Heck Gunderson

Heck Gunderson, called "Hurricane Heck" for his unscrupulous business practices,The Courier: "Ted's father is a wealthy man. With his resources, this should be easy to stop."Chauncey: "That may be true, but I wouldn't recommend it. He's built a reputation, and it isn't for calmness and impartiality. He's not what he looks like. They call him "Hurricane Heck." The man built his empire by hiring mercenaries to drive off the competition. Lately he's been attacking our Brahmin suppliers so he can take over their business. He's the sort to pound in a nail with a wrecking ball. If you gave him the whole story on this he'd be liable to raze the entire hotel. And God knows what he'd do to the rest of the Strip."(Chauncey's dialogue) is a brahmin baron from California visiting New Vegas in 2281.
==Background==
A wealthy brahmin baron and one of the largest landowners in Nevada and California,The Courier: "What else can you tell me about Heck Gunderson?"Walter Phebus: "What more you want? He's a slithering snake, what he is. One of the biggest landowners this side of the Colorado and it's all stolen, I tell you. All that money buys him any NCR senators he wants - scoundrels, like Heck. There's just no way for us small folks to get by, much less prosper, kid."(Walter Phebus' dialogue) Gunderson's aggressive business practices have been driving down the price of beef considerably while simultaneously making the meat more affordable and earning the homicidal ire of smaller brahmin ranchers, such as Walter Phebus. Gunderson started out as a small rancher with only one ranch to his name, but found it easy to grab land before the NCR military moved into the areas and quickly expanded east into Nevada earning himself over a dozen ranches, ranching both brahmin and bighorners.The Courier: "No, I haven't."Heck Gunderson: "<sighs> Ain't nobody got one darned piece of news about my boy? Not one lousy speck of information? Ain't got one Brahmin unaccounted for across a dozen ranches, but I'm here for an hour and my own son just up and disappears on me."(Heck Gunderson's dialogue)The Courier: "So you're a rancher?"Heck Gunderson: "Yep, got a whole mess of brahmins to my name. Bighorners, too. Used to just have the one ranch, but land was easy to grab before the soldiers moved in. Before I knew it I was running one of the biggest ranching operations east of California. Now everywhere I go, folks I never even met shake my hand and call me "Mr. Gunderson." Don't know quite what to make of that."(Heck Gunderson's dialogue) 
With his vast amount of land and large herds of brahmin and big horners, Gunderson has made himself very wealthy but has been accused of using his wealth to bribe NCR senators and hiring mercenaries to threaten and intimidate competitors into selling their land for cheap to secure his near-monopoly on the brahmin meat market. Walter Phebus echos many of these sentiments and further accuses Gunderson of doing the same to him.
Though he is reluctant to explain his business to the Courier, he hints that he came to New Vegas to negotiate with the White Glove Society over food distribution.The Courier: "What business did you have here at the hotel?"Heck Gunderson: "That's between me and the White Glove Society. But let's just say they control the food supply around here, and I got lots of food to give, but that ain't as welcome as you might think."(Heck Gunderson's dialogue) His business is less than scrupulous, however, as Heck Gunderson has been attacking the beef suppliers of the White Glove Society, essentially forcing them out of the competition so he can sell to White Gloves instead at such quantities that beef price goes down. This is also backed up by Mortimer's proclamation should the Courier frame Heck.The Courier: "I framed Heck Gunderson and sent a Securitron to arrest him."Mortimer: "So the baron has slaughtered his last Brahmin. How delightful. He was a pox on our business. But now we can price it even higher, create a new luxury market. Not for you, of course. You'll get a special discount."(Mortimer's dialogue)
==Location==
He can be found in the Ultra-Luxe casino, sitting at the bar and accompanied by one of his bodyguards, a Gunderson hired hand.
==Interactions with the player character==
===Interactions overview===
===Quests===
* Beyond the Beef: Heck's son, Ted has gone missing and Heck asks the Courier to help find him.
* Pheeble Will: Walter Phebus wants Heck Gunderson to suffer because Heck has used threats of violence and intimidation to secure his ranching monopoly.
===Effects of player's actions===
If one decides to attack members of the White Glove Society, Heck will come to the Courier's aid if he is nearby.
==Inventory==
==Appearances==
Heck Gunderson appears only .
==Gallery==
Heck Gunderson Front.png|Heck Gunderson Collector's Edition playing card
==References==
Category:Fallout: New Vegas human characters
Category:Collector's Edition playing card characters
Category:Ultra-Luxe characters
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