The Hub

The Hub is a major trading city located in southern California.

It is a large community of traders, barterers, gamblers, and other interesting scum. The Hub is a stopoff point for caravans north to Shady Sands and Junktown, and south to the Boneyard. The wide variety of people passing through ensures that there is always something interesting going on. The caravan houses that work the routes trade in everything, chems, tires, guns, bullets, food, brahmin, dirt, even scraps of metal.

It is also one of the core states of the New California Republic, with representatives (or "governors") from it having a major say in the affairs of the fledgling republic.

Background
The Hub was founded in 2093 by a man named Angus, who set up camp around a filthy oasis in the desert and an old town relatively untouched by the Great War, and proceeded to begin trading with other settlements.

In 2096, a man called Harold rose to the level of a caravan boss in the Hub. His caravans suffered occasional attacks in the wastes, but Harold's caravan outfit survived and prospered... until the mutant attacks begin to pick up a few years later. Increasing mutant attacks on Harold's caravans so infuriated Harold that, in 2102, he financed an adventuring party to find out where the mutants were coming from. Consulting with a scientist and doctor at the Hub, a man by the name of Richard Grey, the two of them decide to join forces. They, along with two others, sought out the source of mutants that had been attacking civilians in the area. Their travels led them to the Mariposa Military Base, where, after stiff resistance from robots, everyone was separated, and both Richard Grey and Harold were exposed to the FEV vats. A few months later, Harold was found by traders and taken back to the Hub. But he wasn't human anymore - he was transforming into a strange ghoul-like mutant. His former caravan partners and employees, horrified by his condition, abandoned him without even two bottle caps to rub together. However, he soon became the leader of the Hub's small ghoul population.

In 2120, Angus established himself as the governor of the growing Hub. Five years later he managed to stop the Vipers' attempt to raid the Hub. In the winter of the same year, however, he was murdered, which threw the Hub into chaos.

In 2126, the Great Merchant Wars started when a band of merchants seized the water tower in the Hub. They demanded anyone wanting water must pay a toll. The war lasted for two years. The Water Merchants sealed up the town, but were outnumbered. A man named Roy Greene (Justin Greene's grandfather) made the peace and negotiated a settlement. The Hub's Central Council was formed, composed of two representatives from each of the Hub caravan companies. A long period of indecisiveness and meetings maintain the status quo in the Hub.

In 2131, the Master began ordering his super mutants to gather human stock from caravans. For many years, the caravan disappearances were blamed on monsters in the desert, and even when the abductions begin to occur on Hub caravans, the blame lay on wild deathclaws. The Hub Underground was formed by a man called Decker in 2140, who quickly started pulling the strings in the town.

With the Vault Dweller's assistance, Old Harold brought the ghoul population of the Hub into equality with the humans. The two sides worked together, and the Hub prospered. Old Harold is still alive, as far as anyone knows. Shortly after the NCR's creation, it annexed or acquired the Hub and made it one of the five founding states within the NCR.

Location
The Hub can be found one square east and thirteen squares south of Vault 13.

Layout
The Hub is divided into five districts and two outside sections.

Hub Entrance


Fundamentally, the entrance of the Hub serves as both a landing and a jumping-off point for the countless caravans that crisscross the wastes. At any time, several caravans will be loading or offloading goods, typically accompanied by a retinue of heavily-armed mercenary guards. Apart from the staging areas for the caravans, much of this outskirts area is given over to agriculture, under the protection of the Hub Police.

Downtown


The busiest section of the Hub, Downtown is second only to the entrance in terms of foot traffic, the entrance only busier due to caravans. Downtown is host to most of the city services, including the Hub Police station and library, as well as a number of commercial interests: both the Far Go Traders and Crimson Caravan hold offices in Downtown, as does the Friendly Lending Company, as well as a few arms merchants. One colorful character in Downtown is Iguana Bob Frazier, proprietor of a lucrative Iguana-on-a-stick stand. The Maltese Falcon, the local bar and flop house, rounds out the area. The occasional homeless or drifter, such as Irwin, can also often be found here.

Old Town


The enigmatic section of town, Old Town is a combination residential and commercial district. Several important characters, including Harold and Loxley can be found in Old Town, along with a handful of arms merchants and miscellaneous Hub residents. Despite its unassuming appearance, however, a great deal of danger can be found in Old Town by the adventurous or unwary, and several miscellaneous quests have their roots here.

Water Merchants


One of the most vital sections of the Hub, yet home to one of the most unscrupulous commercial entities in California, the Water Merchants section of town is home to the titular Water Merchants, a trading group specializing in the sale of portable water to various settlements in the wasteland. As "clean" water is a precious commodity, the Water Merchants section of town is the site of great wealth, both in coin and in water, and is therefore well-guarded. Any person wishing to do business with the Water Merchants must come to this section of the Hub. There is also a hospital run by the Children of the Cathedral in this area.

Heights


The Heights is the upper-class residential area of the Hub, and is home to Daren Hightower, a local, and very wealthy, merchant. That Hightower keeps considerable valuables in his mansion is an open secret, any merchant as rich as Hightower certainly has items of value worth taking. Hightower, however, has not made his money through foolish risk-taking, so the Heights are often patrolled by paid mercenary guards. Any visitors without a good reason - or at least a good story - for being in the area are promptly ushered out, usually at gunpoint.

Irwin's Farm


This location is only accessible during the quest "Help Irwin". It's a small farm next the Hub owned by Irwin, which was now under the control of a band composed of seven raiders.

Deathclaw's Lair


This location is only accessible during the quest "Find the missing caravans". The Deathclaw's Lair is a cave near the Hub, and the home of one of the fearsome deathclaws and a dying super mutant.

Factions
Several factions constantly vie for control of The Hub:
 * The Hub Police attempt to maintain law and order in town, however, their attempts are coming under increasing pressure from both the merchants and the Hub Underground.
 * Merchants compagnies, principally the Crimson Caravan, Far Go Traders, and the Water Merchants all seek to maximize profits, which sometimes runs at odds with the law. Additionally, the merchants constantly find themselves the target of raids or extortion attempts.
 * The Underground, a criminal element headed by Decker, seeks to control the Hub and its massive trading profits.
 * The Thieves' Guild, run by Loxley, does not necessarily want to control the Hub as such, but nevertheless is at odds with all three of the other factions by the simple virtue of endeavoring to steal what they have.

As of the arrival of the Vault Dweller, the Underground is known to have been destroyed by him (with the help of the Hub Police or not), since the Hub is still here in both 2241 and 2281.

Appearances
The Hub appears only in Fallout. However, while not appearing in-game, it's mentioned by several characters in Fallout: New Vegas, in one of Joseph B. Steyn's terminal entries and scratched into the playing area of the Caravan game.

Behind the scenes

 * The Hub's approximate location corresponds to Barstow, CA. Incidentally, Barstow is also a major regional transportation center. Several highways, including Interstate 15 and Interstate 40, converge on the city, and it is the site of two large rail classification yards, belonging to the Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroads.