G.I. Blues

 is a quest in Fallout: New Vegas.

Quest Summary
In this quest the player is asked by The King to hire Orris, a bodyguard for hire in Freeside, who has been receiving a lot of business lately. The player must follow Orris from the North Gate to the South Gate, noting any suspicious activity en-route.

The first time you follow Orris, The King will give you the 200 caps needed to hire him. Upon nearing the South Gate, Orris will turn to the player and say that 'he doesn't like the look of some of those guys up ahead'. Orris will then turn left down a side street and run far ahead of the player to kill a thug. When questioned as to how he knew the thug would be there, Orris tells the player it was his instinct. At this point, the player can interrogate Orris further by means of a speech check if they have an Intelligence score of at least 6. If the player does not have the required Intelligence level, Orris will leave, suggesting that the player hires him again next time. If the speech check is successful, the player can then barter to get his original caps back and a small bonus. Orris will run off leaving the player to return to the king. If the barter challenge fails, the player will have to kill Orris and his thugs, who were simply acting to make Orris appear to be a better bodyguard. If the player passes the speech check, but chooses the option that accuses Orris of faking the encounter he will finish the escort, but the player will be able to tell The king about Orris' scam. The player can also examine the thugs Orris shoots with a high enough medicine skill.

Be aware that if you pass both the intelligence challenge and the barter challenge Orris will run back to his original location. Once this happens Orris is effectively removed from the game and the player cannot interact with him in any way.

If the speech check failed, the player must return to The King and tell him that Orris appears to be legitimate. The King will not be satisfied with this, and orders the player to hire him again. The 200 caps will not be provided this time. Upon re-hiring Orris, he will initially be friendly towards the player, but near the South Gate he turns to the player and says that he saw you talking to The King, and that he 'hates losing customers'. He will then turn hostile and try to kill you, and several of his thugs will join him. To complete the quest, Orris and his thugs must be killed.

If the player is a low level, or is not wearing sufficient armor, Orris will quickly kill them with his Hunting Revolver. As such, an easier way to kill Orris is to reverse pickpocket him immediately after hiring him the second time, and placing a Frag Grenade in his inventory (resulting in a small Karma loss). Orris will die and the player will be free to take his Metal Armor and Hunting Revolver, among other miscellaneous items.

Optionally, you can talk to Julie Farkas about the aid service there

NCR is doing suspicious activity at the east of Freeside. The locals are rumouring about free water and food. You get inside the building where they are giving the supplies, and find out that they're just giving food to NCR residents. (If you did the optional part, it turns out that they wanted to talk about things with The King, but the commissary were beaten up.) If you did the optional part, The King will mention that he is willing to strike a deal with the NCR.

It appears the King is a little out of touch with his crews activity. The squabbles with NCR are remembered but nothing is said as to why; just retaliation. Pacer, being the hot head he is, decided for the entire gang that NCR cannot be trusted and had Julia Farkas' warming party beat up before the King heard of their humanitarian effort for Freeside residents. When you return from discovering this, Pacer will immediately approach you as you walk in the Kings home base.

He has set up a fight with the NCR, and asks you to keep hush about his involvement. For your troubles, he'll give you some caps. You can also take the caps and tell the truth if you so choose. The King advises you to try and halt the NCR by letting them know he had no part in the beating of the messenger originally sent. Leave the King and head over to the train station for the confrontation.

As you approach the quarrel, you will see Pacer cowering in a bus stop covering while the NCR is unloading on him and his fallen Kings. If wish to talk things out with NCR YOU MUST HOLSTER YOUR WEAPONS AND PUT YOUR HANDS DOWN to allow the deal to be considered. However, if you would rather blow them away simply run up guns blazing (I suggest the HELIOS laser as it will incinerate the entire fort with no survivors). Return to The King and reap the reward of a finished quest (XP and a favor from the King). In this case, you can get: 1. Entrance into the Strip without the credit check, 2. a Kings jacket and induction into the Kings, or 3. 1000 bottle caps.

Notes and Notable Glitches

 * Even when given the Kings Jacket for induction your character is not considered a King by anyone in New Vegas.


 * At the last part of the battle (when Pacer is crouched) you can murder him for no negative points. In fact, you gain karma! Just be sure to utilize the Rex glitch (Rex must be in your party at this time) to remain in favor with the Kings. The King will simply note that he'll miss Pacer.