Camp Guardian

Camp Guardian is what remains of a New California Republic Army encampment that was under construction in 2281. Located in the Mojave Wasteland, this fortification has its peak overlooking the Colorado River and Lake Mead and lies southeast of Ranger station Bravo.

Background
<!-- Camp Guardian was to be a stable outpost in the Guardian Peak area to keep a watch over the Colorado River and intercept Legion forces attempting a more northerly crossing then Camp Golf. It would be a poster child for bureaucratic failure and corrupt nepotism. Under construction in October, 2281 its 12 man personnel wouldn't last until December, all but one would be killed by lakelurks.

In need of another military camp to watch over the Colorado River and intercept Legion forces attempting a more northerly crossing then Camp Golf, the NCR sent a survey team to Mount Guardian. Led by Burke they vastly failed in their duties, managing only to climb its peak and check its view of the Colorado. After their declaration that the location is strategically sound, a single squad was sent to establish the camp under the command of Sergeant Banner.

By day three of their mission, the soldiers reached the base of the Mountain and began to efficiently clear the ancient and long neglected hiking trails. An effort made more difficult due to past landslides, which buried the trails so thoroughly that finding their paths a daunting task. By the fifth day they managed to restore the trails to the first bridge. Unable to continue past this obstacle, they had to dismantle several shacks for materiel to rebuild its crossing. It was that night that Jackson first heard mysterious howling, he reported the incident to the Sgt however Banner thought that it was only the wind.

After a week of clearing the paths Kale and Banner were the first of the personnel to make it to the summit. With the paths mostly clear, and the camp established (the soldiers altered the summit's pre-War sign for amusement ), Banner sent a runner to Ranger station Bravo – an hour at full sprint – to request a radio for the new camp. It was this night that Jackson continued to hear strange noises. The three nights of reporting these incidents to the Sergeant led Banner to believe them to be symptoms of PTSD. Deciding to keep him away from the munitions.

After some time clearing the last of the pre-War hiking paths, using the last remaining pre-War fencing as barriers for most dangerous cliffs, the soldiers would discover the caves the survey team missed. After the discovery of the failure of the survey team the personnel would continue to have desperate supply problems. A week after their official request for a radio from Camp McCarran they still received nothing. Seeking to acquire any way to contact their superiors they sent a runner to Ranger station Bravo to request any kind of radio equipment they could spare, even if it was a handheld. The soldier who wrote the Camp logs would bemoan their superiors as fools for expecting them to be able to contact them without radio equipment, comparing their command's expectations to the use of carrier pigeons and later lamenting that it was probably another politician's son.

The Rangers at Bravo gave the soldiers a handheld radio so they could use their equipment as a relay to Camp McCarran. Private Halford was put in charge of it and making their daily reports to Camp McCarran. With the handheld working well enough, they finished work on building steps up the steeper sections of the path so they could move the rest of their equipment to top of Guardian Peak. It was at this time that Jackson would come screaming into the tent swearing up and down he saw shadows moving in the water. Sergeant Banner would send half of the men in camp in teams of two to search the area again. They would come up empty handed, leading the writer of the Camp logs to think that Jackson was unstable and may need counseling. Putting off the official request to have him replaced when they get their radio from McCarran. When they finally received their radio the Sergeant would have it set up on the peak for overwatch duty.

Eventually even Sergeant Banner would start to hear the same noises. He would request an additional survey from McCarran, but they blew it off as nerves. He knew that fish didn't make that much noise, so he sent half of the squad own to the shore with lamps, but they couldn't see anything, nor could they find any other cave openings. He would wish that they had some Cateye so they could see at night. Eventually Collins would across a cave entrance right behind their tent. Something the survey team should have caught if they'd done a thorough job. With no knowledge of that lies inside the caverns, nor enough manpower to deal with any serious pests, Sergeant Banner would send Frakes and Collins to scout the caves the next day. Planning to collapse the cave with explosives if he had to. In the mean time he would plan on having some choice words for Burke the next time he saw him, as it wasn't the fist time that Burke chose to skip over details while surveying an area. That night however would be the end of the Camp.

The lakelurks attacked the Camp in the night, while some were sleeping in their tents. In the ensuing struggle the camp would be torn apart, and its logs scattered. The sole survivor of the night attack was Private Halford, as the unknown beasts had dragged all his servicemen away, he managed to record a distress over the radio while trying to reach ranger station Bravo.

He claims that at the time of the attack he was cleaning his firearm, he was knocked down and was being dragged down into the caves. He managed to get his knife out and got a good throw into its back. Once the mutant was on the ground with him he would beat and choke the creature to death. In the fight the creature inflicted some nasty lacerations and dislocated his leg joint. By this time he was dragged into the entrance of the cavern, he would pull himself to the back of the switch of the cavern path to await the reinforcements he believed were coming. Unbeknownst to him Ranger station Bravo didn't even get their distress call.

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Layout
Approaching the camp, the Courier may pick up a Camp Guardian distress call. The signal informs them of an attack on the camp by an unknown group of mutant creatures. The individual is now in dire need of help. In addition, the area surrounding Camp Guardian, on the path up to Guardian Peak, is populated by radscorpions of various types and a multitude of giant rats. A hollowed-out rock is next to the camp sign at the base of the mountain.

A pre-War sign displays an elevation of 2,667 ft, and has been modified to read "Camp Guardian Peak" with an elevation of "really high" and addition of population which is noted as "12-ish." A long man-made trail consisting of several bridges, stairs, and walkway fences guide the way to the summit, where Camp Guardian and the caves are found.

A large number of broc flower plants line the path to the top and can also be found in the camp itself. The camp's outhouse is situated next to the first bridge near a switchback containing two ammunition boxes. Along the way, one will find two campsites and various pre-War scenic overlook points.

Traveling up the narrow path will lead to Guardian Peak and the Camp Guardian caves. The camp consists of the main tent and a cooking area around a campfire. A Sunset Sarsaparilla star bottle cap is on a crate near the campfire. A sleeping mat is nearby, next to the ham radio emitting the radio signal, which the Courier can turn off to stop the broadcast.

Several lookout points surround the camp, each with a chair, crate or table, and various detritus scattered around. One of the overlook points has a pair of binoculars. From the summit, each direction has reaching views of the Hoover Dam, Colorado River, Fortification Hill, and Lake Mead. The nearby cave system, Camp Guardian caves, contains the dead NCR troopers that were previously stationed at Camp Guardian.

Notable loot

 * Sergeant Banner, leader of the now-deceased NCR troopers found in the Camp Guardian caves, has left 11 log notes scattered around the camp and Guardian Peak.

Related quests

 * Help for Halford

Appearances
Camp Guardian appears only in Fallout: New Vegas.

Behind the scenes
Camp Guardian is based on the real world location of Guardian Peak, in the River Mountains along the north shore of Lake Mead in Clark County, Nevada.

Bugs

 * Sometimes the creatures will stay stationary and they won't be able to attack.
 * If you clear out the lakelurks before healing Private Halford, you will not get the dialogue to fix his legs and he will remain in the caves.