New California Republic

The New California Republic (NCR) is a federation/democratic republic of states in California with holdings in Nevada. The capital city of the New California Republic is titled a town that is also named NCR, previously known as Shady Sands. The Republic is dedicated to restoring order and progress to the wasteland, as well as old world values such as democracy, liberty, and the rule of law. As of early 2240, the population was about 700,000 people. In terms of political influence, economical power and population, the NCR is arguably the largest and most powerful known power group in the world of Fallout, and it maintains the largest standing army. In 2241, the Republic consisted of 5 states - NCR (Capitol), Los Angeles, Maxson, The Hub, and Dayglow. By the year 2281 the NCR extended its holdings into the Mojave Wasteland.

The New California Republic is a reference to the California Bear Flag Republic which was established as a temporary government when the area was captured by the U.S. during the Mexican American War.

History
The New California Republic was born out of the remnants of the survivors of Vault 15, a sister vault to Vault 13 that opened earlier and released its occupants out onto the wasteland. Abandoning their Vault, after scavenging most of what they could from the surviving technology, the former residents of Vault 15 founded the small, farming community of Shady Sands. The first leader of the settlement was Aradesh, who was assisted by Seth who was the leader of the guards. In 2161, the Vault Dweller aided the struggling community by eradicating the Khans and saving Tandi, the daughter of Aradesh. Inspired by his example, Aradesh, Seth, and Tandi founded the New California Republic. The Republic was officially born in 2196 and Aradesh was elected the first President. Ten years later, following her father's disappearance, Tandi was elected unanimously as president. Tandi opened trade routes with the Hub and Junktown which allowed the town to grow substantially. By 2241, NCR's main resource being its great brahmin herds, NCR gave rise to the brahmin barons and ranchers (along with the Stockmen's Association). These groups, whose influence on the government was limited by Tandi during her tenure, slowly corrupted the fledgling democracy.

Expansion
The NCR's relationship with their old Vault has undergone some violent upheavals over the years. From nests of monsters, raiders, Vault 15 worshipers, ghoul scavengers, to more innocent (and not-so-innocent) Squatters and Salvage Teams and the Republic itself arguing over excavation rights. It seems to be difficult for the government, or any other inhabitant of the wasteland, to leave the area of Vault 15 alone. But in the end, with the aid of the Chosen One, Vault 15 agreed to join the Republic in exchange for economic and military aid. The resources from the vault allowed the NCR to finally have firm control over Southern California and at this point it started expanding its borders North and Eastward. In 2281, all of the American southwest had been united under the New California Republic. The NCR is currently trying to expand their influence eastward towards the Mojave region.

NCR Issues
The brahmin herders of the NCR have a very strong hatred of radscorpions, and this hatred dates all the way back to the founding of Shady Sands. There have been reports and sightings of talking deathclaws attacking brahmin herds from the NCR. However, after the Enclave wiped out the deathclaws of Vault 13, the attacks stopped being an issue.

Propaganda
NCR has a decent marketing and public relations department, and they are constantly sending couriers out into the wastes to nail up NCR posters or disseminate NCR propaganda. The frontiersman Thomas Moore is considered to be famous among the couriers, who is brave enough to pass out anti-Vault City and pro-NCR propaganda in the middle of Vault City itself. NCR propaganda can also be seen throughout many of the other independent settlements all over northern California, most notably the streets of New Reno.

War with Brotherhood of Steel
Even though the relationship between the NCR and the Brotherhood of Steel was never without some tension, the relationship worsened when Jeremy Maxson became the leader of the Brotherhood. He favored a return to power by wresting all advanced tech from the hands of "lesser people" by any means necessary. Some time after 2242, the war with the New California Republic was announced.

For years, the war waged on and the Brotherhood of Steel believed that they were on the winning side. However, no matter how many troops fell to the Brotherhood's superior technology, the NCR always seemed to have more replacements available. The Brotherhood did not have this same ability like the NCR. Being an elitist group, replacement members were hard to come by. It soon became obvious that the Brotherhood was doomed to lose the war due to the NCR's greater numbers and ability to conscript more soldiers.

New Vegas campaign
By 2281, the NCR continued to expand its borders. One of the scouting parties that they sent east discovered that the city of Las Vegas (now re-named New Vegas) went relatively untouched by the Great War, and the Hoover Dam was still in operation. Realizing the militaristic and economic values of these locations, the Republic quickly sent a detachment of their army to take control of the New Vegas region in hopes of using the rich resources there to rebuild their strength after the long war against the Brotherhood of Steel.

Once they arrived at the dam, they discovered that it had already been occupied by an army of Securitrons and heavily armed tribals. After a short stalemate, a Securitron approached the NCR position as a representative of Mr. House and demanded to parlay with the NCR government. This was the republic's first contact with Mr. House and the three families of New Vegas. In the end, the New Vegas Treaty was negotiated. The NCR was given control of the Hoover Dam and was allowed to divert 95% of the electricity generated to the Republic's core regions. In exchange, the New Vegas Strip was given the remaining 5%. Also, the NCR was allowed to deploy their military forces in the region, but would also have to recognize New Vegas' independence and allow NCR citizens to visit the Strip without interference. Although the NCR government agreed to honor the treaty, they still planned to annex the entire Mojave region in the long run through either diplomacy or military force.

They are currently fighting Caesar's Legion over control of the Mojave region and have made enemies of the Great Khans due to their brutality from the Bitter Springs Massacre. One of their forward bases, Camp Nelson, was completely obliterated by a Legion task force in an eerie repeat of Fort Aradesh's loss. Another camp, Searchlight, was flash-incinerated by a nuclear device, which transformed all the survivors of that base into Feral Ghouls. Led by President Kimball and the inept General Oliver, morale among the soldiers is at an all-time low, and desertion rates (especially in the New California Rangers) are high. The main camp on the front lines is Forlorn Hope, which as its name suggests, is full of depressed and constantly embattled soldiers. They are holding a defensive line across the Colorado River and preparing for the upcoming battle on the Hoover Dam that could decide the fate of the entire area. The soldiers are spread far too thin across the front to prevent the Legion from crossing the river, as illustrated by the attacks on Nipton and Ranger Station Charlie.

NCR's gold-backed currency lost much of its value after the Brotherhood of Steel ambushed and destroyed their gold deposits, so the NCR's dollar is now backed by water. They hold an iron fist over Hoover Dam's production capabilites, and lease electricity and drinking water to the Strip and other nearby communities in exchange for military supplies and a firm foothold in the region.

The NCR aims to wrestle control of the Strip from Mr. House eventually, but cannot do so while the Legion remains a threat. The Securitron armies possessed by House pose a massive threat to both the NCR and the Legion, but this uneasy stalemate between the three factions is threatened by the arrival of the platinum chip. Whichever faction succeeds in activating the Mark II OS will control the Securitron armies, and will be able to wipe out the other two factions.

Government


The government of the NCR is much like that of the pre-War United States, with a House of Congress staffed by elected representatives (Congressmen elected by their states). These representatives decide upon the President and Vice-President to head the council and govern the republic - under advice from the representatives, of course (NCR, at the time, had no existing term limits - Tandi was currently serving her tenth term at the beginning of Fallout 2). The titles for these representatives have ranged from "Councilor", "Counselor", "Councilman", "Representative", "Senator", and in particular, the Hub (in its own obstinate way) prefers to call their representatives "Governors" (there is a lot of friction between the Hub and Shady for a variety of reasons, usually related to trade rights and caravan routes). In any event, all titles are recognized and accepted outside of the council chambers, but within the chambers, the titles are occasionally used as insults and spark furious debates - nothing more than petty displays of each state trying to exert its independence.

Although nearly hitting a hundred years of age, Tandi has done more to unite the people of the wastes than any other leader born from the ashes of the Great War, and she is revered as a saint and even a "Great Mother" by some of the tribals outside of the Republic territories. Tandi's State of the Republic messages were famous for inspiring countless people to join the "service" and rebuild civilization. Under her rule, the republic has grown, and she has focused efforts on rebuilding the pre-War infrastructure to support the growing population, finding new forms of transportation and manufacturing, clearing roadways and rail lines, building forts, fostering caravans and trade in the Republic (and with other territories), and dealing with threats swiftly and efficiently. In all her years, she has never forgotten her roots in the small village of Shady Sands, and she has always striven to put the welfare of the common man above the wheels of progress.

There is little to no sexism in NCR (unlike most other territories in the wastes), most likely due to the community's origins in Vault 15 and Tandi's extended presidency. The republic also has shown little discrimination against ghouls and mutants, though many political analysts argue that this is because NCR has had limited contact with them (NCR had little contact with Necropolis or the Master's Army).

While Aradesh believed in the teachings of Dharma, Tandi always believed in the separation of church and state - and resisted any attempts to canonize the Vault Dweller within the city limits (the statue outside the Hall of Congress is fine, but that's it). Both Aradesh and Tandi found that politics and religion don't mix, especially when they got more exposure to the people of the Hub and visits from a few well-spoken members of the Followers of the Apocalypse. In any event, the NCR allows any non-psychotic religions within their capital, the NCR are very tolerant of religions as long as they don't involve human sacrifice or dipping people in vats of Forced Evolutionary Virus.

President Tandi died in 2248 at the age of 103, after a 52-year presidency. She was succeeded as President by her Vice-President, Joanna Tibbett. However a war with the Brotherhood of Steel broke out, leading to a long stalemate. Tibbett, who favored diplomacy over armed action, became highly unpopular following the massacre of 38 NCR citizens at the hands of Mojave raiders in 2253. She subsequently lost a motion of no confidence. Her replacement, Wendell Peterson, ordered three battalions of NCR infantry into the Mojave, which began the Mojave campaign.

In 2281, the NCR is lead by president Aaron Kimball. Under Kimball's leadership, the NCR survived the war against the Brotherhood of Steel. A veteran of the war with Caesers Legion and a rather Hawkish individual, Kimball has faced criticism for his authoritarian style of governance. He is currently aiming to expand the republic's borders toward the Mojave Region.

Military strength
The NCR's military is composed of several Divisions, including special cavalry and mechanized units. In addition, many of their major cities are protected and patrolled by heavily armed police officers. One of their "Special Forces" units consists of the New California Rangers, a select group that is pledged to protect the people of the Wastes much like the Texas Rangers of old. The Rangers are said to have numerous safehouses throughout the wastes, and they use these to strike at slavers outside of NCR territory (usually in the North). As expected, the two groups hate each other with a passion. NCR was also in the habit of establishing marshals in the major population centers in their territories, responsible for enforcing the laws of NCR throughout the Republic. Ghouls, super mutants, and humans were all known to serve in the NCR armed forces, even in the rangers.

Appearances
The New California Republic was first mentioned in the Fallout 1 end cutscenes for Shady Sands and it first appeared in Fallout 2, and was to appear again in the canceled Van Buren project. It appears again in Fallout: New Vegas as one of the major factions fighting over the control of the Mojave Wasteland.

Alternate versions
In one of the endings for the Brotherhood of Steel in Fallout 1, it is said that in the 2180s the Brotherhood, now called the Steel Plague, devastated the newly formed NCR and started a Dark Age that could last a thousand years. This ending is, however, not part of Fallout canon.

Alternatively, in two of the possible endings for the town Shady Sands in Fallout 1, the republic could have never existed due to the town getting destroyed by either the Khan raiders or the Super Mutant army before it was founded. For obvious reasons, these endings are also not canon.

Inconsistencies


In Chris Avellone's Fallout Bible 6, a version of the NCR flag with one-headed bear, based on the old flag of the California Republic is shown. It is inconsistent with Fallout 2, where a two-headed bear can be clearly seen. The flag seen in Fallout: New Vegas is a combination of both versions, as it shows a two-headed bear, but the rest of the flag looks like it does in the Fallout Bible.