The Citadel

The Citadel is the heavily defended headquarters of the Capital Wasteland Brotherhood of Steel, built into and beneath the ruins of the Pentagon in present-day Arlington, Virginia.


 * Not to be confused with "The Cathedral"

History
The ruling council of the Brotherhood of Steel, based in the Lost Hills bunker in South California, decided to send a contingent of soldiers to the East Coast, to recover any and all advanced technology from Washington, DC and to investigate the reports of super mutant activity in the area.

The Pentagon, as they had feared, was largely destroyed. But its sub-levels remained intact, and contained enough pre-war technology and weaponry to keep Brotherhood forces going indefinitely (once the defense robots were destroyed). But there was something else, as well… They found Liberty Prime, a technological marvel that, if restored, could help the Brotherhood rebuild a strength and reputation that had been declining steadily for years.

The discovery was significant enough to earn Paladin Owyn Lyons a battlefield promotion to Elder, and a new directive from his superiors – to establish a new, permanent Brotherhood base in the Capital Wasteland, and continue the search for any other advanced technology hidden in the capital’s ruins.

Lyons accepted his new post gladly, and founded the Citadel, built into and beneath the ruins of the Pentagon. It was a fortress the Brotherhood of Steel desperately needed, and one they rushed to fortify, thanks to their other great discovery – Super Mutants.

Location
The Citadel can be found on the west end of Arlington Memorial Bridge, northeast of Arlington Library.

The entrance is on the northeast corner of the building and guarded by three Brotherhood of Steel sentries.

Entry
The Citadel is inaccessible until you complete The Waters of Life segment of the main quest. Entry is scripted as part of the completion of this quest.

It is possible to enter the Citadel by glitching into a pile of rubble to the northwest of the Citadel (YouTube video). This is an effective way to unlock the Power Armor Training at an early point in the game. Although various NPC's in the Citadel, when talked to, will tell you events that might not have happened yet due to the PC not completing the main quest segment The Waters of Life. As seen in the video, leaving the Citadel after using this glitch will result in completion of the quest The Waters of Life, even if it was never begun or known about, along with all quests in the main quest arc prior to it that the player did not complete.

Appearances
The Citadel appears in Fallout 3.

Behind the scenes
The Citadel was the original name of the Cathedral in early design documents (like the Vault 13: A GURPS Post-Nuclear Adventure timeline).

Notable Loot

 * A Duck and Cover! book in a crate in one of the stalls in the bathroom of the Citadel Laboratory.
 * A Guns and Bullets book under Paladin Vargas' bed (the rightmost one) in The Den in A-Ring.
 * A captured Enclave Plasma Rifle can be found on Scribe Peabody's workbench in the Labratory area. However, it is at fairly low condition.
 * Power Armor sits on Scribe Bowditch's desk in the lab.
 * Elder Lyon's unique AEP7 Laser Pistol, Smuggler's End, can be found in his safe inside his personal quarters in The Solar area of B-Ring. You won't lose karma for opening the safe or taking its contents.

Map
In the Laboratory there is a digital wall display of a map that shows the locations of Vault-Tec Vaults in the Capital Wasteland. If you study this map you will be able to extrapolate the locations of most of the remaining Vaults. Or, once you speak to Scribe Rothchild about finding a G.E.C.K., he will use the map to show you the locations of the other Vaults in the Capital Wasteland. Once this dialog is complete the locations are marked on your Pip-Boy 3000 map.

Bugs

 * During the quest "The Waters of Life" dr. Li will not talk through the intercom and the gate to The Citadel will not open. There are currently no known solutions for this problem.