Ellen Santiago

Ellen Santiago was a general in the Enclave stationed at the Congressional Bunker in the aftermath of the Great War.

Background
Ellen Santiago held the rank of colonel before the Great War. She was the leader of a large unit of military personnel, mere days before the Great War, stationed in Washington, D.C. When the bombs began to drop, she led her unit to relative safety, but was always trying to find a way forward from the horrors of the Great War, and the impact the Great War had on her unit. With no direction from other military personnel, or any idea how to fully escape from the nightmare that was the Great War's aftermath, she led her unit away from the destroyed city of Washington, D.C, toward Appalachia, after hearing rumors of a possible safe haven, underneath The Whitespring Resort. When she arrived, she was promptly lured in by Thomas Eckhart, promising revenge against communist China. She tried to keep her composure, and not look interested in the offer, but nevertheless, she was intrigued.

Eckhart's right-hand man, Agent Grey, had his suspicions on how Santiago had managed to trek her unit from D.C. to Appalachia with minimal casualties, but his suspicions were soon never spoken of again, when Santiago explained that the Whitespring seemed like the only viable option, after the realization that the majority of her unit's families would be dead, and there was no other viable place to go to.

As Eckhart's plan to eradicate communism by any means possible rapidly progressed after he successfully managed to become the nominal President of the United States, by having everyone in the bunker vote for him in the automated election terminals. He wasted no time on commanding and asserting his newfound authority on those within the bunker, including that of Santiago. Eckhart denied the request of a sergeant leaving the bunker, to find their wife in the local area, criticizing Santiago on even considering special leave during wartime and potentially leading an outsider to the bunker. Santiago had to accept Eckhart's dominance over the bunker, but she began to reconsider on whether coming to the bunker without fully understanding the occupants' intentions was a good idea or not.

The situation became worse within the bunker, in 2083, when General Harper suffered heart failure from radiation poisoning. In order for Eckhart's plans to succeed, he needed a general to give him clearance to the command wing of the bunker, so he subsequently sent Santiago to the nearest military installation, Camp McClintock, to gain an automatic promotion to general. Santiago had no choice but to accept her promotion, whether it disgusted her or not to wear her unearned stars on her uniform.

Eckhart also had another problem. He had to trick the bunker into initiating DEFCON 1, so he could actually launch nuclear weapons at China, so himself and his right hand, Grey, began a plan to unleash hell onto Appalachia, which involved liberator drones, super mutants at Huntersville and the devastating scorchbeasts. Some in the bunker, of course, disagreed with the plan. One such person was a subordinate of Santiago, Major Ragnarsdottir, who later explained the situation to Santiago.

As Eckhart put his plan in action, the DEFCON meter barely ticked, making Eckhart even more infuriated. He attempted to increase his efforts, until confronted by Santiago about the plan, after she realized that revenge on the Chinese wasn't worth such as steep price, and in 2084 she threatened to leave the bunker with her men. After Eckhart's usual flattery on the general didn't make her budge on her decision, he took it upon himself to incapacitate her with a knockout agent, keeping her in an induced coma, only reviving her if he needed clearance to certain places within the bunker to further advance his plan.

With Santiago dealt with, Eckhart stepped up pursuit of his plan, and unleashed the scorchbeasts into Appalachia, causing widespread devastation, successfully raising the DEFCON meter to 1. In 2086, however, demoralized by Eckhart's obvious lack of affection for the American lives of those within the bunker, Ragnarsdottir staged a rebellion in the bunker, in which Santiago was released from her induced coma and Eckhart was arrested.

Ragnarsdottir also planted and ignited multiple explosive charges on MODUS, in an attempt to destroy the AI, so they could leave the bunker freely. However this backfired, when MODUS was not destroyed, only large amount of its data banks. In retaliation, MODUS intentionally destroyed the weapons lab, killing Santiago and subsequently releasing a toxin into the air circulation of the bunker, suffocating everyone, including Eckhart and Ragnarsdottir, inside.

Appearances
Ellen Santiago is mentioned only in Fallout 76.