Keep Your Eyes on the Prize

Keep Your Eyes on the Prize is a side quest in Fallout: New Vegas.

Summary
Ghost, an NCR Ranger from the Mojave Outpost, is concerned when she notices plumes of smoke rising from the reclusive town of Nipton. To add to her concern, there have been no travelers from Nipton as of late. Ghost contracts you to investigate the disturbance.

Detailed walkthrough
Upon approaching the town, you are greeted by an ecstatic (if not manic) Powder Ganger by the name of Oliver Swanick who proclaims life is grand after winning the lottery. Moving past him into town reveals a row of crucified Powder Gangers along the first street on your left (north). To the left of that is the Nipton General Store, where Boxcars is located. At the end of this road is the town hall. Either location yields an non-player character who will give you the information required to complete this quest.

Inside the General Store is Boxcars, a crippled Powder Ganger who will tell you what happened in Nipton. At the entrance to the town hall you'll encounter a contingent of Caesar's Legion, led by Vulpes Inculta. He will initiate dialog, offer to tell you the tale of Nipton's demise, and after a brief exchange, spares your life in order for you to spread the word of their atrocities across the wasteland, giving the quest Cold, Cold Heart.

Talking with Ranger Ghost again after this point will complete the mission.

Bugs

 * If you find Vulpes Inculta later in the game (not in Nipton) and kill him, this quest will be completed even if you have never visited Nipton.
 * If you accept this quest much later in the game (after receiving the quest "Render Unto Caesar" outside The Tops casino) and have not engaged Vulpes in front of the Nipton Town Hall until after that (he'll simply engage/disengage conversation), it is possible that you will be unable to complete this quest. Talking to Boxcars only offers the "I'll be going now" option, and thus there is no dialogue to complete the quest. Ghost will continue to ask you to investigate, rendering this quest forever incomplete.
 * If this bug is encountered on the PC, it is possible to complete the quest by using the console command.
 * If you enter the house that Boxcars is in before the initial dialogue with Vulpes, he may not appear and the four legion recruits will just stand in front of the town hall endlessly.
 * If you manage to kill Vulpes without ever meeting him in Nipton and kill Boxcars before speaking to him there is no way to finish the quest.

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