Destroy the source of the Mutants

Destroy the source of the Mutants is a main quest in Fallout.

Quick Walkthrough

 * 1) Travel to Mariposa Military Base.
 * 2) Kill the super mutants and loot the holotape that holds the door code.
 * The player can gain an additional 1500 experience points if they use a radio to draw some away from the door.


 * 1) Navigate to the first elevator.
 * The player can repair yellow barriers to disable them temporarily.
 * The player can walk through red barriers and take only minor damage.


 * 1) Travel to the third level.
 * 2) Make your way to the south elevator.
 * 3) Travel to the fourth and final level.
 * 4) Kill the Lieutenant and Van Hagan for a key to the north-west area.
 * 5) Enter the north-west area with all the Children of the Cathedral followers. There is one in particular that stands in front of the console (northern most console, facing south).
 * 6) Kill him, loot the password from body, and access the terminal.
 * If the player do not have a sufficient Science skill to decode the messages, just select the option that is second from the bottom. This option gives the most time, and turns all yellow forcefields to red ones.


 * 1) Get out.

Detailed walkthrough
The player has trekked across the wasteland and brought the water chip back to Vault 13, but the mutant armies pose a dangerous threat to the safety of the Vault populace. The player must stop their mad leader, and destroy whatever is creating them.

The supermutants have proved to be formidable foes thus far, and the player needs to do something about them. Enter their secluded hideout, and purge the FEV they're using on the people of the wasteland.

If the player enters Lost Hills and speaks to Elder of the Brotherhood located on level 4, or Head Paladin Rhombus on level 1, they will both tell them that there are rumors of an army massing to the north.

The Military Base is located a good number of squares to the northwest of the map, far from anywhere else in the wasteland. The desert surrounding it is patrolled by Unity kill-teams, equipped with chainguns, laser rifles, and rocket launchers. They'll also usually have a few centaurs or floaters for pets.

Once the player finally finds the massive installation, they need to get inside. There are four mutants outside the base, 3 with laser rifles, one with a rocket launcher. The player can use a radio to draw the launcher and two of the riflemen away from the base, and earn 1500 XP for tricking them. The mutant who doesn't leave holds a tape that contains the door code to the base's entrance. Enter the main base.

Combat solution
Once inside, the player will immediately trigger the alarm if he isn't wearing robes. Mutants will open fire on sight. There are four that come running, two with miniguns, two with rocket launchers. Kill them, then check out the force fields. The yellow ones can be shut down for a minute by using Repair on their emitters, while the red ones can berun through in exchange for a little damage.

There are two computer consoles behind a few yellow fields that the player can hack to take control of the base's security systems. The player can alter the robots' programming on the console near the elevator, and set his radio's frequency to that of the emitters to shut them down remotely on one in the far south-eastern end of the level. Tampering with the robots will make them friendly, and changing the pest control to "large pests" will kill three mutants on the second level.

While the second level holds plenty of loot, the third level is where the player needs to go. They'll come across a big, suspiciously empty room. If their Traps skill is high enough, they'll find all sorts of landmines and tripwires in there. The player needs to get to the yellow field at the end of the hall, and blast the two mutants there; Krupper and Flip.

After taking another elevator down to level four, heading to the left will produce an encounter with Vat Team 9, a crack squad of mutant soldiers, while the right leads to the Vats and the Lieutenant and Van Hagan of the Children.

If the player enters the Lou's office on his own, without being transported there by Flip or Harry, the Lou will shoot on sight. He's armed with a powerful Gatling laser and a bulky 310 HP, while VanHagan will snipe away with his Glock 86. If the player is dragged here by a mutie, the Lou will interrogate and torture them, then lock them up on level 3.

The encounter with the Lieutenant is entirely optional. The Vats control room is down the hallway past Vat Team 9's quarters, the room with all the COC techies. Use the terminal in the center of the overlook room to set the base to self-destruct. If the player's Science isn't high enough to decrypt the gibberish the terminal shows, they should pick the second one from the bottom, which sets the timer to the longest possible duration and removes yellow forcefields. Alternatively, a keycard from one of the techies can be used to automatically decrypt the codes.

Afterwards, clear off to the worldmap.

Infiltration solution
If the player is wearing some robes when they walk into the outer Military Base map, they can trick the mutants and get in without triggering the alarm. That'll let them sneak down to the control room and blow it to pieces without wasting a single round of ammo. The Lieutenant, though, can see through their disguise if talked to.

Reward

 * 10000 XP for blowing up the base.
 * Ending, if the player has also completed the Destroy the Mutant leader quest