Boomers

The Boomers are a tribe in the Mojave Wasteland in 2281.

Background
At the beginning of the war, Nellis Air Force Base scrambled an enormous number of fighters and bombers to respond to the missile launch. None of those planes ever returned. Additionally, despite the best efforts of a man named Mr. House, some of the missiles that struck the greater Las Vegas area impacted Nellis. As a result, Nellis was not an attractive site for salvagers for over a hundred years after the war.

In 2231, a group of dissidents from Vault 34 struck out on their own and began using Nellis as a temporary base. Over time, they eventually decided to call Nellis their home. They learned a great deal of information from the Air Force's records and used that information to open the weapons storehouses at Area 2 and the Hawthorne Army Depot, neither of which are present in Fallout: New Vegas. The result of their efforts was an enormous stockpile of heavy ordnance, artillery, and a small number of nuclear weapons.

Due to the tribe's paranoia, hostility, and excessive reverence for explosives, the New Vegas locals started calling them "Boomers". The Boomers didn't mind their name as long as it meant people kept their distance. No matter who approached them (Mr. House, the Vegas families, NCR, or Caesar), the Boomers had the same response: artillery. While the Boomers' attitude has kept away trouble, all of the major players in the Mojave Wasteland want to get on the tribe's good side. People simply have no idea how to accomplish that. Intelligence indicates that the Boomers have a clean water supply from Lake Mead, power from solar panels inside the base, and thriving farms that they've learned to develop "the hard way" over the decades they've been in the base. Once, the NCR attempted to shut off the Boomers' water supply. The Boomers' response was to shell sections of the NCR's water pipeline in eastern New Vegas. The NCR promptly restored the flow.

In the months that followed that experiment, no one has tried to approach the Boomers, which is just how they like it.

Endings

 * If left without organized leadership, the remaining Boomers slowly drift away, leaving Nellis Air Force Base to be flooded by prospectors and scavengers. All of the Boomers' accumulated knowledge quickly scatters, and their existence slowly fades from memory.
 * If the NCR win the battle of Hoover Dam and the Boomers do not take part, they mount several campaigns against the Boomers, but all are quickly ended by the Boomers' artillery. Over time, as the Boomers find a need for gun powder, they develop a relationship with the Gun Runners, trading their surplus crops for munitions.
 * If Mr. House wins the battle of Hoover Dam and the Boomers do not take part, he shows little interest in the Boomers and leaves them to themselves in Nellis. The tribe remains fortified in Nellis with their backs to the world.
 * If the Legion wins the battle of Hoover Dam and the Boomers do not take part, they defend themselves against many attacks from the Legion, but they eventually fall to the Legion's superior numbers. The Legion enslaves the Boomers and erases any memory of their existence from the wasteland.
 * If there is little law left in the wasteland and the Boomers do not take part at the battle, the Boomers continue to defend themselves against the prospectors and scavengers invading their territory.
 * If the NCR win the battle of Hoover Dam with the support of the Boomers, with the help of the Gun Runners, the Boomers develop a healthy trading relationship with the NCR. Eventually the Boomers begin wandering out into the wasteland, while still preventing outsiders from entering Nellis.
 * If Mr. House wins the battle of Hoover Dam with the support of the Boomers, he shows little interest in them, who eventually begin venturing out of Nellis to meet and trade with travelers.
 * If the Legion wins at Hoover Dam with the support of the Boomers, cautious after the their display of power, Caesar chooses to leave the Boomers alone. The Boomers remain isolated but are seen flying over the Mojave Desert from time to time.
 * If the Wasteland becomes anarchic after Hoover Dam, in part thanks to the Boomers, their display of power dissuades fortune seekers from attempting to penetrate Nellis.

Society
Having left Vault 34 and finding the Nellis Air Force Base, the Boomers had to find new clothes that reflected their independence. They found old military jackets in the base and used them over their vault jumpsuits. Each jacket sports several military medals for decoration, and embroidered on the back is the number "34", as to never forget where they came from.

They are a self-educated society, produce their own food and weapons, live in self-sufficiency, and have no relations with the outside world.

The Boomers believe that self-armament is the key to a peaceful society, meaning that each Boomer carries a weapon and will not hesitate to use it when the time calls for it.

Boomers are attached to their history, whether past or present. A large fresco in their museum tells of their great epic, out of Vault 34 to the future acquisition of the Boeing B-29-100-BW Superfortress at the bottom of Lake Mead.

Structure
Their structure is very basic; there is a doctor, a leader, mechanical technicians, and guards to protect their base. Only the leader can give orders to the others and has absolute power over everything.

Military
The Boomers have an extremely basic military hierarchy, consisting of basic guards, mortar teams, the acting Master of Arms, and the Elder. A combination of guards armed with man-portable explosive launchers and howitzer teams will bomb the area south of Nellis when somebody enters targeting range, with the exception of the intruder making it close enough to the fence, where they will either detain the intruder or kill them. The commanding officer, called the Master of Arms, coordinates the guards in both defensive and offensive (mainly diversionary) operations, and the Elder of the Boomers has the ability to issue new orders and alter or override existing orders with all forms of military and security procedures without contest.

Relations with the outside
They are hostile towards anyone who tries to approach their base and refuse to trade with anyone. However, due to the powerful weapons that the Boomers have in their control, they have attracted the interest of the main factions in the area. The NCR hopes to establish diplomatic and trade relations with the Boomers, while Caesar's Legion seeks to absorb them into the Legion. Mr. House wants their weapons aimed at his enemies.

Technology
Coming from one of the most heavily-armed Vaults in existence, Boomers are extremely well-equipped. They each have a PIP-Boy 3000 and are well versed in the use of explosives. They have missile launchers, grenade launchers, fat men, and many old military howitzers that they use to repel anyone trying to make their way to the base. Many Mister Gutsy robots have been reprogrammed by the Boomers to protect them and Nellis Air Force Base.

They also have flight simulators that can teach any Boomer to fly. These pods resemble the pods in Vault 112, indicating perhaps that they were designed by Vault-Tec. They have no working planes, but this doesn't keep them from flying, at least virtually. These simulators need access codes to function (which can be obtained from Loyal by passing a Speech check), but no matter what your reputation with the Boomers the option to open them will be red and cannot be opened.

The base produces its energy through solar panels, cultivates its own crops inside the base, and has a unlimited supply of water, due to their proximity to Lake Mead.

Development
The Boomers were created by John Gonzalez.

Behind the scenes
The Boomers are a reference to the tribals that appear in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.

Appearances
The Boomers appear only in Fallout: New Vegas.

Boomersi Бомбисты