The Boneyard (also known as the Angel's Boneyard or L.A. Boneyard) is the collective name given to the ruins of the pre-War city of Los Angeles, California, within which numerous small settlements emerged after the Great War. The ruined urban sprawl would later become part of the New California Republic, incorporated as the "state of Los Angeles." It is a mentioned-only location in Fallout: New California.
Background[]
In the Fallout series[]
Originally the city of Los Angeles before the Great War, Los Angeles was the site of Hollywood, the engine of American filmmaking which produced motion pictures in a wide variety of genres. However, the 2070s saw a marked shift in the industry as figures became blacklisted as communists, and corporate interests such as Vault-Tec, General Atomics, and Nuka-Cola became increasingly influential in the industry. Some actors protested this corporate involvement, in particular refusing to work with Cooper Howard over his relationship with Vault-Tec.
The headquarters of Vault-Tec Industries' Southern California division was built in the vicinity of Los Angeles. The building was the site of a key meeting in the planning of the Vault experiments, with Vault-Tec executives Bud Askins and Barb Howard meeting with industry figures Robert House, Frederick Sinclair, Julia Masters, and Leon Von Felden to propose corporate ownership and design of the Vaults and their experiments. Vault-Tec would also choose the city for a number of its projects: a demonstration Vault was built in L.A. to publicly highlight the feasibility and desirability of Vault life, though it was not meant to actually be used. Los Angeles County was also the site of four actual experimental Vaults: the Three Vaults (Vault 31, Vault 32, and Vault 33) were built under Santa Monica, designed to breed a caste of "super managers" with the use of cryogenic pods for Vault-Tec employees; Vault 4 was built separately, used both as a research facility for Vault-Tec's Hawthorne Medical Laboratories division and as a demonstration of Vault life for pre-War Americans.
Los Angeles was struck by at least four nuclear bombs during the Great War, forcing citizens to flee and scramble into the closest fallout shelters. As the L.A. demonstration Vault was not intended for actual use, it lacked a social experiment, and it succeeded in guarding a small portion of the population from the blasts. Meanwhile, the other four Vaults around Los Angeles also succeeded in preserving their occupants through the nuclear holocaust.
After the Great War, the Boneyard was founded by those emerging from the demonstration Vault in 2092, subsequently attracting survivors. These survivors also founded Adytum, then fenced sections in the suburbs of the old Los Angeles and started the Regulators. Some founded other gangs, like the Blades and the Rippers. Although the Gun Runners eventually staked out a presence in the city, they were not from there originally.
In 2155, the Master learned the location of the demonstration Vault, conquered the inhabitants and set up operations there, and the human cultists began to use the vault as their power base. Eventually, a monumental building known as the Cathedral was constructed above the vault. The cultists thus became known as the Children of the Cathedral. Of those that remained in the Vault, most became the Master's servants and members of the Children of the Cathedral. Those that left could be part of almost any organization in L.A.
In the 2150s, a pack of deathclaws appeared in the Boneyard, taking over the base of the Rippers. In 2158, Jon Zimmerman, the town's mayor, hired a band of mercenaries known as the Regulators to help protect Adytum from the deathclaws and the odd random attack by raiders, who by 2161 were in control of Adytum. The Vault Dweller remarked in their memoirs that they "found many enemies, and a few friends, in the Boneyard. [They] killed when necessary and learned more about the nature of [their] true foes." Sometime during their journey in the Boneyard, they killed the deathclaws which allowed the Gun Runners to expand their business.
By 2189, the Boneyard became one of the states of the New California Republic and Adytum became known as New Adytum, holding seats in the NCR Senate.
As one of the largest cities in NCR territory, it was a natural choice for many organizations to place their headquarters. Thus, by 2281, the Boneyard is host to the Republic Reserve and the Follower's Angel's Boneyard Medical University among many others. However, some people that live there claim it is not the best place to grow up, indicating the NCR still has some work to do and are working to fix it.
With the destruction of Shady Sands not long after the Second Battle of Hoover Dam, NCR presence in the Boneyard was markedly diminished. By 2296, the NCR in the region was restricted largely to an outpost at Griffith Observatory led by Lee Moldaver, seen as little more than a local warlord's territory. Overall, the NCR's decline led to a power vacuum in the region, with most of the territory left uncontrolled. Settlements such as Filly and Vault 4 are independent, with varying levels of exposure to the outside world. One gang has also declared itself "the governmint" with the intent to spread its influence across the city.
In 2296, Moldaver led a group of raiders to infiltrate Vault 32 (whose inhabitants had seemingly wiped each other out circa two years back) and then Vault 33, with the intent of abducting Hank MacLean, the Vault-Tec employee responsible for the destruction of Shady Sands. This was mainly done so that, as a Vault-Tec employee, he could provide the codes for Moldaver to activate the cold fusion reactor she built in Griffith Observatory, which would help reestablish order by creating unlimited energy. A vital component was to be brought by Enclave defector Siggi Wilzig, but the journey was completed by Hank's daughter Lucy MacLean after Wilzig's death. Lee Moldaver revealed to Lucy her father's involvement in destroying Shady Sands on behalf of Vault-Tec, and with the delivered component and Hank's codes, finally activated her cold fusion generator.
However, the Brotherhood, also on the hunt for Wilzig and tracking his remains to Griffith Observatory (having taken the settlement of Filly) assaulted the base. Despite being armed with anti-air defenses, the Brotherhood were able to swiftly take the outpost with some casualties. In the fight, Hank MacLean managed to escape by commandeering a suit of Brotherhood T-60 power armor, while the Brotherhood stood victorious, now in control of the observatory and likely all of L.A., which now was being lit up by the functional cold fusion reactor.
In Fallout: New California:[]
By 2260, the city contains buildings for businesses like the El Rey Motel, Shi Bank, and the New California Republic Radio.
Behind the scenes[]
Angel's Boneyard does not appear in the mod, but does appear in the original Project Brazil intro video. It was also intended to appear in the original narrative drafts of Project Brazil as the final act, but was cut for time. Several cells intended for use in this act can still be found in New California and accessed with console commands. The location used in the trailer video is found in the cell 00AVCR2, which is labeled as "Downtown Freeway I-108", though it can also be seen in the Enclave ending cinematic, describing the nuking of the NCR.