Camp Searchlight

"City of the Dead"

Camp Searchlight is an irradiated former NCR military camp, located at the convergence of Nevada State Route 164 and Highway 95 in the Mojave Wasteland.

Background
During the Great War, the bombs forced the Searchlight police department to divert a convoy carrying nuclear waste from San Onofre into Searchlight, so that the waste could be safely stored. The trucks could be parked at the fire station without exposing them to nuclear blasts that would turn the sealed, secure fuel casks transported on the flatbeds into massive dirty bombs.

The spent nuclear fuel rods remained there for over two centuries. When the New California Republic deployed in force to the Mojave, Searchlight was chosen as a site for a military base. Camp Searchlight was established, becoming a major communications and logistics hub for the NCR Army. However, this simultaneously made it a target for the Legion. Vulpes Inculta devised a plan that involved using frumentarii to intercept shipments of supplies meant for the camp, depriving the troops of necessary materials and stockpiling them for later use by the Legion.

As the supply issues worsened, tensions emerged among the camp's senior staff, and the frumentarii waited for an opening in the camp's defenses. The opportunity came soon, as the patrol routes were changed again for operational security reasons. As usual, gaps opened in the patrol routes as the troops had to get used to the new schedule.

The second initiative perpetrated by Vulpes was the one that caused the camp's destruction. He sent in a small group of legionaries, ordering them to infiltrate the fire station and unseal the nuclear fuel casks, unleashing lethal levels of radiation on the camp. The legionaries were killed instantly alongside some NCR personnel. The rest of the NCR soldiers turned into ghouls or died soon thereafter of radiation sickness. Only a handful of troops out on patrol survived, rallying under First Sergeant Astor. In the meantime, a task force under centurion Aurelius of Phoenix landed at Cottonwood Cove, establishing a beachhead on the western side of the Colorado River and immediately launching raids on both the surviving NCR troops and especially supply and trade caravans heading up to New Vegas. Further legionary groups moved up north and west as time went by, targeting Nelson and Nipton to lay the groundwork for the Second Battle of Hoover Dam.

Layout
Camp Searchlight has several buildings that can be entered, all of which are radioactive alongside the town. The buildings which can be entered include a schoolhouse with a few golden geckos, a house containing the non-hostile ghoul Private Edwards, and a church on the western end of town, containing Logan and his prospector companions who are looting the town for the Crimson Caravan Company. Upon entering the fire station, where the radioactive canisters were originally stored and opened, the Courier will immediately encounter a radscorpion queen and several normal radscorpions. To enter the firehouse, Logan needs to be joined or killed, as he holds the key. There are several terminals outside that control the turret defense system.

Astor's recon camp
The devastating radiation attack by the Legion on Camp Searchlight has pushed the surviving NCR soldiers back to a minimum safe distance. The fury and emotion are still raw, as First Sergeant Astor leads his men on patrol and witnesses what his brothers-in-arms have turned into. In the modest camp, First Sergeant Astor's log can be found, discovered that he blames himself for the incident.

Inhabitants

 * Private Kyle Edwards
 * Logan
 * First Sergeant Astor

Notable loot

 * Chinese Army: Special Ops Training Manual, 2 mini nukes or 3 Holy Frag Grenades - In the gecko-filled Searchlight church basement. The book is on the floor at the foot of some metal shelves.
 * Knock-Knock - Unique fire axe in the righthand corner of the bathroom stall with the skeleton in it, upstairs in the Searchlight fire station. This is only obtainable after starting the quest Wheel of Fortune or killing Logan and taking the key.
 * Seven fire helmets - In the fire station, with five on the ground floor shelves, one upstairs in the chief's office on a shelf, and one in the bathroom stall where Knock-Knock is found.
 * Sunset Sarsaparilla star bottle cap - In the fire station. Upstairs in the northeast corner in the kitchen area, on a table next to two empty bottles.
 * Legion orders - In the fire station, found on two recruit legionaries in the garage.
 * NCR computer parts and NCR radio parts - In the police station, the quest items for Wheel of Fortune.

Related quests

 * Wheel of Fortune
 * We Will All Go Together
 * Eye for an Eye

Appearances
Camp Searchlight appears only in Fallout: New Vegas.

Behind the scenes

 * Camp Searchlight is based on the real world location of Searchlight in Clark County, Nevada.
 * Searchlight was implemented and written by Denise McMurry, based on a concept outlined by Joshua Sawyer.

Bugs

 * Logan will not talk with the player character. Also, he does not have the key when pickpocketed or killed, if having already killed other characters involved in obtaining Knock-Knock. Note: if killed before killing Boxcars while on the Wheel of Fortune quest, his body should have both keys on it.
 * If the player character discovers and raids the supply cave before approaching Logan, it will be impossible to proceed with the quest, only if the 4 radiation suits have been repaired to make one radiation suit already.
 * Two firetrucks, both stationed behind the Camp Searchlight fire station, don't have fully developed physical properties. The back end of each the trucks have no physical properties whatsoever and the player character can clip through them, with the exception of the cabs.