Brotherhood Civil War



The Brotherhood Civil War was a conflict between the Brotherhood of Steel and a splinter group, the Brotherhood Outcasts. The conflict began in 2276. Following a drastic shift in mission profile by Owyn Lyons, a large group of Brotherhood loyalists broke off from Lyons' chapter and formed their own group.

Background
 As Owyn Lyons slowly changed the profile of the mission to DC, from gathering and processing pre-War technology to endeavours he considered beneficial to the local populace, discontent began to rise among his ranks. The dissatisfaction reached a boiling point in 2276 when Paladin Henry Casdin openly defied the Elder's orders and rallying his followers, secured large amounts of weapons and equipment and simply left the Citadel.  Branded as outcasts and struck from the Codex, loyalists reformed a new chapter, bearing the name "Outcasts" as a badge of merit, along with the black/red paint-job on their power armor units. They secured a new base of operations in Fort Independence near the ruined city of Fairfax and restarted their original mission of securing technology.

Development
The Outcasts have many advantages over Lyons' forces: when departing the Citadel, they took a large amount of supplies and military ordnance with them, leaving Lyons' chapter in a critical condition. Furthermore, the loyalists are all veterans with years of warfare experience and wasteland travels and consequently have an edge over Lyons' forces, which represent a mix of original Brotherhood members and hastily trained local recruits.

Despite the advantage, Outcasts do not seek to exploit their advantage and refuse to openly attack Lyons' forces. They focus on their mission and their long-range patrols in search of lost technology make the wasteland much more secure, as they exterminate any threats with extreme prejudice, but do not engage non-hostile humans unprovoked.

However, if confronted with a Brotherhood patrol, the Outcasts will attack and fight until either side is dead. The frequency of these encounters increase after Project Purity went online in 2278 and the Brotherhood of Steel began assisting with Aqua Pura deliveries across the Capital Wasteland, thus taking them into territory held by the Outcasts.

Legacy
Though the outcome of this civil war is unknown, it was notable enough to gain the attention of the Western Brotherhood chapters, though they, themselves, took no action. Veronica Santangelo, a scribe in the Mojave chapter, will comment about the conflict four years later.