultracells as fuel to fly the vertibird.
 

 

Organization

 

Photo: responder leaders
Responder founders: from left to right, Jeff Nakamura, Maria Chavez, Melody Larkin, Sanjay Kumar

 

 

The original Responders had a decentralized, horizontal structure designed to address the needs of people under their care and aid them in need. Regular supply trains were established between the nearby farms and the Responder headquarters, with full members assigned to their protection, such as Jerry Abernathy. For rapid response in emergencies, the Responders also established an emergency response team, trained by Felix O'Dell and consisting of Derek Castle (guard and escort), Veronica Chang and Kevin Trayjor (field medics).

 

In the early years, Responders largely operated under their pre-existing chains of command (police, paramedics, firefighters, etc.), ignoring attempts by the Charleston Emergency Government to assert their leadership over them. However, this early structure was far from unified and required a good deal of tact and diplomacy to keep them from falling apart. This problem was exposed less than a year after the war, when the responders grappled with the problem of Chief Mayfield's heavy-handed rule of Morgantown. After he ordered his police officers to open fire on the rebellious VTU students and imposed a mandatory curfew, Melody Larkin realized that moving on him would risk splitting law enforcement Responders from the organization.

 

After relocating operations to Morgantown Airport, the faction was effectively guided by five senior members: Maria Chavez (senior Responder and de facto leader), Claire Hudson (chief medical officer), Sanjay Kumar (chief engineer), Melody Larkin (combat trainer), and Jeff Nakamura (quartermaster). However, the division of labor was handled on a merit basis, with the senior Responders working together with junior members. The Fire Breathers combat unit was a notable exception, operating with a strict chain of command under Melody, as a matter of necessity.

 

The reformed Responders at the Whitespring Refuge are decentralized much in the same way as the original group was, with their main focus being on helping others. Rucker, who led the effort to revive the group, is de facto in charge of the new Responders, though she rejects being labeled as a singular leader.

 

Ranks
Note: These ranks apply only to the original Responders before being wiped out. The reformed Responders at the Whitespring Refuge are never mentioned as having any system of ranks or divisions.

 

Senior Responders: The de facto leadership of the organization, typically people who have been with the organization since the beginning.

 

Responders: Fully trained members of the faction who each had a job, a specialty, and housing assignment. The job of Responders was to help everyone, including volunteers and candidates.

 

Fire Breathers: An elite combat unit specializing in fighting in toxic areas of the wasteland, especially the Ash Heap.

 

Volunteers: People who underwent the automated training, enjoying weekly rations from the self-serve kiosks, access to the Forest Watch and other Responder communications, and a discount at the official vendors. Like Responders, volunteers also had jobs, specialties, and housing assignments. Survivors registered to become volunteers with a Responder or at the self-serve registration kiosk. Survivors and candidates became volunteers by participating in two experiments and/or training sessions.  Volunteer Candidates who are undergoing training (whether automated or under another Responder), or are too young to become Volunteers or Responders. At the age of 13, candidates could be promoted. While candidates were assigned housing, they were not assigned jobs or specialties.

 

Divisions

Original Responders
The original Responders relied on volunteers, organized in a horizontal manner according to their area of expertise, bolstered by automated systems such as the Forest Watch.

 

Fire Breathers
Led by Melody Larkin, this division was assembled with the goal of exploring the Ash Heap sometime after the Responders had been formed.[25] They were based in the former Charleston Fire Department and made up of a mix of pre-War Charleston F.D. and post-War volunteers. Player characters can become Fire Breathers by undertaking the requisite exams during the quest Into the Fire.

 

Flatwoods paramedics
Along with the primary Responder forces in Flatwoods, they provided medical services and helped in recruiting efforts before the Scorched overran Morgantown Airport. Their cosmetic uniform is rewarded upon the completion of the main questline in Flatwoods.

Responders' police force

 

Morgantown P.D. - assisted in the large scale defense of Morgantown Airport and also protected civilians within the city itself. Most of the police force was wiped out in the failed defense against the Scorched, and many police officers are seen to have turned into Scorched themselves.

 

Charleston P.D. - responsible for maintaining law and order in the city of Charleston, they were wiped out along with most of the city following their capture of raider Rosalynn Jeffries, which her partner David Thorpe responded to by stealing a mini nuke and destroying Summersville Dam in what would come to be called The Christmas Flood.

 

Refuge Responders
The reformed Responders at the Whitespring Refuge are never mentioned as having any specific divisions or sub-groups. However, they are aware of their former presence at Flatwoods and Heather Ellis' membership in the Responders, and consider Flatwoods to be an active outpost. They also occasionally send members to other locations in Appalachia, and many are thankful for not being assigned to dangerous locales, like Morgantown Airport.
 

Outside relations
Original Responders
The original Brotherhood of Steel tried to recruit skilled Responders away to join the fledgling Appalachian chapter, with Hank Madigan eventually deserting the chapter for the Responders himself. The organization did not have the equipment or expertise that came with being a former military unit like the Brotherhood, as much of their equipment came from their origins as civilian emergency services, meaning members of that caliber were both needed and in short supply. Like the Brotherhood, the Responders fought against the encroaching Scorched, and also researched a means to develop a vaccine against the Scorched Plague, but their efforts ultimately fell short and they were wiped out sometime before Vault 76 opened. There is evidence of a Responders Radio station that operated prior to the group's destruction.

The Responders also collaborated to some extent with the Free States, such as through aiding the residents of Harpers Ferry before and after the Free States' arrival in the town.  After they rebuilt Harpers Ferry, they also created a trade route to Charleston in the hopes of furthering their relations with the Responders.

 

Refuge Responders
The reformed Responders allow a Settler representative from Foundation and a Raider representative from the Crater to reside within the Whitespring Refuge. They are friendly with the Settlers, but many members are distrustful of the Raiders, to the point of outright rejecting those who even associate with the Raiders.  They appear to be somewhat neutral towards the Brotherhood First Expeditionary Force at Fort Atlas, and Initiate Ellison is present at the Refuge as a representative of the group. Ellison privately believes the Responders would be better off being absorbed by the Brotherhood, who have more resources available to them.

 

 

Current Agenda, Goals, and Operations

 

- Nuclear Disposal:  The responsibility (some Firebreathers say burden) of disposing, suppressing, and/or storage of nuclear waste and other such radioactive material falls onto the Firebreathers.  They maintain strict standards and procedures when dealing with one of the most toxic remnants of the last nuclear war. 

 

- Nuclear Salvage and Demolitions: Any area of the Responder's charter is the demolition of devises capable destruction.   Although this area of technical machinery, has brought the Responders into minor conflicts with Vault-Tec and The Brotherhood of Steel, all three sides agree that such equipment and technology is to be destroyed when the opportunity arises.  The Responders are always on the lookout for nuclear vessels, active nuclear powered cars, generators (nuclear or not), Gamma Wave Weaponry, etc. and their eventual destruction

 

- Children of the Atom: Their eventual elimination of the religion and their misguided threat to the Commonwealth of Boston, its surrounding regions, Philadelphia, West Virginia, and the former state of Maryland

 

- Slave Networks and Underground Railroads:  The elimination of Slavers, their base-of-operations, their locales, and the safe of passage of liberated contraband and other human beings.  If this brings the Responders into conflict with Raider Clans, So be it.

 

- Ghouls: Ferals are to be eliminated on sight.

 

- Minutemen: The Commonwealth's defenders are currently being rechristened as the response are of the Responders and will be essentially used for military and combat purposes.  Second on the list, the Responders will be an anti-slavery unit, a refugee support unit, and armed escort when the need arise. 

 

- Base of Operations: Vault 114 and in the process of refitting