Big Trouble in Big Town

 is a Fallout 3 quest. It is also a Xbox 360/PC achievement and a PlayStation 3 Trophy.

Objectives and walkthrough
The residents of Big Town have been constantly harassed by Super Mutants, who capture residents and take them off to the Germantown Police HQ. With the town doctor, Red, now gone, the town's hopes of survival are looking slim. When the player first enters, he/she may learn about the town's problems. One of the residents may give the player the quest if asked about their missing friends.

Rescue
Before going to Germantown, the Ticking Timebomb quest is recommended to be completed, for additional rewards after the quest.

Once at the headquarters, some Super Mutants and Centaurs will be roaming about as advertised. There are two possible entrances to the station: the first is using the higher door on the north side. If the player has 100 Lockpick, the lower door on the west side may also be entered, which puts him/her very close to Red's location. If the former is chosen, some hallways of Super Mutants, Radroaches, and the occasional trap need to be traversed.

Red is located in a jail cell on the ground floor. The cell door can either be picked, opened with a computer upstairs, or opened with the Germantown Jailor's Key, found on a Super Mutant. When spoken to, she thanks the player for rescuing her, granting Good Karma and tells about her friend Shorty, in the kitchen downstairs. As an optional objective, the player may go through the basement in order to rescue him. He will be found in the kitchen, in conversation with a Super Mutant, wishing to eat him. If the conversation goes on long enough, the mutant will eventually start shooting Shorty. Saving him will provide the player with more good Karma. Because of a bug, if he is going to be rescued, he should be done so sooner rather than later.

Note that there is lots of good loot to be found in the police headquarters. Most notably, one lock in the basement contains several conventional weapons, alongside a Fat Man. They can either be obtained now while the player is here, or later.

The Attack
Once Red (and optionally Shorty)) have been rescued, the player is to return to Big Town. Speak to Red at this point to be thanked; if you ask for a reward, you will receive 300 Bottlecaps. 200 more can be obtained through a Speech Check, if the player is fine with some Bad Karma. Optionally, the caps can be returned afterwards to gain the Karma back.

While the quest is technically over at this point, Red will drop a bombshell of information: the Super Mutants plan to attack the city yet again. Not knowing very many combative skills, Red asks for the player's help in defending the city. Depending on the player's skill levels, the townspeople may be taught a variety of Super Mutant countermeasures.


 * With at least 50 in the Small Guns skill, they may be taught how to use conventional firearms.
 * With at least 50 in the Sneak skill, they may be taught how to effectively hide from the mutants. Simply go into sneak mode to show them this.
 * With at least 50 in the Science skill, they may be taught how to build robots to use as bodyguards. If this is chosen, follow them into the junkyard, and interact with the Sentry Bot and Protectron there to reactivate them. Note that there are a few bugs associated with this option.
 * With at least 50 in the Explosives skill, they may be taught how to make a minefield. Demonstrate by throwing a mine on the bridge. Note that there is a bug associated with this option.

Alternatively, the player may not teach them anything, and either leave them to their fate, or help fight the mutants anyway. Although the residents are weak, weapons, ammo, and armor can be pickpocketed into their inventories to give them a better chance (especially if the Small Guns option wasn't chosen). Fast travelling from and to Big Town is required to get them to equip their new items. In addition, Red and Shorty may have items simply given to them whilst travelling with the player, and if the unmarked quest A Sticky Situation is completed, Sticky will be around to help with the defense as well.

Shortly after the choice is made and the method is demonstrated, a number of Super Mutants (which varies depending on the choice) will show up in attempt to kill the residents. If Sneak was not chosen, the Super Mutants must be defeated to complete it. However, if Sneak was chosen, two Super Mutants will enter, try to find the townspeople, and if uninterupted, eventually leave.

Rewards
In addition to the 300/500 Cap reward, once the Super Mutants are dead/gone, the townspeople will thank the player character, naming him/her as their hero. Good Karma will be obtained for helping defend the town. Moreover, if Timebomb was healed in the unmarked quest Ticking Timebomb prior to the attack, and he survived it, he will give the player his Lucky 8 Ball. Red will also heal the player for free if this is done.

Bugs

 * Although it is more of a design bug than a bug with the quest itself, after the two Super Mutants in the Germantown Police HQ finish their conversation, one of them will set off the shotgun trap as he walks away.


 * If Red is rescued and returned to Big Town without rescuing Shorty, the latter will be impossible to rescue on a subsequent trip. When the area he is in is approached, the conversation between him and the Super Mutant will proceed as normal, but won't notice the player's presence. If the Super Mutant is killed, Shorty will give all his dialogue options as he would back in Big Town.


 * On unpatched versions of the game, the robots may fail to appear. If the option to build robotic bodyguards is chosen, the townspeople will all approach the junkyard, with the robots nowhere to be found. It will at that point be impossible to proceed through the quest. The console on the PC version may still be used to summon them (RefIDs 0002d934 and 0002c11b).


 * A side-effect of a problem with destroyed Protectrons can lead to a bug on the patched version of the quest. When one spawns, it is often in the ground, causing it to get wedged and launched a considerable distance away. So when the robotic bodyguards option is chosen to defend the town, the Sentry Bot is there, but the Protectron could be far away. When the Sentry Bot is activated, a townsperson will run off to activate the Protectron, likely getting himself and the robot killed on the return trip. This also subsequently causes a massive delay in the Super Mutant attack. If the player finds the Protectron themself, they can activate it, giving it a much better chance of surviving. It can usually be found in the vicinity of the town; usually behind the south end. It's notable that when the player enters Big Town for the first time, the Protectron will be in the right place.


 * If the Landmine option is chosen, they will not recognize Sticky as an ally, causing them to explode if the unmarked quest A Sticky Situation is not completed. Fast travelling to the town can circumvent this, and will prevent him from being blown up in the future.


 * If the Sneak option is chosen, and the player waits (via the Wait option) for the Super Mutant attack, they will spawn in front of the bridge. If they do not detect the player, they will continue to stand there until the townspeople have all hidden themselves. If they detect the player quickly enough, the option will botch, and all the Big Towners will immediately engage the Sledgehammer-wielding Mutants in combat. They must be defeated to complete this objective.


 * Sometimes, the Super Mutant attack on the town may fail to begin. If this happens, a solution may be to enter a house, Wait, and exit.


 * It has been reported by one user that Flash can sometimes vanish after the attack, even if he survived it.