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Peterson Air Force Base is a location in Wasteland 3 also commonly referred to as the Ranger HQ.

Background[ | ]

What remains of Colorado Springs' military base is gifted to the Desert Rangers' Team November to rebuild their forces and assist the Patriarch in solving the various problems plaguing his realm. The base was instrumental in protecting Colorado Springs on the fateful day of the Great War, March 21, 1998. However, it was abandoned by 2000, with the automated security systems keeping a silent vigil over the facility, their systems gradually growing more corrupted and ruined as time went by.

Until it was finally granted to the Desert Rangers by the Patriarch, that is. Whose men never bothered to check the fact that the base already had tenants, a group of Wastelander Refugees under Del Hackett, who were already living there for months.

Peterson Air Force Base shares an airfield with Colorado Springs Municipal Airport, which housed many pre-war government command centers.

Points of interest[ | ]

  • At first, Peterson has very few things to offer. Activating the computer in the War Room will grant you ownership of the base (after setting yourself as COMMAND) as part of Home Away from Home. Once Saul gives his briefing, you can loot the area for some starter armor and other miscellaneous loot.
    • Interacting with the computer allows you to use Nerd Stuff 2 to investigate old security logs and figure out the servitors' problems. Writing a script to wipe the accumulated century's worth of security logs will remove the disabling effect from the servitors and allow easier navigation of base security logs.
  • Sergei Greatski will act as your Ranger recruiter, while Marshal Kwon will be the first taste of companions in the game. Greatski is the personnel manager and allows you to create new Rangers and manage the squad. After filling out the squad (or just accessing the panel), Kwon will volunteer his aid.
  • The northern wing contains a large garage with a rusted Slicer Dicer and a dead wastelander. You can examine the corpse with First Aid 2 to learn that she died of electrocution. The Slicer Dicer can be repaired with Mechanics 3, it will be hostile and immediately initiate a fight. The containers can be all opened with Lockpicking 3 (with 2 you can open the locker and the truck). The locker contains a collectible cassette tape, The Automated Chauffeur.
  • Opposite the garage is the medbay. Inside are piles of corpses that can be investigated with First Aid 1. You will find out that they were all manacled and enslaved, and with First Aid 4, you can recover Subdermal Plating. The far door leads down to the vault, which requires a special keycode to enter. The keycode is provided by La Perla later on.
  • Next to it is the armory, which has two explosive traps (Explosives 2 and 4) and some minor loot.
  • The southern wing is where the administrative facilities are located. The mess hall is mostly blocked off by rubble. Note the level 3 toaster on the counter.
  • The first accessible area contains various office cubicles and a pair of ornery razorbacks. The room has some minor loot, a creepy doll, and a lore terminal where you can learn some of the background on Peterson with Nerd Stuff (3 required for accessing all entries).
  • The next, closed room contains the barracks, along with several refugees under Del Hackett. She will reveal that she leads a group of refugees, who hid in the base after the Plains gangs drove them off their farms months ago. Kwon will recommend clearing them out, but you can let them stay in return for a quick +5 to reputation and a group of refugees who will promise to aid in maintaining the base. Also in the room is a cabinet for changing Ranger appearance and a container with another collectible cassette, Soldier's Note.
  • The last stop is the brig. Inside you'll find cells - one of which is occupied by a disturbing fella who claims to subsist on mushrooms grown in his own shit and water dripping from the ceiling - and the dead body of Andy, one of Del's refugees. You can search the body with Perception 3 to find a sweet-smelling mushoom. With First Aid 2 you can confirm that he died of electrocution, but First Aid 3 will reveal that poison was the most likely culprit, from the mushroom (spittle doesn't form like that).
    • Reporting on Andy back to Del is worth another +1 to reputation.
After restoration
  • The AFB continues to grow as you complete Full House and fill out the major positions in the Ranger ranks. The med bay, garage, and armory set up in the northern wing, under Doc Parker, and ?. These offer free healing, Kodiak customization, and weapon trading. You can also choose to add Irv as a cloning technician to the Ranger HQ during Don't You Be My Neighbor.
    • The vault behind the medbay can only be accessed with a code obtained from La Perla during Slaver's Bounty. The first section has a weapon crate and the commander's armory (with THREE PDAs Icon Trinket PDA and a full set of Tank Armor Icon Armor Tank HelmetIcon Armor Tank ChestIcon Armor Tank Legs). The deeper part can only be unlocked by delivering Hallie to La Perla.
  • The southern wing contains the brig with Hope Emerson running it and the barracks, where you can adjust Ranger appearance. The old archives room is repurposed into a museum once Junko Murayama is hired.
  • The heart is the war room, where Corporal Marcelo Gonzalez operates the radio station.

Special events[ | ]

  • If you let Del Hackett and her refugees stay, eventually friction will start between the Rangers and the refugees, due to running out of living space to house both. Eventually, you'll return to the Ranger HQ to find Hackett talking with Emerson regarding a recent incident. You will have to make a decision:
    • Either let things stay as they are and risk escalation. This will negatively affect Ranger loyalties and lead to more trouble down the line. Refugee reputation +10.
    • Tell Hackett to move refugees into the brig. She will not like this, but you can defuse the problem with Kiss Ass 6 (5 if your reputation with the refugees is at least liked; this adds a further +1). Otherwise, it's a reputation loss.
    • Kick them out entirely.
  • Eventually, the Patriarch will offer to erect a statue dedicated to Snake Vargas on the ruined base next to the main entrance. You can choose to dedicate it to either fallen Rangers or to the Patriarch's largesse. The former increases Ranger allegiance, the latter the Hundred Families and Patriarch's Marshals reputation (+1).
  • You will also be visited by La Perla and her coterie, offering the Slaver's Bounty quest: Access to the vault in return for a single girl's life.
  • Betsy, Margaret, and Winona will arrive at one point and ask that you look into the matter of their disappeared husbands, who have been sent to Patriarch's labor camps and haven't showed up again.

Notable residents[ | ]

Quest givers and other notable characters
Staff (require hiring)
Merchants
Other

Prisoners[ | ]

Generic Rangers[ | ]

Notable loot[ | ]

Collectibles
Vault contents

Gallery[ | ]

Notes and references[ | ]

Notes[ | ]


References[ | ]

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