Remember when we stopped off at Big Town on our way to Minefield? Let’s finally go and give them a hand with their problems. If you haven’t yet, go help Timebomb over at Red’s Clinic (this requires a Medicine skill score of 45, which we should certainly have by now), then travel north to the Germantown Police HQ. If you’re still in Meresti, it’s due north of where you are at.

1) Disconnecting User: N Kroydon

The area outside of Germantown is crawling with Super Mutants, which are fortunately not too close together. Go through the gate and kill any Super Mutants you find. You’ll discover a terminal on the desk, which, while not having any gameplay advantages, is one of the more interesting accounts made by survivors after the bombs fell.

Head around the western side of the build to find a door to the Police HQ - Ground Floor [Very Hard]. If we really wanted, we could get in there, but for the sake of inclusivity, the guide will assume that you circle around back and go through the door to the top floor. We’ll start at the top and blast our way down, just like Robot Jesus intended. Before we head inside, however, the Germantown Police HQ will serve as a hub for some book gathering. Yep, another detour!

2) Another Skill Book Detour

Book - Duck and Cover!

From the southern gates of Germantown Police HQ, head south through some ruins along a heavily damaged road until you reach an intersection running east-west between two destroyed houses. Take the new road west until you find a ruined house near a billboard. Inside the house, on a wooden shelf, you’ll find a copy of **Duck and Cover!

3. Raider Train Camp**

Book - Duck and Cover!

Now head back to Germantown and from the southern gates head east until you find some suspended railroad tracks. Follow them north until you find a collapsed train. Some of the cars are shaped like a “V”, into the crux of which has been built a Raider camp. Kill the Raiders and grab their loot, including a copy of Duck and Cover! which is on the ground near a bath tub. Return to Germantown again, but this time, to explore it.

4) Germantown Police HQ

Book - D.C. Journal of Internal Medicine

In the room to the south there’s an Impound Information terminal [Very Hard] which contains some amusing stories, if nothing useful. The room to the north has two Super Mutants scheming about their captives from Big Town. A few well-placed shotgun shells will take them down. In the south eastern most room you’ll find a terminal [Easy] and a safe [Easy], also on the desk next to the computer will the be the note “Password for Lockdown Computer”. Grab it and go to the room north of this one, carefully disarming the landmine by the door. It tends to blow the D.C. Journal of Internal Medicine on the table away, making it a hassle to find. Grab the book and head to the room in the north-eastern corner of the level, which has several items worth looting on some tables. Now take the stairs down to the ground floor.

5) Rescuing Red

Book - Lying, Congressional Style

Head down the stairs and disarm the landmine at the landing. You have to be wary on this level, as Radroaches make it hard to determine where the Super Mutants are. The strongest Super Mutant on the level, (typically either a Master or an Overlord, depending on your level) will have the Germantown Jailors Key on him. In the classroom just east of the jail cells you’ll find a copy of Lying, Congressional Style on a half-buried desk. In the south-western corner of the level you’ll find a Police Station Terminal [Very Hard] and a locked door [Hard]. In the “contraband closet” you’ll find some guns, plenty of drugs, and some ammo. In the north-western corner near the exit to the Wasteland you’ll find the jails, and in one of those cells you’ll find poor Red.

She’ll tell you that another person named Shorty was dragged downstairs to the kitchen a short time ago. Tell Red to stay behind-it’s safer for her anyways-and go find the exit to the basement. Make sure to grab the Pre-War Book by the computer in the jail.

6) Saving Shorty

Book - Tumblers Today

Go down the hall and take the first left to find the firing range for the police HQ. There’s a door to the north [Average] that has some goodies behind it, namely a Fat Man, some ammo, and a copy of Tumblers Today . Head to the west now, kill the Radroaches, and continue until you see a Super Mutant talking to Shorty. Kill the Mutant before he kills Shorty and loot the small room to the south-western, as it contains a Nuka-Cola Quantum. Now talk to Shorty and get him to follow you. You could give him a weapon… but they shouldn’t be fighting anything anyways. Go back to the downstairs area, gather up Red, exit Germantown, and fast travel back to Big Town.

8) Defending Big Town

Once back at Big Town talk to Red for your reward. If you succeed at a Speech check you can get her to pay you an extra 200 Caps, but you’ll lose Karma for it. Offer to stay around and help defend them, your skills will determine what you can teach them. For example, a high Explosives skill lets you teach them to set up a minefield, a high Science skill will get them robotic defenders… Teaching them how to use Small Guns to defend themselves seems like the best course of action… and for the sake of argument, we’ll assume you take that approach. Head out back with the Big Town folks where they’ll wait for you to show them how to survive. Shoot at the stacked targets and they’ll follow suit. After a while, they’ll run out to defend the town against Super Mutants.

The Super Mutants will arrive in two groups of two, so stand on the bridge and smite them. Note that, like the Super Mutant that was hassling Shorty, they are all called Super Mutants, although some might actually be leveled. Talk to Shorty when you’re done saving Big Town, and he’ll give you the Lucky 8 Ball , which increases your Luck by one so long as it’s in your inventory. Now Big Town is done, let’s take a trip that has been for too long delayed… no, not the trip to Rivet City, wise guy, the trip to Canterbury Commons!