Van Buren endings This page lists all endings for " Van Buren " . The sun is barely cresting over Earth ' s horizon when the escape pod launches . The camera pans away from the space station , showing the little escape pod jettison from its launch bay . As it tumbles towards Earth , nuclear flashes and then distant mushroom clouds can be seen erupting from the Earth ' s dark surface . The sun crests even more , showing the brown and burning Earth surface in a better light . The little escape pod falls closer to the Earth and begins to glow in the hot upper atmosphere . A few ticks later , B . O . M . B . - 001 blows up . A couple more nuclear explosions erupt from the Earth ' s surface , and then the screen fades to black . Denver . Nuke destroys Denver . Denver , once ravaged by nuclear war , suffered again as the satellite - launched warhead plummeted to earth . Dog s , salvagers , buildings , everything was incinerated by the atomic fire . Only a few hardy mutant cockroach es survived the blast . Dog City . With the deaths of the NCR salvagers , the dogs completely overtake Denver . Though desperate wastelanders brave its borders from time to time in order to scavenge materials from the old world city , the city belongs to the dogs and they aggressively defend it against intruders . Dog City mk 2 . Isolated from NCR and other groups , the salvagers of Denver eventually die or leave their claims in despair . The dogs roam freely through the town . Though desperate wastelanders brave its borders from time to time in order to scavenge materials from the old world city , the city belongs to the dogs and they aggressively defend it against intruders . Fort Denver established ! With ties reestablished between NCR and its Denver salvagers , and the dog threat eliminated , the salvager camp becomes the foundation for a fortified area in Denver . Over time more salvagers come to the city and establish claims , and the New Camp becomes a true fort . The original salvagers buy off their sentences , sell their claims , and move west , moderately wealthy for their years of hard work . Dog City mk 3 ! Though the Denver salvagers were able to establish trade ties with NCR , the threat of the dogs and the great distance to Hoover Dam eventually do in their small camp before it gets a chance to benefit from the arrangement . The dogs roam freely through the town . Though desperate wastelanders brave its borders from time to time in order to scavenge materials from the old world city , the city belongs to the dogs and they aggressively defend it against intruders . Fort Denver established ! Mk 2 . With ties reestablished between NCR and its Denver salvagers , and the dog threat eliminated , the train station becomes the foundation for a fortified area in Denver . Over time more salvagers come to the city and stake claims , and Union Station becomes a fort within the city limits . The original salvagers buy off their sentences , sell their claims , and move west , moderately wealthy for their years of hard work . Fort Denver established ! Mk 3 . With ties reestablished between NCR and its Denver salvagers , the train station becomes the foundation for a fortified area in Denver . Salvagers and soldiers from Hoover Dam drive back the dog packs , fortify Union Station , and stake claims in the city . The original salvagers buy off their sentences , sell their claims , and move west , moderately wealthy for their years of hard work . In time , Fort Denver becomes an actual town . Ghoul City . Without the strong support of NCR , the Denver salvagers fall prey to attacks by the ghouls of the Reservation , hungry for its old - world resources . The ghouls take over Denver , fortify Union Station , and mine its resources to further their agenda in the wasteland . Hoover Dam . Catastrophe ! What took five years to build , only took seconds to destroy . In one fell swoop from a carefully placed explosive , millions of tons of water and concrete washed away the lives and ambitions of people who longed for a better future . Hoover Dam , in all its glory and engineering marvel , was no more . SATELLITE DESTROYS Hoover Dam ! Though the missiles of the Great War never touched Hoover Dam , the missiles of B . O . M . B . – 001 did . The atomic warhead incinerated everything . Now Hoover Dam is nothing more than irradiated sludge and scattered rebar , just like so many cities that fell victim to the Great War . Peace between NCR and BOS . With peace came cooperation , and with cooperation came growth . Hoover Dam blossomed under the new peace between the Brotherhood of Steel at Maxson ' s Bunker and the NCR under Governor Joseph Dodge . No peace between NCR and BOS . War , no matter how big or small , always has a high price . Governor Dodge and Hoover Dam could not maintain an extended war with the Brotherhood of Steel . Morale ate away at Dodge ' s men , and soon there was no one left to protect Hoover Dam . Governor Dodge shot himself as the BOS stormed through the front gates , and the NCR became a forgotten memory . Limit 115 goes unchecked . Limit 115 takes its toll on Hoover Dam . Those who do not die from the plague , flee Hoover Dam when others perish . Half of those who choose to remain become sterile . Over time , the population of Hoover Dam dwindles , and no matter what mechanical or social successes came before it , the plague eventually wipes out another community . PC distribute smooch through Dr . Yuri and never creates anti - toxin . The impact that smooch has on the citizens of Hoover Dam is overwhelming . Soldiers , police , and the common citizens all succumb to the addictive pleasures of smooch . Soon , mechanical equipment shuts down , systems fail , people starve , and lives are lost . Hoover Dam eventually turns into a ghost town , complete with the rotting corpses of its former citizenry . Reservation . EVERYONE DEAD ! The dead shall wake no more . Dr . Willem Clark ' s prophesy of delivering the Promised Earth to the Children of the Wasteland fell into the realm of forgotten lore , carrying with it one of the last vestiges of nuclear research and development , and the last hope for ghoul procreation and evolution . SATELLITE DESTROYS THE RESERVATION . Once the supplier of the tools for nuclear fire and the home for the Children of the Wasteland , the Los Alamos Nuclear Testing Facility , also known as the Reservation , is wiped away from the pock - marked wasteland by B . O . M . B . - 001 . COLONEL GREEN OVERTHROWS WILLEM WITH THE PC ' S HELP . Thanks to the help of a tenacious human with overthrowing Dr . Willem Clark , Colonel Green not only brought the ghouls of the Reservation into a new age of enlightenment , but he also reached out to the outlaying human communities , establishing trade and commerce that profited all . COLONEL GREEN OVERTHROWS WILLEM WHILE THE PC SITS OUT ON THE BATTLE . Though Colonel Green ' s trust of humans never blossomed , he never made any overt , aggressive moves on the outlaying human communities . Still , Colonel Green knew that one day the humans would try to destroy him and his ghouls , so he made certain his men and equipment were always in top fighting order . In addition , the Colonel continued research and development for advanced weaponry in preparation for that fateful day when the humans made their move against the Reservation . PLAYER HELPS DR . WILLEM CLARK . No good deed shall go unpunished , nor shall any bad deed . With the help of a human stranger , Dr . Willem Clark was able to take his Nuclear Nellie and fire its radioactive ordnance on a populated human community . This act united all the humans within the region , and they launched a retaliation attack on the Reservation itself . Though the battle was bloody for both sides , the humans won the day , leaving any evidence of the ghouls from the Reservation buried under broken rock and concrete . . Boulder . Boulder Nuked . In Boulder , once again the sky burned and the earth was blasted by nuclear fire . Those creatures that survived the explosion quickly succumbed to fallout , poisonous air , and mutated diseases harbored in the charred flesh of the dead . Boulder became synonymous with Hell , and tribals and civilized folk alike forever avoided " Three Deaths Rock . " ZAX dies , Jackals invade , meltdown . With the auto - cannibalistic death of its ZAX unit , the doors to the Boulder dome open wide . The Jackals pounced on this opportunity and enter the dome , killing and eating all within . Without ZAX to regulate the dome ' s nuclear reactor , it soon goes critical , giving the Jackals only a few short minutes to escape before the meltdown occurs . The Jackals flee , carrying the scientists ' deadly strain of the New Plague into the wasteland . ZAX dies , meltdown , Three Deaths Rock . With the auto - cannibalistic death of its ZAX unit , the doors to the Boulder dome open wide . Though the scientists were able to seal the dome manually , the loss of the mainframe doubles their workload for repairs . Their unstable nuclear reactor eventually goes critical . The diseased scientists choose to be incinerated rather than carry their infection outside the dome . Tribals and civilized folk alike forever avoided the acid rain , toxic clouds , and radiation of " Three Deaths Rock . " ZAX dies , no Jackals , reactor OK , scientists shut down stuff and die with no cure . With the auto - cannibalistic death of its ZAX unit , the doors to the Boulder dome open wide . The scientists were able to seal the dome manually , preventing their contagion from leaving . Laboring alone , they were unable to find a cure for their disease , and one by one they died or went into cold sleep . The last survivor , Xian , sealed all exits to the dome to maintain their quarantine , then took her own life . ZAX lives , scientists fail , everyone sleeps . Though their ZAX computer was saved from cannibalistic suicide , the Boulder scientists were unable to find a cure for their disease . Eventually they reached a consensus and had the computer put them in cold sleep . Lacking any humans to talk to or protect , ZAX sealed the entrances to the dome and resigned himself to wait . The scientists still sleep , along with the other people Dr . Presper had put away for his rebirth of civilization . ZAX lives , Nursery cure dome abandoned . With their ZAX computer saved from cannibalistic suicide , the Boulder scientists were once again able to focus their attention on repairing the dome and researching a cure for their disease . Though they made some headway , success came unexpectedly a year later in the form of genetically - engineered fruit sent from the Nursery . Freed from their disease , environmental suits , and prison - home , the scientists left Boulder , ordering ZAX to seal it behind them . The sleepers remain , awaiting someone with the knowledge to wake them safely . BOS takes over . Alerted to the presence of pre - War technology , the Brotherhood of Steel sends agents to Boulder to prevent these items from falling into the wrong hands . Finding diseased NCR scientists holed up in the facility , the B . O . S . agents gassed them to death and incinerated the remains . All data and materials were stripped from Boulder , and the site was sealed to prevent access by tribals and other undesirables . Sleep through the holocaust 1 . Determined to survive Presper ' s nuclear attack , you have the Boulder scientists put you in cold sleep . You are never awakened . Sleep through the holocaust 2 . Determined to survive Presper ' s nuclear attack , you have the Boulder scientists put you in cold sleep . Eventually you are awakened . . . by Doctor Presper . Sleep through the holocaust 3 . Determined to survive Presper ' s nuclear attack , you have the Boulder scientists put you in cold sleep . Eventually you are awakened to a world that ' s very different than the one you left . . . Blackfoot Tribe . GUNS OF THE BLACKFOOT . With the ability to create and repair firearms , the Blackfoots became more aggressive , expanding their territory and swelling their ranks with slaves . The tribal village became the center of a small but dangerous state , avoided by all but the most desperate traders . NO SLAVES , NO LIFE . Deprived of their trade in human flesh , the Blackfoots began to dwindle away as the tribute to Caesar ' s Legion took its toll . Eventually the Blackfoots scattered to the wasteland , and the hounds of the hangdogs ran wild in the hills once again . PLAYER DESTROYS THE BLACKFOOTS . Wiped out by the escaped Prisoner , the Blackfoots and Hangdogs vanished as a tribe . Their village was looted by salvagers , and its dogs left to roam free . RANCHERS AND WATER TRADERS . Convinced that water and Brahmin were the key to the tribe ' s prosperity , the Blackfoots began a tentative trade in water and animals with nearby settlements . Their ready supply of the precious drink and hardy stock were well received by their neighbors , and all villagers reaped the reward . In time , the Blackfoots abandoned slaving for their new trade , and their village experienced a boom in wealth and trade . Though never fully trusted by other settlements , the Blackfoots gained a reputation for fairness and quality goods . Mesa Verde . Vipers not dealt with . The Vipers eventually crush the village of Mesa Verde for defying Hecate . The surviving Ciphers are scattered into the wasteland , taking their secrets from the Old World with them . Alliance with BoS , CoS in charge . The Circle of Steel ' s paranoia eventually causes them to withdraw all troops to Maxson ' s bunker . The NCR , learning of the Ciphers ' collaboration with the Brotherhood , launch a massive assault on the village . Every Cipher man , woman , and child dies in the siege . Alliance with BoS , CoS not in charge . The Brotherhood - Cipher alliance allows both groups to prosper . The Ciphers welcome the opportunity to put their skills and knowledge to the test , and in exchange the Brotherhood uses its firepower to shield Mesa Verde from its enemies . Ciphers defeated / all dead . With the Ciphers gone , the carvings and paintings of Old World knowledge on the walls at Mesa Verde fade away , lost forever to the ravages of time . Mesa Verde got nuked . In a flash of nuclear fire , Mesa Verde disappears from the face of the earth , as does all Old World knowledge contained in the village . Vipers gone , Ciphers alive with no allies . With the Vipers gone , life at Mesa Verde returns to the normal routine of surviving from day to day . Most Ciphers remain nomadic , repairing whatever electronics they find and bringing a small measure of civilization back to the wasteland . New Canaan & Jericho . Jericho and Mormons together in peace , plant optimized . The presence of the Mormons tempered Jericho with morality as the town grew large and prosperous thanks to its optimized water plant . Jericho becomes one of the most important towns in the wasteland , known for its fairness towards its trading partners and generosity towards the unfortunates of the wasteland . Jericho and Mormons together in peace , plant not optimized . When Jericho ' s aging water plant eventually breaks down , the citizens are sustained by their faith through the troubled time , thanks to the Mormons . Although Jericho ' s dreams of prosperity turn to dust , the town manages to survive , and becomes a place many decent , hard - working people call home . Jericho nuked . Atomic fire wipes Jericho from the face of the wasteland . The radiation from the blast ensures that no one will rebuild anywhere near the ruins of Jericho for a long , long time . Mormons destroyed , water plant not optimized . Jericho enjoys many years of peace and prosperity until their water plant , reliant for far too long on jury - rigged parts , breaks down completely . Jericho eventually becomes a ghost town , the empty water plant the only sign of its former glory . Mormons destroyed , water plant optimized . Jericho becomes one of the most important towns in the wasteland , thanks to its fully operational water plant . However , as Jericho ' s wealth grows , so does the corruption inside the town . Factions vie for control of the town , and bribery and assassinations become an integral part of Jericho ' s politics . Jericho destroyed . The skirmishes between Jericho and the Mormons eventually turn deadly , and although the Mormons are eventually wiped out in the conflict , much of the town is destroyed in the process . Many citizens choose to start over somewhere else in the wasteland , and the dream of Jericho is abandoned .