West Tek

West Tek was one of the defense contractors under employment by the United States and the primary operator of the West Tek research facility in California.

Background
Founded in 2002, the West Tek research facility was initially divided into two sections, "Advanced Weapons" and "Biomedical Sciences Research", by 2069 it was the single biggest private contractor of the American government, with its biggest project being the development of T-51b power armor for use by infantry soldiers on the front-lines. Its second-largest was the Pan-Immunity Virion Project (PVP), later known as the Forced Evolutionary Virus (FEV). In 2076, the research facility was secured by a military contingent for fear of international espionage, shortly afterwards, the PVP research was moved to the Mariposa Military Base, where experimentation on human subjects would continue. Several other projects were also being pursued, including energy weapons and upgrading existing armor.

NBC division

 * Head: Nick Davis
 * FEV project lead: Leon Von Felden

Pan-Immunity Virion Project/Forced Evolutionary Virus
In 2055, the West Tek research facility started working on a new virus to kill the New Plague. The ZAX 1.2 computer was brought in to regulate conditions in West Tek. It calmly calculated data and played chess with the scientists. Many scientists claimed that ZAX cheated and drew the game out too much for a computer of his considerable abilities.

As China became increasingly aggressive with their use of biological weapons, the United States government felt that a countermeasure was needed. The Pan-Immunity Virion Project was officially formed on September 15, 2073 and plans were made to begin experiments at West Tek.

After a series of experiments, the pan-immunity virion was renamed FEV - the Forced Evolutionary Virus in March 2075, as increased size, muscle density, and intelligence are noted among test animals.

On January 3, 2076, a military team under the command of Colonel Robert Spindel was sent to the West Tek research facility to monitor the experiments in the interest of national security. Captain Roger Maxson, future founder of the Brotherhood of Steel, was amongst the team personnel.

In October 2076, large progress was made in FEV research, and the government preferred to move the project to a location under military supervision. On January 7, 2077, Major Barnett ordered transfer of all FEV research to the newly-constructed Mariposa Base, despite objections by the research team. Along with the scientists, Spindel's military team was sent to Mariposa.

Shortly before the Great War, West Tek also began experimenting on FEV in West Virginia. FEV was deliberately added to the drinking water of the town of Huntersville without the residents' knowledge, resulting in the creation and proliferation of Huntersville super mutants.

Advanced weapons research
Head of Laser Development: Charles Ringhold

The primary research goal of this division was the creation of the power armor. After years of painstaking research, the first suits were created and deployed on the Anchorage Front Line to reclaim it from the Chinese. Although lacking the mobility of future versions, the T-45d suits performed at the height of specifications. The pinnacle of research was the T-51b powered combat infantry armor, though it was later re-engineered into the Enclave advanced power armor.

Additionally, West Tek focused resources on energy weapons research, and while it was private companies that manufactured the weapons themselves (Wattz, Winchester, Yuma Flats Energy Consortium, Glock), it's not a far fetched assumption that West Tek provided the necessary scientific foundation for the creation of energy weapons.

Appearances
West Tek's facilities appear in Fallout and Fallout 76, while the parent company is only mentioned in Fallout 3. The company is also mentioned in Fallout 4 by Sturges when he tells the Sole Survivor about components in power armor that were manufactured by West Tek.

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