Time to pay the Kings a visit. You’ll find their base of operations just south of the gate leading to inner Freeside, in the School of Impersonation. Yep, a gang full of punks who imitate Elvis, often poorly. Near a locked door to the south-east you’ll find Pacer, who controls access to The King. Before you go pestering him, however, you can loot the rest of this building… all three levels of it, although there’s little of value to be stolen aside from the odd low-quality melee weapon, a pair of First Aid Boxes in some bathrooms on the second floor, and a bunch of Kings Outfits on the third floor.

G.I. Blues¶

When you’re ready, talk to Pacer and either pay for the privilege of talking to The King (50 Caps will suffice) or pass a [Speech 60] check to gain a royal audience for free. Head into the theater and ask The King for some work and he’ll oblige by asking you to hire a bodyguard named Orris and see if you can discover why he’s so popular with tourists. This starts the quest G.I. Blues , and he’ll also give you 200 Caps to send you away happy. What a nice fellow!

Leave the King’s School of Impersonation and return to outer Freeside, near the Freeside’s North Entrance. Here you’ll find Orris, who can be hired for… 200 Caps! How convenient. He only escorts people to the south gate, however, as if you’re not going to the strip, you probably don’t have the money to be worth ambushing… or course, this also means he’s escorting people guaranteed to have money along a predictable path. No alarm bells going off here, nosiree. Hire him, listen to his instructions, then follow him to - and through - the blue gate to the south-west. When you pass the King’s School of Impersonation, he’ll suggest you take a detour down a side alley.

Surprises of surprises, you’ll be attacked by some thugs, which Orris will dispatch with outstanding ease. In fact, he seems to kill two with one bullet! Amazing. This guy is worth every Cap. Hey, wait a minute… talk to him again and pass an [Intelligence 6] check, then call him out on his ruse and pass a [Barter 50] check to get your money back (348 Caps, for some reason), then examine the “corpses” of the thugs and succeed at a [Medicine 30] check to find out they’re a bunch of dirty fakers. Only this last check is really required to prove that Orris is a phony, but why not get your money back, if you can?

Find out that Orris isn’t on the up-and-up and return to The King, who will promise to have Orris pulled from the streets shortly. This bit of business being done, he’ll offer you a new job; there’s tension between the NCR newcomers and the old residents of Freeside (which Julie Farkas mentioned, earlier) and an altercation occurred that left a few of The King’s peasants in bad shape. He wants you to go to the Old Mormon Fort and talk to them and find out what, exactly, happened.

Head over to the Old Mormon Fort and talk to Roy, who is in the first tent to the south-west. Listen to his story about the attacks, then talk to Wayne and get his take on things. Be sure not to call him a liar, as this will… reduce your Freeside Fame? Huh. Instead, be nice and he’ll remember the name “Lou Tenant” from the attack… or rather, lieutenant. Being nice with Wayne will get you some Freeside Fame, if you still need any. Return back to The King and tell him the news and he’ll ask you to learn what the NCR is up to.

Yay, more running around. First, return to the Old Mormon Fort to find out what Julie Farkas knows about the situation and she’ll mention an NCR officer by the name of Elizabeth Kieran, who has been handing out supplies to NCR folk. Next, either head behind the Old Mormon Fort or behind the ruined building south-west of Mick and Ralph’s to find a Missionary. If you insist that you’re an NCR citizen, then pass the citizenship test by answering, in order; “Tandi”, “Shady Sands” and

“Two-Headed Bear” you’ll be told where the NCR dole is being handed out. Alternatively, the Missionary near Mick and Ralph’s can be convinced by passing a [Speech 50] check.

Once you have the location of the NCR folk, head back to the blue gate, and from there continue north-west along the same path you took to reach Cerulean Robotics. Just before the rubble that leads to Cerulean Robotics turn south-east to find a “Ruined Store” that has some NCR goons standing out front. Talk to one of them and tell them the password, then head inside and talk to Elizabeth Kieran. After she rewards you with a can of Pork N’ Beans and Purified Water, ask why she only gives food to NCR citizens and when she gets defensive name-drop Julie Farkas to learn about the troubled history between the NCR and The Kings. The Kings attacked the NCR, the NCR doesn’t help the residents of Freeside, the residents of Freeside get angry, and on and on the violence spirals.

Return to The King and Pacer will intercept you in the lobby, giving his own spin on the altercation with the NCR “spy”, after which he’ll encourage you to keep your mouth shut. You can put a price on your silence to get 100 Caps from Pacer (200 Caps with a [Barter 50] check), or just refuse, but since there’s no penalty for being a bastard and tattling on Pacer anyways, feel free to get his money, then proceed to The King.

You have two courses of action here; tell The King what’s up, then don’t mention the envoy the NCR sent and, when word of trouble comes around, he’ll tell you to back up Pacer. If you do tell him about the envoy, however, he’ll send you out to defuse the situation. Unless you want NCR Infamy, you’re better off trying the latter course.

Head back to the train station (the inaccessible building across the street from the “Ruined Store” the NCR was operating out of) and you’ll find Pacer hiding, the last surviving member of his group of Kings. The violent approach is simple; just kill all the NCR Troopers, the Missionaries and Elizabeth Kieran, then report back to The King. Alternatively, keep your weapons holstered and approach the NCR position, where you’ll need to talk to Elizabeth Kieran and convince her of The King’s willingness to cooperate. Once done, return to The King. You’ll get more XP for taking the peaceful approach, but either way, The King owes you a favor.

Cashing In The Kings Favor¶

No sense in holding onto that favor, talk to The King and ask about it to see the three ways you can cash in. First, The King can help you get into Freeside by getting you a fake pass from Ralph for free. Second, you can join The Kings, which will earn you a Kings Outfit and the ability to freely style your hair, courtesy of Sergio on the first floor. Third, you can just ask for a flat Caps payout, worth a solid 1,000 Caps. If you want to side with the NCR later, however, it’s probably best to keep your favor to cash in later.

Nothin But A Hound Dog¶

Although you’re done with The Kings questing-wise, there’s still plenty you can talk to The King about. Ask about where they got their name, about Freeside, The Kings, Pacer, the important people in Freetown, and of course, his robot dog. Ask what’s wrong with the mechanical mutt and offer to help to start the quest Nothin’ But A Hound Dog . What? You are done questing for The Kings. Now you’re questing for poor Rex here.

Return to the Old Mormon Fort and talk to Julie Farkas yet again to hear the bad news she gave to The King. Fortunately, a name named Henry might have the expertise that she lacks… yes, the same Dr. Henry from Jacobstown. Tell The King what you learned and he’ll make some excuses for why he - nor any of his Kings - can make the trip. Well… since you have the map marker anyways, you might as well agree to make the trip. The King will give you some care instructions concerning Rex the pneumatic pooch will join you, giving you the Search and Mark Perk.

Leave Freeside and fast-travel to Jacobstown and pay Dr. Henry a visit to learn more about Rex’s condition. Rex’s brain is indeed going bad, but if you find a replacement, all will be well. Dr. Henry will suggest speaking to Old Lady Gibson for a new brain, but there are several alternatives, one of which you should already have:

• Fast-travel to the Gibson Scrapyard and ask Old Lady Gibson for a brain. For the low, low (not so low) price of 700 Caps she’ll part with the brain of her dog Rey… or you can pass a [Barter 70] check to get Rey’s Brain for free. His brain will give Rex the Faithful Protector perk, which gives Rex a damage boost.
• If you killed Violetta (Violet’s favorite pet) during the quest Three-Card Bounty , you’ll have her head. Installing this brain will give Rex the Unshakable Tracker perk, which increases his movement speed by 50%.
• A third option also exists, which involves advancing the main story a bit. Since the upgrade from this last approach gives Rex the Blood of the Legion perk, which increases his DT, you may want to hold off until later. If that’s the case, keep Rex with you until then, or send him away until you’re ready. You’ll be warned ahead of time.
  Once you replace Rex’s brain this quest will end.

Freeside is done, now it’s time to visit the New Vegas Strip with the intent to explore it in detail, and complete all the non-main story quests here.