Back in Your Own Backyard

“
To hell with mercy killing. We're getting those guys out of there.

”— Craig Boone as a companion during the quest.
**Back in Your Own Backyard** is a side quest in *Fallout: New Vegas*.

## Synopsis

Nelson recently fell to Caesar's Legion, capturing several troopers. Seeing an opportunity to take advantage of the NCR's moral fortitude, they crucified the hostages. Torturing them within sight of NCR positions. The Courier must either mercy kill them or defy the odds and extract those men from their torturers.

## Walkthrough

1. Talk to Ranger Milo at the NCR checkpoint southwest of Nelson
2. Either fight through the Legion occupiers and rescue the NCR troopers, or mercy kill the captive NCR troopers from a distance.
3. Return to Milo.

## Notes

* This quest provides 'history' with Craig Boone (a requirement for his companion quest). The player will gain one 'point' if they kill the hostages, and two 'points' if they rescue them. After rescuing the hostages, Craig Boone will voice his opinion of the operation, stating that mercy killing is a "last resort". It's a very personal thing with Boone: you find out at the end that he'd felt compelled to shoot his own wife dead to save her from Legion slavery in a situation where he was alone and it was impossible to release her by attacking. (This is why he knows his wife is dead, but won't say how he knows.)
* This quest and Restoring Hope can be done in any order, despite the obvious fact that the NCR, upon taking control of the town, should have released the hostages themselves. The NCR troops walking around Nelson seem oblivious to the three crucified men. If you released them while securing the town, speaking to Milo will be enough to activate and finish the quest. Likewise, Milo's quest only requires you to kill the Legion troops stationed in the open; the primary target for Restoring Hope, Dead Sea, resides in one of the buildings and does not need to be killed. Killing him results in not needing to do so later in Restoring Hope.

## Behind the scenes

The title of the quest is a cultural reference to the song "Back in Your Own Backyard".

## Bugs

* PlayStation 3 Xbox 360 Ranger Milo will not recognize that you have saved the hostages until all Legion members are dead (including Legion mongrels).
* PlayStation 3 It is possible that Boone will not recognize that you've saved the hostages, and react negatively towards the player character as if you decided to execute them.
* Xbox 360 Milo can sometimes get stuck close to the wooden ramps leading down Nelson, making it impossible to complete the quest.
	+ Due to the amount of bugs with Milo, it's recommended that you assault Nelson and rescue the hostages *before* speaking to Ranger Milo. Once finished with the quest you can head back up to the encampment and Milo will run to your character and comment on how Nelson was taken. You will still get the experience and NCR fame for doing the mission beforehand.
* Xbox 360 One group of hostages may get stuck together running in a circle. This results in a partial payout of 50 caps and the successful completion of the quest. "I have managed to free some of the hostages" is the only dialogue available to end the quest.