In Fallout, a single robot occupied scientists, military, and various factions in the wasteland for many years. Although it ultimately fought briefly, its influence was great. In the 3rd season of the Amazon-series, it could celebrate its return.
Which robot is it about? We are talking about Liberty Prime. It is a gigantic combat robot whose origin dates back to the time before the Great War in 2077.
Because already in 2066, 11 years earlier, the Sino-American War took place, which ultimately led to the atomic catastrophe we know from Fallout. During this war, China invaded Alaska.
To defend itself, the US government commissioned the companies RobCo Industries, Mass Fusion, and General Atomics International: Build us a combat robot that takes out the enemy once and for all.
Liberty Prime was supposed to embody the power of the US military. Work began on it in 2072, but quickly ran into problems. The power supply caused particularly severe headaches.
It seemed impossible to operate all parts of the robot effectively at the same time. In their desperation, the responsible parties turned to scientist Stanislaus Braun. Unfortunately, he had his own plans. He had retreated into Vault 112. There, Braun created a virtual reality, took control of the Vault residents, and tortured them.
Without his help, Liberty Prime could not be completed. The robot remained where it was constructed, beneath the Pentagon in Washington D.C. There it stayed while the Great War broke out in 2077. Only about 178 years later was Liberty Prime rediscovered.
The Brotherhood of Steel steps in
Who found Liberty Prime? Around the year 2255, an expedition from the Brotherhood of Steel discovered the robot beneath the Pentagon. The faction recognized the potential of the combat machine and commissioned the chief scholar Reginald Rothchild to make Liberty Prime operational.
But he faced the same problems as the US government before the war. The power supply was not sufficient to allow Liberty Prime to fight and move simultaneously. The weapon systems had more power than the rest. For 20 years, Rothchild and his team struggled against the robot.
An attempt to modify Liberty Prime’s combat systems failed, as the internal AI noticed and defended itself. This caused internal damage, further delaying completion.
Further experiments ended with injuries and burns. Ultimately, Rothchild managed to better distribute the energy, but an overall performance of a pathetic 3% showed that Liberty Prime was far from ready for actual combat.
A fortunate coincidence
Was the project a failure? No, because the situation changed dramatically. The Enclave, a malevolent and very powerful faction in the wasteland, grew stronger. In 2277, Dr. Madison Li survived the Enclave’s attack on Project Purity – a project that aimed to make water in the wasteland drinkable again – and fled to the Brotherhood of Steel.
There, she became an important team member to finish Liberty Prime. Her knowledge helped establish the robot’s power supply properly. Finally, he was ready for duty.
In the following two weeks, Liberty Prime fought alongside the Brotherhood of Steel and caused heavy defeats for the Enclave. Besides their soldiers, the robot also took out infrastructure and Vertibirds (helicopters).
The Brotherhood was drunk on victory and felt superior to the Enclave – also thanks to Liberty Prime. This, however, led to a fateful battle and the temporary end of the robot. All of this is playable in Fallout 3.
How did Liberty Prime “die”? The Enclave was not foolish and monitored the Brotherhood’s offensive actions. They set a trap for them. During a battle at the satellite relay station, the Enclave launched a targeted missile attack on Liberty Prime. This destroyed the robot.
The event weakened the Brotherhood. There was no direct attempt to reassemble Liberty Prime. Only 10 years later, Arthur Maxson, the new Elder, wanted to repair the robot in the Commonwealth. This was supposed to attack the newly discovered Institute, another faction operating underground. Whether Liberty Prime was completed remains open.
This follows a slight spoiler for Fallout Season 2: Presumably, in the 3rd season of the Amazon series for Fallout, we will see a new Liberty Prime called “Alpha”. The end of the 2nd season contained a teaser showing corresponding blueprints. Season 2 partly takes place in New Vegas, but there were originally other plans: The series for Fallout should have started in the best location from the games, but Bethesda was against it
