Exploring Cottonwood Cove¶

This is quite a bit out of the way, but it’s not too much work to complete the quest Left My Heart for poor Frank Weathers. This requires a trip to Cottonwood Cove, of course, which is east of Camp Searchlight, but the Sniper’s Nest area is a closer alternative, which you should have discovered a long time ago when you came here to obtain the Gobi Campaign Scout Rifle. This area was ignored earlier, mostly because related quests required you to travel to the Red Rock Canyon and the Aerotech Offices Park… conditions which have now been met. Besides, you may well have flirted with this area while trying to start Veronica’s quest I Could Make You Care or Aba Daba Honeymoon , now it’s finally time to officially visit.

Fast travel near Cottonwood Cove and follow the road in to the riverside camp. As you approach you should be pestered by a Legion Explorer. Either pass a [Speech 35] check to lie your way past him, or just claim to be a friend of the Legion. Once you’ve passed this obstacle, it’s time to get to looting.

There’s a bit of stealing that can be done, if you don’t mind losing a bit of karma. South of some concrete buildings you’ll find two Cottonwood Cove Restroom buildings. In the men’s restroom you’ll find an issue of Future Weapons Today and in the women’s… well, you can grab a Bobbypin off a metal shelf. East of here you’ll find some docks, which you can follow to reach the Cottonwood Cove Mess Hall [Hard], wherein you’ll find… a bit of food. Huh. South of the restrooms you’ll find the aptly named Cottonwood Cove Shack which houses a meager selection of mechanical junk. How is the NCR losing to these impoverish savages? Lazy Romans! North of the concrete buildings you’ll find a number of tents near and inside of which you’ll find some Metal Crates and Personal Footlockers, the latter of which contain more promising loot.

Cottonwood Cove Storage¶

Return to the concrete buildings, the eastern one of which (the one closest to the river) is the Cottonwood Cove Storage building. Here you can find some Crates to loot, some ammo lying around and a Reloading Bench, but nothing spectacular. Somewhat better loot can be found in a Personal Footlocker under a bed.

Cottonwood Cove HQ¶

The western, multi-storied building - Cottonwood Cove HQ - is more interesting. Start out by searching the bottom floor to find some notable loot, for a change. Along the eastern wall are several Gun Cabinets, in an on which you can find arms and ammo. Along the southern wall you’ll find a Filing Cabinet in which are some Legion Raid Plans, which you should leave alone for now, as it pertains to a quest which can be started later. Loot some Metal Boxes nearby and some Sunset Sarsaparilla Crates along the western wall for some less valuable loot, then leave the building, head upstairs, and enter the second level.

In the upper level you may find the commanding officer of Cottonwood Cove, Aurelius of Phoenix. If he’s not inside, he’ll be outside on the room, overseeing his domain. Wherever he is, talk to him, ask about his operations here, then ask if he’ll pay you for killing NCR troops to get him to offer to pay you for bringing in NCR Dogtags (10 Caps and some Caesar’s Legion Fame per tag). If you then succeed at a [Speech 35] check he’ll refer you to one Decanus Severus, who will pay you in supplies rather than Caps; food, ammo, guns, armor or explosives. Generally speaking more tags will allow you to pick better rewards. It’s a good way to improve your Caesar’s Legion Fame, but you can also turn them in to an NCR source later, if you’d rather gain favor with them.

After you’re done talking, loot Phoenix’s office, as there are several Gun Cabinets to loot. Search Aurelius’s desk to obtain a bunch of goodies, including the unique Unarmed weapon Recompense of the Fallen . Be sure to leave the Legion Raid Notes behind, however, as they are - like the ones downstairs - part of a quest that’ll be covered later. Last and not least, search the table near the bed in the south-eastern corner of the room to find a copy of Grognak the Barbarian .

Leave the Cottonwood Cove HQ and head to the tents to the north where you’ll find Decanus Severus. Talk to him and he’ll tell you about the Legion’s operations here, after which you can teach him how to make Powder Charges (if you grabbed the schematic from the NCRCF) and, if you pass an [Explosives 50] check you can teach him how to disarm Frag Mines.

Left My Heart¶

It’s finally time to help out poor old Frank Weathers by trying to free his family, which can be done in a number of ways. You’ll find them east of the tents, in a cage adjoining the Cottonwood Cove Storage Building. There are two ways to get into the cage; first, you can pick the locked gate [Hard] or steal the Weather’s Slave Key off of Canyon Runner, a Legionary patrolling nearby. Once inside the fence you’ll be engaged by Mrs. Weather, who will tell you how they came to be captured… and inform you that Frank wasn’t a saint, himself. If you pass a [Speech 40] check you’ll convince them to make a run for it… which will end poorly, as it’ll turn the Legion hostile to you and get the Weathers killed when their slave collars explode. Alternatively, you can attempt to defuse the collars and either successfully disarm them [Explosives 50] or lie about it [Explosives 35], which is just another way to get them killed. Even if you disarm all the collars, however, you’ll still need a way to get them out of the camp, which is not as simple as just encouraging them to make a break for it… although disarming the explosive collars are worth enough XP to be worthwhile.

Talk to Canyon Runner and ask him about the slaves and, after he discusses their value and the virtues of being a Legion slave, he’ll offer to sell them to you. A measly 300 Caps is all they’re worth, it seems, but if you pass a [Speech 50] check you can convince him that they’re diseased, and get the price dropped to 150 Caps. Afterwards he’ll give you the key, which you’ll be able to use to free them… and this way the Legion won’t bother shooting at them as they flee. Best way to handle this? Break into the pen, disarm their collars, then talk to Canyon Runner, lie to him, and buy them.

Eye For An Eye¶

You can now return to Frank to talk to him about his family… but first, there’s one more quest you can do in and around Cottonwood Cove. Now that you’ve discovered the aforementioned area, you can return to Camp Searchlight and find First Sergeant Astor and tell him about the Legion camp there. Offer to help him out again and he’ll tell you to bring back intel and plant a bug on the radio there. Agree to start the quest Eye for an Eye, then return to Cottonwood Cove and grab the two Legion Raid Plans. Both are in the Cottonwood Cove HQ building, one in Aurelius Phoenix’s desk in the upper level and another in a Filing Cabinet on the lower level. Once done, plant the NCR Bug on the “Legion Radio” along the eastern wall in the lower level… alternatively you can talk to Aurelius Phoenix and give him the bug for some Caesar’s Legion Fame and some bogus plans.

Whichever you do, return to First Sergeant Astor and give him the plans… bogus or real. If you give him the bogus plans, the quest will end and you’ll get even more Caesar’s Legion Fame. If you give him the real plans, however, you’ve still got some work to do… ask him what else needs doing and he’ll make a side remark about clearing out Cottonwood Cove. This can be done without gaining any Legion Infamy, too, which is the only reason why this quest is being covered now, instead of delaying it for later… at least, if you avoid direct confrontation and seek for a way to disable Cottonwood Cove in a way that lives up to this quests’ name.

If you want to make progress towards Boone’s quest I Forgot to Remember to Forget, bring him along with you, then travel near (not to, near) Cottonwood Cove. Avoid the Legionaries at the camp and scale the cliffs to the south-west of Cottonwood Cove (south-east of the Sniper’s Nest) to discover the Cottonwood Overlook area. As its name suggests, it’s an elevated area overlooking the legion camp at Cottonwood Cove below. More importantly, there’s an orange and yellow truck that’s close to falling off the ledge nearby. Sneak up to it and head to the end of the truck bed to find the truck’s Trailer Door, which you can open to send radioactive barrels falling off the cliffs and into the camp below. This is the missing second truck whose radioactive contents devastated Camp Searchlight, now properly turned against the Legion at Cottonwood Cove. Wait around for a moment for all the Legionaries to die and Boone should - if he’s with you - will comment. If you were sneaking when you released the barrels you should have gained no Caesar’s Legion Infamy, meaning that however you complete this quest, it’s Infamy-free… just pick whichever side you want to support. Return to First Sergeant Astor to claim another hefty reward.

Smith Mesa Prospector Camp¶

Side with whichever faction you wish, then return to Cottonwood Cove Overlook and head south over a cliff to find the Smith Mesa Prospector Camp, where you can find some meager loot in a shelter built into a small cave. Loot an Ammo Box behind a sand bag barricade, then grab a Sunset Sarsaparilla Star Bottle Cap off a cinder block on top of the roof of a shack.

The Flight of Franks Family¶

Now that you’ve dealt with Cottonwood Cove and explored the south-eastern edge of the map it’s time to head back to Frank Weathers and give him a good talking to. Find him in the tent and give him the news that they’re safe, after which succeed at a [Barter 35] check to get him to give you another 25 Caps (on top of the 50 Caps he gives you), then either succeed at a [Speech 35] check to tell him to clean up, or another [Speech 35] check to verbally abuse him. If you take the latter option, you can pass a [Speech 35] check to get him to clean up, or another [Speech 35] check to get him to commit suicide. Getting him to clean up is the good way to end this quest, while obviously goading him into suicide is… less so. If you for some reason can’t pass any of these Speech checks, you can always just tell him where they are, and he’ll leave and decide to lurk outside for them. Creepy.