I Fought the Law

I Fought the Law is a side quest in Fallout: New Vegas.

Detailed walkthrough
This quest is given by Eddie at the NCR Correctional Facility in the administration building. He is the man sitting behind the desk on the second floor, surrounded by guards. Talking to him and asking how one can help out is all that is required to start this quest.
 * If the Courier has acquired a "shunned" reputation with the Powder Gangers by completing the Ghost Town Gunfight, it will still be possible to talk to Eddie in order to receive this quest but assaulting anyone in the prison or gaining another level of infamy will turn the Powder Gangers hostile upon entering. Completing the Nipton quest, Booted or the Vault 19 quest, Why Can't We Be Friends? may provide a sufficient boost to one's faction reputation, provided one is not "Vilified." If the Powder Gangers are hostile still, one can talk to Eddie by using a Stealth Boy outside the entrance and sneaking all the way to Eddie (this however might not work). Stand up and immediately talk to Eddie and the quest can be initiated. A Stealth Boy will be required each time the player character goes back to talk to Eddie until the quest ends with the NCR confrontation. It is also possible to acquire Powder Gang simple outfit or any other Powder Gangers outfits (also including Powder Gang guard armor) to disguise oneself and infiltrate the camp, then take out everybody besides Eddie in the Administration Building with a silenced weapon.

Chavez
The first task is to "take care" of a Powder Ganger named Chavez, who Eddie believes is setting up his own crew without permission. He is located at Powder Ganger camp south, which is just south of the prison. He can either be convinced to "move on" with 30 Speech skill or killed. Talking to him without being able to pass the speech skill will result in combat. Killing him (and/or the other Powder Gangers with him) will not cause any reputation loss with the Powder Gangers, and his "crew" may not turn hostile if Chavez is killed in front of them. Killing him or his crew after convincing him to move on also does not cause any reputation loss with the Powder Gangers. after he is dealt with, return to Eddie and let him know Chavez is handled to gain Powder Gangers fame +1.

Traveling merchant
The second task is to "deal with" a suspicious traveling merchant residing at Jean Sky Diving. With an Intelligence of 6 or Speech skill of 30, one can convince him to reveal that he is actually a bounty hunter by pointing out that he lacks a pack brahmin to carry supplies and protection. One can try to shake him down for a "toll" (30 Speech required). The bounty hunter may attack even after he is convinced to leave, even if one is not dressed as a Powder Ganger. If the prior options fail, the merchant can be killed without Karma penalty. Once the merchant has been dealt with, report back to Eddie to gain Powder Gangers fame +1.

NCR attack
Finally, one will be asked to find out about the NCR's plans for the prison. Head to Primm and seek out either Johnson Nash or Lt. Hayes. Nash will provide the information for:
 * 100 caps with no skill check
 * 50 caps with Barter skill of 30
 * 20 caps with a Barter skill of 30 and appointed a new sheriff to Primm
 * Free if with a Speech skill of 30

Hayes will only tell the player character that military orders are classified, unless they already know - either by pickpocketing the "Military orders" off him, and/or by getting the information from Nash first. Once information has been acquired, one can either report back to Eddie or betray him to Lt. Hayes, and help the NCR take back the prison.

Side with Powder Gangers
If the player character reports back to Eddie, he will reward the with 1 Buffout, 1 Psycho, 1 Mentats, 100 caps, and 200 XP. He will say that the NCR is already here, and tell the player character to feel free to kill some of them on the way out. As soon as one exits the building, the assault will begin, and NCR troopers pour into the facility and attack. No reputation with the NCR will be lost for informing on them; however, all the soldiers assaulting the base will be hostile to the player character, which will likely cause NCR reputation loss as a result of fighting back (only if one kills any of the soldiers). Alternately, one can change into NCR armor before exiting the building, the NCR invaders will be neutral, but the Powder Gangers will be hostile.

If the Powder Gangers defeat the attackers one can speak with Eddie who will thank the player character. One will gain Powder Gangers fame +12.

Side with NCR
If one instead choose to betray Eddie to the NCR, one can choose the dialogue path with Lt. Hayes to offer assistance in the assault. He will tell the player character to rendezvous with Sergeant Lee, located just to the south east of the prison (on a hill, approximately in line between Powder Ganger camp south and the prison). Upon initiating dialogue with him, he will give the player character a short "briefing," and the assault will begin. The quest will end once Eddie is dead, but as the Powder Gangers will rush out into the courtyard for the battle, Eddie will most likely be one of the last Powder Gangers alive anyway. One will be awarded 300 XP for completing the quest, and gain reputation with the NCR. The NCR reputation is gained by speaking with Lee after Eddie dies. If Lee dies during the assault, no NCR reputation will be gained.

Lee may mention reporting back to Lt. Hayes after the quest has finished, but if My Kind of Town has already been completed, he will be gone from the NCR camp at Primm. One may run into him later at Camp Forlorn Hope. It is possible that Hayes and some of the troops under his command were sent to Hope, and that is why some troops at Forlorn Hope say that they got reinforced by troops from Primm.

Behind the scenes

 * This quest is a reference to the song of the same name by Sonny Curtis & the Crickets, more famously covered by the Bobby Fuller Four in 1965, the Clash in 1979 and Green Day in 2004.


 * A number of cut and partially completed dialogue options exist which point towards the final portion of the quest having had additional options for helping out. In particular, a number of incomplete topics would have allowed the Courier to offer suggestions as to how Eddie could better defend the facility, including posting more guards and placing snipers on the guard towers.
 * The Courier was also being given the option to free Chavez from the prison.

Bugs

 * Completion of this quest in favor of the NCR will not register the proper result. Even though one will have gained the fame for success, Mr. New Vegas will report the mission as a failure, as will the ending narration.
 * Sgt. Lee may freeze on the steps to the admin building and will not finish dialogue - thus preventing NCR fame. Shooting weapon out of his hand which will turn Lee hostile but then holstering weapon immediately which will return Lee to turn friendly will unfreeze him.
 * If the player character passes the Intelligence or Speech check to make the bounty hunter admit he is there to collect Powder Ganger bounties, the question "So what are you still doing here?" will still be available. If selected, he will answer, "Uh, you know, just filling up water and stuff." This response is in support of his cover story rather than the truth he has just admitted.
 * The explosions that opened the entrances for the NCR troops will not detonate mines or C-4, giving an easy way to finish this quest however one will gain infamy from the NCR.
 * If the player character sides with the Powders Gangers, but have neutral or positive reputation with the NCR, Sergeant Lee will not be hostile to the them or the Powder Gangers unless he see the NCR troopers getting attacked. Lee will rush to Eddie's room and stand there for the rest of the game, saying "Shut up and fight!" if the player character tries to talk with him. Once the NCR troopers die, I Fought the Law will be completed, even if Lee is still alive.
 * The script for this quest is set up to despawn the NCR troopers after 3 days and turn off the alarm but neither appears to occur. The alarm can be turned off using the console command.