Fallout TSC Commander Faction Report

by mattallensy

This is a series based on the Fallout 3 mod Mothership Zeta Crew. It is a mod that gives you a new faction under your command and you are in charge of it. This series covers how canon and non-canon factions relate to the Terran Starship Command.

2. The Brotherhood as a Whole

Final:

From: The Commander

To: Starship Council

Subject: The Brotherhood of Steel - In general analysis

Most of what I know, I learned from the files and Scribes in the Citadel, Protector Casdin of the Outcasts and a friendly Journeyman Scribe from the Mojave Chapter . The Brotherhood was unofficially founded a few weeks after the Great War. The leader and founder Roger Maxson, after discovering the atrocities done at a military base known as Mariposa officially left the US military. After the events of the Great War, Captain Maxson and the soldiers and families with him, left Mariposa and traveled to a government fallout bunker at Lost Hills. This is where the Brotherhood was officially founded: Maxson's intentions were to rebuild Human civilization no matter what the cost.

History:
Little is known of the early years of the Brotherhood. What is clear is that they began to grow fairly quickly, forming the orders of Knights, Scribes, and Paladins within a few years. By 2135, Roger Maxson died of cancer and his son, Maxson II, took over as the new High elder. In 2150 the Brotherhood secured the areas surrounding their base of operations. They would eventually become a major power in the core regions of California. In the same year the Brotherhood face its first enemy but not biggest of them. A raider group known as the Vipers; they were religious followers and to compensate for their size they started to raid and eventually caught the attention of the Brotherhood. After five years of tolerance, the Brotherhood finally sent out a few recon squads to track down the Vipers. This was supposed to be small training excursion lead by the High Elder. The Brotherhood was convinced that a small detachment of powered armor soldiers would be able to take out the group of raiders, no matter how large. Maxson's squad found the Vipers. They expected the raiders to be scared by soldiers in power armor and run at first sight. Maxson made a fatal mistake, as he did not consider the religious zeal of the leaders and more importantly their poison weapons. He was nicked by an arrow when he temporally had his helmet off. His son Roger Maxson took up the position of High elder.
The death of their leader led the Brotherhood to launch a campaign to wipe out the Vipers. During this the Brotherhood encountered the Hub and began trading with them. After the destruction of the Vipers a regular Caravan was sent to the Brotherhood on regular basis. By the time of the 2160's the Brotherhood became aware of the existence of Super mutants. By 2162, according to the Citadel history files, a Vault Dweller came to them wanting to join. He was not taken seriously and sent on a typical fool's errand to ward off troublemakers. The mission was apparently to go to an irradiated research facility, named "The Glow." He was to recover a Holodisk from a lost BOS expedition that did not return from the area. To everybody's surprise he returned alive and with the disk, the Vault Dweller then became the first outsider to join the Brotherhood in a very long time, even though he was not completely accepted among the group (Personal note: sounds like someone I would like to have met). From him they learned of the Super Mutant threat. With the support of the High Elder, this Vault Dweller (for that is the only name for him that I have found) took a squad of Paladins to Mariposa and wiped out the threat of the so-called "Unity." The irony is too great; all he did was clean up what Maxson left behind.

Following the defeat of the Super Mutants, the New California Republic was founded and began to expand. The NCR founded a small town around Lost Hills called Maxson, while the bunker itself remained under control of the Brotherhood. By this time, the topic of sharing and recruiting outsiders started to become a problem. The council of Elders ruled to continue to follow their traditional, isolationist principles. The minority, who supported a more open Brotherhood, was exiled East, on a mission to track down the rest of the Super Mutant Army by Zeppelins or Airships. This group got lost and never heard from Lost Hills again. Then-Paladin Lyons' taskforce was dispatched to reconnect with this group on their way East, but it did not go well. All Lyons learned is that they have departed, and formed their own independent Chapter, known as the Midwest Brotherhood of Steel. Eventually, Lyons would follow a similar situation in the Capital Wasteland. Back West, the Brotherhood established small outposts throughout the Core Regions and Nevada.
By 2242, the Brotherhood was no longer the power they once were. With the emergence of the TSC's shady cousins, the Enclave, the BOS found that they weren't the most technologically advanced group in the known world, and were intimidated. Given how they reacted to us, I'd say that was fairly predictable. The Brotherhood saw Enclave Vertibird technology, and that they had no counter, no defense against an Enclave invasion. Fortunately, the Enclave seemed to have ignored the Brotherhood even when the Elders reactivated outposts close to Enclave activities to keep an eye on them. The Brotherhood tasked the grandchild of the Vault Dweller, known as the Chosen One, to retrieve Vertibird schematics, to even the odds a bit. He or she was most likely successful in delivering them to Lost Hills, given that we have encountered Irons' chapter using them. The Chosen One then went on to take out the Enclave's main base, the Poseidon Oil platform, and the NCR cleaned up the survivors. From this point on the history of the West Coast chapter history gets fuzzy, because of the lack of communication between East and West. The history of the Brotherhood is split in two. What I know is that the NCR have driven all of the California and Nevada Brotherhood into hiding, as per the war they fought over technology. I have asked Archangel to gather Intel on this subject to explain why Irons has not been affected by this war. I will also search for more info on the Brotherhood when I take up my west coast persona again.

Society:
The Brotherhood of Steel seems to have taken the ancient knight culture and adapted it to modern times. They follow a strict code that includes the eradication of mutants and worshiping technology, and with only two exceptions, most chapters have not been very keen on sharing technology. If and when they do it is the lowest tech they have. Obviously, the BOS could broaden its recruitment base if it were more open with the tech that could benefit the common wastelander. It is commonly accepted within the Brotherhood that the people of the wasteland are not responsible enough to use and maintain all the technology the Brotherhood has at its disposal, a belief that transcends even the idealism of Elder Lyons.

Ideology:

Although the Brotherhood is legendary for their past actions and persona, as time has passed and the organization has aged more of the negative aspects of their beliefs have been realized. Originally they stood for relatively respectful goals of preservation. But after years of preserving since the nuclear fires died down in the last 200 years, they have not changed and still preserve when now it is time for them to stop preserving and to start using it to rebuild. This subject has been challenged and two chapters, the Midwestern and CW, have grown by being more open. The Midwest chapter has grown and, to our knowledge, at least controls a small state. Lyons, though gullible, will grow after the war with the Enclave. Though they lost a 40-foot Liberty Prime, which was most of their heavy firepower, they gained access to Vertibirds and repair parts for the massive robot. We also know that the Western Brotherhood is very paranoid and attacks anybody with a laser pistol, which also explains their reaction to us. Much of their belief system is enshrined in a document called the Codex, which acts as a sort of Bible for the Brotherhood when the need arises. Most of the Codex in Lyons chapter was lost in transit to the CW, and the Outcasts took what survived. I know that Lyons Brotherhood had to rewrite it from memory and probably has some major changes. They now follow a new codex named Lyons Doctrine.

Symbolism of the insignia:
The Brotherhood of Steel insignia is circle attached to a pair of wings, an upward-pointing sword, and three gears, one larger than the others. The gears seem to represent the inner workings of the Brotherhood and their productive capacity, the sword is their will to defend themselves, the wings represent the uplifting hope of the acquisition of lost technology and using it to restore mankind, and the circle represents the unity that makes them a Brotherhood. There are other interpretations, but this one is the most widely accepted. I must now say that there are some similarities between their symbol and ours. The first is the wings; while theirs is Hope alone, ours represent Hope and taking Action based on it. The Brotherhood does not act upon their Hope, and I do not see that changing anytime soon. Next is the sword; to them it's a means to defense, which is somewhat ironic given that Irons' chapter attacked us first, without provocation. They likely see us as an attack on them for even existing and challenging their power, or more specifically, their monopoly on advanced technology. Their sword points up, while ours points down. Though Nylus believes the sword represents the Ion Cannon, it is actually more. We are people from the heavens and bring amazing technology to the people of the wastes. The sword represents more than our means to defend ourselves; it is the might behind the peace.

Structure:
The Brotherhood is mostly composed of the descendants of the military officers, soldiers, and scientists that came out of Mariposa back in the early years following the Great War. That produced in them a kind of belief in their genetic superiority which, aside from a select few, has barred entrance to outsiders. Indeed, the Brotherhood is as close to pure-strain humanity as you can get in the wasteland, with the exception of the people in Vaults and the Enclave.
The ranks of the Brotherhood of Steel are generally recognized as being composed of the best and the brightest remaining to humanity in the North American Wastelands, which means the BOS is a relatively small organization, at least compared to the New California Republic. They attempt to make up for this with their frightening arsenal of pre-and-post-War technology. They have laser weapons, power armor, surgical cybernetic enhancements, and combat implants. Their Paladins are so heavily armed and armored, that they can erase an entire town from the map without a scratch. The vast majority of BOS members are born into the Brotherhood, as they very rarely accept outsiders into their ranks. From what I have learned from a friendly Mojave Brotherhood scribe, every member of the Brotherhood considers it his or her duty to procreate. While this hasn't been enshrined in official policy, it does result in a lack of tolerance for same-sex relationships, at least when the proponents of the aforementioned stance are concerned. Anyone who doesn't want to stay doesn't have to; they don't believe in involuntary servitude. The one caveat is that no former members may share any medical or scientific knowledge they have acquired while in the Brotherhood with any outside faction. All those who have, at least in those areas where isolationists compose the majority, have been executed for it.
While they have great reverence for technology, most of the Brotherhood members have little regard for non-technical fields of knowledge, such as history, English (beyond the necessary rules and vocabulary for their communication), and law. Some extreme members extend that view as worthless to non-military technology. Most of the Scribes do not care about history, and some Brotherhood of Steel Initiates that are not from the East Coast, do not even know who Roger Maxson, the founder of the Brotherhood, was.
I find this sort of belief simply ridiculous. All forms of technology and how can they not accept medical technology when even the most simplistic of medicine can help compensate for their lack of numbers.

The Brotherhood limits itself too much, scientifically for this reason alone, the Brotherhood of Steel can never be the architect of the new order until they change their ideology and make the right alliances.

Military:
The Brotherhood of Steel follows a similar means of a civilized military, with standard armor, weapons, and ammunition. They have a standardized training regimen, a reasonably clear chain of command, various bases, the means to supply their own troops, and different branches.
Ranks:
The Brotherhood of Steel has three different rank systems. The first is the original and less of a rank system than a caste system. The second is used by Lyons' Brotherhood and Outcasts on the East Coast.

In the caste system the lowest caste is the initiates; they are the trainees who are expected to perform well enough to be promoted to senior Initiates, and later Apprentices. After proving themselves, they must choose the Battle Caste or the Science Caste: journeyman Knight or Scribe. Then next is Knight Sergeant/Senior Scribe, Knight Captain and finally the leader of each of these orders is the Head Knight and Head Scribe. What makes these castes is that the Scribes and Knights follow ranks but are all lower then Paladins. Knights are the engineers and field mechanics of the brotherhood, though they do participate in combat situations as well, and the scribes are the scientists of the group and are in charge of developing new technology and improving existing equipment.
Paladins are a separate group all together, after many years of service the best knights are made Paladins. Paladins are in charge of security and outside activities. The ranks in this caste are Junior Paladin, Paladin, Senior Paladin, and Head Paladin. The highest Caste is Elder. Elders are the most experienced, and frequently the oldest, of the Paladins. Only one known Elder, Elijah, did not hold the rank of Paladin before his promotion.
The second form, used by Lyons' BOS, is based on the old US ranking system. Paladin is not a separate caste but still performs the same general role as before, the Knights have lost the maintain and construct the Brotherhood's equipment responsibilities , and it has been passed onto the scribes thought they still conduct all scientific activities. Above the Paladins and below the Elder, they have a rank called "Sentinel," though only one of their number has attained it. One interesting note about the Scribes in Lyons' chapter: they have now been separated into three different orders, Sword (weapons), Shield (armor/defenses), and Quill (history/anything else (presumably)), each led by its own proctor.

Relations to others:
While they are generally not hostile to others without a good reason, members of the Brotherhood are not interested in justice for the obviously weaker and less fortunate wastelanders. Some do not care even about the crimes that they commit to those under them. They largely focus on keeping their secrecy and preserving and developing technology, which they often put above human life since technology is irreplaceable in the post-nuclear wastelands—lives are not. Their motives are often unclear, and Brotherhood members are not people to be trifled with. It is safe to say, however, that if a group of Brotherhood Paladins appears to be helping outsiders, their motives are not altruistic.
The Brotherhood will challenge any group that they even see as a threat for even existing. For example, what has happening us and Irons and the original Brotherhood and the NCR. Unlike us, the Brotherhood does not seem to accept mutants, though the strength ranges from toleration (of ghouls), to outright hatred (of super mutants).

Technology:
Military technology is the Brotherhood's main priority, and they have obtained as much as they possibly can. They will kill and go to war with any group to get their hands on their technology.
Though not as advanced as the Enclave, Brotherhood soldiers often carry hi-tech Energy Weapons and suited with power armor. Most of this armor is the standard US military T-51b and T-45d suits. Power armor is usually worn over recon armor to make it more comfortable.
The brotherhood also has access to advanced computers which that have found in various military bases, the computers of the Lost Hills bunker, the ruins of the Pentagon, and a number of others. They also possess heavy-duty robots to assist them, like the intimidating sentry bots. Lyons' chapter even has the 40-foot Liberty Prime.

The Brotherhood, unlike other organizations, is not monolithic. It has several chapters that (mostly act independently) spread throughout the United States. The ones we know of are: the Original, Mojave, Midwestern, Eastern, Outcasts, and Irons', hereafter referred to as WBOS, MBOS, MWBOS, EBOS, Outcasts, and IBOS. There is also a shadow chapter that is compromised of select group of most of the other chapters. They are very similar to our Seraphs; they follow a single goal, preserving the brotherhood no matter the cost. If you ask any brotherhood member they will say they do not exist. Our Seraphs say otherwise and I know they exist since I also saved the life of Knight of the Circle of Steel. I will cover the Circle and the other chapters that I mentioned in separate reports.