Return to Sender

Return to Sender is a side quest in Fallout: New Vegas.

Quick walkthrough

 * 1) Speak with Sergeant Reyes at Camp Forlorn Hope.
 * 2) Travel to all Ranger stations and deliver the codes.
 * 3) Return to Reyes.
 * 4) Travel back to Ranger stations and investigate the reports.
 * 5) Return to Reyes again.
 * 6) Travel to Camp Golf.
 * 7) Confront Chief Hanlon.

Detailed walkthrough
Speak with Tech Sergeant Reyes at the Camp Forlorn Hope Command Center to begin this quest. You are asked to deliver several radio security upgrade codes by speaking to the Communications Officer at each of the Ranger stations. (If the Officer in charge was killed in any way, interact with the Ham Radio to deliver the code.)
 * Upgrade Ranger station Alpha
 * Upgrade Ranger station Bravo
 * Upgrade Ranger station Charlie (if Ranger Station Charlie has already been wiped out, you don't have to visit it, even though it is still stated as a quest objective).
 * Upgrade Ranger station Delta
 * Upgrade Ranger station Echo
 * Upgrade Ranger station Foxtrot

After you're finished, you're sent back out to several stations to double-check the intel reports. Speak to Ranger Pason at station Delta, Ranger Kudlow at station Foxtrot and Ranger Lineholm at station Alpha. If you have them, walk out of the tent and then back in, and speak to Reyes. After her suspicions have been justified, go to Camp Golf and confront Chief Hanlon about it. He can be found on the balcony above the entrance to the House Resort during the day.
 * If you decide to turn him in, he commits suicide with his revolver. He drops his Ranger Sequoia revolver (which can also be stolen), and you'll gain 500 XP.
 * Quest completed on player and Xbox 360 by waiting outside the now-locked Hanlon office door for about one to two minutes.
 * If you let Hanlon continue his plan without informing the NCR, he walks off and you get 500XP.
 * If you have killed Caesar or discovered his illness, you can convince Hanlon to come back to his senses and cease falsifying the reports, and you get 500XP.

Bugs

 * Your companions can disappear when you leave the balcony. It's best to make them wait outside the resort before going in. When they disappear, going back outside, or leaving the building, can make them return after waiting 30 seconds (they just pop out of nowhere). In some cases you may have to dismiss them since they become "stuck" in front of the balcony.
 * It is possible for Hanlon to become glitched so that he remains stationary and never goes out to the balcony. He will not enter dialogue with the character and the quest cannot be completed. Sleeping, waiting and fast traveling are all unable to fix his lack of movement. Walking into him as if your trying to push him MAY work as it worked for some in this situation, but if not... Loading a save prior to entering the building can fix this. Also, you can, after realizing he is glitched, exit the building, then wait out in front (real-time waiting) until he comes out on the porch, then re-enter the building and proceed to the porch. You can also try pick-pocketing and being detected, this will make him walk off and resume his normal routine.
 * If the player crosses the threshold that closes and locks Hanlon's door before the objective of finding a Ranger to arrest him finishes displaying, Hanlon's radio announcement fails to play. The gunshot still occurs and the quest is completed, though. Also the Holotape you receive may not play, or will let you play once and quit working.
 * Sometimes he will get stuck in a mass crowd of other NCR members. A way to fix this is to use a silenced weapon (or melee) to 'sneak kill' all of the NCR soldiers that are in Hanlon's general vicinity. Almost immediately after this he will begin to move once more.
 * Depending on side quests completed by the Courier, Ranger Station Charlie may or may not have been raided and its inhabitants murdered. While speaking with Tech Sergeant Reyes, after turning in the first part of the quest, the Courier has the option to ask about other Ranger Stations experiencing strange occurrences. She will say that Ranger Station Charlie has recently been reporting an over-shipment of medical supplies even if the Courier has reported to her that the Station's inhabitants are dead. (This may have something to do with how Ranger Station Bravo has received many ammunition resupplies, yet is not as well stocked in water/med supplies)
 * When receiving the second part of the quest, Reyes will tell the Courier that one Ranger Station is reporting attacks from super mutants and another is reporting being attacked by the Great Khans' "trained deathclaws". When the quest updates in the Courier's Pip-Boy, a quest objective is to investigate the reports from Camp Golf, even though these reports were not mentioned in the quest dialogue.
 * Note that this objective is marked as complete once the last report from the ranger stations are received; Hanlon does have dialogue regarding seeking out the ranger stations to confirm the reports, saying something about how "sometimes things get twisted"; this may be an attempt to throw you off his trail, though it is odd this dialogue can take place even after it is made apparent that Hanlon is to blame
 * Due to a scripting error, if you convince the chief to stop falsifying records, you will get the ending where you agreed to keep his secret safe.
 * There is currently a bug where Hanlon does not commit suicide after you tell him you will turn him in. Even after waiting, the quest does not advance. He just sits in his office behind a locked door.
 * This script error can be partially remedied with the console command This will at least set the quest to completed and Hanlon will just wander off to his room. This glitch can sometimes be fixed by walking outside through the main entrance and walking back in, at that point you should hear a gunshot.
 * If you still want to get the Ranger Sequoia you can do the following: First you set the console command . Use the no clip command to enter to the office. You can find a place near the cabinets to hide yourself. Wait until you are HIDDEN; enter V.A.T.S. mode and shoot him in the head. He should die with one shot. Don't make any moves, and wait until the NCR troops outside are not hostile anymore. This could take a while, and sometimes does not work; in that case, try again. Once the NCR returns to a non-hostile state, you search for the weapon on Hanlon's body. DON'T TAKE ANYTHING ELSE, JUST THE WEAPON, otherwise the NCR will turn hostile again. Sometimes this doesn't work. Once Hanlon's office is closed, you must do this instantly; if you go outside and then go back the NCR might never turn non-hostile while you are there. This video may be of some assistance.
 * Clearing the system cache (thus removing the patches) helps this particular bug. Walking out of and back into the building may still be required, but at least this way you CAN finish the quest in this fashion.
 * There is an alternative to clearing the cache. If you have some on you, throw some dynamite at the door of his office and take cover. The explosion should hurt him and all the rangers will think he shot himself. There will be no gun shot but you can still see his dead body. This does not affect your karma or your reputation if you made sure the rangers were out of the way.Be patient as this may take a few sticks of dynamite. note: C-4 in his office prior to locking the door and detonating it in his office will lead to you killing him rather than suicide.
 * Another possible solution is to walk out of the building and back in, then reload the autosave for the resort. This should cause Hanlon's announcement to continue. This may have to be done several times for the whole announcement to play out. If the door to Hanlon's office is still locked after the quest completed notification is received, fast travel away and wait 72 hours. Upon returning, the door should be unlocked. Hanlon's corpse may be gone but a Ranger Sequoia at fully repaired condition should be on the floor.
 * If this quest is done before the quest Ring-a-Ding-Ding! the game will not allow you to enter any building(or something that requires you to go through a door) without freezing or crashing your system. This usually occurs when you are checking in with the false reports. The only way to fix this so you can go through doors is to load a previous saved game before this quest or the second part of the quest.
 * When Chief Hanlon makes a speech over the microphone before his suicide, each line is said twice. This does not change the ending of the quest.
 * If you level up after you complete the quest the game will freeze, after this if you wait 20 to 30 seconds it should go back to normal.
 * Speaking with Ranger Andy and then using the "Rangers are tough, they'll be fine" option and then winning the speech challenge will result in no attack on Station Charlie. This will only happen if you end your conversation with the speech check. This way, you wouldn't get the note to check on Ranger Station Charlie. However, if you talk to Ranger Andy again and end the conversation normally, you would get the note and you would find that everyone in the station is dead.
 * If you go to Ranger Station Charlie first, gather the holotapes, and then talk to Ranger Andy at Novac, he'll have nothing to say about the Legion threats on the holotapes, making it impossible to continue. The only way to undo this mistake is to re-load to your previous saved game. If you happen to save the game right after you got the holotapes before talking to Ranger Andy, then you're stuck finishing this unmarked quest.

Behind the scenes

 * The quest content was implemented by Jeff Husges and Matt MacLean. Chief Hanlon was written by J.E. Sawyer.
 * "Return to Sender" is a 1962 rock and roll hit single by American singer Elvis Presley. The song was written by Winfield Scott and Otis Blackwell. It is about a man getting a letter back from his girlfriend after an argument.

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