Okay, during my exploration of the Big Mt, while snooping around other areas for more clues on Ulysses, I came across this at Big MT west Tunnel
http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/596944795828951565/12F3AAA83EEF7B7FAFC53A6E689F776B6D62827B/
I thought that it was coincidence at first, perhaps a oversight by the development team. But then, at the Big MT east tunnel, on the roof of the tunnel, I found another duffel bag with the NCR name on it
http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/596944795829099784/43E6FA92C07BBB798F3611F066E3B0F0744776A6/
and again at the Y-0 research center roof
http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/596944795829112786/60F1EF1892984D595F7FFC1384FCAF30739FADED/
the last one I found I technically could not confirm if it was NCR, but it was conveniently tucked away at the Z-38 lightwave dynamics research
http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/596944795829107786/AC6C36BC935D8A7EB72E70878C45EAD77FEC0E8A/

Now what struck me as odd as I doubt that any of the previous three visitors brought all duffel bags from the same faction and left them at several different locations on the map. I think what we are looking at here are reminients of lost NCR expeditions into the big empty. I think I am jumping the gun on this hypothesis, but I find the idea of lost expeditions into the Big Empty fascinating. Has anyone else found evidence of NCR personal at the big empty?

lolversight

Nice find . What this implies to me is that some of the lobotomites you encounter are likely to be the unlucky troopers who strayed too close to the Big MT complex. Now we know that a similar thing happened to the NCR at the Divide, and if they were serious about annexing Vegas and defeating the Legion, then they would have sent scouting parties to all areas surrounding the Vegas area to find as many paths to reinforce their position there as possible. Since the only path from California in NV is the Mojave Outpost, then we can be fairly certain that all other attempts have failed.

And here's something else I thought about. We know that the Zion valley is in the North, the East side belongs to the Legion, the entrance to The Divide is apparently the Canyon Wreckage in the West. So if we now assume that the Big MT complex is somewhere in the South (considering the satellite crashed there), then it becomes obvious why the NCR found it so difficult to reinforce this region: it is literally boxed in.

I'd normally chalk it up to an oversight, but considering how well-done the environmental storytelling is in Old World Blues I'd be inclined to accept Spineshark.. I meant, Shinespark's explanation.

Could also be Ulysses. He seems like the type to have visited and tried working for various nations, so perhaps the NCR was no exception and he still had duffle bags from his time with them.

I agree with Shinespark's explaination, and we'll see plenty more leftover NCR wreckage in LR. Also the lobotomites had to come from somewhere. I'm sure the lobotomites are a mix of a few Legion troops, a few lost wastelanders, and the rest are NCR patrols. I don't think Ulyssess could acount for all the duffle bags in OWB lol.

All duffle bags have NCR on them . Oversight.

Texture reuse.

But if I needed to justify their existence I'd go with this. Although, how many duffle bags can one person carry?

How many LMGs can one person carry?

one in each arm, two strapped to your shoulder and one on your back, so probably about 5.

1 strapped to each shin. so 7

Okay I got some more pics, found 3 more duffelbags

So far
2 Duffel bags at the west tunnel, one inside on a shelf, one outside. Under the assumption that the loot did not randomly spawn...
Duffel right outside the West Tunnel entrance with the NCR signature.

http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/596944795842681022/826DA3AAD6F1240FCFCA99F1EE460B51E9828CF4/
http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/596944795842674060/42698B410860C85FEB5D6611A115E18D9217E79E/

The first bag, which was outside, had only a fission battery in it
http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/596944795842684710/67A8F084F08E7AC351A962EAEF75B92F971AE3F7/

And right next to it is a skeleton...
http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/596944795842682748/32EC6B733A9A36EF77EA308121C31660F493F550/

Inside the same room where the first Duffel Bag was found
http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/596944795842300588/6D56E1D55D822DE76253A01185427DE626728F07/

It looks like he died while in the chair. If the leg propped on the table means anything, he was lounging at the sometime near his death.

If you lockpick the hard door in the same room, you enter into another tunnel to find...
http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/596944795842283436/02E678193996A2799AAFC8A7BDD751DDF0C9B7AE/

Ham radio set with yet another dead corpse.

Further down I found another body right next to some ammo bins
http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/596944795842274860/F0C33F9E258C05059920C61049957B32BA62C6A7/

and in the ammo bins was a stealth boy.
http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/596944795842299506/BA880B25AB67F72313FBBE042356B22BA3D6DA6A/

In addition the majority of the ammo I found in the area was energy ammo. I believe the following based on my evidence.
1. They needed supplies so they sent one member out to retrieve anything, The one member as given a duffel to carry as much useful stuff back as he could, but he only found the fission battery (probably found other stuff, but it was stripped of those supplies given it's outdoor location). As he entered, something got him. Whatever killed him did not alert the other inside.
2. Given the position of the corpse inside the room with the duffel on the shelf, he was probably shot. The other 2 hurried into the tunnel where the ham radio was and locked the door, given the fact that both ends of the tunnel had collapsed. There they probably died of starvation given the guy's position next to the Ham radio, though cannibalism may have occurred, why the second body is next to the ammo remains a mystery. Even though they have a NCR duffel, the NCR is not known for using energy weapons. I'm guessing it might be the Enclave in this case, given the Enclave use energy weapons far more often then the NCR.

Next we have a duffel found next to the toxic plant. With NCR on it
http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/596944795842287992/9CAFB86607D4EDD66CEF7E017A2E9330EA7AD72C/
http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/596944795842290708/538BBB9049B5B28EC52BCA0A910ABD96302CE5BB/

and in it just some med x, probably stripped of supplies also, but in game, med-x is pretty important to some NPCs if I remember correctly
http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/596944795842284954/C5106625EB618FBF20EC2F72CCE4518D7C683086/

and next to it, a body
http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/596944795842281676/41CF9BCB74EA5B315433208800FD37058176C127/

Perhaps a lone scout who died running from the local nightstalkers?


At the east tunnel entrance, the duffel on the roof did not have a body next to it...but... at the Talk Y-0 research center roof...

http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/596944795842292893/89E205B7B9954FDF355CC1752894600DEB7D5E12/

with some strange contents...which would COULD imply gathering for a group of people, and long term camp.

http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/596944795842301801/48B9ED1A3AAC2DBAEC971B379067C203683FAC75/


Finally 2 other duffel bags at the Z-9 Crotalus DNA preservation lab, I found 2 Duffels in positions that I could NOT make out the NCR logo
http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/596944795842672253/B91EAE8803E2C73A825CC9C7831DE6A9D2A5A18F/
http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/596944795842686957/65BD9368F04EA094C2319B21A669AD470B26D572/

First one as you see...top half of a lobotomite right next to it, the next one has a skeleton right inside the top kennel with the bag.....

In summation, based on the evidence (and the bodies), the duffel bags did not come from the 3 previous visitors. It came from a expedition from some organization, if not the NCR then probably the Enclave. If the NCR or Enclave forces used on-site weapons (or their own weapons running out of ammo fast), it would make sense why they would stockpile energy ammo. The only 3 duffel bags that do not follow this pattern is the duffels inside the Z-9 Crotalus DNA preservation lab and the Z-38 lightwave dynamics research due to my inability to see the logo and given the bodies next tot he ones in the nightstalker facility do not follow the same pattern as the one at the West Tunnel. I still can't figure out why a duffel was on the East tunnel roof (outside of scouting the area, and being ambushed, being forced to leave it behind). The only thing I can not pin is why there isn't a journal or a terminal detailing events/discoveries of the expedition. Carelessness or direct order not to leave any proof? If its a direct order, that seems more like a Enclave directive for the expedition...

I agree. I might subscribe to a "doomed BIg MT NCR expedition" theory if duffle bags existed without the NCR label, but they don't, and duffle bags can be found in Dead Money and Honest Hearts as well.

Dang that is some good work. I get the feeling that quite a few things were cut from OWBs. Maybe the story behind these was one of those things.

I think it's just that all duffle bags have the "NCR" on them.

Maybe you are just thinking too hard about this

You seem all seem to have forgotten that Big MT was a research center. The only people there aren't just the Think Tanks. The every day workers and researchers you find in buildings and tunnels could easily just be long dead Big MT employees. Especially the ones in the tunnels. Tunnels take reparations, the dead bodies with duffel bags could just be engineers. The dead guys in chairs in the research centers can be just that - researchers.

All the duffel bags have NCR on them, probably just an oversight. The same way the back of the Sierra Madre Security Armor says '101' on the back where it now reads 'SECURITY'. It was a retexture of the Vault 101 armor from FO3. The duffel bags were just placed in the game, probably unedited. Hence, them reading NCR.