Unity

The Unity or the Master's army was an organization created by the Master to advance his agenda of turning all humanity into super mutants.

Formation
The Unity began with an expedition to Mariposa Military Base, undertaken by Harold, Richard Grey, and a group of other adventurers. Vault Dweller: "Where were the mutants coming from?" Harold: "Everywhere! Hell, seemed like you couldn't fart without hitting one. But mostly in the northwest." Vault Dweller: "Did you explore that area?" Harold: "We mounted an expedition. God, Richard. Richard Grey. Led a small group of us up there." Vault Dweller: "Richard Grey?" Harold: "Richard Grey was a doctor. Little older than me, and friend was he smart. He found the source." Vault Dweller: "And what was that?" Harold: "Some sort of old military base. We lost a lotta folks getting in there." Vault Dweller: "How did you know this base was the cause?" Harold: "Because it was like someone went bargain shopping at mutantland! Geez! Cheaper by the dozens! Can't figure any other reason except that being the factory." Vault Dweller: "Did you examine the base closely?" Harold: "We got pretty far inside. Wasn't a lot of us left by then. Grey, me and couple of others." Vault Dweller: "And then?" Harold: "One of them robots got Francine. Mark was wounded, sent him back to the surface. Then it was just me and Grey." Vault Dweller: "What ever happened to Mark?" Harold: "To this day, I don't know. He never made it back here, and...well I...couldn't face the wasteland again, so I...I never looked." Vault Dweller: "What about you and Grey?" Harold: "We made it to some sort of central core, like a plant of some sort. That's when it happened." Vault Dweller: "What?" Harold: "A robot crane crashed into us. Last I saw of Grey, he was flying through the air in-into some sort of acid bath. I was in bad shape and...well I passed out." Vault Dweller: "How did you survive?" Harold: "Well, I have no idea. Woke up in the wasteland, barely hanging on. Got lucky and some traders I knew found me days later. Good thing, since I was already changing. They brought me here, and here I've been since." Vault Dweller: "How did you mutate?" Harold: "All's I know, is it was something inside that base." Vault Dweller: "Do you think it could have been radiation?" Harold: "How the hell should I know? Grey would've known if anybody could. [sigh] Anyway, that's how the deal went down." (Harold's dialogue) Grey was knocked into one of the Vats. His wounded state combined with extreme long-term exposure to the Forced Evolutionary Virus triggered his evolution into the Master. After he regained consciousness and dragged himself from the vats, he continued to mutate. Grey began experimenting with the FEV on animals, and began to form the basis of the ideology that would become the Unity.

Following a series of directed mutations by injecting doses of the virus into various areas of his mutated body, Grey gained the ability to neurolink with computers, allowing him to access the base's databanks. Aided by the data, he began experiments on humans who strayed into the facilities, without much luck, creating only uninteligent Super Mutants. After a successful mutation, he isolated radiation exposure as the crucial factor affecting transformation success.

The Unity
Richard, now known as The Master, formed an army made of mutants with the express purpose of finding and capturing more humans to transform. He also began searching for a new base of operations closer to populated areas. He subsequently relocated to The Cathedral within the Boneyard, where he would form a religious front for the Unity made up of humans known as the Children of the Cathedral. The leader of the children, Morpheus, was a member of the Rippers gang for 10 years before being recruited by the Master.

The mutant army continued capturing and transforming humans, seeking out vaults such as Vault 17 where they could find large amounts of non-irradiated humans to transform more successfully using the FEV-2. The Masters second in command, Lieutenant, sent a squad of mutants led by Harry to the ruins of Bakersfield, the location of Vault 12 in search of pure humans. To this end, they would take control of the ghoul city of Necropolis located in town, setting Set up as a figurehead, and waiting for humans to enter town for capture.

The Master and Unity would be destroyed by the Vault Dweller, who left their home of Vault 13 in 2161 in search of a replacement Water chip. The Dweller would cause the destruction of both the Cathedral, and Mariposa military base, destroying both the mutant leadership and means of reproduction. In the time that followed, the Brotherhood of Steel picked up where they left off, driving the super mutants away with minimal loss of life, on both sides of the conflict, and establishing itself as a major power in the wasteland.

Collapse
Surviving super mutants split into several different groups, each pursuing a different goal: Many groups migrated away from New California, north and east, looking for new places to settle. Some remnant bands would travel far east, with one group lead by Gammorin traveling to the Midwest, and another lead by Attis traveling to Texas.

Some settled down to coexist with humans to attempt to integrate into society or find a new life for themselves, with one of the most notable attempts being Broken Hills, founded by Marcus and Jacob, as a place where regular and mutated humans could live side by side. Eventually, together with ghouls, the mutant population would become large enough to become a distinct population group in the New California Republic, which would pass laws prohibiting discrimination based on a mutation in 2205.

Former members of the Unity lead by Marcus would travel to the Mojave Wasteland, and establish the settlements of Black Mountain and Jacobstown

Even as late as 2281, some mutants would fall prey to the human prejudice such as Mean Sonofabitch, tortured and maimed by a group of bigots. Some politicians sought to capitalize on the anti-mutant sentiment for the benefit of their political career.

<!-- The only problems were one with intelligence, as some candidates for transformation did not have the mental fortitude necessary to withstand the strain. While they were a minority among the mutants, their impact was severe enough to interfere with the Unity's goals.

Humanity's reluctance to overcome its inherent problems meant that most had to be forced to change and adapt. If humans embraced the call, the Master's plan would never be required in the first place, after all. There were differing beliefs, of course: Some super mutants viewed themselves as equals to normal humans, owing to their common ancestry. They viewed the mutation as merely a rebirth - and supported the Unity, believing it to be the best chance for peace, despite misgivings.

FEV was referred to as the Blood of God, the restraints used to prepare humans for dipping were holy, while the Vats were the womb where the armies of god were created. Joint meditation sessions between super mutants and normal human faithful from the Cathedral were common as well, even if they reinforced the religious side of the Unity.

Even if the Master did succeed, the Unity would fail, as the FEV rendered the super mutants sterile and the Unity would bring about the final end of humanity. While it did not damage primary sexual characteristics, it did interfere with gametes, correcting the DNA within. As a result, conception was impossible.

Exposure to the Forced Evolutionary Virus would result in super mutant unification and thriving in the wasteland as one race and one people, united behind a single goal. Neither ghouls nor normal humans were seen as competitive, the former being victims of the nuclear death brought upon mankind by the latter. To become a super mutant was to reach the next step in human evolution - and save the world in the process.

All worthy humans would be converted by FEV. Faster, stronger, more intelligent, and immune to disease or radiation, prepared for living in the ash-covered world. Sacrificing choice in the matter was deemed an acceptable trade-off for the ability to live without fear. All the worthy individuals would undergo the conversion - regardless of their opinion on the matter. Those who did not qualify would be permitted to live out their lives under Unity control and protection but deprived of the ability to perpetuate their species.

Scientists conducted experiments in psionic warfare, attempting to replicate the Master's potential by injecting FEV directly into the various areas of the brain, with mixed results. Four partial successes were recorded, creating incredibly powerful psychics who were nonetheless terminally insane. All four were kept sequestered and nullified in the laboratories of the Los Angeles vault.

The Unity has a salvaged nuclear device was kept in a secure location beneath the Cathedral, while the nuclear arming key was entrusted to the Lieutenant at Mariposa Military Base. It was intended for use as a weapon of last resort, should the Unity encounter a foe it is unable of overcoming. However, even this was considered doubtful, as the Master did not want to unleash the dreaded nuclear flame once again. -->

Appearances
The Unity appears only in Fallout and is mentioned in Fallout 2, Fallout: New Vegas, Fallout Tactics and Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel.

Behind the Scenes
Unity is mentioned repeatedly within the Fallout Bible, giving specific dates and details about many events. Fallout Bible 5: "5. In F1 the Lieutenant said that the FEV raises intelligence. There are, however, very many dumb mutants. What can you say about it? And what do you think of my theory, which i've been using in my Fallout PnP campaign? Sorry, Pawel, for two things: I wasn't able to personally respond to your email because I kept getting bounced, and two, I wasn't able to comment on your FEV theory (as a reminder, I can't read fan-created material, so just send questions, comments, or facts if you can). As for the FEV enhancing intelligence, the original Pre-War FEV at West Tek did, and more consistently than the Fallout-era virus. The current Fallout-era FEV does enhance intelligence - in some people. Just not many. The Lieutenant was one of the lucky ones who didn't become a knuckle-dragging, butt-scratching moron after being dipped (and it may not have raised his intelligence, he may have been that smart before his dipping, but no records of his past exist to verify this). ''The FEV that was released out in the wasteland was mutated by radiation, so its effects changed. As for the FEV at Mariposa, the Lieutenant says the super mutants are smarter than humans ("We are highly intelligent and immune to disease"), which is only half-right, and he also says that the virus can also interfere with a person's memory, causing them to forget things. Obviously, the Lieutenant keeps forgetting that most of his super mutant forces can barely form complete sentences.'' ''Basically, the FEV in the vats only has a small chance of raising a being's intelligence (or even keeping it intact). The Master was one of the lucky ones. More often than not, it causes brain damage. It's also possible that the crude dipping procedure in Mariposa also caused imperfect mutations as well, reducing the chance of heightened intelligence.'' ''But to answer your question: the FEV at West Tek before the war caused increased intelligence in its subjects, but the FEV at Mariposa after the war rarely enhanced the intelligence of humans who were dipped. The reason for this is unknown.'' ''Chris Taylor says: Actually, a dip in FEV has a chance of modifying Intelligence, but it doesn't always increase it. Some people do gain increased intelligence, a larger majority lose intelligence and most people remain the same. It also depends if people have enough radiation damage to be turned into ghouls or super mutants.''"