Camp Searchlight

"City of the Dead" 
Camp Searchlight is a location in the Mojave Wasteland .
==Background==
===Pre-War===
At the breakout of the Great War, the bombs' destruction forced the Searchlight police department to divert a convoy carrying nuclear waste from San Onofre into Searchlight, so that the waste could be safely stored. The trucks could be parked at the fire station without exposing them to nuclear blasts that would have potentially turned the sealed, secure fuel casks into massive dirty bombs.Camp Searchlight terminal entries; Chief fire officer terminal, Chief Fire Officer Report No. F1-218 The spent nuclear fuel rods remained there for over two centuries.
===Post-War===
When the New California Republic deployed in force to the Mojave during their Mojave Campaign, Searchlight was chosen as a site for a military base. "Camp Searchlight" was established, becoming a major communications and logistics hub for the NCR Army in the southern Mojave. However, this simultaneously made it a target for the Legion. Vulpes Inculta devised a plan that initially involved using frumentarii agents to intercept shipments of supplies meant for the camp, depriving the troops of necessary materials and stockpiling them for later use by the Legion.Camp Searchlight terminal entries; NCR storage database, Log Entry #1836Camp Searchlight terminal entries; NCR storage database, Log Entry #2257 
As the supply issues worsened, tensions emerged among the camp's senior staff,Camp Searchlight terminal entries; NCR communications terminal, Communications Entry #842 and the agents waited for an opening in the camp's defenses. The opportunity came soon, as the patrol routes were changed again for operational security reasons.Camp Searchlight terminal entries; NCR communications terminal, Communications Entry #923 As usual, gaps opened in the patrol routes as the troops had to get used to the new schedule.Camp Searchlight terminal entries; NCR communications terminal, Communications Entry #937
The second initiative perpetrated by Vulpes was the one that caused the camp's destruction. After finding out about the nuclear fuel casks still stored inside the fire station, he sent in a small group of legionaries, ordering them to infiltrate the fire station via the gaps in patrols and unseal them, unleashing lethal levels of radiation on the camp. The legionaries were killed instantly alongside some NCR personnel. The rest of the NCR soldiers turned into ghouls or died soon thereafter of radiation sickness.Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide Collector's Edition pp. 421-422: "[6.16] Camp SearchlightAs an unfortunate twist of fate would have it, a convoy of flatbed trucks transporting nuclear waste from San Onofre was passing through Searchlight when the Great War broke out. Local police directed the drivers to temporarily park their vehicles in the fire department, but no one ever came back to retrieve them. There they sat in their extremely sturdy solid steel spent fuel flasks for over 200 years. The NCR recently set up a sizable base here, but this was a major obstacle for Caesar's Legion due to its size and clear view of the surrounding desert. When it became obvious that a direct assault would not prove fruitful, Vulpes Inculta sent in some spies to learn more about the situation. After he learned about the radioactive waste being stored in the fire station, he ordered some unwitting legionaries to open the containers. Though the legionaries died almost instantly, the sacrifice produced a massive wave of death and ghoulification among NCR troops that effectively destroyed Camp Searchlight as a viable military base. (Upper) Restrooms: There's a skeleton of a long-dead fireman in one of the stalls, and an extra-special Fireaxe!"(Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide Collector's Edition Tour of the Mojave Wasteland)The Courier: "What happened at Searchlight?"Hanlon: "Searchlight was worse. One of Caesar's must have found something in there, flooded the whole camp with radiation."(Hanlon's dialogue) Only a handful of troops out on patrol survived, rallying under First Sergeant Astor.The Courier: "How did you survive?"Astor: "I was out on patrol at the time so I wasn't in the camp when it happened. There were a few others with me after it happened, including some of my superiors. Between radiation poisoning and attacks by the Legion they all died out."(Astor's dialogue)
In the meantime, a task force under the centurion Aurelius of Phoenix landed at Cottonwood Cove to the east of Searchlight, establishing a beachhead on the western side of the Colorado River and immediately launching raids on both the surviving NCR troops and especially supply and trade caravans heading up to New Vegas. Further legionary groups moved up north and west as time went by, targeting Nelson and Nipton to lay the groundwork for the Second Battle of Hoover Dam.The Courier: "You must be the one in charge here."Aurelius of Phoenix: " When drove the NCR from Searchlight by clever means, himself ordered me to set up this camp and harass the Profligates! It's a modest presence, a single finger of the Legion reaching across the river's narrows. But with me here, it has an iron knuckle."(Aurelius of Phoenix's dialogue)
==Layout==
Situated at the convergence of Nevada State Route 164 and Highway 95, the small town surrounds a section of the latter on a north-south axis and is mostly intact despite the two centuries of neglect and the recent radioactive devastation unleashed by Caesar's Legion. The sole remaining NCR camp is located on the outskirts of the town to the northeast, staffed by what remains of the Searchlight garrison. Other signs of life are located in the basement of the ruined church in the western part of town, where Logan and a few other prospectors are busy preparing to loot the town on a contract from the Crimson Caravan Company. The terrified Private Edwards is hiding in a Searchlight home near the church. 
The streets of the town and much of the surrounding environs are prowling with ghoulified NCR troopers. They include regular ferals, glowing ones, and a few who managed to retain their motor skills who move and attack like normal humans but only with combat knives. They are most common in the center and to the northeast, where the Camp's command was located (at the former Searchlight police station) and the trucks used to set up the base were parked. The Searchlight fire station (Searchlight Fire & Rescue Station No. 1) is in the heart of town and contains the pre-War transport of spent fuel rods that were used to turn the entire area into an irradiated hellhole. The station is locked, with keys carried by Logan. Entering it will prompt a swift response from the radscorpion queen and several radscorpions that set up a nest there. To the south is the Searchlight Elementary School with another ruined church. The school is "attended" by several golden geckos, who enjoy the warmth of the town's radiation. Further out is the trailer park that served the inhabitants of the town. 
The NCR set up a network of defensive turrets to protect the perimeter, with terminals placed in cover nearby. The turrets are found near the police station, behind the fire station and on the intersection just south of it, and under the Cottonwood Cove Road bridge passing over Highway 95.
Camp Searchlight has several buildings that can be entered, all of which are irradiated alongside the town. The buildings which can be entered include a schoolhouse with a few golden geckos, a house containing the non-hostile ghoul Private Edwards, and a church on the western end of town, containing Logan and his prospector companions who are looting the town for the Crimson Caravan Company. Upon entering the fire station, where the radioactive canisters were originally stored and opened, the Courier will immediately encounter a radscorpion queen and several normal radscorpions. To enter the firehouse, Logan needs to be joined or killed, as he holds the key. There are several terminals outside that control the turret defense system.
===Astor's recon camp===
The devastating radiation attack by the Legion on Camp Searchlight has pushed the surviving NCR soldiers back to a minimum safe distance. The fury and emotion are still raw, as First Sergeant Astor leads his men on patrol and witnesses what his brothers-in-arms have turned into. In the modest camp, First Sergeant Astor's log can be found, revealing that he blames himself for the incident.
==Buildings==
==Inhabitants==
* Private Kyle Edwards
* Logan
* First Sergeant Astor
==Notable loot==
* Chinese Army: Special Ops Training Manual - In the east church's basement, by the eastern wall, at the foot of the metal shelves, on the floor.
* Knock-Knock - A unique variant of the fire axe, found in the righthand corner of the bathroom stall with the skeleton in it, upstairs in the Searchlight fire station. This is only obtainable after either starting Wheel of Fortune or killing Logan and taking the key from him.
* Seven fire helmets - In the fire station, with five on the ground floor shelves, one upstairs in the chief's office on a shelf, and one in the bathroom stall where Knock-Knock is found.
* One Sunset Sarsaparilla star bottle cap - In the fire station. Upstairs in the northeast corner in the kitchen area, on a table next to two empty bottles.
* Legion orders - In the fire station, found on two recruit legionaries in the garage.
* NCR computer parts and NCR radio parts - In the police station, the quest items for Wheel of Fortune.
* Three Holy Frag Grenades - In the gecko-filled Searchlight church basement. If Wild Wasteland is not an active trait, they will appear as two mini nukes.
==Related quests==
* Eye for an Eye
* We Will All Go Together
* Wheel of Fortune
* Arachnophobia
==Notes==
* "City of the Dead", the background music when around the camp, was originally used for Necropolis in Fallout, as well as Navarro and Vault 15 in Fallout 2.
* "REVELATION 9:6" is printed on the board outside of the western church, with the "L" being an upside-down "T." This verse reads "And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them."
** It appears the sign originally read "BINGO EVERY TUESDAY NIGHT 6:30-9:30".
* Multiple Searchlight firetrucks appear in the Divide .
* If one follows Vulpes Inculta's group from Nipton after starting Cold, Cold Heart, they will pass by Searchlight and get into a fight with the NCR troops around 5:30 p.m.
* The trucks in Searchlight carrying the nuclear waste were part of the same convoy as the truck poised on the overlook above Cottonwood Cove.
==Appearances==
Camp Searchlight appears only .
==Behind the scenes==
* The in-game Camp Searchlight is based on the real-world location of Searchlight in Clark County, Nevada.
* Searchlight was implemented and written by Denise McMurry, based on a concept outlined by Joshua Sawyer.J.E. Sawyer on Formspring
* Camp Searchlight can be seen without the green haze in the E3 2010 trailer.Haze free at the 1:00 mark
==Bugs==
* Logan will not talk with the player character. Also, he does not have the key when pickpocketed or killed, if having already killed other characters involved in obtaining Knock-Knock. Note: if killed before killing Boxcars while on the Wheel of Fortune quest, his body should have both keys on it.
* After waiting at the NCR checkpoint, a lone recruit legionary may spawn in one of the trees. He will quickly be killed by the troopers.
* If the player character discovers and raids the supply cave before approaching Logan, it will be impossible to proceed with the quest, only if the 4 radiation suits have been repaired to make one radiation suit already.
* Two firetrucks, both stationed behind the Camp Searchlight fire station, don't have fully developed physical properties. The back end of each of the trucks has no physical properties whatsoever and the player character can clip through them, with the exception of the cabs.
==Gallery==
FNV Srchlt fire station flag.png|New California Republic flag
FNV Astor camp flag.png
Camp Searchlight streets.jpg|Crusin the streets of Searchlight
FNV Camp Searchlight aerial view.png|Aerial view
FNV Camp Searchlight Outpost West.png|Western outpost
FNV Water tower camp searc.jpg|Water tower on the north side
FNV Novac Searchlight sign.jpg|Roadsign above NV-164
FNV Truck 16.jpg|Military trucks on the main drag
FNV CASOTM Camp Searchlight.jpg|Chinese Army: Special Ops Training Manual (east church)
FNV NV 164 Eastbound.jpg|Searchlight on the Nevada 164 street sign
FNV Novac Searchlight sign.jpg|Pointing the way to Searchlight
NV 164 Nipt Search sign.png
FNV Primm Nipton Vegas sign.png
FNV Searchlight church sign.png|Church sign
Nv signrad.png|Sign texture file
==References==
 
de:Camp Searchlight
es:Campamento Searchlight
it:Camp Searchlight
pl:Camp Searchlight
ru:Лагерь Сёрчлайт
uk:Табір Серчлайт
zh:探照灯营地