- Not of This World

Fallout 3 Mothership Zeta Guide

Not of This World

Cell Block:
When you approach the Crashed Anomaly you’ll be beamed up by Mothership Zeta.

By the time you wake up you’re in a cell together with a woman named Somah.  Inquire about what the hell just happened, although she doesn’t know much more than the obvious: You’ve been abducted by aliens!

[video to follow]

After watching a man being transported by a giant crane arm, talk to Somah and come up with a plan: Hit each other so the Aliens will come in and try to stop you from killing each other.  Guess what?  The plan actually works and two Aliens step inside the cell.

Quickly punch the heck out of them (which should not be too hard) and grab their weapon: A Shock Baton.

Tip: Exploring the Alien ship is much easier when you know that switches are marked by a blue holographic field, while exits are marked by orange holographic fields.  This helps you familliarize the area quickly.

Proceed to the east and check the round Control tubes to find [ALIEN CAPTIVE RECORDED LOG 15] and [ACRL 22], which I’ll name ACRL’s from now on.  Also grab the [ACRL 14] from this room.  The cells don’t hold much in particular, although you can strip a dead Enclave Officer of their clothes for some extra defense - he’s lying in one of the cells.

When you’re all ready, move through the Archway to the west.  These restore a little health and reduce your radiation as you pass through them.  In this room, check your immediate left to find [ACRL 3] and [ACRL 1], and check the SW corner to find [ACRL 12]. 

The door to the west is sealed, so move through the one on the south.

Tip: You can inspect Archways and modify them to fully restore your health (if your Science skill is high enough, I suspect).  The modified archway can only be used several times before breaking down completely, however.

You’ll have reached another cell block, and a girl named Sally asks you for help from one of the locked cells.  Flip the controls to the south and activate all the Core Coolant Switches - make sure to stand back a good distance when the device explodes.  With Sally freed, bring her along and head back to the previously locked door.  Sally will crawl through a vent (very ‘Aliens’ and ‘RE2’ish) and unlock it for you.

Waste the Alien in the room on your left (south) and loot him - sometimes they hold Alien Worm Food, a new food that restores 5 HP.  Flip the switch inside the room and check the three [CONTAINERS] to retrieve all of your equipment, and loot the other two for a few more items.  Make your way through the door on the west and travel to the Steamworks.

Note: Aliens with helmets have considerably more defense than Aliens without, as they have some sort of force field surrounding them.

Steamworks:
You’ll be given the choice to hand Sally a grenade and have her throw it at the group of three Aliens, but you can also handle them yourself.  Travel through the tunnels until you reach quite a big group of Aliens in a long tunnel leading west.  You’ll also pass a locked door, although an Alien can open this for you if they spot you.

They’ll mostly attack with Alien Atomizers, a much weaker weapon than the Alien Blaster, and it uses Alien Power Modules as ammunition.  In either case, destroy the Alien group and travel through either door on your left (south) side to access a hallway with a restorative archway and a [CONTAINER].  Continue down the main hallway and head through the door.

Dispatch a few more Aliens and check the [CONTAINER] on the right for a few more goodies from outer space, possibly also an Alien Disintegrator.  The doors to the north lead to a steamworks hall, while the northwest stairs simply lead you to the upper balcony of the hall.  Expect to encounter several Aliens here, along with a new type of enemy called Support Drones.  These aren’t too tough, so turn them into scrap metal and be on your way.

From the balcony, explore the western tunnel to find two [ALIEN EPOXIES], and search the NW room for a [CONTAINER].  There’s not much else in this area, so proceed through the doorway on the ground floor leading northwest.

Tip: An Alien Epoxy is an item accessed under ‘Aid’ in the PipBoy, and will repair about 25% of the weapon you currently have equipped.

You’ll encounter two Alien Workers here, but they aren’t meanies and killing them results in a loss of Karma.  At the end of the walkway, dispatch of another Alien and a Turret.  Travel through the door, make use of the archway on your left and proceed inside the next hall.  Dispatch three more Aliens and head up the stairs on the northwest of the hall.

Make your way over the balcony walkway and look around for another [CONTAINER].  Dispatch around three Aliens, then enter the door on the north and destroy the Turret.  Walk through the archway, go downstairs and move through the hallway where Sally informs you that she’s back again.

Dispatch a couple of Aliens in the upcoming hall, along with a ceiling turret, and make your way through the door on the north.  Waste two more Aliens upstairs and Sally joins you in physical form again.  The room she came from houses two [CONTAINERS], an archway, and several items on some shelves: [LARGE ALIEN CRYSTAL x2], [SMALL ALIEN CRYSTAL], [ALIEN BIOGEL] and [ALIEN POWER CELL x4].

Sally will wisely wait “until everything’s safe”, so proceed over the catwalk and explore the far east section of the area to find some Alien Worm Food and two [SMALL ALIEN CRYSTALS] on some tables.  The southern room doesn’t contain any items, so follow the catwalk southwest and destroy the turret before exiting to the Engineering Core.

Engineering Core:
The core is located on your left (east), but this path only leads to the middle level.  Nonetheless, search the area around the core to loot two [CONTAINERS].

Follow Sally inside the other room afterwards.  Search the desks for [SMALL ALIEN CRYSTAL x2] and a [LARGE ALIEN CRYSTAL], [ALIEN EPOXY x2], [SMALL ALIEN CRYSTAL x4], [LARGE ALIEN CRYSTAL x2], and search the shelves next to the stairs for another [SMALL ALIEN CRYSTAL] and [LARGE ALIEN CRYSTAL].

Upstairs you’ll find that the Aliens have shut down power to the Airlock Door leading to the Decompression Chamber, and that the Teleportation Matrix leading to the Observation Deck has also been shut down.  Head south instead and search the shelves to your left for an [ALIEN EPOXY].

This is the ship’s core room.  Although everything’s shut down, it doesn’t hurt to go over the entrances/exits of other areas.  To the west you’ll find the Teleportation Matrix to the Maintenance Level, a door leading to Robot Assembly and a smaller door leading to the Engine Room.  To the east is the door leading to the Hangar, and another door leading to the Cargo Hold.

WARNING: Explore the optional areas first (Maintenance Level, Engine Room, and Cargo Hold).  When you finish the main quest these doors will be locked.

Ignore all locked doors and follow Sally south.  Inquire about the people in cryostasis and agree to free the spaceman.  This ends the first quest.  Make sure you check the four controls in this room to find [ACRL 5, 6, 7, 8], then fiddle with the Stasis Controls to unlock the pods.