Rockets' Red Glare - Fallout Wiki - Fandom

	For the challenge and achievement/trophy appearing in the Fallout: New Vegas add-on Lonesome Road, see Rocket's Red Glare.

Fallout 4 Railroad main quest

Rockets' Red Glare

• Image
• Icon

Location

Cambridge Police StationThe Prydwen

Given by

Desdemona

Rewards

500+ XP Quest chain

Previous	Next
Precipice of War	The Nuclear Option (Railroad)

Technical

Editor ID

RR303

Form ID

00043275 Fallout 4 achievement

Rockets' Red Glare

• Trophy
• Achievement

Complete Rockets' Red Glare

Silver

30

“Assaulting the Institute has been set irrevocably in motion. All able bodied field agents are already en route here. If we abandon our HQ right now our people, our family, will be walking into certain death.”— Desdemona

Rockets' Red Glare is a Railroad main quest and an achievement/trophy in Fallout 4.

Contents

• 1 Quick walkthrough
• 2 Detailed walkthrough
• 3 Quest stages
• 4 Notes
• 5 Bugs

Quick walkthrough[]

Railroad main quest: Rockets' Red Glare
						Meet Tinker Tom outside Cambridge Police Station.
Kill everyone inside the Cambridge Police Station.
						Head up to the roof.Defend the vertibird while Tom gets it running.
Ride the vertibird to the Prydwen.
						Head to the top of the main deck.Plant the 3 bombs on the Prydwen's gas bags.
Return to the vertibird and escape.
						Watch the fireworks.
Return to Desdemona.
						Reward: 500+ XP
Leads to: The Nuclear Option (Railroad)

Detailed walkthrough[]

After receiving some explosive charges from Deacon, board Claymore. There will be voiceover banter between Deacon and Tinker Tom as the latter flies the vertibird to the Prydwen. After initially only getting the aircraft to spin, Tom proceeds towards the Prydwen. There is nothing much to do here except watch the Commonwealth scenery go by and occasionally pick away at targets with the onboard minigun. Eventually, the vertibird will dock with the flight deck of the Prydwen. From this point there are three options for accomplishing the task:

Infiltration

If Shadow of Steel has not completed, Deacon will give the Sole Survivor a BOS uniform during the briefing on the flight over. Otherwise, he will offer only a Stealth Boy, explaining that the Sole Survivor's past with the Brotherhood of Steel means one would be recognized immediately.(Note) If the uniform is worn when landing, the inhabitants of the Prydwen will not be hostile on arrival. However, if the player character encounters any leaders of the Brotherhood (such as Proctor Quinlan and Lancer-Captain Kells), they will challenge the player character's purpose. This requires the player character to pass difficult dialogue persuasion checks to avoid blowing their cover.

There is also a "double infiltration with Deacon" technique. If the Sole Survivor has Deacon as a companion before entering the vertibird, then Deacon will participate in the infiltration on the Prydwen, donning his own disguise. Deacon reacts favorably to ("loves") most of the choices during the first persuasion check on the Prydwen. This is the most peaceful option and can be completed without taking any damage whatsoever. However, with this method the player character will never encounter Elder Maxson and therefore cannot obtain Maxson's battlecoat or Final Judgment.

Stealth

It is theoretically possible to sneak all the way through the Prydwen without being challenged or directly attacked, though the Brotherhood NPCs will still become hostile at some point during the mission.

Assault

If the Brotherhood uniform is not worn, all Brotherhood personnel in the area will immediately be hostile after disembarking from the vertibird and throughout the mission.

Brotherhood personnel will be armed with laser weaponry. There will also be several adversaries wearing Brotherhood T-60 power armor.

If the player character is not using the Brotherhood uniform, there will be a large amount of incoming fire at the start since the Brotherhood personnel on the ground will also open fire along with the people on the flight deck. There is usually at least one knight in power armor on the flight deck as well.

Go through the door at the end of the deck to enter the command deck. There will be less NPCs here and none in power armor. With a careful approach it may be possible to eliminate/avoid all of them without alerting them to the Sole Survivor's presence. The next target is a ladder/hatch to the main deck.

There is a power armored guard at the top of the ladder who will have to be dealt with almost immediately if the NPCs are hostile. This section of the Prydwen has the bulk of the Brotherhood personnel, so if they are hostile toward the player character there will be a lot of incoming fire and at least three power armored opponents. If the player character is infiltrating and their cover is not blown, this is also the most likely place to encounter NPCs that will interrogate them about their purpose. If the player character fights their way in or out, it will result in the deaths of several prominent Brotherhood NPCs.

In either case, the player character needs to make their way up two levels by using the stairways at the sides of the catwalks. The third level should be a central walkway that goes between three large oval structures. These are the gas bags. Each one has a red operating console in the center on the port side of the railing. Walking up and activating each one will set the explosive charges.

Once one has placed the charges, they can choose to continue with the undercover operation and exit the Prydwen without hostilities if they succeeded in avoiding detection or raising insurmountable suspicions by any Brotherhood NPCs. If the Brotherhood turns hostile, then one must run or fight their way back to the hatch to the command deck. If the Brotherhood has turned hostile then, unless he was somehow encountered elsewhere, when the player character emerges onto the command deck, Elder Maxson, if not killed earlier in the game, will be waiting along with some other opponents. He will be armed with Final Judgment and may have others with him using Gatling lasers. Proceed to the flight deck.

No new NPCs should have spawned on the flight deck if they were eliminated earlier, however if the player character snuck in, then they will now be hostile. Fight, sneak or run past them to get back to Claymore. Once the player character activates the option to get onto Claymore, Tinker Tom will begin taking off. More NPCs will spawn on the ground at this point and the amount of incoming fire will increase by quite a bit. Claymore cannot be shot down but the player character can still take damage from the incoming fire.

After Claymore undocks and flies away for a minute or so, Tinker Tom will announce that they are far enough away and will ignite the charges. The resulting detonation causes the Prydwen to come crashing down on the airport and explode in a huge fireball, eliminating all remaining hostile Brotherhood NPCs from the area. Tinker Tom will fly to the area of Nordhagen Beach and tell the player character to disembark so he can stash Claymore.

Finishing the quest requires speaking to Desdemona, who has returned to Railroad HQ. Once the Sole Survivor speaks with her, The Nuclear Option will begin.

Quest stages[]

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Quest stages
Stage	Status	Description	Log Entry
300		Secure the Old North Church
400		Talk with Desdemona
600		(Optional) Light the signal lanterns
800		Talk to Desdemona
1100		Fly to the Prydwen
1200		Plant explosives	We actually made it aboard the Prydwen. Now it's my job to place explosive charges on the Prydwen's gas bags. After that, I need to get back to our stolen vertibird and fly to a safe distance so we can remotely detonate it.
1300		Escape the Prydwen	The explosives are placed, now I just need to make it back to the stolen vertibird so Tinker Tom can get us to a safe distance. Then we trigger the explosives and watch the Prydwen go up like a candle.
1400		Talk to Desdemona	The Prydwen is no more. The Brotherhood of Steel's presence in the Commonwealth is effectively over. Now I just need to report back to Desdemona.

Notes[]

• This is the second time the line from "The Star Spangled Banner" has been an achievement in the Fallout series, with an achievement of the same name in the Fallout: New Vegas add-on Lonesome Road related to the weapon, Red Glare.
• If one has completed the quest Duty or Dishonor and convinced Initiate Clarke to turn himself in, he will be in the prison cells of the police station. The player character can free him by picking the Novice lock on his cell door and he will run away.
• After completing this mission, speaking with Drummer Boy will unlock the ability to call a vertibird via signal grenade.
• Many Brotherhood NPCs will state random lines, often as one walks by them, mentioning the player character's rank in the Brotherhood of Steel as if they were still a member of the organization and not an enemy of it. This dialogue occurs despite successful efforts to disguise the player character's identity. Brotherhood NPCs will also speak bitterly of their defeat in the previous quest, Precipice of War.
• Companions are "soft dismissed" after planting all three bombs so they can't be commanded to stay on the Prydwen. This can allow some companions flagged as non-essential to be killed.
• If one has completely cleared the Prydwen of named NPCs, the conversation between Deacon and the Prydwen's flight control will not occur.
• Deacon & Tinker Tom will have different dialogue when disembarking from the Prydwen depending on if the player accomplished their mission with the Brotherhood being alerted or not.
  • If the player's disguise is compromised, but all Brotherhood personnel in Boston Airport were killed beforehand, Deacon and Tinker Tom will still speak urgently as if under fire, despite no attack taking place.
• ^ (Note) It is possible to perform an infiltration even if Shadow of Steel has been completed by equipping a BoS uniform before stepping on to the central gangway of the vertibird docking area. Almost any uniform will do, including Brotherhood fatigues, which should be easily looted in the police station.

Bugs[]

• PC Playstation 4 Xbox One Sometimes, after boarding the Vertibird, it will fly off straight to the southeast or north without stopping, bringing you off map. Seems to be linked to the "Escape the Prydwen" quest flag, which wasn't 'checked off' during bug when encountered, this may also happen if the Prydwen hasn't arrived due to leaving Fort Hagen through the wrong exit.[verified]
• PC When attempting to get back onto the Vertibird to escape the Prydwen after planting the explosives, occasionally the animation will not trigger and it will become impossible to select the Vertibird to board it. [verified]
  • It may be fixed by moving to the correct distance from the Vertibird, as the animation doesn't trigger if the player character is too close to the Vertibird.
  • Alternatively, entering and exiting the Prydwen can fix the problem.
• PC Using a weapon with the legendary 'Kneecapper' effect against the attacking Vertibird will instantly destroy both of the flyer's turbines but at the same time make it impossible to destroy completely. The Vertibird will then tumble around erratically for some moments before resuming its attack indefinitely, thus preventing the mission from progressing to the next stage. Use any other available weapon to avoid this bug.[verified]
• PC Playstation 4 Xbox One When dropping off the player character towards the end of the quest after the Prydwen explodes, Tinker Tom may be shot down by remaining Brotherhood scribes. This will cause The Nuclear Option (Railroad) to fail and Desdemona will only repeat the line "Don't wait too long. The Brotherhood could be back in here any minute," making the quest impossible to complete. This can be fixed by reloading an older save and killing remaining Brotherhood members before they can shoot down Tom.[verified]
  • This bug can also be fixed by typing the console command setstage RR303 1300.
• PC Xbox One A glitch may occur if Deacon is wearing power armor where he won't board the Vertibird. To fix this load a previous save where you are not on the Vertibird and travel away from the location. When you travel back he should be on the Vertibird.[verified]

• PC Xbox One Playstation 4 Companions might die during this quest.[verified]
• Playstation 4 Companions may hate you randomly during the animation of the Prydwen crashing.[verified]
• PC Playstation 4 When speaking with a Brotherhood squire during this quest, dialogue will not load properly leading to long pauses with the Sole Survivor and the squire looking at each other with occasional dialogue options out of context being presented.[verified]
• Playstation 4 A companion may become uncommandable due to being occupied trying to kill a child Brotherhood scribe (who is invincible).[verified]
• PC The game may CTD while riding the Vertibird to the Prydwyn.[verified]

v · d · eQuests in Fallout 4 Main quests Act 1 War Never Changes · Out of Time · Jewel of the Commonwealth · Unlikely Valentine · Getting a Clue · Reunions Act 2 Dangerous Minds · The Glowing Sea · Hunter/Hunted · The Molecular Level Act 3 Institutionalized · From Within · Inside Job · Underground Undercover Side quests Cambridge Polymer Labs  · Confidence Man · Curtain Call · Dependency · Diamond City Blues · Emogene Takes a Lover · Here Kitty, Kitty · Here There Be Monsters · Hole in the Wall · Human Error · In Sheep's Clothing · Kid in a Fridge · Last Voyage of the U.S.S. Constitution · Mystery Meat · Order Up · Out in Left Field · Painting the Town · Pickman's Gift · Public Knowledge · Pull the Plug · Reveille · Short Stories · Special Delivery · Story of the Century · The Big Dig · The Devil's Due · The Disappearing Act · The Gilded Grasshopper · The Marowski Heist · The Memory Den · The Secret of Cabot House · The Silver Shroud · Trouble Brewin' · Vault 75 · Vault 81 Companion quests Benign Intervention · Emergent Behavior · Long Road Ahead · Long Time Coming Miscellaneous quests Art Appreciation · Atom Cats · Botany Class · The Cleaner · The Combat Zone · Detective Case Files · Diamond City's Most Wanted · Fallen Hero · Find the Treasures of Jamaica Plain · Fly Fishing · Giddyup 'n Go · Gun Run · Hazardous Material · Meet Ness at the Crash Site · Nuka Cola Needs · Pool Cleaning · Prep School · Traffic Jam · Treasure Hunt · Vault 81 Tour · Virgil's Cure Unmarked quests A Pillar of the Community · Bill Sutton · Brother Against Brother · Familiar Faces · Fertilizer Woman · Holly · Lucy Abernathy · Maintenance Man · Quality Assurance · Supervisor Brown · Supervisor Greene · Suspected Synth · Wedding Day Cut quests 20 Leagues Under the Sea · Bullet · Off the Grid · Salvage · That's the Spirit · The Enemy of My Enemy · The Replacement Creation Club quests A Home for the Family · A Pint-Sized Problem · A Place to Call Home · All Byte · Burned on the River · Can You See Me Now? · Captain Cosmos · Carbonated Concerns · Combat Ready · Crucible · Deathmatch · Dead Drop · Dead on Delivery · Dog Rescue · Early Retirement · Enclave Radio · From Hell · Giddyup! · Holiday Spirits · Home Away from Home · Legendary Hunt · Lost at Sea · Malevolent Malfunction · Method to the Madness · Neon Winter · Over the Moon · Pyromaniac · Shrouded Manor · Silver like the Shroud · Slocum's Joe · Speak of the Devil · The Paper Mirror · The Prototype · The Quantum Stag · Tunnel Snakes Rule! · Way Back Home · Workplace Safety Faction quests Brotherhood of Steel Main quests Fire Support · Call to Arms · Semper Invicta · Shadow of Steel · Tour of Duty · Show No Mercy · From Within · Outside the Wire · Liberty Reprimed · Blind Betrayal · Tactical Thinking · Spoils of War · Ad Victoriam · The Nuclear Option Side quests A Loose End · A New Dawn · Cleansing the Commonwealth · Duty or Dishonor · Feeding the Troops · Leading by Example · Learning Curve · Quartermastery · The Lost Patrol Commonwealth Minutemen Main quests When Freedom Calls · Sanctuary · The First Step · Taking Independence · Old Guns · Inside Job · Form Ranks · Defend the Castle · The Nuclear Option Side quests Clearing the Way · Ghoul Problem · Greenskins · Kidnapped Trader · Kidnapping · Out of the Fire · Raider Troubles · Resettle Refugees · Returning the Favor · Rogue Courser · Taking Point · The Sight · Troubled Waters · With Our Powers Combined The Railroad Main quests Road to Freedom · Tradecraft · Boston After Dark · Underground Undercover · Operation Ticonderoga · Precipice of War · Rockets' Red Glare · The Nuclear Option Side quests A Clean Equation · Burning Cover · Butcher's Bill · Butcher's Bill 2 · Concierge · High Ground · Jackpot · Lost Soul · Memory Interrupted · Mercer Safehouse · Randolph Safehouse · To the Mattresses · Variable Removal · Weathervane The Institute Main quests Institutionalized · Synth Retention · The Battle of Bunker Hill · Mankind - Redefined · Mass Fusion · Pinned · Powering Up · End of the Line · Airship Down · Nuclear Family Side quests A House Divided · Appropriation · Building a Better Crop · Hypothesis · Plugging a Leak · Political Leanings · Reclamation · Pest Control Add-on quests AutomatronFar Harbor Main quests Mechanical Menace · A New Threat · Headhunting · Restoring Order Side quests Rogue Robot Main quests Best Left Forgotten · Cleansing the Land · Close to Home · Far From Home · Reformation · The Way Life Should Be · Walk in the Park · Where You Belong Side quests Ablutions · Acadian Ideals · Blood Tide · Brain Dead · Data Recovery · Deadliest Catch · Forbidden Knowledge · Hull Breach · Hunting the Hunter · Living on the Edge · Rite of Passage · Safe Passage · Search and Destroy · Shipbreaker · The Arrival · The Changing Tide · The Great Hunt · The Heretic · The Hold Out · The Price of Memory · The Trial of Brother Devin · Turn Back the Fog · Visions in the Fog · What Atom Requires · Witch Hunt Vault-Tec WorkshopNuka-World Main quests Vault-Tec Calling · Better Living Underground · A Model Citizen · Explore Vault 88 · Power to the People · The Watering Hole · Vision of the Future · Lady Luck Side quests Overseer's Most Wanted Main quests All Aboard · Taken for a Ride · An Ambitious Plan · The Grand Tour · Home Sweet Home · Power Play Side quests A Magical Kingdom · A World of Refreshment · Amoral Combat · Cappy in a Haystack · High Noon at the Gulch · Open Season · Precious Medals · Safari Adventure · Star Control · Trip to the Stars