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I'm wondering if our radio security codes have been compromised. I need someone to deliver security code upgrades to each of the Ranger stations.Sergeant Reyes

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

Quick walkthrough[]

Side Quest: Return to Sender 
Speak with Sergeant Reyes at Camp Forlorn Hope
Travel to all Ranger stations and deliver the codes. 
Return to Reyes. 
Travel back to Ranger stations and investigate the reports. 
Return to Reyes again. 
Travel to Camp Golf
Confront Chief Hanlon
Reward: 500–800 XP
NCR fame 

Detailed walkthrough[]

Speak with Sergeant Reyes at the Camp Forlorn Hope command center to begin this quest. You are asked to deliver several radio security upgrade codes by speaking to the Communications Officer at each of the Ranger stations. (If the Officer in charge was killed in any way, interact with the Ham Radio to deliver the code.)

Upon returning to Reyes, she will inform you of some confusing intel reports, and you're sent back out to three stations to double-check the validity of the reports. Speak to Ranger Pason at station Delta, Ranger Lineholm at station Alpha, and Ranger Kudlow at station Foxtrot. If you've spoken to them, walk out of the tent and then back in, and speak to Reyes. After her suspicions have been justified, she asks you to go to Camp Golf and confront Chief Hanlon about it. He can be found on the balcony above the entrance to the House Resort during the day. Upon asking him about the intel reports, he tells you he wants to discuss it in a more private setting and will head to his office. The office is located on the first floor of the resort, past the front desk, and to the left of the vending machines. Once there, Hanlon will discuss his motives with you, and eventually leads to you having to make a choice. Note your choice will impact the ending you receive.

  • If you decide to turn him in, he will tell you to go get a ranger to make it official. Once you step out of the office, the door closes and locks, and Hanlon delivers a speech to the stationed rangers via the intercom. Once his speech is over, he commits suicide with his revolver. A nearby ranger will rush into the room to see what happened. Hanlon drops his Ranger Sequoia revolver (which is marked as owned and therefore can only be stolen with the loss of Karma), and you'll gain 500 XP.
  • If you let Hanlon continue his plan without informing the NCR, he tells you that you no longer have anything to discuss and walks off. You get 500XP.
  • You can choose to kill Hanlon yourself, which he warns you is a bad idea due to being in the middle of a ranger base. If you insist on doing so after his warning, Hanlon will turn hostile.
  • If you have killed Caesar, you can convince Hanlon to come back to his senses and cease falsifying the reports, and you get 500XP.

Regardless of the choice you make, the quest ends there.

Quest stages[]

StageStatusDescription
10 Deliver the radio security upgrade codes to each of the Ranger Stations.
20 Return to Sergeant Reyes and let her know the radio security upgrade is complete.
30 Find out what else Sergeant Reyes needs you to do.
40 Confirm Sergeant Reyes' suspicions about the reports from Camp Golf.
41 Ask Ranger Lineholm about the battle losses at Ranger Station Alpha.
42 Find out about the Super Mutant Legionary attack at Ranger Station Delta.
43 Investigate the Deathclaw attacks on Ranger Station Foxtrot.
50 Tell Sergeant Reyes that her suspicions about misinformation being fed to the NCR was correct.
60 Inform Chief Hanlon what you and Sergeant Reyes discovered.
70Quest finishedSpeak to Chief Hanlon in his office.
80Quest finishedFind a ranger to take Chief Hanlon into custody.
90Quest finishedKill Chief Hanlon

Notes[]

  • It is possible for a ranger to be present in the room across the hall from Hanlon's office, meaning you can talk to a ranger without getting far enough from Hanlon for the door to shut. Despite this, you will not get any dialogue options for getting the ranger into Hanlon's office.
  • According to in-game files, there is an existing dialogue option whereby Hanlon could be convinced to stop falsifying the reports if the Courier had learned about Caesar's illness. However, since the only way to learn of Caesar's illness is to advance far into the Render Unto Caesar quest, the NCR would already be hostile and it would impossible to advance into their quests, making the option extremely difficult to get should the player wish to side with the NCR.
    • For a while, this was believed to be a bug in the game, as Silus can give a hint towards Caesar's illness if he is beaten into talking in Silus Treatment. However, this was later proven false, as the dialogue option with Hanlon is impossible to activate, as evident by its peripherals in the game's code.
    • This option is possible to obtain if Caesar is killed in The Fort before talking to Hanlon. However, it also unlocks the option to convince him with Caesar's death, making it obsolete.
    • There is also an ending the player can obtain which requires Hanlon to be convinced to stop falsifying the records, completing Veni, Vidi, Vici, while Caesar is still alive while Et Tumor, Brute? is active. It can be presumed that the requirements to meet this ending are to learn of Caesar's illness and inform Hanlon that way, having disguised oneself in NCR armor in order to prevent hostility. But due to the dialogue option being cut, the ending is impossible to obtain.
  • If a non-player character capable of receiving the upgraded codes is dead, the player can manually upgrade the stations by interacting with the ham radio. This contingency is there in case the station is wiped out by wandering creatures (such as Foxtrot and its Cazador problem) or the player. This does not include Charlie, however, because the radio will have been destroyed by the Legion. If any non-player character who must be questioned to double-check intel reports is dead, the report can be looted from their body.
  • If Hanlon is already dead, the quest will end upon returning to Reyes, who will say, "Since Hanlon is dead, we will never really know". 300 caps and 720 XP as a reward for this method.
  • Hanlon will not discuss quest matters unless he is outside on the balcony.
  • The unmarked quest Andy and Charlie, which is obtained from Ranger Andy in Novac, also requires investigating Ranger Station Charlie, and can be accomplished at the same time as this one. Alternatively, completing Andy and Charlie beforehand will eliminate the requirement to visit Charlie for this quest, even though it will still be listed in the objectives.
  • If playing in favor of Caesar's Legion, this quest can still be completed alongside We Are Legion (which requires killing all senior officers in Forlorn Hope, one of them being Sergeant Reyes). To be able to do this, upgrade the ranger stations and double-check the intel reports, then kill all the officers and, at the same time, talk with chief Hanlon, which will successfully complete this quest.

Behind the scenes[]

  • The quest content was implemented by Jeff Husges and Matt MacLean. Chief Hanlon was written by Joshua Sawyer.
  • "Return to Sender" is a 1962 rock and roll hit single by American singer Elvis Presley. The song was written by Winfield Scott and Otis Blackwell.

Bugs[]

  • PCPC Xbox 360Xbox 360 If asked, Sergeant Reyes will say that Ranger Station Charlie has recently been reporting an over-shipment of medical supplies even if the Courier has reported that the station's inhabitants are dead. [verified]
  • PCPC If you upgrade all stations but one, which must not be station Charlie, before receiving the unmarked quest Andy and Charlie, then starting this quest and visiting said station again to find it's been wiped out, you will be informed that you upgraded the remaining station. [verified]
  • PCPC The quest may register Ranger Station Bravo as having been updated while it has factually not. [verified]
  • Playstation 3Playstation 3Playstation 3 Xbox 360Xbox 360 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. Sleeping, waiting and fast traveling are all unable to fix this. [verified]
    • This may be fixed pushing him around, loading a save prior to entering the building, exiting the building and waiting until he comes out on the porch or pick-pocketing him while detected so to make him resume his normal routine.
  • Playstation 3Playstation 3Playstation 3 Sometimes he will get stuck in a mass crowd of other NCR members. [verified]
    • A way to fix this is to use a silenced or melee weapon to sneak kill all of the NCR soldiers that are in Hanlon's general vicinity. Almost immediately after this he will begin to move once more.
  • Playstation 3Playstation 3Playstation 3 Companions may disappear when you leave the balcony. [verified]
    • They can be left waiting outside the resort before going in to prevent this.
    • When they disappear, leaving the building can make them return after 30 seconds or so. Sometimes they must be dismissed as they become stuck in front of the balcony.
  • PCPC When Chief Hanlon makes a speech over the microphone before his suicide, each line is said twice. This does not change the ending of the quest. [verified]
  • Xbox 360Xbox 360 If the player character 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 and the holotape you receive may works only once or not at all. The gunshot still occurs and the quest is completed, though. [verified]
  • PCPC Xbox 360Xbox 360 After you confront him, the game may glitch as the door will never automatically lock and he will not speak on the intercom, no matter how far away you move from the office. [verified]
    • This can be fixed by reloading a save before confronting him.
    • PCPC Use the console commands setstage 0014f3b1 100 to complete the quest, prid 00106d79 and disable to make Hanlon disappear, and player.additem 00129a44 1 to obtain the Ranger Sequoia.
  • Xbox 360Xbox 360 When locked inside his office, Hanlon will sometimes stop performing his speech leaving the quest incomplete and his Ranger Sequoia impossible to obtain. [verified]
    • This can sometimes be fixed by reloading a save or turning off your radio while Chief Hanlon is speaking.
  • Playstation 3Playstation 3Playstation 3 If you level up after you complete the quest the game will freeze. [verified]
    • It should go back to normal after 20-30 seconds.
  • PCPC Xbox 360Xbox 360 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. [verified]
Main quests
Act 1Ain't That a Kick in the Head · Back in the Saddle · By a Campfire on the Trail · They Went That-a-Way · Ring-a-Ding-Ding!
Act 2Wild Card (Wild Card: Ace in the Hole, Change in Management, You and What Army?, Side Bets, Finishing Touches) · The House Always Wins (I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII) · Render Unto Caesar · Et Tumor, Brute? · Things That Go Boom · Kings' Gambit · For the Republic, Part 2 · You'll Know It When It Happens/Arizona Killer
Act 3No Gods, No Masters · All or Nothing · Veni, Vidi, Vici · Eureka!
Side quests
New California RepublicAnywhere I Wander · Back in Your Own Backyard · Bitter Springs Infirmary Blues · Boulder City Showdown · Can You Find it in Your Heart? · Climb Ev'ry Mountain · Don't Tread on the Bear! · Emergency Radio · Eye for an Eye · Flags of Our Foul-Ups · Hard Luck Blues · I Don't Hurt Anymore · I Put a Spell on You · Keep Your Eyes on the Prize · Medical Mystery · No, Not Much · Pressing Matters · Restoring Hope · Return to Sender · That Lucky Old Sun · The White Wash · There Stands the Grass · Three-Card Bounty · We Will All Go Together · You Can Depend on Me
Caesar's LegionBeware the Wrath of Caesar! · Caesar's Favor · Caesar's Foe · Caesar's Hire · Cold, Cold Heart · I Hear You Knocking · The Finger of Suspicion · We Are Legion
The StripBeyond the Beef · Bye Bye Love · Classic Inspiration · How Little We Know · Pheeble Will · Talent Pool · The House Has Gone Bust! · The Moon Comes Over the Tower
Freeside & Outer VegasBirds of a Feather · Bleed Me Dry · Debt Collector · G.I. Blues · High Times · Someone to Watch Over Me · The Coyotes · Wang Dang Atomic Tango
BoomersAnt Misbehavin' · Sunshine Boogie · Volare! · Young Hearts
Great KhansAba Daba Honeymoon · Cry Me a River · Don't Make a Beggar of Me · Oh My Papa
Powder GangBooted · I Fought the Law · Run Goodsprings Run · Why Can't We Be Friends?
Brotherhood of SteelEyesight to the Blind · Still in the Dark · Tend to Your Business
OtherCome Fly With Me · Crazy, Crazy, Crazy · Ghost Town Gunfight · Guess Who I Saw Today · Left My Heart · My Kind of Town · The Legend of the Star and A Valuable Lesson · Unfriendly Persuasion · Wheel of Fortune
Companion questsED-E My Love · For Auld Lang Syne · Heartache by the Number · I Could Make You Care · I Forgot to Remember to Forget · Nothin' But a Hound Dog · One for My Baby
Unmarked questsA Bit of Slap and Tickle · A Final Plan for Esteban · Access Powers · All Fired Up! · An Ear to the Ground · Andy and Charlie · Arachnophobia · Arizona Scavenger · Barton the Fink · Bear Necessities · Big Winner (Atomic Wrangler, The Gomorrah, The Tops, Ultra-Luxe, Vikki & Vance) · Bounty Killer (I, II) · Brotherhood Bond (I, II) · Caching in at the Cove · Cajoling a Cudgel · Claws Mended · Claws Out · Dealing with Contreras · Defacing the Humble Stone · Democracy Inaction · Don't Poke at the Bear! · Eddie's Emissary · Exhumin' Nature · Fight Night · Flogging a Dead Corpse · Friend of the Followers · Gland for Some Home Cooking · Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger · Hat's Entertainment · Help for Halford · Hidden Valley computer virus · Highway to the Danger Zone (I, II) · Honorary Rocketeer · I Love Bananas · Iron and Stealing · Keith's Caravan Charade · Laurifer Gladiator · Lenk's Bad Debts · Lily and Leo · Long-Term Care · Malleable Mini Boomer Minds · Maud's Muggers · Meeting an Equal · Missing a Few Missiles · Most Wanted · Not Worth a Hill of Corn and Beans · Old School Ghoul · A Pair of Dead Desperados (I, II) · Papers, Please · Pistol Packing · Playing on the Old Joana · Powder to the People · Power to the People · Razzle Dazzle! · Reach for the Sky, Mister! · Rest and Resupply · Ringo's Caravan Rules · Rotface's Loose Lips · Saving (or Savaging) Sergeant Teddy · The Screams of Brahmin · Silus Treatment · Short-Term Treatment · Smooth-Talking Criminal · The Star Showdown · Strategic Nuclear Moose · Straus Calls · Strip Search · Suits You, Sarah · Tags of Our Fallen · A Team of Moronic Mercenaries · Thought for the Day · Tourist Traipse · Trudy's Radio Repair · A Trusted Aide · Useless Baubles or Fancy Trinkets? · We Must Stop Beating Like This · We Must Stop Meeting Like This · Wind-Brahmin Wrangler · You Gotta Break Out a Few Eggs · You Make Me Feel Like a Woman
Add-on quests
Dead MoneySierra Madre Grand Opening! · Find Collars (8: "Dog", 12: Christine, 14: Dean Domino) · Fires in the Sky · Strike Up the Band · Mixed Signals · Trigger the Gala Event · Put the Beast Down · Last Luxuries · Curtain Call at the Tampico · Heist of the Centuries · Big Winner, Sierra Madre
Honest HeartsA Family Affair · Arrival at Zion · Bighorners of the Eastern Virgin · Chaos in Zion · Civilized Man's Burden · Crush the White Legs · Deliverer of Sorrows  · Departing Paradise · Flight from Zion · Gathering Storms · Gone Fishin' · Happy Trails Expedition · Prisoners of War · Retake the Bridge · River Monsters · Rite of Passage · Roadside Attraction · Sanctity of the Dead · The Advance Scouts  · The Treacherous Road · The Grand Staircase · Tourist Trap
Old World BluesAll My Friends Have Off Switches · A Brain's Best Friend · Coming Out of Her Shell · Field Research · He Came... And Went · Influencing People · Midnight Science Fiction Feature! · Old World Blues · On the Same Wavelength · Picking Your Brains · Project X-13 · Sonic Emitter Upgrade · Welcome to the Big Empty · What's in a Name? · When Visitors Attack! · X-2: Strange Transmissions! · X-8 Data Retrieval Test · X-8: High School Horror! · X-13: Attack of the Infiltrator!
Lonesome RoadThe Reunion · The Silo · The Job · The Launch · The Tunnelers · The Divide · The Courier · The End · The Apocalypse
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