Fallout’s apocalyptic wasteland is an unforgiving place. Even those with the strongest resolve can fall dead at the hands of raiders, super mutants, or gargantuan deathclaws. Though, of course, no wastelander can ever hope to match the determination of Sierra Petrovita — the biggest Nuka-Cola fan in the entire post-war world.
Sierra is one of the few characters who appear in more than one Fallout game. She’s first encountered in the Capital Wasteland of Fallout 3 then, later in Fallout 4, she can be seen wandering the grounds of the Nuka-World theme park. In both games, Sierra offers Nuka-Cola-related side quests.
The Best Nuka-Cola Collection in Fallout 3
In Fallout 3, the Lone Wanderer can find Sierra in a small settlement called Girdershade. She and a man named Ronald Laren are the only people who live there, but Sierra doesn’t really mind as she’s too focused on building her Nuka-Cola collection. Though she does ask the player if they want to join the Nuka-Cola club, where she serves as the President, Recording Secretary, and Treasurer.
Sierra also triggers the quest “The Nuka-Cola Challenge,” which starts with her giving the Lone Wanderer a tour of her collection. During this tour, she explains that Nuka-Cola was first invented in 2044 by a man named John-Caleb Bradberton. She then goes on about how much the brand rose in popularity, even after the Great War.
For the quest, she asks the player to find 30 bottles of Nuka-Cola Quantum — a drink she’s completely hooked on. An improvement from the initial Nuka-Cola recipe, the Quantum variant reportedly has twice the calories, carbohydrates, and caffeine, but also makes the drinker’s pee glow. Still, this wasn’t an issue for Sierra, who happily buys the bottles from the player. She even throws in a schematic for the Nuka Grenade.
Sierra even knows how to cook with Nuka-Cola products. Should the player ask if she knows any recipes that use Nuka-Cola Quantum, Sierra will offer to make them a Mississippi Quantum Pie. The player just needs to bring her flour, vodka, and a bottle of Nuka-Cola Quantum. This can be requested of her indefinitely.
With all that said, Sierra does have her hang-ups. Most notable is her obliviousness to Ronald’s advances. In “The Nuka-Cola Challenge” quest, players can talk to Ronald and get an alternative method of completing it. He’ll request that instead of taking the 30 bottles straight to Sierra, they should give them to him instead. If the player agrees and delivers the Nuka-Cola Quantum to him, Ronald will then give it to Sierra and make suggestive comments (all of which will go over Sierra’s head).
Regardless of how Sierra gets her Nuka-Cola Quantum, she’ll happily lug them off to store in her pristine Nuka-Cola machine. This is where the quest ends. What Sierra does in the ten years between Fallout 3 and Fallout 4 is unknown but, at one point, she made the journey from the Capital Wasteland to the Commonwealth, where she ended up in Nuka-World.
Sierra in Fallout 4’s Nuka-World DLC
In Fallout 4, the Sole Survivor can catch Sierra wandering around the central hub of the Nuka-World theme park. It’s not entirely clear why the raiders are letting her run around as she pleases, but they all seem to tolerate her. When the player first talks to her, Sierra will gush about how arriving at Nuka-World has always been her dream. She’ll also ask whether the Sole Survivor has ever heard of her Nuka-Cola Museum (formerly her Nuka-Cola Fan Club Collection).
Much like in Fallout 3, Sierra also offers to give the player a quick tour of the park’s central hub, the details of which she knows by heart. After the tour, the player can choose to accept her quest “Cappy in a Haystack.” Here, Sierra explains that she’s trying to complete a pre-war Nuka-Cola contest, which required finding all the hidden Cappy paintings in the park. Each Cappy revealed a letter in a secret code, and the person who deciphered it got to meet John-Caleb Bradberton. Sierra, of course, didn’t think that Bradberton was still alive, but she was hoping to get the original Nuka-Cola recipe from his office.
Meeting John-Caleb Bradberton, the Man Behind Nuka-Cola
There are ten Cappy paintings scattered across the park’s sections. These can be found by making sense of the clues or simply exploring Nuka-World. Once the player has all ten letters, the quest will prompt them to return to Sierra, who will then decipher the code: “refreshing.” With it, Sierra gains access to Bradberton’s office, where it turns out the Nuka-Cola founder is still alive!
Bradberton had undergone an experimental scientific procedure under the LEAP-X Project. This entailed severing his head from the rest of his body and placing it in a vat where he could live indefinitely without a human’s regular needs. Upon seeing this, Sierra is ecstatic. She expresses to the player how much she wants to stay in Bradberton’s office to keep him company and talk to him about his life achievements.
Unfortunately, the Nuka-Cola founder doesn’t share the same sentiments. He tells the player that he’s tired and that he wants to die after staring at the same wall for hundreds of years. Thus, he asks the Sole Survivor to cut off the power, which will effectively end his life. At this point, the player has a choice to make.
Choosing to honor Sierra’s request will end with her simply staying in the office, living with Bradberton’s severed head. Surprisingly, Bradberton won’t be annoyed by her antics. Instead, he comments that he’s glad people still appreciate his work. On the other hand, choosing to kill him will make Sierra very upset. However, the player can convince her that this decision is what Bradberton wanted and that she was being selfish by wanting him to stay longer in his prison.
One final option is to have the Sole Survivor tell Sierra that they’ll let Bradberton live but then cut off the power anyway. This makes Sierra hostile, forcing the player to kill her. Though it’s worth noting that this option allows the player to get both Sierra and Bradberton’s rewards (which includes a unique weapon and outfit). Thus ends the tale of the Fallout world’s most avid Nuka-Cola fan.
Fallout 4 is available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.