You're wandering the South Vegas ruins, maybe dodging a couple of stray Bark Scorpions, when you hit Novac. Most players go there for the sniper in the dinosaur’s mouth. They want Craig Boone. But then they talk to Manny Vargas, and he points a finger toward the REPCONN Test Site. That's how it starts. Fallout New Vegas Come Fly With Me isn't just a side quest; it's a rite of passage that most of us remember for being either incredibly charming or a total slog through a radioactive basement.
It's weird.
I’ve played through New Vegas probably a dozen times since 2010. Every single time I get to the REPCONN facility, I have this moment of hesitation. Do I really want to deal with the invisible Nightkin again? Am I ready to fetch fuel and control modules for a group of Ghouls who think they’re headed to the "Great Beyond"? Honestly, the quest is a microcosm of everything Obsidian Entertainment did right—and occasionally tedious—with the game.
The Bright Brotherhood and the Cult of Personality
At the heart of this mess is Jason Bright. He’s a Glowing One who hasn’t lost his mind to feral rage yet. He’s eloquent. He’s hopeful. He’s basically running a cult of "Smoothskin" loathing Ghouls and one very confused human named Chris Haversam.
Chris is the tragic backbone of the whole narrative. He thinks he’s a Ghoul. He’s actually just a guy with a bad complexion and a lot of radiation poisoning who was bullied in Vault 34. The way the game handles him is peak Fallout dark humor. You can be a total jerk and tell him the truth bluntly, or you can use him to sabotage the entire rocket launch. It’s these branching paths that make Fallout New Vegas Come Fly With Me feel so much more alive than the standard "go here, kill that" missions found in other RPGs.
The quest forces you to play diplomat between three distinct factions: Bright’s followers, the invisible Nightkin led by the paranoid Davison, and the town of Novac that just wants the scavengers gone.
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Why the REPCONN Basement is a Nightmare
If you ask any veteran player what they hate about this quest, they’ll say the basement. It’s a literal maze of identical hallways.
The Nightkin are using Stealth Boys, which makes them shimmering outlines that can cave your skull in with a bumper sword before you even realize they’re there. If you’re playing on Hardcore mode, this section is a genuine resource drain. You’re burning through stimpaks and ammo while trying to find a shipment of Stealth Boys that doesn’t even exist.
Davison is talking to an inanimate brahmin skull named Antler. It’s hilarious until you realize you have to navigate the entire sub-level multiple times to resolve his "request" without a bloodbath. Most people just start shooting. I get it. Sometimes, the peaceful solution in New Vegas is more exhausting than just letting the Lead Pipe do the talking.
Tracking Down the Rocket Parts
Once you clear out the "demons," the quest shifts into a scavenger hunt. This is where the pacing usually dies for new players. You need two things: Atomic Beauty (or Isotope-239 igniting agent) and Thrust Control Modules.
- The Igniting Agent: You can find this on the body of a scavenger near Clark Field. It’s highly radioactive. If you’re low on Rad-X, you’re going to have a bad time. Or, if you have a high enough Science skill, you can just buy some "souvenir" rockets from Cliff Briscoe back in Novac and crack them open.
- The Control Modules: These are usually held by Old Lady Gibson at the Gibson Scrap Yard. You can pay 500 caps, use your Barter skill to lower the price, or—if you’re playing a darker character—just pickpocket her or worse.
The sheer amount of backtracking here is what earns Fallout New Vegas Come Fly With Me its reputation as a "long" quest. You’re traveling from the facility, back to Novac, over to the scrap yard, and back to the facility. It’s a lot of walking across the Mojave wasteland.
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The Sabotage Factor
Let’s talk about the ending. You’re standing at the control console. The "The Ride of the Valkyries" starts playing. It’s iconic.
You have a choice that actually matters for the ending slides of the game. You can help them launch successfully, which is the "Good" path. You can tweak the navigation so they land closer to Novac to help the town later. Or, if you’re feeling particularly chaotic, you can listen to Chris Haversam’s bitterness.
If you convinced Chris that he’s human and he’s been used, he’ll ask you to sabotage the rockets. You can make them collide mid-air. It’s a horrific, fiery end for a group that was just looking for a better world. But that’s the beauty of New Vegas. The game doesn't stop you from being a monster. It just records it.
The Technical Reality of the Quest
From a design perspective, this quest was meant to showcase the new engine capabilities—specifically the physics of the rocket launch and the complex NPC scripting. However, it’s also one of the buggiest areas in the game.
Even in 2026, if you're playing the original version without community patches like YUP (Yukichigai Unofficial Patch), Jason Bright might get stuck in a wall. The Nightkin might turn hostile for no reason. It’s a reminder that New Vegas was built in a remarkably short eighteen-month development cycle.
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Yet, we forgive it. We forgive the bugs because the writing is so sharp. The dialogue between the player and Harland, the ghoul trapped in the basement surrounded by traps, is better than the main plot of most modern games. He’s just a guy who wants to find his friend. It’s small, human (or ghoul) moments like that which anchor the zaniness of the rockets.
Essential Strategies for a Smooth Run
If you’re tackling this on a new playthrough, don't go in blind.
First, grab the "Confirmed Bachelor" or "Lady Killer" perks if you can; they occasionally open up better dialogue or flavor text in the surrounding areas. Second, if you want to avoid the headache of the basement, bring plenty of Stealth Boys of your own. You can actually sneak past the Nightkin and talk to Davison directly, which saves a massive amount of ammo.
- Don't kill the Nightkin if you want the "best" moral outcome. Talk to Davison, go find the terminal in the room with Harland, and tell Davison the Stealth Boys are gone. They’ll leave peacefully.
- Check the lockers. The REPCONN facility is loaded with high-value loot and energy weapon ammo. It’s worth the weight if you have the inventory space.
- Save your game before the final launch. The scripts here are notorious for breaking, and you don’t want to lose two hours of progress because the "Launch" button didn't trigger the cutscene.
The quest serves as a massive XP dump early in the game. If you finish it, you’ll likely jump two or three levels, which makes the subsequent trek to Vegas much easier. Plus, you get some decent Reputation with Novac, which is essential for getting your own hotel room (a player home) and recruiting Boone.
Fallout New Vegas Come Fly With Me remains a polarizing masterpiece. It’s tedious, it’s buggy, and it involves way too much walking. But it’s also hilarious, deeply philosophical, and offers a level of player agency that we rarely see anymore. Whether you’re sending those Ghouls to the stars or into the dirt, it’s a story you won't forget.
Next steps for your Mojave journey:
- Head back to Novac and talk to Boone about his missing wife; your high reputation from the REPCONN quest makes this transition seamless.
- Travel south to the Mojave Outpost to pick up the "Ghost Town Blues" questline if you need more early-game loot.
- Check your inventory for any remaining Space Suit parts; they have surprisingly high radiation resistance for the early game.