Big Meadows gas well

The Big Meadows gas well, officially known as site NG-17,^[1] is a location in the Skyline Valley region of Appalachia.

Background[]

This natural gas well facility was owned and operated by the Bysshe Company as part of their energy operations in Appalachia.^[2] In 2077, its foreman was Richard Harrison, a technologically-inept employee who frequently spilled coffee on his terminal and did not understand the meaning of "bugs" in his computer as explained to him by Tim.^[3][4][5] Richard was frustrated with the quality of work at the gas well, and was actually hopeful that it would become automated.^[4] In September 2077, the site had at least three to five casualties, including an electrocution/subsequent fall,^[6] a welding torch gas explosion^[7] and a head trauma death from an employee's horseplay.^[8]

Around this same time, the facility was dealing with a reportedly suspicious worker named Harold Osborne. Employed by Bysshe five months prior, Osborne was reported by his co-workers such as Barry for anti-social and other strange behavior, including frequent trips to the top of the gas well's extractor tower. Osborne would claim that he had forgotten some "tools" at the top of the tower, and was even spotted there on weekends when the site was supposed to be closed.^[3][9] When asked about his unusual behavior, Osborne quickly asserted his innocence and mentioned his patriotism for the United States. According to deputy foreman Nathan Davidson, Osborne quickly alluding to patriotism unprompted was flagged by Bysshe management as a sign that he could be an undercover communist sympathizer, and requested site personnel to keep an eye on him.^[9]

In reality, Osborne's unusual behavior and frequent trips to the extractor tower's peak was a product not of communist activity, but actually as an undercover operative under direction of Bagman, a high-level executive in the U.S. federal government. Osborne was a hitman who set up a sniper's nest at the top of the gas well tower. Osborne was licensed to kill Zeus, a target whose identity is unclear but had some form of military protection while en route to Rapidan Camp to the north in a limousine.^[10] The assassination appears to have been successful, as a skeleton is found outside the limo holding a black suitcase, its head having been blown off. The other soldiers in the convoy are also found dead, bloodied, and skeletal, including one who appears to have been administering first aid. However, given that the crime scene had not been cleaned and can still be found largely untouched, it is likely this assassination occurred in close proximity to the Great War; another bloodied skeleton, potentially Osborne's, is found in the sniper's nest at the extraction tower, and his manner of death is unclear.

Layout[]

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Notable loot[]

• Note for Tim - Note, attached to the side of the foreman terminal, located inside the trailer on the northern side of the facility.
• Orders - Note, found on the top platform of the gas well, in a makeshift sniper's nest. It can accessed by using a jet pack and jumping from the spherical gas pressure vessel on the southeastern side of the rig, and then to a extended support beam with a tarp over it.
• 12 coffee cups can be found grouped together, with a 13th nearby, in the broken wooden building on the southern edge, providing a high amount of ceramic.

Appearances[]

The Big Meadows gas well appears only in Fallout 76, introduced in the Skyline Valley update.

Behind the scenes[]

• The editor ID of the Big Meadows gas well's location record is "LocStormFederalNatrualGasFieldNG17Location". This indicates that the location was previously meant to be operated by the federal government, but was changed to the Bysshe Company at some point during development.
• Big Meadows is a real-life location in the central part of Shenandoah National Park, with a campground and picnic area, as well as a wayside and lodge. It is a high-elevation meadow that stands out among the many forests of the national park, and is situated only a few miles west of Stony Mountain. No gas well exists in the area in the real world, and the presence of this site in Skyline Valley is another indication of the privatization and resource extraction that occurred in Shenandoah in the Fallout world.

Gallery[]

Alternate view

Convoy north of the gas well

Convoy north of the gas well, assassination site

Note for Tim

Orders

References[]

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