Racket

Operation: Racket is an operation planned between Caesar's Legion and the Omertas around 2281.

Background
During the Second Battle of Hoover Dam, if still under the leadership of Big Sal and Nero, the Omertas stage a coup within the New Vegas Strip, attempting to run the other Strip proprietors out. The operation was planned and settled by Caesar's head frumentarius Vulpes Inculta.

For months, Caesar regularly fed bribes to Nero to support the Omertas' betrayal of Mr. House; the end goal was to induce as much chaos as possible during the Legion military campaign across the Mojave. Despite Legate Lanius being leery and angered by the treacherous operation potentially sullying the Legion's victory at Hoover Dam, Caesar paid no mind and went on with the plan.

Gomorrah had a reputation for being the most popular casino in New Vegas, and tended to attract lonely NCR personnel looking for certain "company." Nero and Big Sal saw this as an opportunity for leverage in Operation: Racket.

Working in hand with the frumentarii, the Omerta leaders acquired the services of specialists to help make the plan a reality. Clanden, a brutally sadistic but highly skilled chemist and bomb maker, would rape, torture and murder some of the hookers. The Omerta leaders would sell the resulting snuff tapes as side income to sadists, while using the dead hookers as blackmail material to force certain high-value targets like Troike to work for them as either smugglers or foot soldiers. The frumentarius Picus was also tasked to disable the monorail between Camp McCarran and the Strip, which would slow the deployment of NCR infantry in the event of an attack on the Strip.

The Courier's involvement
The plan had run into difficulties, however, with Clanden lacking materials to make anything that could kill as many people as the Omertas wanted, and Troike losing a shipment of smuggled weapons to the Fiends. The Courier, upon arrival on the New Vegas Strip, could intervene, either bringing the plan to fruition, or completely derailing it.

The Courier could find evidence that Omertas lieutenant Cachino was making secret deals that went against the family's interests, something the Omertas punished with death. Giving it to Big Sal and Nero, the pair would have Cachino killed, and would recruit the Courier to further help with the plan. Told to speak with Clanden and Troike to help solve their problems, the Courier could have retrieved the disassembled weapons shipment stolen by the Fiends, and acquired a container of chlorine so Clanden could make a chlorine gas to help with the attack.

However, the plan could also be ended before it truly began. By blackmailing Cachino with knowledge of his off-the-books dealings, the Courier could have been informed of the plan as well as Troike and Clanden's involvement. Finding evidence of Clanden's murders, the Courier could have turned him in to the New California Republic Military Police, blackmailed him into leaving Vegas, or got him alone and killed him. Troike had been blackmailed into helping the Omertas after supposedly killing a hooker while high on Jet. Suspecting the Omertas intended to betray him once they got enough weapons, he made some thermite as insurance to destroy the weapons he had smuggled into the casino. After destroying the guns, the Courier would be called to meet with Big Sal and Nero, who were aware of the Courier's involvement in the destruction of the guns. The pair would attempt to kill the Courier; however, the Courier would win the ensuing gun fight, leaving Cachino in charge of Gomorrah and Operation: Racket in tatters.

Regardless, no matter who won the Second Battle of Hoover Dam, the White Glove Society, Chairmen, and Securitrons were able to dampen the coup if it occurred and stop the Omertas.

Outcome
The following messages are played by NCR Emergency Radio during the Second Battle of Hoover Dam if the mentioned conditions are met.

Appearances
Operation: Racket is mentioned only in Fallout: New Vegas.