Operation: Anchorage! (quest)

Operation: Anchorage is a Fallout 3 quest that is added to the game in the Operation: Anchorage downloadable content pack.

Objectives and walkthrough
After destroying the Chimera fuel tanks and clearing the Listening Post of Chinese presence in Paving the Way, you now enter the heart of the map in order to disable the Pulse Field barring American Power Armored soldiers from attacking the Chinese base of operations.

Disable the Pulse Field
This time you have to make do without the assistance of your squad. Instead, Sergeant Montgomery alone accompanies you. The first line of the enemies defense includes scattered mortar fire followed by deep trenches. Once down in the Trenches you are confronted with various stealth units and snipers. After a while, you arrive at the final line of Chinese defense, the Pulse Field. As demonstrated by American Power Armored soldiers, soldiers wearing Power Armor are not able to enter the field safely, which is why it's your job to head to the building on the far right and disarm it.

Enter the Chinese compound
With the last defensive barrier fallen, it is time for the assault on the Chinese Compound, an occupied refinery. Once the field is disarmed the Power Armored soldiers begin their attack on the Chinese Compound turrets, and eventually destroy the front gates revealing the door to the final confrontation with General Jingwei. Cross the field and enter the building.

Kill General Jingwei
Upon entering the refinery your character will freeze as Chinese Soldiers and American Soldier (with Benjamin Montgomery) begin to fight. Amongst this fighting you will witness General Jingwei, commanding officer of the Chinese troops at Anchorage, calmly executing an American captive with Jingwei's Shock Sword.

In the following dialogue you can convince him that the battle is lost through a Speech challenge, resulting in Jingwei committing suicide with his sword to presumably "preserve his honor". If you do not pass the Speech challenge, the General will attack you. He is the strongest NPC in the game so make sure you are prepared. His shock sword also deals a considerable amount of damage, so it would be wise to try to disarm him. You should also use the gauss rifle [if obtained] on him as it does a large amount of damage to him. Try to dodge his attacks and use V.A.T.S to your advantage.

Report to General Chase and leave the simulation
Once Jingwei is defeated, all npc's are frozen in place and General Chase appears right in the middle of the final battle and tells you that the simulation is over. He also rewards you with the Covert Ops perk if you have obtained all Intel Suitcases. You then leave the virtual reality and return to the VSS facility.

Gain access to the VSS armory and take what you want
Back in the simulation pod at the Outcast Outpost, you can now proceed to the terminal at the opposite end of the floor where the Outcasts are already waiting for you and open the armory. Inside you find assorted weaponry, ammunition and other supplies including some unique items; refer to "Rewards" below for a detailed listing.

When you open the armory, Protector McGraw and Defender Sibley start a dispute. Sibley does not want to share any of the unlocked equipment with you whereas McGraw insists that "a deal is a deal". The disagreement results in a revolt of the Defender and most of the unnamed Outcasts against the Protector and Specialist Olin, the mutineers turning hostile to you as well. If you protect McGraw from Sibley's attack he will only reward you with some friendly dialog. If Olin survives she offers you her ability to repair your equipment, however her repair skill is only equal to the regular Brotherhood scribes at 51%.

Intel Suitcases
2 of the 10 Intel Suitcases required for gaining the Covert Ops perk can be found during this mission. Please refer to the main article for their locations.

Reward
Upon completion of Operation: Anchorage you acquire the Power Armor Training perk if you don't have it already. In addition, you are granted access to an armory within the Outcast Outpost.

This room contains a couple of unique weapons and armors:
 * Winterized T-51b Power Armor
 * Winterized T-51b Power Helmet
 * Chinese Stealth Armor
 * Jingwei's Shock Sword
 * Trench Knife
 * Gauss Rifle
 * Mini Nuke

Along with other more common items, such as:
 * Chinese Assault Rifle
 * Frag Grenade
 * Frag Mine
 * Pulse Grenade
 * Pulse Mine
 * Plasma Grenade
 * Plasma Mine
 * 5.56mm Round
 * Microfusion Cell (7)
 * Electron Charge Pack (7)
 * Missile Launcher
 * Missile
 * First Aid Box

Trivia

 * After your promotion Sergeant Montgomery says "The next time I see you I'll be saluting you." This is a reference to Starship Troopers.
 * Watch for an in-game reference; after you complete the first mission, the War correspondent asks several troops to strike a heroic pose. This pose is identical to that of the Anchorage War Memorial.
 * The previous "savage" mentioned by the outcasts as having failed some kind of test is Gary 23, one of the clones from Vault 108. His body is in a room off to the left of the simulation room, behind an easy locked door. He appears to have been quite badly beaten, as his face is red and his left arm cut off (possibly due to the Outcasts attempting to remove his Pip-Boy).

Bugs

 * After killing General Jingwei at the very end of the simulation, the American soldiers will be marked as hostile and the Chinese soldiers will be marked as friendly. This bug may be tied into failing the speech check with Jingwei just before the final shootout.


 * Taking the Winterized T-51b Power Armor completes You Gotta Shoot 'Em in the Head. However, you can still do the quest the normal way if you haven't started it before starting Operation: Anchorage. If you remove the T-51b Power Armor from your inventory at any point (i.e. placing it on a NPC and taking it back to repair it) then you will receive a quest completed message for You Gotta Shoot 'Em in the Head, and will be unable to complete the quest.


 * On returning to the bunker (to pick up all remaining loot) you may find the elevator will not move, or that the door to the bunker is sealed. This is typically rectified by reloading a previous save.


 * Entering the Chinese refinery marks an autosave point; the last autosave before you exit the simulation, and thus, have to fight the Outcast mutineers. Should the player perish in the ensuing firefight, he will be returned to the autosave point. General Jingwei will execute his American prisoner, but will not initiate conversation with the player, instead leaving him frozen in place, unable to move or utilize the Pipboy. This can be rectified by saving before entering the refinery, or by killing General Jingwei via the console. You can also reload the auto save from the menu manually before your death auto reloads it, this bypasses the bug. You may also try closing the game and opening it again.


 * While in the trenches a white triangle may appear in the players field of vision and not go away.(XBOX 360)


 * Some American soldiers may glitch and their weapons will appear at awkward angles from inside their bodies.(360)


 * Sometimes when entering the armory at the end of the mission Defender Sibley will not be there, he will wait outside and become hostile with you if he sees you, however all the nearby outcasts will help you in attacking Sibley


 * During combat with Jingwei both Chinese & American soldiers will be considered your allies (non-hostile), allowing you to focus solely on him. However, as in the rest of the game if a stray round hits either faction, they will become hostile toward you. This is certainly a cause of some frustration, especially as holstering your weapon does not seem to cause the Americans to return to friendly. It is also reported that some of the American soldiers that enter the compound after the player may become enemies even without any stray bullets hitting them.


 * In some areas around the Anchorage cliffs if you look out into the distance you will see trees floating in the air.