Hard Luck Blues

 is a quest in Fallout: New Vegas.

Quick walkthrough
No XP is granted through the quest, just faction boost.

Acting on information retrieved from a terminal in the "East Pump Station" regarding irradiated water, the Courier heads to Vault 34 to determine the cause. Once there he finds that all of the vault dwellers have turned into feral and glowing ghouls and that the reason for the radiation is that the reactor for the vault has broken down and is leaking. After obtaining the correct security clearance and battling several ghouls the Courier obtains information about surviving dwellers who are trapped behind doors that have been flooded. The Courier must decide if control should be given to the dwellers so they can escape or should the reactor be fixed so that the NCR Sharecroppers can once again grow much needed food for the New Vegas Wasteland.

Detailed walkthrough
Travel north of Grub n' Gulp Rest Stop and past two NCR soldiers until you see pipes overhead or head south from the New Vegas Medical Clinic. You will eventually come across a building with many pipes protruding from it. Enter the door marked "East Pump Station" and activate the terminal on the desk (50 science skill required). Upon activating the terminal it will have a message marked "Warning". The message tell you about a problem the pumping station is having with radiation contaminating the pipes. This initiates the quest Hard Luck Blues.

Now leave the building and head east towards the map marker. You will come across a truck with many radioactive barrels surrounded by many golden geckos. Head to the map marker, and you will come across a door marked "Vault 34- 1st floor". You will enter a cavern filled with golden geckos.

After fighting through them, and descending deep within the cave, you will come across Vault 34's open Vault door.

The Vault is saturated with radiation. Bring lots of Rad-X and Radaway. It also is advisable to bring a radiation suit or the space suit to help with radiation resist.

The population of the Vault have been turned into feral ghouls, with the security officers being turned into a glowing one. There are a lot of glowing ones in the vault, especially down in the armory.

In order to access the armory you need to obtain the Vault 34 security terminal password, the Vault 34 utility terminal password and the Overseer's password. The first two password's can be found on glowing ones that are underwater in two separate locations. Both locations have stairs that go down into radioactive water--and each location is hinted at with a stream of water falling from the ceiling. Find water pouring from the ceiling, and you'll know you're in the right spot to find the first two passwords. Neither location needs to be drained in order to obtain the passwords. But you need to search both ghouls.(To get to the armory use the terminal in overseer's room.)

The Overseer's door is unlocked through the terminal in security room. In order to get to the security room, you have to locate a terminal next to the entrance to the armory, and tell it to drain all the water. It is located down the stairs a few doors on the right before the entrance to the armory.

The armory has lots of useful equipment. Several suits of Vault 34 security armor and helmets, a combat knife, 10mm pistol, many 10mm SMG, a sniper rifle, an assault carbine, the All-American, a marksman carbine, a minigun, a riot shotgun, a missile launcher, missiles, and the pulse gun (inside a very hard locked chest).

After you obtain access, descend under the Overseer's desk to the Reactor room. Here you will obtain information about Vault dwellers that are trapped underwater. After you reach the Reactor room the terminal will provide two choices. Either disable the Reactor thereby removing the radiation contaminating the Sharecropper farms or reroute control of the computer system to the Vault dwellers.

Neither decision gives you karma, however if you choose to help the Sharecroppers you will get a faction boost with New California Republic. If you choose to help the dwellers, you will be able to find them in the Aerotech Office Park "Suite 300", east of Camp McCarran.

Bugs
If you choose to save trapped Vault dwellers from Vault 34 and meet them at "Aerotech Office Park" you will have an option to ask for a reward "Vault trinket", which doesn't actually add anything to player's inventory. Furthermore - dialogs appear to be looped and bugged. The vault dwellers might not appear at Suite 300 at all despite the quest being finished and your Pipboy entry showing that you saved them.

Whilst inside reactor room, computer may be disabled and ask for administrator preventing you from completing the quest. Make sure you checked the overseer's inventory, There's a key there. (needs verification)

Two feral ghouls come through broken glass area and attack you, these ghouls have no names and allow no searching of the body after being killed. (needs verification)