New Vegas

"New Vegas is more than a city - it's the remedy to mankind's derailment."

- Mr.House

New Vegas, originally known as Las Vegas in the Wasteland before Robert House revived its reconstruction, is a city upon the remains of Las Vegas, located in southern Nevada.

Unlike the other major cities of the United States, Vegas emerged from the atomic fire of the Great War relatively unscathed, with most of the major damage caused by the downfall of society in general.

Background
Vegas' survival is owed to the actions of Robert House. House had foreseen the war coming sooner than most - fifteen years, in fact - and was determined to protect his home city of Las Vegas. He used his considerable intelligence and vast wealth to ensure that when war finally came, he would be prepared. He created an army of securitrons, some to police the strip, but the bulk of them hidden beneath Fortification Hill for activation at a later date. He also had his own hotel, the Lucky 38 Casino, fitted with radar-jamming systems, missile arrays, a laser defense network, and life-support systems.

House calculated that his defenses would see off the majority of missiles bound for Vegas, but at least some damage to outer Vegas and the surrounding settlements was unavoidable, and that more was to be done. To this end, he had engineers in Sunnyvale develop The Platinum Chip, a data storage device that would upgrade his defense systems and securitrons to the Mark II OS, ensuring that Vegas and the surrounding area would be safe.

The platinum chip was due for delivery by courier on October 23, 2077, the day of the Great War. Hours before the delivery Sunnyvale was reduced to rubble, the platinum chip buried beneath it. House was forced to make do with his relatively primitive stasis systems and although most of Vegas was saved, he suffered numerous system crashes and was eventually forced into a coma. Little is known of what happened in this period of Vegas' history, although evidence of riots scar the city even today, and at least one overweight gangster similar to Don Gizmo, was known to have made his mark. In 2138, House awoke from his coma, but bided his time, watching the city be settled by tribals and raiders.

In 2274, New California Republic (NCR) scouts arrived at Hoover Dam, piquing House's interest. These were no tribals, these were civilized people - somewhere, out in the wastes, a new society had begun. A society that would no doubt see Las Vegas and its power source, the Dam, as theirs for the taking. House's securitrons finally emerged from the Lucky 38, offering an ultimatum to the raider tribes settled on the Strip: join House and be part of his New Vegas, leave the Strip, or die. Three tribes accepted his offer, the Chairmen, the Omertas and the White Glove Society, becoming known as the Three Families. Only the Kings refused and were returned to Freeside. The Three Families, as well as the securitrons, would be enough to protect the Strip for now, but if the NCR tried to take it by force they would not be able to resist in any meaningful way.

The arrival of Caesar's Legion from the east has created a delicate power balance in the region. The NCR would have taken the Strip long ago, but the presence of the Legion means that if they attacked the Strip, they would be vulnerable to an attack from them at Hoover Dam. House and the NCR negotiated the New Vegas treaty whereby the NCR gets 95% of the Dam's power output and McCarran International Airport as a base of operation, while the Strip gets the remaining 5% - much more than required to run The Strip - and immunity from annexation.

In 2065, Mr. House predicted that the world would have a nuclear war within 15 years. Knowing this, he made all necessary plans to make sure that New Vegas would live on. However, Mr. House's predictions were slightly off. He ended up having 20 hours less than he expected. This stopped the platinum chip from arriving at New Vegas.

House has grand plans for Vegas - he calculates that on the back of tourism from the NCR, Vegas' economy will be strong enough to restart the development of new technology within 20 years, put people in orbit within 50 years, and within 100 years, have a colony ready to leave Earth behind and settle a new planet, untouched by war. And that is why he cannot let either side win. House spent over 812,545 caps hiring salvage teams to recover the platinum chip from Sunnyvale. Having finally recovered it, he had Victor hire 6 couriers to bring it to him. 5 of the 6 couriers carrying decoys and the courier carrying the real chip.

Freeside
Freeside is the main slum of New Vegas. Controlled by the Kings and the Van Graffs, the streets are dangerous and lack the luster of the New Vegas Strip. Many gamblers and tourists would find themselves being attacked by thugs looking for a quick source of caps. Recent tensions between the NCR and the Kings has worsened the situation between both sides as more tourists come under attack. Like the rest of outer Vegas, Freeside shows resentment towards the NCR. But realize they can be put through a tollbooth since it is the only way into the Casinos.

Freeside is divided into two sections. The first section is C shaped and comprised of the western, northern, and eastern parts of the district. This section is the first you can enter from the Mojave as it has both of Freeside's external gates. Several rough bodyguards stand near the gates, offering their "services" on the mean streets for a paltry sum of caps.

The second section covers the central and southern parts of the district. This section is reached from the north by passing through a wrecked-vehicle roadblock that divides the two parts of Freeside, or from the north-west through a zone door at the back of a ruin building between the Silver Rush and the Atomic Wrangler Casino, or from the south via the The Strip North Gate.

New Vegas Strip
The heart of New Vegas. When entering through The Strip North Gate, Gomorrah is to the right and the Lucky 38 is to the left. Further down the street is a gate to another area of the strip, which contains The Tops casino, the Ultra-Luxe, and the Camp McCarran monorail. Beyond that, through another gate, is Vault 21, Michael Angelo's workshop and the NCR Embassy.

North Vegas Square
Like Freeside, North Vegas Square are part of the slums of New Vegas. There is almost nothing of interest and the place is mostly filled with unimportant individuals. Most of the buildings are decrepit and falling apart, more so than other locations in the Mojave Wasteland. The only places of interest here are an apartment building called The Gray and a manhole to the North Sewers. The citizens living in this area are highly independent or some might say xenophobic, they are very suspicious of outsiders and reject the presence of the New California Republic.

Sewers
Located under the New Vegas area is a sewer system with exits to most of the settlements around the city. There are no entrances to the sewers located inside the walls of the Strip or Freeside. The sections of sewer are: the North Sewers, the Central Sewers, the East Central Sewers and the Sealed Sewers.

Westside
Though it is one of the poorer residential areas of the city, it houses its own militia and has, unlike every other part of the city, become more or less self-dependent, growing its own food and maintaining its own water supply. The residents often complain of problems with the Fiends, who often harass and even kill them in constant raids. A smaller gang, the Scorpions also have a presence around the southern outskirts.

The larger neighborhood, exposed to the Mojave Wasteland, is surrounded by a small network of walls, while the residential and commercial area is walled completely, except for two gates. The Westside's services include a food store, a brothel, a liquor store, a pawn shop, and a fighting arena where matches can both be fought and bet upon.

North Vegas Square

 * The Gray

Behind the scenes

 * Las Vegas was one of the main and most central cities in Wasteland, the predecessor to the Fallout series.

Appearances
New Vegas was first mentioned as Las Vegas by Tycho in Fallout, and appears in Fallout: New Vegas.