Things That Go Boom is an NCR faction quest in Fallout: New Vegas.
Quick walkthrough[]
| Main Quest: Things That Go Boom | |||||||||||||
| Speak with Ambassador Dennis Crocker in the NCR Embassy. | |||||||||||||
| Reach the Boomers' territory at Nellis Air Force Base. | |||||||||||||
| Kill the Boomers' leaders, Pearl and Loyal to neutralize the tribe. | Enlist the Boomers' aid by completing Volare!. | ||||||||||||
| Reward: The restored B-29 will appear during the Second Battle of Hoover Dam. | |||||||||||||
| Return to Ambassador Crocker in the NCR Embassy. | |||||||||||||
| Reward: 200 XP 300-500 bottle caps NCR fame. | |||||||||||||
| Leads to: Kings' Gambit | |||||||||||||
Detailed walkthrough[]
After leaving the Lucky 38 for the first time (likely after speaking with Mr. House during The House Always Wins I) or leaving the Tops after completing Ring-a-Ding-Ding! (regardless if one killed Benny or let him escape), an NCR trooper will approach and give a note from the republic's Ambassador Dennis Crocker at the NCR Embassy asking for the player character to visit him in his office.
The embassy is in the southernmost section of the Strip, situated on the east side across from Michael Angelo's workshop and Vault 21, behind the Ultra-Luxe; the location is composed of two sub-areas, with the embassy itself as the building on the left when entering the front gate. Once inside, ask Liza O'Malley at the reception desk and she will direct the player character to the ambassador's office through the left door at the end of the hallway; if one enters the embassy after 8pm, Crocker will be in his bedroom on the opposite end of the embassy.
Talking with Crocker will get him to reveal that the NCR's position in the Mojave is failing at multiple fronts, not the least of which is their roughly equal footing with their biggest enemy, Caesar's Legion. Crocker wants to tip the balance in the republic's favor by recruiting from the inhabiting tribes, with the first in mind being the tribe of xenophobic, trigger-happy, artillery-totting former Vault dwellers known as the Boomers, residing to the northeast of New Vegas at the pre-War Nellis Air Force Base. While the Boomers' firepower would be a boon to NCR military strength, Crocker will understand if that becomes impossible and simply asks that the tribe be neutralized to prevent the Legion gaining their support instead.
Reaching the base[]
Approaching Nellis from the road leads to an encounter with George, who will offer a 600-cap wager that the player character can make it to Nellis' gates without being blown apart by the Boomers' defensive artillery volley; he provides the Nellis artillery timing details note for additional information. The Boomers fire high-damaging explosive artillery in 14-round barrages, in-between which is a brief span of 10 seconds before they reload. This is when one must travel along the northwest side of the destroyed town outside the gates, stopping and sheltering in the nearest building once the volley restarts. An alternative route to bypass the artillery involves gaining access to the Very Hard-locked entrance of a train tunnel to the southeast from George's position.
Recruitment[]
Upon reaching the gate (the Boomers stop firing once one gets to the fence), the player character is stopped by the Boomer guard until Raquel arrives and escorts them to the barracks where Pearl, a senior member of the tribe welcomes them and requests their help opening the tribe up to the outside world by helping out around Nellis, triggering the overarching quest Volare! that helps guide one to various side quests and special interactions that can garner Boomers reputation up to becoming Idolized.
Once the maximum reputation is achieved, one must return to Pearl and help the Boomers one final time to fulfill their dream of raising the Crashed B-29 bomber from Lake Mead, allowing the tribe to restore it to functionality as an aerial assault craft. At this, one can then ask Pearl to convince the Boomers to aid them in the coming battle which she agrees to. Return to Crocker afterward and complete the quest, earning NCR fame and triggering Kings' Gambit.
(Note: If one was already Idolized by the Boomers but did not yet complete Volare! by raising the B-29 from Lake Mead, the non-violent path for the quest cannot be completed as the speech options don't come up with Loyal or Pearl, and instead they just refer back to their quest. If one has already become Idolized, they need to go back to Pearl to ask for the Boomers' support, which they will be able to earn, then report back to Crocker. Otherwise, they will have the option to tell Crocker the Boomers have already pledged to support.)
Destruction[]
Instead of the multi-stage recruitment process, one can also fulfill the objective by neutralizing the Boomers' value as a war asset by killing them, specifically targeting the tribe's senior members Pearl and Loyal. Once one has gotten past the initial bombardment and Raquel has brought them straight to Mother Pearl, after the dialogue has ended, one can kill Mother Pearl immediately. Killing her even when undetected will still turn every Boomer hostile and fail Volare!
Along with Pearl, Loyal must also die. He is typically located at the Nellis hangars, slightly north from Pearl's barracks, or he may be in his house (the left-side quonset hut facing northwest from the hangars).
With both Pearl and Loyal dead (it is not necessary to kill any other Boomers though their being hostile might lead to that), return to Crocker and report the results to complete the quest.
Quest stages[]
Notes[]
- Starting this quest will disregard any previous negative reputation with the NCR; even a Courier who is Vilified with the NCR will still be allowed to enter the embassy and talk to Crocker. Additionally, accepting this quest will remove any infamy with the NCR. If one has already met the Boomers beforehand, reporting that they will or will not help will also clear any NCR infamy.
- Wiping out the Boomers or completing Volare! beforehand will greatly reduce the time needed to complete the quest.
- Despite Crocker asking for the Boomers to help the NCR, all dialogue options with him about the Boomers being recruited indicates that the tribe is actually helping the player character, but Crocker fails to notice and will still allow for completing the quest and progressing the NCR faction arc.
- Failing Don't Tread on the Bear! will also fail this quest and permanently lock out the NCR ending.
Bugs[]
After telling Crocker about having gained the Boomers' support, an NCR MP will stop the Courier in the hallway, say something about how "you should have paid your dues" and become hostile. He and any other NCR troops in the hallway will attack, but killing them doesn't result in Karma or reputation loss (on PC and PS3, reputation may still be lost), and no other NCR troopers become hostile afterwards.[verified]
