Trouble on the Homefront Trouble on the Homefront is a side quest in " Fallout 3 " . It is also an Xbox 360 and PC achievement and a PlayStation 3 trophy . Detailed walkthrough . This quest will be activated anytime after completing The Waters of Life , by picking up the Vault 101 distress signal on the radio ( which is set to start 14 days after the completion of The Waters of Life . Note that if you go to find the G . E . C . K you may have a bit of trouble picking up the signal . To find it , simply wander near Vault 101 . The signal is only active for a limited time ; if the quest is not started before the signal stops , the only way to start it is through the console ( see the for more information ) . It is a message from Amata asking you to return to Vault 101 to help stop her father , the overseer . If you killed the original overseer while escaping from Vault 101 , Allen Mack will be the new overseer and you can still do this quest ( although the radio message changes to " . . . the new Overseer is insane . If you can hear this , please stop looking for your dad and help save us . " ) . Since you and your father escaped from Vault 101 , the Vault has been divided into two major factions . The faction led by Amata , holed up in your father ' s clinic , wants to open the vault and interact with the outside world . The other faction is led by the overseer and he wants to keep the vault closed permanently , in accordance with its mission . Butch , however , wishes to abandon the vault entirely and live on the surface ; the rest of the rebels simply intend to remain living in the vault but want to be able to make excursions into the wasteland when necessary . One of the essential reasons for having access to the wasteland and the remainder of humanity , apart from the obvious need for supplies and parts for the vault ' s aging life support apparatus , is to avoid collapse due to genetic stagnation and inbreeding . The number of Vault 101 residents has fallen significantly in the two centuries since it was sealed , implied heavily by various conversations and other means ( such as a message encouraging procreation on the text messages ) prior to the Lone Wanderer ' s initial escape . If they successfully persuade the overseer to allow exterior access , then the overseer himself will finally accept and openly admit that without external input , the vault ' s population will not remain genetically viable for more than a generation or so . Solutions . Although there are only three different outcomes , there are plenty of ways to finish each . Keep the Vault closed . There are essentially two ways to keep the vault closed ; one way is to ignore the problem and leave . The downside to this is no quest - related rewards will be given . After dealing with the rebels , you may talk to the overseer , who will ask you to leave . If you ask him about a G . E . C . K . he will reply that Vault 101 never had one and will offer the modified utility jumpsuit instead , whether or not you used violence . Alternatively , he can be asked for food and ammunition to get 13 Cram and 350 5mm round s in place of the suit . Open the Vault . If the overseer lives , he will step down , and Amata will take on the role of overseer . This nets positive Karma . She will still assume the role of overseer if her father or Allen Mack dies . Amata will show regret and sorrow if either had to be killed or excitement and amazement if her father was persuaded to step down without violence . If she is spoken to she will then ' ask ' you to leave the vault permanently even if her father was persuaded to stand down peacefully , and will provide the modified utility jumpsuit ( in the case of peaceful actions ) . Later , you may randomly encounter Susie Mack in the wasteland . You can talk to her and she will give you purified water but say that you still cannot return . Butch will end up in Rivet City at The Muddy Rudder . Destroy the Vault . Hack the ( hard ) computer in the sub - basement or steal the Vault 101 maintenance password from Stanley , the maintenance man , who can be found wandering around the cafeteria / dorm level . Go into manual override mode and perform a flush and a purge . This will flush the water chip , resulting in a catastrophic system failure ( if Stanley is performing maintenance on the system , as he tends to do , the resulting explosive malfunction will kill him ) . Everyone is now forced to evacuate the vault ( this drains Karma ) . This is always an option ( unless the latest patch 1 . 1 is installed , see below ) - you can even complete the quest with another method and " then " flush the chip , although this will render anything you did before meaningless from the quest ' s point of view . Obviously , life in the vault is no longer feasible . A random encounter may occur where Amata is being interrogated by the Enclave . If she gives up the location of Vault 101 , she will be executed . If saved , you can try talking to her , but she will scold you for what you have done . She does not have a destination and will eventually be killed by one of the horrors of the wasteland . Butch can be found at The Muddy Rudder bar in Rivet City and can be recruited with neutral Karma . In the random encounter Trapped Outside , dead residents can also be found ( provided they lived through the Vault visit ) . In order : Freddie Gomez , Pepper Gomez , Herman Gomez . All of the other vault dwellers are not seen again . Doing this nets no rewards of any kind except bad Karma ; if you particularly want a reward then you can complete the quest that way , get the reward , and then destroy the chip . You can , of course , still , loot the vault . Failure . Killing the overseer after getting the vault either open or closed results in failure of the quest itself . This also causes the vault to be left open and you can come and go as you please , but all residents will turn hostile . A message will appear explaining that Vault 101 has been ' thrown into chaos ' . If it is once again returned to , the place will become infested with radroaches if all inhabitants are dead . Behind the scenes . " Fallout " reference : Portions of Amata ' s speech to the Lone Wanderer when they leave are strikingly similar to the speech given to the Vault Dweller at the end of " Fallout " , even the number of ellipses used in each ( bold quotes specifically ) . NOTE : The above dialogue appears only if the overseer is killed as a solution . Resolving the problem diplomatically results in a different dialogue that does not reference the first " Fallout " .