Hidden Valley

Hidden Valley is a military installation nestled between hills and rocks roughly northeast of the New California Republic Correctional Facility and southeast of Sloan. The valley is home to numerous bark scorpions and the remnants of the Mojave chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel that once occupied Helios One.

Background
Once one of the most pristine natural basins in the McCullough Range, Hidden Valley was a destination for hikers wishing to experience the untamed wilds of Nevada. However, with hostilities escalating across the globe and the Sino-American War continuing with no end in sight, it fell prey to the military-industrial complex. The United States Air Force declared it a testing range, surrounding the area with a chain-link fence, forbidding photography, and then completely forgot about it. The secrecy of project likely so buried in bureaucratic red-tape that no one who could've used it knew about it. To the casual observer, it was just a stretch of federal land, cordoned off, abandoned, and covered in graffiti protesting the futility of the Sino-American War. The perception changed little after the Great War, with wastelanders seeing it as little more than a stretch of particularly desolate wasteland, home to derelict bunkers, mute intercoms, and bark scorpion.

Of course, this was all a ruse. The USAF selected the remote Hidden Valley to establish an independent, self-sustaining underground bunker, using the same technology used at Raven Rock. The facility was intended for use by high ranking personnel and other VIPs as a shelter and command center in crisis situations. The bunker was built several hundred feet (over 100 meters) below ground, beneath multiple layers of reinforced materials in order to ensure that nothing short of a direct hit by a bunker-busting megaton nuclear weapon could threaten the installation. Such capacity was believed to be well outside the United States' closest competitors, but the bunker was provided with additional protection in the form of the Dervish camouflage system. This complex network of industrial vents and fans generated an artificial sandstorm using the loose soil within Hidden Valley, which was supplemented by a combination of aluminum and silicates to create what was essentially a giant cloud of chaff, interfering with remote guidance systems. Together with the Black Mountain radar array and its electronic countermeasures, targeting the Hidden Valley bunker network was effectively impossible, assuming its existence was known in the first place.

The bunker itself was furnished with every facility necessary to its continued operation in the event of a catastrophic event, including a variety of living quarters ranging from bunk rooms to individual chambers, a fully stocked clinic capable of carrying out complex surgeries, vast store houses, shooting ranges, workshops, research labs, a virtual reality training system, everything needed for prolonged isolation. In order to ensure longevity, the bunker was fitted with a Candle fusion power system. Powering all the bunker's systems, it was a mature and tested technology. Although newer designs offered a higher power output, the Candle offered reliability and longevity, capable of powering the bunker for an estimated 752 years (until ca. ~2700).

The fact that Hidden valley survived the Great War is a testament to its countermeasures and Robert House's defense of the Mojave. Over the next two centuries, the bunkers were abandoned and fell into disrepair, with large parts of the installation caving in due to lack of structural maintenance, salvaging, or design. It wasn't until the 2260s and the arrival of Elder Elijah at the head of the newly founded Mojave Chapter that it gained a new lease on life, set up as an auxiliary location and fallback point for the chapter, second to Helios One. It was "promoted" to a chapter bunker following the disastrous Operation Sunburst in 2276 when the chapter was routed from its stronghold at Helios and forced to flee into the McCullough Range. The new Elder, Nolan McNamara, instituted a lockdown: All Brotherhood members who made it into the bunker were confined inside, while those outside the bunker were prohibited from returning to prevent the NCR from tracking the chapter down. Only a select few were permitted to leave to procure essential supplies or to patrol the Hidden Valley at nighttime, under cover provided by the Dervish.Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide Collector's Edition p.43: "Brotherhood of Steel

''The Brotherhood of Steel is a militant organization devoted to the preservation of pre-war technology and human knowledge. Their professed mission is to preserve pre-war technology and human knowledge for the benefit of future generations. In practice, its definition of technology is strangely selective, ignoring basic but potentially useful technologies (genetic modification of crops and civil engineering, for example) in favor of combat technology such as energy weapons and power armor: and even now, nearly two centuries after the Great War, the Brotherhood zealously restricts the use and knowledge of such technologies to its own membership.''

''The Mojave Brotherhood operated freely amid the Vegas wastes for several years, carrying out many reclamation missions without serious opposition. The balance of power shifted in 2251, when a large contingent of NCR troops entered the region and occupied Hoover Dam. Conflict was inevitable. Nearly two years of guerilla skirmishes culminated in a pitched battle at HELIOS One, a solar energy plant the Brotherhood had been refurbishing for several months with the goals of bringing it back online and activating its hidden offensive capabilities (the ARCHIMEDES II death ray). The battle for HELIOS One (Operation: Sunburst) proved a disaster for the Mojave Brotherhood. More than half its Paladins and Knights were killed. The chapter's leader, Elder Elijah, disappeared without a trace. The Brotherhood was driven from the facility, which suffered extensive damage. Survivors retreated to Hidden Valley. Since that defeat, the chapter's leader, Elder McNamara, has restricted activity outside the bunker to occasional reconnaissance missions and high-value raids. All operations take place at night, and engagement of NCR forces is strictly forbidden. Though the Brotherhood's ascetic lifestyle has prepared its members for a sequestered existence better than most, the passivity of their current situation has proved highly stressful."''(Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide faction profiles)

Though the Brotherhood prepares its members for extended seclusion through its ascetic training, the situation is slowly deteriorating. Five years after the loss of Helios, many of the Knights and Paladins promoted to fill in the gaps in manpower have no real combat experience, relying on virtual reality simulations and firing range exercises, the chapter is incommunicado to the rest of the Brotherhood, and internal tensions are simmering beneath the surface as Head Paladin Hardin is looking for a way to oust the current Elder and implement his policy. Unbeknownst to all but the Elder and Knight Lorenzo, the bunker itself is slowly failing. The Dervish system was not designed for constant use and the accumulation of enhanced dust in the ventilation system is taking its toll on the bunker's life support systems. Simply put, if the systems are not fixed, the bunkers would become uninhabitable in short order. The Elder attempted to send scouting parties out to retrieve the parts, but a lack of intel (caused by the skewed priorities in the Elijah era) and local hostiles resulted in the loss of all patrols.

Finally, the single biggest threat to Hidden Valley and the Mojave Chapter are the powers that vie for control of the Mojave. Mr. House and Caesar want the Brotherhood removed from the picture, seeing them as a threat to their control of the region, while the Republic is willing to sign a truce in exchange for military aid (if the Courier plays their cards right). Hiding is not an option, as even if the life support systems were restored to full functionality, all factions are aware that the Brotherhood is still lurking somewhere in the McCullough Range. After all, it only took House two years to figure it out, after losing a single Securitron per annum in the vicinity of Hidden Valley.

Layout


The Hidden Valley is a large basin located east of Sloan, between Black Mountain and the NCR Correctional Facility. It's easily identifiable by the damaged fencing surrounding it, four distinct bunkers buried under the sand, and working industrial fans, on top of several bark scorpion s and occasionally larger radscorpions preying on them. There are four bunkers in total, located in cardinal directions along the edges of the area. There's a large break in the fence to the south-east, leading to the Scorpion gulch and the El Dorado Valley beyond.

Four Brotherhood of Steel Paladins will leave the western bunker for a patrol, covered by the Dervish camouflage system, between 01:00 and 03:00 patrolling around the bunker until just before dawn.

East bunker
This ruined bunker contains the remains of a pair of lovers, who shared one last bottle of wine before passing from this world, just by a cave-in. The Easy-locked door hides a can of 100 5 mm rounds and a full magazine with 24 5.56mm rounds.

North bunker
Perhaps the most intact bunker, aside from the one leading to the installation. It contains ancient supplies illuminated by blue fluorescent lamps and an Average-locked door leading to 2 mini nukes, a stimpak and some 5.56 mm ammunition.

South bunker
A largely derelict bunker, it has been recently taken over by an NCR Ranger, who plans to turn it into a safehouse in order to watch the Interstate from the safety of the Hidden Valley. The camp contains a makeshift bed, a sack with supplies, and a journal. The Hard-locked door in the back leads to a caved-in storage hall containing loot among the wreckage: Three ammunition boxes, a mini nuke obscured under a tin plate, a steam gauge assembly and two piles of scrap metal on the right, and frag grenades and a full 5.56 mm magazine on the left.

The Ranger will appear if Still in the Dark is activated and the Brotherhood forces the player to resolve the situation with him.

West bunker
The fourth bunker contains the hidden elevator to the facility, easily identifiable by a tree stump on top of the entrance. The entrance hall has little in the way of interest, while the door into the bunker is protected by a Very Hard lock. The player can obtain access by:
 * Lockpicking the door or using the passphrases from holotape s carried by the dead Paladins located at REPCONN headquarters,  Black Mountain, or in a ditch outside Nellis Air Force Base. This immediately starts Still in the Dark and the player is forced to deal with the Ranger to obtain the Brotherhood's trust.
 * Bringing Veronica Santangelo along from the 188 trading post.
 * Progressing far enough in any faction's storyline to be asked to deal with the Brotherhood (eg. Wild Card: Side Bets).

Notable loot

 * 3 mini nuke s: In the northern and southern bunkers, both behind the locked doors.
 * A hollowed-out rock with a heart and anti-bomb symbol: Located in front of the fast-travel marker, the rock is right in front of the player upon fast travel.

Appearances
Hidden Valley appears only in Fallout: New Vegas.

Behind the scenes

 * Megan Parks was responsible for layout, prop placement, decoration, terrain shaping, and vistas in this location.

"; This might not be necessary. I might be able to set VDialogueHiddenValley.SpyingForSchuler to 1"
 * Originally, the player was supposed to be able to spy on Taggart for Schuler and discover a PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) virtual simulation, according to the following script attached to VDialogueHiddenValleyLindaSchulerTopic009 (I don't appreciate how much harder I have to work to cover for his tendency to focus on his personal projects. I try not to think too much about his personal proclivities.:
 * add a top level topic for telling her what you
 * found out and simply have it check to see if you
 * discovered the PTSD sim.


 * It was planned for the player to be able to use the VR pods here, probably to play a VR simulation where the player must defend Hidden Valley from Enclave intruders. There is a VR pod called HVPlayerPodREF and a message called HVGameScoreMessage that tracks a variable to display the number of kills in the VR game. There are also cut notes relating to Melissa Watkins that show she is playing the VR sim at a deliberately lower difficulty level. There is also an unused computer terminal called HVPodSimSelectionTerminal that seems to relate to the above.
 * There are unused AI packages for NPCs of both sexes to use the relevant bathrooms here.

Bugs

 * Due to the way the geometry is arranged, it's possible to pass through the collapsed debris in the ruined bunkers and become trapped there.