Fort Strong

Fort Strong or Fort Strong U.S. Army Depot is a location in the Commonwealth $$

Background
Dating back to the Civil and Revolutionary Wars, the fort was used in the past as a gun battery. The fort was repurposed in the 2050s by the US military as a weapons research facility, with the interior renovated and a new basement research level constructed.

General Brock took command of the facility in 2075 and prepared the location for weapon and power armor testing by leveling the old barracks and constructing a simulated town. It was at this location that Brock devised two teams - Alpha working on T-51B power armor and Bravo on M42 "Fat Man" Launchers.

In June 2076, Alpha Team shipped out the first line of T-51B power armor units to the front in China, and reports indicated performance above what was anticipated. Although Bravo Team struggled at first to perfect the firing mechanism of the M42 Launcher, testing resulted in perfecting the calibrations. In September 2077, the base had already shipped the launchers to a supply yard in Mississippi, but were waiting for authorization to transport the stored warheads to their intended destination.

Exterior
From the north end of the bridge leading to the fort, there is a security checkpoint on the eastern side containing leveled power armor and an ammunition box in the southeast corner. After crossing the bridge there is a collapsed building directly ahead, which was previously sealed off by a fence. There are a couple of radioactive barrels inside.

Continuing along the road leads to the main complex, where three Super Mutants can be found patrolling. If the quest Show No Mercy is active, there will also be a super mutant behemoth present. The road forks to the left here, with a cemetery immediately east of the building on the north side of the road. Two teal vases and a toy car can be found here, while wild tato blossoms and wild corn can be found by the entrance and in the buildings on either side of the road. The buildings themselves hold radioactive barrels, desks, filing cabinets, and scattered junk items. Behind the easternmost building is a partially collapsed wooden dock with a sandbag wall built upon it.

Turning south at the bend in the northeast leads to another fork in the road. Turning east leads to the pier, which has a caps stash behind the wooden crate on the northern corner. The western road loops back to the entrance. Heading directly south leads to the path up to the armory.

At the top of the path leading to the armory, to the east, before the building is two short sets of stairs. The nearest set of stairs leads up to the flagpole, where three more vases and a wild tato blossom can be found. The farthest stairs lead up to two cannons, where five cannonballs can be found (four in a pile in the center, and one farther to the right). If one passes the building and goes to the south side of the building, there are three more cannons, with another pile of four cannonballs to the side of the central cannon and a final cannonball next to the cannon on the right. Another ammunition box is in a nearby alcove in the northern wall of the building.

Main floors
The armory is the main administration and storage building of Fort Strong. From the main entrance, the second-floor walkway has collapsed, creating a ramp. At the top of the ramp are an ammo box, six desks, a filing cabinet, and a bank of filing cabinets. The door on the northern side is blocked, but a Fat Man can be seen beyond it, through the broken door panel; this area of the building cannot be accessed. Returning to the first floor, there are two doors: the southern door has a Novice lock which can be opened with the Fort Strong key, and the northern door leads into a hallway that loops around the building back to the southern door.

Heading north, the doorway on the western side of the hallway is guarded by a lone Super Mutant. The western room features several junk items and Private Murnahan's holotape on the desks lining the walls. Turning east at the end of the room, a collapsed wall leads into the kitchen. East past the kitchen is the mess hall, guarded by two more super mutants. Turning south after the mess hall counter and going through the door on the west side will lead back into the hallway.

Looking directly west from the mess hall door, there is a baseball display on the left wall containing a poster and two baseballs on wooden podiums. Turning south from the door will enable one to continue through the hallway. Directly to the east is the elevator to the sublevels, which is blocked until the quest Show No Mercy has been started. Looking through the collapsed ceiling to the west, one can see the main entrance.

Continuing to the south, there is a small bathroom through the door to the west containing a First Aid Box. Just beyond this door on the east side is the entrance to the auditorium; behind the collapsed floor in the northeast corner of the auditorium is a cooler.

Scaling the collapsed floor up to the barracks on the second floor above the auditorium will provide access to the usable bunk beds, a footlocker in the southeast, and a door in the southern corner of the west wall. Passing through the door will lead to a hallway lined with lockers and another barracks on the opposite side; this second barracks room contains three more footlockers, two sets of lockers (one of which hides a caps stash), two cabinets, a metal box, and more assorted junk items to loot. From here, one must return to the first floor via the collapsed floor of the first barracks and out the auditorium door to continue.

Looking west from the auditorium door, two ammunition boxes are on a desk to the left. Turning right at the end of the corridor, one will see the locked door back to the main entrance. Facing west, one can see a desk and another Novice-locked door on the south wall. Picking this lock will lead into General Brock's office, containing General Brock's terminal, a U.S. Covert Operations Manual, a mini nuke in the southwest display case, a Master-locked safe in the southeast corner, and a steamer trunk to the west. Inside Brock's desk is the Fort Strong key, which will open both the safe and the door to the north back to the entrance.

Sublevel
Upon exiting the elevator, there is a small office on the west side of the room, while turning east will lead to the corridor to the generator room. The door on the north side leads into an office with an armor workbench and another door on the east side leading out to the generator room. On the south side of the corridor is the restroom, which features two purified waters in the toilet bowl in the stall farthest from the entrance.

From the entrance to the generator room, one can turn south and follow the stairs down to the lower floor. Immediately on the right is a door leading into a corridor to a room filled with consoles. The northeast door in the room leads directly into another room, where a mutant hound can be found sleeping by the western exit back into the generator room. Going west around the generator and looking north, one will see another corridor.

On the east side halfway down the corridor is a lab, which contains Bravo Team's testing terminal by the window in the south. The room across the corridor to the west has a Novice-locked floor safe in the southeast corner.

Continuing through to the end of the corridor and turning right will reveal a small room. In this room is a floor trolley with an open crate of mini nuke parts and two mini nukes on the shelves to the north. On the south side of the room is a security cage with the door missing, inside of which is an ammo box and a first aid kit.

Heading through the eastern doorway will lead into the armory storeroom, but the only way down from here is to jump off the gantry to the floor or onto the forklift immediately in front and climb down. The door in the northeast corner of the storeroom connects to the corridor that leads back to the mini nuke room.

Exterior

 * Power armor frame - In the small guardhouse before the bridge to Fort Strong. The frame will have leveled components all the way up to X-01 models.
 * Ten cannonballs - Just to the left of the building (when facing the door) are two cannons, with five cannonballs near them. There are three additional cannons on the right side of the fort, with five more cannonballs.
 * Charge card - In an opened dumpster in the ruined house just east of the first fork in the road (between the two roads). The dumpster is somewhat hidden behind a broken wall behind a tilted shelf with nothing on it.

Armory

 * Private Murnahan's holotape - On a desk by the window on the west side of the northwestern room on the first floor. Look for a telephone and a set of handcuffs to find the correct desk.
 * U.S. Covert Operations Manual issue #5 - On General Brock's desk on the first floor, in the southwest corner behind a Novice-locked door.
 * The Fort Strong key - In General Brock's desk on the first floor.
 * Three Mini Nukes - One is in the corner display case in General Brock's office on the first floor. Two more are on a shelf in the small room leading to the armory storeroom in the sublevel.
 * Fat Man - In the hidden room on the second floor. One can see it through the edge of the northern door caved in by debris. This area is inaccessible through normal gameplay.

Companion comments

 * When at this location companions make comments, which are activated in the sublevel, specifically in the room before the main mini nuke storage room.

Appearances
Fort Strong appears only $$

Behind the scenes

 * Fort Strong is a real world location of the same name.
 * The Fort Strong sign was created by world art intern Madeleine Rabil.