Baja is a mentioned-only location in Fallout: New Vegas.
Background[]
Formerly a charted region of the former country of Mexico, by the 23rd century, it is located south[1] of the post-War territory of New California and has seen settlement efforts from the New California Republic.
Around 20-25 years prior to 2281, a group of settlers from the NCR tried their luck and moved south in the region to found a new settlement. Naming their budding colony Rattletail, all they had managed to get after some time was a shantytown in the middle of nowhere, set up around the only working well for many miles.[2]
By the time a squad of NCR Rangers led by Hanlon came to evacuate the town, the five colonists had shot over two dozen locals in cold blood whom they mistook for raiders, even when all they were trying to do was approach the well for water. Hanlon convinced them to pull out of the area by fabricating a story about an approaching raider war-band, one hundred strong, intent on getting to them.[2]
Around the late 2270s to early 2280s, Hanlon, now the acting Chief, requested an increase in the deployment of Rangers to the Mojave Wasteland from President Kimball. The president agreed but decided to order the Rangers' veteran members into Baja on a mission Hanlon considers "chasing ghosts," whilst forcing the Chief to contend with under-equipped patrolmen Rangers instead, indirectly undermining the NCR's war effort against Caesar's Legion. Hanlon privately considered this move to be overkill, particularly since he knew that the NCR needed combat veterans, not patrolmen to withstand the Legion's onslaught. As a result of executive meddling and miscommunication, however, the entire situation became a massive waste of time, money and resources with a lengthy, complicated history.[3]
However, as the course of the conflict begins turning towards the inevitable Second Battle of Hoover Dam, NCR command revises their approach and recalls the Veteran Rangers from Baja to finally deploy them to the Mojave. Taking the route through Dayglow,[4] their presence is intended to increase the combat potential of NCR forces tremendously.[5]
Appearances[]
Baja is mentioned only in Fallout: New Vegas. In Season 1 of the Fallout TV series, during the eighth episode, a map of the USA on the wall of the corporate boardroom with glowing dots representing Vault-Tec Vaults appears to include a dot, and thus a Vault, in Baja.
Behind the scenes[]
- Baja is a real-world region of the same name, a peninsula in northern Mexico.
- Joshua Sawyer stated that the line spoken by Hanlon referencing "chasing ghosts in Baja," as well as the identity of those "ghosts" is an "intentional mystery."[Non-game 1]
References[]
- ↑ The Courier: "How is NCR doing?"
Hanlon: "It's no secret that we've had better campaigns. Holding this whole length of the river isn't easy. We're stretched thin and the Long 15 just keeps getting longer. Slow to get supplies. Slower to get reinforcements. NCR's senate has got funds tied up at the Boneyard and President Kimball ordered our most experienced rangers to chase ghosts down in Baja."
(Hanlon's dialogue) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Courier: "There must be something good the rangers have done that you're proud of."
Hanlon: "[SUCCEEDED] It's kind of a long one, but all right. About twenty, twenty-five years ago, a group of NCR settlers pushed way south into Baja. I guess it doesn't seem so far now if you look at a map, but back then, they were out a ways. They built this little shanty town around a well in the middle of nowhere. Called it Rattletail."
The Courier: "[Continue]"
Hanlon: "Word got back to one of our stations that raiders had been attacking the place. I went out with six rangers. We must have been on the trail for a week before we got to Rattletail. We lost one woman to Night Stalkers and another almost died of dehydration. When we reach the place, it's six shacks set up around an old well."
The Courier: "[Continue]"
Hanlon: "There's over two dozen bodies lying in the dunes way outside of town and five men with .308 rifles crouched behind sandbags. And these bodies, these people out in the sand, they aren't raiders. Aren't even heavily armed. They're just people who were trying to get to the only well in fifty miles. I didn't have to talk to the men to see that they did not care one bit."
The Courier: "[Continue]"
Hanlon: "They had planted an NCR flag over the well and they would not budge until every last one of them was laid out, dead and cold. So I walked up and told them there was a group of raiders coming, one hundred strong. I made up some cockamamie name for them and everything. The men looked at each other, looked at us, and asked me what we were going to do about it."
The Courier: "[Continue]"
Hanlon: "I told him we would take them back into NCR territory because we had already lost ten rangers on the way out. Ten rangers, five men with .308 rifles. Well, that was enough for them. They packed up what they could and we took them back north. Last I heard, they settled somewhere in Anza-Borrego. Raised Bighorners. Had some tough times, but it worked out okay for them. So there you go. That's my one bit of good."
(Hanlon's dialogue) - ↑ The Courier: "What's going on in Baja?"
Hanlon: "It's complicated. Goes way back. I told President Kimball that we need more rangers here. He accepted that, but took the most experienced ones and sent them south. Patrol rangers are good men and women, but we're about to fight a war."
(Hanlon's dialogue) - ↑ The Courier: "How is NCR doing?"
Hanlon: "Mojave Outpost sent word through the stations. The rangers coming up from Baja moved through Dayglow a week ago. Some of the patrol rangers have reported that Oliver's power armor heavy troopers are starting to reinforce the front lines. Wish they got here a bit earlier, but that's the senate for you."
(Hanlon's dialogue) - ↑ The Courier: "What do the new rangers mean for NCR?"
Hanlon: "The Baja rangers can do more advance night scouting and sharpshooting to assist the troopers. Ranger combat helmets are old Pre-War gear. They have built-in low-light optics. Makes a big difference."
(Hanlon's dialogue)
Non-game
- ↑ Fallout: New Vegas 10th Anniversary Charity Stream (reference starts at 2:22:47)
Joshua Sawyer: "'Who are the ghosts in Baja?' It's a mystery. It's an intentional mystery."