 |
New California Republic Overview Camp Guardian is what remains of a New California Republic Army encampment that was under construction in Fallout: New Vegas. 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 crossing the river. The NCR sent a survey team led by Burke, who managed to climb the peak and check its view of the Colorado. After their declaration that the location was 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 clear the trails.[1] 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 materials to rebuild its crossing. It was that night that Jackson first heard mysterious howling, and he reported the incident to the Sergeant. However, Banner thought that it was only the wind.[2]
After a week of clearing the paths, Kale and Banner were the first of the personnel to make it to the summit and the soldiers altered the summit's pre-War sign. However, Jackson continued to hear strange noises. The three nights of reporting these incidents led Banner to believe them to be symptoms of PTSD, deciding to keep Jackson away from the munitions.[3]
After some time clearing the last of the pre-War hiking paths, using the last remaining pre-War fencing as barriers for the most dangerous cliffs, the soldiers discovered some caves that the survey team missed.[4] At the same time, the camp began to suffer from supply problems. A week after their official request for a radio from Camp McCarran, they still had received nothing. Seeking to acquire a way to contact their superiors, they sent a runner to Ranger Station Bravo (an hour-long journey at full sprint) to request any kind of radio equipment they could spare, even if it was a handheld.[5][6]
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 the handheld, as well as making their daily reports to Camp McCarran.[7] 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 the top of Guardian Peak. Around the same time, Jackson came screaming into the tent, swearing up and down that he saw shadows moving in the water. Sergeant Banner sent half of the men in teams of two to search the area again. They came up empty handed, leading the writer of the camp logs to think that Jackson was unstable and needing counseling. However, they put off the official request to have him replaced for when they got their non-handheld radio from McCarran.[8] When they finally received their radio, the Sergeant had it set up on the peak for overwatch duty.[9]
Eventually, even Sergeant Banner started to hear the same noises as Jackson. He requested an additional survey from McCarran, but received n reinforcements. He sent half of the squad down to the shore with lamps, but they could not see anything, nor could they find any other cave openings. He wished that they had some Cateye so they could see at night.[10] Eventually, Collins came across a cave entrance right behind their tent, something the survey team should have caught if they had done a thorough job. With no knowledge of what was inside the caverns, nor enough manpower to deal with any serious pests, Sergeant Banner sent Frakes and Collins to scout out the caves the next day, planning to collapse the cave with explosives if he had to. In the meantime, he planned on having some choice words for Burke the next time he saw him, as it wasn't the first time that Burke chose to skip over details while surveying an area.[11]
In a struggle, the camp was torn apart, and its logs scattered. The only known survivor of the attack was Private Halford, who managed to record a distress signal over the radio while trying to reach Ranger Station Bravo.[12][13]
He claims that, at the time of the attack, he was cleaning his firearm, and was knocked down and dragged down into the caves. He managed to get his knife out and got a good throw into a lakelurk's back. Once the mutant was on the ground with him, he beat and choked the creature to death.[14] In the fight, the creature inflicted some nasty lacerations and dislocated his leg joint.[15] By this point, he was in the entrance of the cavern. Unable to travel far, he pulled himself to the back of the fork in the cavern path to hide from these creatures, and to await the reinforcements he believed were coming.[16]
Eventually, he lost hope of ever seeing another human face.[17][18][19][20] Should the Courier intervene, they can treat his injuries[15] and convince him to help clear out the lakelurk nest.[21][22] Whether he is convinced to help clear out the caves or not, when Halford leaves, he will go AWOL to travel back to California. He does not wish to die and is just plain sick of NCR incompetence. He will be satisfied once the creatures are dealt with, and will ask the Courier to return their dogtags to the NCR. He hopes that his squadmates will not have died in vain, and that his superiors will actually listen to what happened there so the men could be properly avenged.[23][24]
Publications
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.
Loot
- Camp Guardian daily logs - Eleven scattered throughout the Camp Guardian and Guardian Peak area.
- A hollowed-out rock - Near the sign at the Camp Guardian fast-travel point.
- A Sunset Sarsaparilla Star Bottle Cap - Near the radio by the campfire.
Characters
| Image | Name | Form ID |
|---|---|---|
|
Burke (Fallout: New Vegas) | |
|
|
Collins (Fallout: New Vegas) | |
|
|
Frakes | |
|
|
Jackson (Camp Guardian) | |
|
|
Kale | |
|
Private Halford | 0013F323 |
|
|
Sergeant Banner |
Related quests
Appearances
Camp Guardian appears only in Fallout: New Vegas.
Behind the scenes
Guardian Peak is a real world location in the River Mountains along the north shore of Lake Mead in Clark County, Nevada.
Bugs
Sometimes the creatures will stay stationary and they will not be able to attack. [verified]-
If the player character clear out the lakelurks before healing Private Halford, they will not get the dialogue to fix his legs and he will remain in the caves. [verified]
Gallery
Beginning of the trail
First camping area
Giant rats hanging out near the outhouse
A giant rat manning the ham radio
Scenic overlook and some ammo boxes
Sunset Sarsaparilla Star Bottle Cap in the camp
New California Republic flag still flying proud
Lovely sunset overlooking Fortification Hill
Sign texture file
References
- ↑ Log page 3
- ↑ Log page 5
- ↑ Log page 8
- ↑ Log page 12
- ↑ Log page 7
- ↑ Log page 13
- ↑ Log page 14
- ↑ Log page 15
- ↑ Log page 18
- ↑ Log page 19
- ↑ Log page 20
- ↑ Camp Guardian Radio
- ↑ The Courier: "What killed the other troopers?"
Halford: "I don't know. Some kind of man-fish freak like the one I killed over there. I'd heard fishermen spin old tales of 'Lakelurks' swimming in the water, but I always thought they were just bullshit mermaid stories."
(Halford's dialogue) - ↑ The Courier: "How did you kill that thing?"
Halford: "With my bare hands. I would have shot it, but I was cleaning my gun when they swarmed the camp. The ugly bastard knocked me down and started dragging me down into these caves. I managed to get my knife out and get a good throw into it's back. Once he was on the ground, all it took was a bit of choking and punching to finish him off."
(Halford's dialogue) - ↑ 15.0 15.1 The Courier: "Looks like some nasty lacerations and a dislocated joint. You're lucky I found you."
Halford: "[SUCCEEDED] Thanks a lot, doc. I think I should be able to walk out of here, now. I don't want to risk running into a pack of those freaks alone, though. Could you escort me out of here?"
(Halford's dialogue) - ↑ The Courier: "Are you okay?"
Halford: "I managed to kill that thing, but not before it mangled my leg all up. No way I'm walking out of here like this. I've been keeping quiet and hoping they don't realize one of their buddies is missing. We need to get out of here before they come back."
(Halford's dialogue) - ↑ Halford: "Oh, thank God! I didn't think I'd ever see another human face down here."
(Halford's dialogue) - ↑ The Courier: "I heard your radio broadcast. I'm here to help."
Halford: "Thank God. I hoped someone would come eventually, but where are the rest of your men?"
(Halford's dialogue) - ↑ The Courier: "What are you talking about?"
Halford: "You must be the backup I've been calling for. Where are the rest of your men? Thank God. I hoped someone would come eventually, but where are the rest of your men?"
(Halford's dialogue) - ↑ The Courier: "This is it, buddy."
Halford: "Shit. Have you any damn idea what lives in these caves!? We need to get out of... We need to go now!"
(Halford's dialogue) - ↑ The Courier: "We need to clear the caves first."
Halford: "Are you crazy? No way in hell am I going deeper into these caves. You haven't seen what they did to the other troopers, and I'd rather not find out why they took all of the bodies."
(Halford's dialogue) - ↑ The Courier: "If we don't clear the caves, your friends' deaths were for nothing. Can you live with that?"
Halford: "[SUCCEEDED] All right, you have a point. They were good men and deserved better. I can't guarantee I'll be much help against their numbers, but I'll do what I can. Chances are we won't get out of here alive anyway."
(Halford's dialogue) - ↑ The Courier: "You're free to leave. The way up is clear."
Halford: "Great, I'll start heading back to California now. I'm not about to let myself get killed by future NCR incompetence. If you find my friends, please return their dogtags to the NCR. People need to know what happened here. If they won't listen, do what you can to make them listen. The dead need to be avenged."
(Halford's dialogue) - ↑ Halford: "Well well, it looks like we've cleared them out, damn inbred mutant freaks. Think I'll start heading back to California now. There have been way too many catastrophic NCR foul-ups around here for me to risk my life by sticking around."
(Halford's dialogue)
