Missile Defense Station Cascade

Missile Defense Station Cascade was a military base located in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon. The base housed several interceptor missile batteries and computer mainframes designed to prevent nuclear attacks on American soil.
==Background==
Built in the late 2050's, Station Cascade was to be part of America's first line of defense against a nuclear attack from either China or the Soviet Union. The base consisted of a series of radar dishes and interceptor missile batteries for targeting attacking bomber planes, as well as a series of computer mainframes intended to brute force disarm codes for ICBMs. At the time of its completion in 2061, the base housed 40 interceptor missile batteries and 80 RobCo mainframes. The use of then brand new ZAX super computers was considered during the base's construction, but was rejected due to the early ZAX units research focused design, with features such as their error insertion capability considered to be a liability.
The base was equipped with an above average number of batteries and mainframes due to projections of nuclear attacks on the US. These projections predicted that any nuclear bombers attacking the United States would have to approach from the North West to have the fuel capacity to reach inland targets. The base was considered to be a priority target for enemy attack, and the mainframes were housed in shielded bunkers designed to protect them from the effects of nuclear Electromagnetic Pulses. 
A controversial half mile exclusion zone around the base, within which soldiers had permission to shoot trespassers on sight, was intended to protect the installation from enemy saboteurs. In practice trigger happy soldiers used the exclusion zone as an excuse to fire at anything that moved, resulting in the deaths of several hikers. After several offending soldiers were convicted of murder by military courts, the exclusion zone was reduced to a quarter mile in 2065, and soldiers were ordered to detain instead of shoot trespassers.
On October 23, 2077, Station Cascade was under heavy maintenance, with several radar dishes being overhauled, and 12 of the missile batteries undergoing annual maintenance, leaving the base caught unprepared in the nuclear exchange. This drastically reduced the range of the bases missile defenses, with the batteries that were online only capable of protecting Oregon and small amounts of Southern Washington. The ability of Station Cascade to protect the US was further crippled after all of the mainframes were hacked by an unknown third party, only disarming missiles aimed at the base itself and the city of Las Vegas. By the time personnel regained control of the mainframes, the west coast had been destroyed as well as much of the United States.
Following the War, the soldiers manning the base remained on site, although for weeks suicides and desertion plagued the base, with many of them feeling personally responsible for the base's failure to protect America. Due to the desertions, dwindling supplies, and loss of contact with central command, the base commander ordered the remaining troops to seal the base and depart to try and make contact with the wider Army in June 2078, leaving behind a token force to maintain the automated defences. They never returned, and Station Cascade was completely abandoned by 2079.
===Post-War===
Due to its isolated location high in the Cascade Mountains, the base was largely ignored by scavengers, and those who found the base were often killed by automated turrets. Surviving super mutants who had been part of the Unity occupied the surface of the base in 2163, destroying most of the surface turrets, but did not attempt to enter the sealed bunkers, only occupying the surface buildings. This super mutant settlement attempted to exist peacefully with humans living in the mountains, but only lasted for a year, as soon Brotherhood of Steel soldiers pursuing remnants of the Unity found it.
The Brotherhood destroyed the settlement, and occupied the base. The Brotherhood, assuming that the people living near the base must have 
Category:Locations
Category:Pre-War Locations