Fort Independence

Fort Independence is the headquarters of the Brotherhood Outcasts in the Capital Wasteland, located west from the Fairfax Ruins. The Outcasts have adapted the old building to their needs and restored much of its internal facilities. All of the technology they gather is stored within the fort, as are their research findings.

The fort is guarded on the outside by Defender Morgan, Defender Rockfowl, and an automated defense turret. After the Lone Wanderer speaks with Defender Morgan about a job, Protector Casdin will open the perimeter fence's gate and encourage the Lone Wanderer to bring scavenged technology to them in exchange for supplies.

Related quest: The Outcast Collection Agent
By default the Outcasts inside are hostile to any trespassers. If you trade a large amount of scavenged tech with Casdin it is possible to get on friendly terms with the Outcasts. An option to ask about this appears in Casdin's dialogue when enough tech has been traded. The Lone Wanderer needs to trade 50 'points' worth of technology for this to happen - see here for a table showing a points breakdown for tradeable technology.

When you have friendly status, you can enter Fort Independence without being attacked by the Outcasts; however, the door will not open for you. You'll still need to pick the lock (Hard) on either door or pickpocket Casdin for his key in order to get in. Do not let any Outcasts outside see you pick the lock if you want to avoid a firefight with them, even if you have the "friendly" status with them.

Alternatively, it is possible to kill Defender Rockfowl, get his key and enter the lower level.

Or if you've already helped the Outcasts by completing the Operation Anchorage expansion before going to Fort Independence, you can get inside the fort. The Outcasts there will be friendly to the player and not attack if they find you inside. (Not on PC)

Notable loot
Once inside Fort Independence there is nearly no notable loot until you reach the lower levels. Down the stairs in the room left of the exit door is the entrance to the Basement. Inside the desk within the first room is the password to the wall terminal (normally Hard Encrypted) which opens the Mag-Door; continue down until you reach a room full of research terminals. Activating them adds notes on various weapons, namely the Missile Launcher, Minigun, Enclave Power Armor, Plasma Rifle, Pulse Grenade, and Laser Rifle. In this room there is a Hard Locked door (a key to this is available in the bunk-bed-filled room nearby within an Easy locked footlocker). Through the door is the unique Miss Launcher, a Minigun, Laser Rifle, Plasma Rifle, 6 boxes of ammunition which include Alien Power Cells and 3 medical boxes along with 3 fission batteries in a crate, as well as 2 Mini Nukes on one of the shelves near the Miss Launcher. One box has an Easy lock, and another is Very Easy. There is also a medical lab with Stimpaks and an abundance of Blood Packs across the hall from weapons storage.


 * The Miss Launcher is a variant of the Missile Launcher that doesn't shoot straight, but lobs the missile in an arc like the Fat Man does. It is more powerful than the standard Missile Launcher.


 * Strangely enough, Fort Independence has a pretty good supply of Blood Packs - 3 or 4 in the med lab, and more within Weapon Storage - comparable with Our Lady of Hope Hospital.


 * There is a Nuka-Cola Quantum and a Stealth Boy in the central room on the main floor, next to some bunk beds. There are also two safes (Easy Lockpick) found next to desks in the eastern section (the offices) on the main floor.


 * Alien Power Cells can be obtained from the locked storage room, next to the room with the research terminals.


 * In the medical lab across from the armory where the Miss Launcher is found, there are an assortment of larger than normal medical tools, including two gigantic syringes, a giant pair of forceps, a giant pair of scissors, a giant scalpel, a giant bonesaw, and two pairs of giant tweezers that unfortunately cannot be interacted with. These objects will retain their size after being dropped and picked back up.

Bugs

 * In the lower level of Fort Independence, the turret in the main chamber will be stuck in the ceiling. It will not attack you and cannot be destroyed, even with Mini Nukes. The problem with this is if you have a follower, they may stay and attack the turret (with no result) and will not follow you. This can be fixed by leaving the fort. The turret can only be destroyed by the Mysterious Stranger in V.A.T.S.
 * In version 1.6 the turret can be destroyed by shooting at the wall using, for example, a minigun. Just move the cursor around until you find the proper area to fire.


 * For characters with a low Lockpick skill who want to explore the fort, when you enter the fort and you can't pick the door's lock, wait for an Outcast soldier to walk near the locked door. Your companion(s) should walk to the locked door and automatically open it, allowing you to enter the first level of the fort.


 * After hacking the turret controls under the bridge to remove its targeting system and then disable it, sometimes the turret under the bridge will at first look stretched into the ground and allow you to walk through it, and then if reactivated will appear high above the bridge and be hard to see, even if aiming through a sniper scope.


 * Sometimes an Enclave Vertibird will perform a bombing run and most likely kill Protector Casdin and the other Outcasts guarding Fort Independence, allowing the player to loot the bodies without karma loss. Several large explosions can be heard while traveling near Fort Independence when this happens.


 * Defenders Morgan and Rockfowl will respawn right next to their corpses after you've killed them. This glitch applies to several of the unnamed Outcasts (good for repairing Power Armor).


 * For some unexplained reason the fort may just be completely deserted outside and will never have anyone outside ever again.
 * If you hack the turret control control in the lower level of the fort and remove the targeting information, all of the Outcast soilders will come running to try and destroy it, which they apparently cannot (This is the same bug the the PC runs into, as outlined above). One will even goes as far as opening the armory door, grabbing the Mini Gun, and looting one of the ammo boxes. Once the turrent is deactivated, the soilders will go about their normal business.

Appearances
appears only in Fallout 3.

Fuerte Independence Форт Индепенденс