Maria Chavez

Part of a series on
Responders
Divisions
The Refuge (active, 2104-?) Original Responders (defunct, 2077-2096) Fire Breathers (defunct, 2082-2096)
Active members (Whitespring/other)
Rucker · Esme Rousseau · Giuseppe Della Ripa · Lennox · Sophie Wagoner · Lane Platte · June Seaver · Heather Ellis · Tiffany Brantley · Responder medic · (see all)
Original members (defunct/deceased)
Maria Chavez · Jeff Nakamura · Melody Larkin · Sanjay Kumar · Claire Hudson · Dassa Ben-Ami · Miguel Caldera · Scott Shepherd · Colonel · Kesha McDermott (see all)
Notable locations
The Whitespring Refuge · Gilman lumber mill · Flatwoods · Charleston Fire Department · (see all)
Miscellaneous
The Christmas Flood · Battle of Huntersville · Forest Watch · Scorchslayers
v · d · e

Senior Responder Maria E. Chavez was a pre-War paramedic and one of the leaders of the original Responders,^[2] a faction that formed out of the first responders of Appalachia in the wake of the Great War. Comprised of former military, police, medical personnel and firefighters, the Responders controlled much of the The Forest region in West Virginia, cooperating with the Charleston Emergency Government until its destruction, then as a standalone force under Chavez' leadership. Disagreements between the Brotherhood and Chavez' Responders contributed to the destruction of both factions and brief domination of the Scorched in the region.

The Responders would eventually be revived by Rucker, succeeding Chavez eight years after the original Responders were wiped out. Maria's corpse could previously be found in the Responders command post inside the Morgantown Airport terminal; however, as of the Wastelanders update, the spot has been replaced with Dontrelle Haines' memorial to the Responders.

Background[]

A pre-War paramedic, Maria Chavez was the daughter of a Charleston working full-time at the AVR Medical Center in the city, witnessing the deteriorating situation; wartime supply shortages of critical medicines drove up prices to the point that little Maria's mother couldn't afford them on her salary. Her mother dealt with the issue using her gardening talents, cultivating a garden with herbs and flowers she used to create herbal remedies. Continuing her mother's trade, Chavez eventually became a paramedic with an appreciation of naturopathic medicine.^[3]

After the Great War, Chavez became one of the founders of the Responders.^[4] She first participated in the recovery efforts undertaken by the police, firefighters and medical services, loosely cooperating with the Charleston Emergency Government that declared a state of emergency across the Appalachian territories to deal with the chaos wrought by the nuclear war.^[5] However, with Governor Evans gone, caused by an imminent probe into embezzlement of public funds before the War,^[6] and political competition between Speaker Poole and Majority Whip Holbrook,^[7] the first responders were forced to rely on their own initiative and judgement, pretending to follow orders of the CEG.^[6] By 2082, the Responders were the de facto government for Charleston.^[8]

Chavez focused on medicine, especially finding alternatives to the dwindling supply of pre-War medicine. A trip to her mother's workplace, the AVR Medical Center, rekindled her interest in naturopathic medicine and seeking alternative cures made from flora present in Appalachia.^[3] She also handled other salvaging and scavenging efforts, like coordinating with Jeff Nakamura on recovering dynamite from Gauley Mine,^[9] and keeping tabs on Vault 76 through monthly scouting runs. She assigned them to Responders like one Paul, with the stipulation to avoid danger and return after a few days of observation.^[10] Everything changed with The Christmas Flood on Christmas in 2082. The attack by David Thorpe destroyed the city, killing thousands, and wiping out most of the Responders.^[8]

The Responders weren't completely destroyed, as they had already been expanding northwards across the Allegheny Plateau, securing a trade route with the emerging Free States,^[11] and setting up a volunteer outpost shortly after the Great War in Flatwoods.^[12][13][14] Maria avoided death in the flood together with a handful of senior members, and resolved to rebuild the Responders,^[8] although many doubted such a thing would be even possible.^[15] Under her leadership, the Responders moved to Morgantown Airport, restarting their efforts to help the people of Appalachia. Strong-willed and dedicated, Maria slowly built up the Responders from almost nothing over the next decade, as a volunteer-based organization focusing on healing and teaching people how to survive.^[4] Chavez was not a fan of violence or combat, but under Melody Larkin's persuasion, she allocated resources to help Larkin form the Fire Breathers, a long-range rescue unit intended for operations in the devastated Ash Heap. The Fire Breathers would use the Charleston ruins as a training area and staging ground for operations deep within the hostile, devastated regions of the Ash Heap, seeking survivors in Welch, Beckley, Bramwell and other communities the Responders were unable to reach.^[16]

Expanding northward, into the Toxic Valley, the Responders reestablished contact with Elizabeth Taggerdy's Brotherhood of Steel and the Free States, lost after the Charleston flood.^[17] Although Chavez and Taggerdy had trouble cooperating, one was a civilian healer, the other a military soldier^[18], the problems weren't serious at first. The Brotherhood's expanding presence led to a post at Grafton Dam, opened a safe route through the Savage Divide into the Mire, keeping the raiders at bay, and reopening relations with the Free States and Harpers Ferry, which by early 2084 became a burgeoning settlement on the frontier.^[19] This connection also led to knowledge sharing: Ella Ames collaborated with Maria on ghoul research, after the first of them began appearing at the edges of survivor communities.^[20] 2086 represented the high water mark for Chavez, Responders and Appalachia in general: The Huntersville super mutants became a persistent threat to the region, leading to an alliance between the Responders and the Brotherhood.^[21] In May 2086, their alliance culminated in the Battle of Huntersville and the elimination of super mutants from the area, as well as containment of the raider menace.^[22]

The alliance was broken up by a confluence of factors. The first was a marked shift in mission profile, imposed by Elder Roger Maxson, who mandated securing and isolating dangerous technologies that could threaten the recovering humanity if used irresponsibly. To the outside, it seemed like arbitrary confiscations, especially after Taggerdy promptly abandoned Grafton Dam and reallocated troops to follow her new orders.^[23] Secondly, the scorchbeasts. Already seen as early as 2084, when they started breaking out of Enclave containment,^[19] they were unleashed on the region in full force by President Eckhart in his bid to force a DEFCON change and access the Appalachian Automated Launch System in early 2085.^[24] By 2086, the scorchbeasts became a major threat, spreading rapidly through the Cranberry Bog. With the Enclave self-destructed in a brief, but violent civil war, the Brotherhood step up to defend Appalachia, setting up a security perimeter around the bog, and installing ASAM batteries on its borders, after Harpers Ferry fell to the Scorched Plague.^[25] The Brotherhood turned to the Responders for resources to maintain the containment campaign. This caused a major rift between Chavez and Taggerdy, as the insistent demands for resources mounted without a clear explanation as to why, while Taggerdy's military mindset led to frustration on her part.^[4]

The fragile alliance that seemed to be on the brink of reestablishing new order in Appalachia in 2086 swiftly unraveled: Free States returned to their bunkers to work on their own solutions for the Scorched threat, the Brotherhood of Steel continued a doomed war of attrition, while the Responders tried to tend to the survivors west of the Allegheny Mountains as best they could, despite persistent raider and wildlife attacks. Demands for resources and supplies on Taggerdy's part intensified, putting her at odds with Chavez, especially as 2092 marked the tenth anniversary of the Christmas Flood, which killed thousands at the whim of a man used to taking things by force.^[8]

Chavez failed to realize the severity of the Scorched threat, believing that the Responders had a duty to the people under their care and should allocate their resources accordingly, and implored her fellow Responders to consider whether they should entertain Taggerdy's demands or help the people under her care.^[4] Meanwhile, the Brotherhood's situation worsened and in July 2093, Taggerdy ordered an immediate cessation of recruitment and training, devoting all resources to the war with the scorchbeasts.^[26] The Brotherhood's routine requisitions of food, ammunition and other essentials burned through goodwill fast, straining supply lines as early as January 2094.^[27] Chavez did not believe in taking anything by force, instead relying on mutually-beneficial agreements and trade, respecting the independence of all involved: For example, though the Responders desired Amy Kerry's expertise in environmental sciences and made repeated entreaties, she respected Kerry's desire for independence and instead struck an agreement with her to exchange data for supplies.^[28]

This became a catalyst for the ultimate breaking down of relations with the Brotherhood: After Operation Touchdown was launched on January 28, 2095, leading to the loss of Paladin Taggerdy and some of the most veteran members of the Brotherhood, the Brotherhood remnants under Senior Knight Wilson became desperately aggressive.^[29] When an envoy learned about Kerry's environmental project, he became interested in it. Fearing consequences for Kerry and confiscation of her work, Chaves misdirected them at first, and finally relented on March 12, 2095, when the Brotherhood demanded information about the project at gunpoint.^[30] The relations were permanently soured, but the Brotherhood's cryptic broadcast that "Defiance has fallen" in August 2095 raised Chavez' worries. She sent Responder Tammy through the Savage Divide, in order to reach Abigayle Singh at her bunker and learn what happened to the Brotherhood, and more importantly, what was coming for the Responders.^[31]

The first wave were raiders pushed out of the mountains by the encroaching scorched, fleeing for their lives. The second were the scorched themselves, steadily spreading across Appalachia over the mountain passes and in particular the Big Bend Tunnel connecting the Bog with the Ash Heap. Chavez realized the severity of the threat too late, and asked Claire Hudson to try and find a cure. By July 6, 2096, the research team of one was set up in the basement of the AVR Medical Center,^[32] and began research on August 1, working with what few Responders were available to unlock the secret of the Scorched Plague.^[33] Meanwhile, Chavez and Larkin prepared the Fire Breathers for a daring attack on Big Bend, to seal it and stem the tide of Scorched coming into western Appalachia. One group even managed to penetrate AVR,^[34] However, despite months of efforts, shortages of critical supplies and blood samples from creatures necessary to create the vaccine halted her project.^[35] Chavez and Larkin cleared the operation regardless, sending the Fire Breathers out in late October 2096.^[36]

Like Touchdown, the operation failed. The scorchbeasts and the scorched had no organized opposition before them and descended on Morgantown Airport. On November 7, 2096, the sky was full of the monsters, with Maria Chavez sending a last transmission to Hudson at AVR,^[37] and joined the rest of the Responders in their last stand. Without the firepower of the Brotherhood, the resilience of the Free States, and even the ruthless resourcefulness of the raiders, the Responders stood alone and failed. Chavez coordinated the defense from the command post inside the Morgantown airport terminal, and was among the last to fall after recording her last words.^[38] Her body remained at the terminal for the next seven years, mummifying in the conditions of post-apocalypse Appalachia. After the emergence of Vault 76 dwellers in 2102, her final plea led to the completion of the vaccine project and eventual defeat of the plague and the scorchbeasts.^[39]

The subsequent return of humans to Appalachia in 2103, also led to her earning a well-deserved final rest: Dontrelle Haines cleaned up the Morgantown Responders command center, giving Chavez a burial and erecting a small memorial to her.^[40] A greater memorial was erected by Rucker, who reestablished the Responders at The Whitespring Resort, creating a refuge for people in need from all over Appalachia in 2104, carrying Chavez' torch on into the darkness.

Inventory[]

Related holotapes[]

• Out of time
• Maria's last words
• The Christmas Flood
• The Fire Breathers
• Field report: AVR Medical
• Responders recruitment holotape
• Responders field manual: Radiation

Appearances[]

Maria Chavez appears only in Fallout 76.

Gallery[]

Maria close-up

References[]