Return to Sender

Return to Sender is a side quest in Fallout: New Vegas.

Synopsis
Sergeant Reyes at Camp Forlorn Hope has encountered some inconsistencies between the camps numbers and the reports they receive and she believes their radio security codes may be been compromised. She needs someone to go to each Ranger station and deliver new security codes.

Walkthrough

 * 1) Speak with Sergeant Reyes at Camp Forlorn Hope.
 * 2) Deliver the security upgrade codes to the Ranger stations: Communications Officer Castillo at Ranger station Alpha; Tilden at Bravo; Stepinac at Charlie; Scheffer at Delta; Green at Echo; and Lenk at Foxtrot.
 * 3) Return to Reyes.
 * 4) Travel back to Ranger stations and investigate the incredulous reports by speaking to Ranger Lineholm at station Alpha, Ranger Pason at station Delta, and Ranger Kudlow at station Foxtrot.
 * 5) Return to Reyes and let her know that her suspicions were justified.
 * 6) Travel to Camp Golf.
 * 7) Confront Chief Hanlon. He can either be turned in, which results in his suicide, or be allowed to continue his plan. If Caesar has been killed (or died of his illness), Hanlon can be convinced to come to his senses and stop falsifying the reports.

Behind the scenes

 * The quest content was implemented by Jeff Husges and Matt MacLean. Chief Hanlon was written by Joshua Sawyer.
 * The title of the quest is a cultural reference to the song "Return to Sender", written by Winfield Scott and Otis Blackwell, and recorded by Elvis Presley in 1962.
 * This song is also referenced by The King (via Mr. New Vegas) on Radio New Vegas prior to completion of G.I. Blues.

Bugs

 * Hanlon does not commit suicide after you tell him you will turn him in. Even after waiting, the quest does not advance. He just sits in his office behind a locked door.
 * Due to a scripting error, if you convince the chief to stop falsifying records, you will get the ending where you agreed to keep his secret safe.
 * It is possible for Hanlon to become glitched so that he remains stationary and never goes out to the balcony. He will not enter dialogue with the character and the quest cannot be completed.
 * When receiving the second part of the quest, Reyes will tell the player that one Ranger Station is reporting attacks from super mutants and another is reporting being attacked by the Great Khans' "trained deathclaws". When the quest updates in the Courier's Pip-Boy, a quest objective is to investigate the reports from Camp Golf, even though these reports were not mentioned in the quest dialogue.
 * Note that this objective is marked as complete once the last report from the ranger stations are received; Hanlon does have dialogue regarding seeking out the ranger stations to confirm the reports, saying something about how "sometimes things get twisted"; this may be an attempt to throw you off his trail, though it is odd this dialogue can take place even after it is made apparent that Hanlon is to blame.
 * When Chief Hanlon makes a speech over the microphone before his suicide, each line is said twice.
 * If the player crosses the threshold that closes and locks Hanlon's door before the objective of finding a Ranger to arrest him finishes displaying, Hanlon's radio announcement fails to play. The gunshot still occurs and the quest is completed, though.
 * If this quest is done before the quest Ring-a-Ding-Ding! the game will not allow you to enter any building (or something that requires you to go through a door) without freezing or crashing your system. This usually occurs when you are checking in with the false reports. The only way to fix this so you can go through doors is to load a previous saved game before this quest or the second part of the quest.