Melissa Reische

	For other characters named Melissa, see Melissa.

Knight Melissa Reische^[1] was a member of the Brotherhood of Steel stationed at Big Bend Tunnel East in Appalachia.

Background[]

Knight Reische was the leader of a Brotherhood contingent located at Big Bend Tunnel East, established sometime after November 2085.^[2] In 2088, she came into contact with Carol Sweeney, leader of an ex-raider group that settled in Big Bend West and established trade with them.^[3] For the next several years, through fall 2093, Reische actively engaged in trading with nearby wastelanders, especially Sweeney's group; under her command, the Brotherhood group was very generous, with the stated goal of working to ensure nearby communities were taken care of. Indirectly, she inspired Sweeney to move beyond seeing herself as simply a former raider.^[3]

Despite projecting an image of confidence, Reische noted growing issues in maintaining their supply lines to the west of the Allegheny Mountains, as moving supplies through the Big Bend Tunnel was becoming increasingly challenging due to increased Scorched presence.^[4] The knight was aware that their top leadership would not be able to send already scarce resources to fortify one checkpoint, but still resolved to send a runner to Fort Defiance to inform them of the situation.^[4] Reische also carried out some salvage runs into Watoga, but eventually suspended them and recalled the scout teams to bolster security at the tunnel exit.^[5]

Eventually, Reische was ordered to abandon the post as the Brotherhood drew its lines in to focus on defending Fort Defiance and Thunder Mountain Power Plant. In the summer of 2095, Carol visited Melissa's camp, finding it abandoned.^[6] She found it confusing, as the contingent was gone and Melissa left no parting message.^[6]

Appearances[]

Melissa Reische is mentioned only in Fallout 76.

Behind the scenes[]

The first name of the character is given in scattered journal pages, identifying her as "head of command" of the eastern outpost, while the last name and rank are provided through the terminal entries found at Big Bend Tunnel East.

References[]