So what we're looking at, at least from what I've gathered:

[b]The Empire of the Shattered Sky[/b] [i](Tinsui, The Empire)[/i]

A nearly two hundred years-old organization originating from Vault 44 (4 is an unlucky number in Chinese), the decedents of a Vault-Tec experiment to study communism, and the Chinese "mindset." Since emerging from the vault, the former vault-dwellers have developed their own society in the northern region of former British Columbia, establishing their own laws and monarchy, ruled by an enigmatic figure known as The Emperor of the Shattered Sky.

Within the last decade, a surprising amount of flaming debris touched down near Imperial borders, and their scouts and scientists gathered as much as they could find, realizing that the scorched pieces comprised parts of an extraterrestrial vessel. Though the concept had frightening complications, the Imperial scientists went to work, eventually scrapping together a working version of one of the unusual weapons - a beam which could be reflected off of one of the numerous satellites in orbit, to be fired down as space-faring artillery.

Upon the initial test fire, however, the beam's aim was slightly miscalculated, and scorched a settlement approximately two hundred miles south of the Imperial palace. The accident notwithstanding, the results were impressive, as nothing had survived the blast, and the earth and sand itself had been practically turned to glass and slag where there was once buildings and farms.

The test proven successful, the Emperor encouraged further research, especially in light of the considerable power drain required by the weapon itself.

The test firing, however, attracted the attention of both The Enclave and The Brotherhood of Steel, each of which sent scouting groups to the area like moths to a flame, curious and concerned about the source of such an output of energy.