The Citadel

The Citadel is the heavily defended headquarters of the Capital Wasteland Brotherhood of Steel, built into and beneath the ruins of the Pentagon in present-day Arlington, Virginia.

History
The ruling council of the Brotherhood of Steel, based in the Lost Hills bunker in South California, decided to send a contingent of soldiers to the East Coast, to recover any and all advanced technology from Washington, DC and to investigate the reports of super mutant activity in the area.

The Pentagon, as they had feared, was largely destroyed. But its sub-levels remained intact, and contained enough pre-war technology and weaponry to keep Brotherhood forces going indefinitely (once the defense robots were destroyed). But there was something else, as well… They found Liberty Prime, a technological marvel that, if restored, could help the Brotherhood rebuild a strength and reputation that had been declining steadily for years.

The discovery was significant enough to earn Paladin Owyn Lyons a battlefield promotion to Elder, and a new directive from his superiors – to establish a new, permanent Brotherhood base in the Capital Wasteland, and continue the search for any other advanced technology hidden in the capital’s ruins.

Lyons accepted his new post gladly, and founded the Citadel, built into and beneath the ruins of the Pentagon. It was a fortress the Brotherhood of Steel desperately needed, and one they rushed to fortify, thanks to their other great discovery – Super Mutants.

Location
The Citadel can be found on the west end of Arlington Memorial Bridge, northeast of Arlington Library.

The entrance is on the northeast corner of the building and guarded by two Brotherhood of Steel Paladins, plus a Sentry Bot. There are several more Paladins and Knights on the escarpment above the gate.

Entry
thumb|300px|right The Citadel is inaccessible until you complete The Waters of Life segment of the main quest. Entry is scripted as part of the completion of this quest. Before then, the guard commander Paladin Bael will gruffly deny you entry.

It is possible to enter the Citadel by glitching into a pile of rubble to the northwest of the Citadel (YouTube video). This is an effective way to unlock the Power Armor Training at an early point in the game, although various NPCs in the Citadel, when talked to, will tell you about events that might not have happened yet due to the non-completion of the main quest segment The Waters of Life. As seen in the video, leaving the Citadel after using this glitch will result in completion of the quest The Waters of Life, even if it was never begun or known about, along with all prior quests in the main quest arc that the player did not complete. It seems that using Fast Travel in the courtyard avoids this glitch, which means that the main quest line can still be completed normally.


 * You may also enter the citadel via video to the right. It is how to get power armor but it also works for early entry to the Citadel.

Appearances
The Citadel appears only in Fallout 3.

Behind the scenes
The Citadel was the original name of the Cathedral in early design documents (like the Vault 13: A GURPS Post-Nuclear Adventure timeline).

Notable Loot

 * A Duck and Cover! book in a crate in one of the stalls in the bathroom of the Citadel Lab.
 * A Guns and bullets book under Paladin Vargas' bed (the rightmost one) in The Den in A-Ring.
 * A captured Enclave Plasma Rifle can be found on Scribe Peabody's workbench in the Lab area. However, it is at fairly low condition.
 * Power Armor sits on Scribe Bowditch's desk in the lab.
 * Elder Lyon's unique AEP7 Laser Pistol, Smuggler's End, can be found in his safe inside his personal quarters in The Solar area of B-Ring. You won't lose karma for opening the safe or taking its contents.
 * 1000 Caps can be earned by completing the unmarked quest Gallows Humor started by talking to Paladin Gallows from Lyon's Pride then talking to Paladin Glade, also from Lyon's Pride about finding out Gallows's name. Speak to Gallows again and pass a speech check to find out his name and claim the money from Glade.
 * Unlimited Brotherhood Power Armor and Helmet: On the south side of the citadel, near the 2 Mark VI Turret, there are two guards high up the citadel wall shooting a Super Mutant Master and a Centaur (or another mutant). Most of the time one or both of the guard will die and fall to the side of the wall with stuff to loot. They will respawn after three days fighting again.
 * Two footlockers needing a lockpick skill of 100 to open is on a jetty, containing full set of Combat Armor and two Power Fists in each. The key, named "Captain's key", is located underwater in the sunken boat, next to some stimpacks, bottle caps, a skeleton and an ammo box containing .44 rounds. The boat is easy to spot from the jetty, since a radaway will float to the top of the water, just above the spot, and the boat is just 10 feet from the jetty.

Map
In the Laboratory there is a digital wall display of a map that shows the locations of Vault-Tec Vaults in the Capital Wasteland. If you study this map you will be able to extrapolate the locations of most of the remaining Vaults. Or, once you speak to Scribe Rothchild about finding a G.E.C.K., he will use the map to show you the locations of the other Vaults in the Capital Wasteland. Once this dialog is complete, the locations are marked on your Pip-Boy 3000 map.

Citadel Armory
If you chose to take the option of destroying the Citadel in Broken Steel, when entering the Citadel courtyard, you will find a door leading to the armory within the crater, and one on the far side of the circular path around the crater.

Within the armory, there are 4 First Aid Boxes and plentiful supplies of various ammos and weapons, including:
 * 2 Tesla Cannons (both at medium condition, one slightly lower than the other)
 * 3 Laser Rifles (all at very low condition, one slightly lower than the other two)
 * 2 Laser Pistols (both at very low condition, one slightly lower than the other)
 * 1 Sniper Rifle (at a little above medium condition)
 * 3 Nuka Grenades
 * 4 Plasma Grenades
 * 3 Mini Nukes
 * 72 Alien Power Cells
 * 10 Missiles
 * 32 Electron Charge Packs
 * 100 Microfusion Cells
 * 100 Energy Cells
 * 72 .308 Caliber Rounds
 * 200 5mm Rounds
 * 96 5.56mm Rounds
 * 36 10mm Rounds
 * 60 Flamethrower Fuel
 * Additional ammo and 2 more Laser Pistols in Ammo Boxes and Gun Cabinets.

Note: The requisitions report states that 4 Tesla Cannons were added to the armory, however there are only 2 Tesla Cannons in the armory

In the offices beside the armory, there is a terminal (Hard) describing several "incident reports" and a wall-safe (Hard; unlockable through the terminal) containing Callahan's Magnum and magnum rounds.

Bugs

 * There are at least two Brotherhood of Steel Initiates using the firing range, and one is firing a Laser Rifle. You will not be attacked if you shoot the Laser Rifle out of his hands, and he will start throwing Frag Grenades at the target. Many of his throws will either be off target or ricochet in various directions, causing numerous casualties among the nearby Brotherhood of Steel, and allowing you to search the bodies.


 * It is also possible for an initiate to become hostile when doing this. However, the initiates that fired on the player did not make the other Brotherhood of Steel NPC's hostile towards the player. This appears to only be true if Fawkes is with the Player.


 * Punching any of the targets at the firing range with a Power Fist (or a unique version of it) causes a spurt of blood to come out as if you were to punch a dead body. (360)


 * If you pickpocket the ammo from the Brotherhood of Steel Initiate using the 10mm pistol at the firing range, he will crouch and continuously reload until given ammo.


 * During quests, the pointer indicating where to go, wants you to go to the Courtyard first, when in the Lab or A-ring and heading to the other, when you could much easier just go trough the direct door to both. (360)

Trivia

 * The Citadel holds a striking resemblance to the Arena from Edler Scrolls IV Oblivion. When standing in the center of the Citadel's courtyard it's similarities to the Arena are most evident.