Rattletail

Rattletail was a small NCR settlement somewhere in Baja.

Background
Established by a group of five male settlers from the Republic, the settlement was founded between 2256 and 2261 and consisted of six shacks around a well, the only one within fifty miles. Future Ranger Chief Hanlon had the dubious pleasure of leading a relief party of six Rangers to Rattletail, after reports of raider attacks. It took the Rangers a week to get to Rattletail, losing one to night stalkers and another nearly dying of dehydration. What they found was a slaughter: Twenty four bodies shot dead among the dunes, all by the five NCR settlers with .308 [Hunting rifle (Fallout: New Vegas)|hunting rifle]]s. As it turned out, they opened fire on anyone who tried to reach it, indifferent to who they were. None of the dead were heavily armed or raiders, but locals trying to get to a water source. To prevent further loss of life, Hanlon sold them a story about an incoming raider army, one hundred strong, and losing ten Rangers already on the way in. Then he offered to escort the settlers back to the NCR. They took the offer and eventually resettled in Anza-Borrego as bighorner ranchers. By 2281, he considered this his one good deed in over forty years of service. 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 sand bags. 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)

Appearances
Rattletail is mentioned only in Fallout: New Vegas.