I Fought the Law

I Fought the Law is a side quest in Fallout: New Vegas.

Synopsis
The freshly-minted gang boss, Eddie, has a few tasks for the Courier, ones that the rest of the powder gangers are too stupid to carry out effectively.

Walkthrough

 * To accept the quest, the player needs to talk to Eddie at the NCRCF warden's office. The first task will be to eliminate one of the minor powder ganger bosses who refuses to accept Eddie's authority.
 * Chavez is located at the Powder Ganger camp south. He will attempt to shake down the player, who can convince him to quit while he's still ahead with a Speech check of 30 - he will accept, as the pickings were starting to get slim at that spot - or just gun him and the three other gangers down.
 * After thanking the player for dealing with Chavez, Eddie will give another assignment: Investigating a suspicious merchant who seems like he is deliberately trying to catch the powder gangers' attention.
 * The merchant is located at Jean Sky Diving. The player can use Speech 30 or Intelligence 6 to point out that a real merchant would be more worried about powder gangers or that he's traveling light for a merchant, with no brahmin, or just try to shake them down. The merchant will divulge that he's actually a bounty hunter proactively seeking out powder gangers to collect on. The player can then kill the hunter or tell him to quit in advance. The bounty hunter will agree.
 * If the player tried shaking the merchant down, the conversation will play out a little differently and they will have the option to use Speech 30 to convince the hunter that gangers are on their way. He will quit.
 * The final task involves a little espionage. Eddie sends the player to Primm to learn why they haven't pacified the NCRCF yet.
 * The information can be obtained from either Johnson Nash for 100 caps (50 with a Barter 30 or free of charge with Speech 30) or by stealing military orders from Hayes (he will not divulge any information otherwise). At this point, the player can return to Eddie, who will reward them for the information. The NCR storms the prison right as the player exits the administration building and the player will have to fight their way out.
 * Alternatively, the player can speak to lieutenant Hayes about aiding in the assault on the prison. They will be referred to Sergeant Lee just a short distance north of the prison, who will lead the attack, culminating in an assault on the administration building and killing Eddie. Soldiers will automatically sweep the external areas before entering the admin building en masse to kill Eddie and his cohorts.

Behind the scenes

 * The title of the quest references "I Fought the Law by Sonny Curtis of the Crickets and recorded in 1959. It became popularized by a remake by the Bobby Fuller Four, in 1965 and was also recorded by the Clash in 1979.
 * A number of cut and partially completed dialogue options exist which point towards the final portion of the quest having had additional options for helping out. In particular, a number of incomplete topics would have allowed the Courier to offer suggestions as to how Eddie could better defend the facility, including posting more guards and placing snipers on the guard towers.

Bugs

 * Completing this quest for the NCR might not register, triggering the incorrect news reports and ending.
 * Saving before starting the attack on the prison is advised, as Sergeant Lee might freeze at any point in the quest. Or the explosive might not go off. Or the scripts might break. In general, it's one of the most heavily bugged quests in the game.