Lost Hills

The Lost Hills old government bunker in Southern California is the headquarters of the Brotherhood of Steel, located in the deserts west of Junktown and the Hub, directly south of the Mariposa Military Base. Mysterious and impenetrable, it is the subject of myths and legends among the wastelanders.

History
During the Great War (2077), the Mariposa Military Base soldiers were protected from the radiation and FEV flooding the wasteland. Two days later, 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 Roger Maxson led his men and families to the government bunker at Lost Hills, and this event was later called the Exodus. In November 2077, the captain and his men, together with their families, arrive at the Lost Hills later, suffering many casualties along the way, including Maxson's wife (but not his teenage son). The Lost Hills bunker became the headquarters of the newly formed Brotherhood of Steel.

The installation was renovated and maintained by the Brotherhood for years, as they steadily gathered technology to preserve and research. After the events of Fallout (2161-2162), the installation became a major research and development house, staying out of the politics of the Core Region and aiding the newly formed NCR, eventually becoming the heart of an autonomous state, Maxson.

Construction
Lost Hills was a pre-war government security bunker. Located almost entirely underground, the only indication of the presence of this installation was a small, reinforced structure containing the primary access elevator. After the Brotherhood seized the location, two sentries in powered armour stood guard at the entrance at all times.

Guard patrols in Power Armour routinely patrol the area around the bunker, including the surrounding wastes. An encounter with them will usually result in thorough questioning and likely temporary arrest for trespassing on their land.

Level 1
The first underground level contained the main supply room (filled to the brim with pre-War technology). The stockpile, while full of technology, was rather limited - every brother could withdraw only a single set of armour and higher tier weapons were handed only to those with special clearances.

Opposite the storeroom is the training chamber, where initiates exercise and learn combat skills under the careful guidance of the best fighters of the Brotherhood. The head instructor has his quarters located near the training room. Two other facilities are also present on the level - the Head Paladin's office and quarters and the guards' room, where surface guard spend their time when off-duty.

Level 2
Level 2 served as the living quarters for initiates, their classroom and the facility's medical lab. The youngest members of the organization spent their time here, studying to become either a Knight or Scribe, under the watchful eyes of higher ranking members. The infirmary was well stocked with medical supplies and, at least in 2161, was second to none in case of treatment quality. Apart from healing injuries and removing radiation and addictions for free, the Brotherhood's medical staff could perform radical surgeries, augmenting the performance of the Steel brethren.

The list of surgeries available in 2161 follows:


 * ST: $2000, 3 weeks
 * PE: $4000, 1 week
 * EN: $3000, 1 week
 * IN: $6000, 3 weeks
 * AG: $5000, 3 weeks

Level 3
Arguably the heart of the Brotherhood, level 3 housed the most important facilities - the workshops, where technology was maintained and recreated by Knights and the libraries, where Scribes patiently study old blueprints and knowledge, preserving it for future generations. Their living quarters were also located on this level, design as spartan as the one of the Initiates.

In 2161, Master Scribe Vree spent a lot of her time in the libraries, researching vital subjects for the Brotherhood. Even her quarters were located in the library itself.

Level 4
Housing the command center, mainframe and the Elders' quarters, level 4 was the brain of the Brotherhood, if level 3 is to be considered a heart. Unlike other members, the leaders of the Brotherhood each had their own quarters, sparsely furnished, ascetic even. Their conference room was located at the back of the auditorium and was used often, despite their apparent inability to agree on anything (except that there's four of them, although even that was questioned), while the mainframe, processing and storing all data relevant to the Brotherhood, was located out of the way, behind the quarters, accessed through an airlock. Interestingly, it wasn't guarded by anyone, unlike the Elders' quarters and meeting room.

Inhabitants
The denizens of Lost Hills were exclusively Brotherhood of Steel members, with only merchants being allowed inside for trading. Discipline was strictly maintained, and everyone was expected to excel at their duties. Of course, it wasn't a fascist society - brothers were treated equally, expected to respect other castes and, while highly disciplined, had room for friendship, camaraderie and romance.

Equipment-wise, castes could be easily identified. Knights and Knight Initiates wore Brotherhood Armor and carried AK-112 Assault Rifles, Scribes and Scribe Initiates wore characteristic brown robes and used Wattz 1000 Laser Pistols, Paladins used the magnificent T-51b Power Armors and employed heavy weapons, while Elders wore easily identifiable blue robes with yellow lining and used harmful words.

Things to do
As with all the other locations, there is quite a fair bit of things to do in the bunker:

Level 1

 * Watch the initiate hand-to-hand training session with brother Thomas for a 5% increase in your Unarmed and Melee Weapons skills and 500 XP
 * Receive your reward from Talus for rescuing the initiate; T-51b Power Armor is only available if your karma is 16 or more
 * Get a set of Brotherhood Armor and three ammunition units of your choice from Michael (supposedly, it's your weekly issue, but you can only do it once)
 * Get the systolic motivator from Rhombus' office on to fix the broken T-51b Power Armor unit on level 3.
 * Raid the Brotherhood storeroom by lockpicking the door to it and slaughtering the Brotherhood (loot includes two power armors)

Level 2

 * Get healed and deradiated for free at the doctor
 * Receive augmentations from the good doctor (see above for pricing and recovery times)

Level 3

 * Receive the Vree's Experiment Disk from the head scribe to gain an edge against the Master
 * Receive computer science training from Vree
 * Receive Rad-X from Vree
 * Receive the Brotherhood History holodisk from Sophia

Level 4

 * Receive the assignment to scout the Mariposa Military Base from John Maxson
 * Receive gear for the assignment from Mathia (Sniper Rifle, Rocket Launcher, Laser Pistol, Power Fist or Ripper)
 * Present the Mariposa report to the Elders and receive Brotherhood support for the attack on the base

Trivia

 * In Fallout 3 during the Galaxy News Radio quest, after you defeat the Super Mutant Behemoth, one of the Paladins will mention the Lost Hills by saying, "That should give the boys at Lost Hills something to think about."

Development and Cut Content
Originally, the Lost Hills was not a bunker - it was a small concrete building, found by soldiers from Mariposa that employed it as a base, and slowly, but steadily changed it into a true fortress. More information is in the original Vault 13 timeline.

Originally, the Brotherhood also had an invasion ending planned, where the Supermutants march against the Brotherhood and lay siege to Lost Hills. While defending their fortress valiantly, a traitor would sell the Brothers to the Supermutants and Lost Hills would be destroyed. An unused "Dead Brotherhood" map is still included in the game files and can be accessed via the main menu.

Other cut elements include a few NPCs (notably a scribe mourning the Brotherhood's reluctancy to explore "soft" sciences such as sociology or psychology), a romance subplot including Jennifer, the Paladin, another Michael-related subquest about pulse grenades and girls from lower levels and a day/night cycle in the bunker.