Brotherhood of Steel (Fallout)

The Lost Hills Brotherhood of Steel, originally led by Elder Roger Maxson, is the founding chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel, appearing in Fallout and mentioned across the series.

Mariposa Military Base
The founder of the Brotherhood of Steel was Captain Roger Maxson of the United States Army. Maxson was a member of a military team commanded by Colonel Robert Spindel, originally sent to the West-Tek research facility on January 3, 2076 by the U.S. Army to monitor the experiments being conducted there by West-Tek on behalf of the American government in the interest of national security. On January 7, 2077, all West-Tek military research was moved to the newly-constructed Mariposa Military Base, along with Spindel's team, to enhance the research's security.

Captain Maxson and his men subsequently discovered that the West-Tek scientists at Mariposa were using military prisoners as involuntary test subjects in their experiments with the Forced Evolutionary Virus. After interrogating Robert Anderson, the chief scientist on the West-Tek research team, and learning about the extent of their scientific experiments on military prisoners, Maxson executed Anderson and then the rest of the scientists.

Morale in the base broke down, and Colonel Spindel suffered a mental breakdown, committing suicide five days later. Captain Maxson's men turned to him for leadership in the midst of the crisis. Maxson, now in control of the entire Mariposa base, declared himself to be in full desertion from the U.S Army via radio on October 20, 2077. He received no response from the Army chain-of-command. Three days later, on October 23, 2077, the Great War occurred.

The Exodus
On October 25, Sergeant Platner volunteered to take atmospheric readings outside the base. Reporting no significant amounts of radiation in the atmosphere, final preparations for the exodus were undertaken. On October 26, Maxson ordered the remains of the scientists to be buried in the wastes outside the base. A day later, on October 27, former U.S. service members and their families left the base under the lead of Captain Roger Maxson, heading for the Lost Hills government bunker to the south.

During the Exodus a group led by Sergeant Allen split away from the group that became the Brotherhood of Steel to investigate West Tek research facility for advanced technology to recover and were never heard from again. Despite that, under the leadership of Roger Maxson, the Brotherhood grew in strength, further developing their technology, and the orders of knights, scribes and paladins were formed.

Foundation
Maxson made contact with an old friend in Appalachia, Lieutenant Elizabeth Taggerdy of the US Army Rangers. Although initially hesitant to trust him due to his public declaration of secession before the war, Taggerdy eventually agreed to join his cause.

Once the Brotherhood was established, it grew, accepting a nearby former National Guard unit into its ranks, led by Leila Rahmani. Maxson focused on the goal of preserving technology, including gathering, recording, and saving the collective knowledge of mankind for future generations. The group in Lost Hills sent expeditions as far as the Mojave Wasteland, gathering intelligence and new recruits.

The group established under Taggerty faced the threat of scorchbeasts, which eventually led to the destruction of communication relays between the two Brotherhood groups. Before being cut-off, Maxson ordered Taggerdy to hold the tide and authorized the use of nuclear weapons. A small group of reinforcements were sent from Lost Hills to determine their fate, and set up camp at the ATLAS Observatory, renaming the facility to Fort Atlas.

Vipers
In 2135, Roger Maxson died of cancer, and his son took over as the new high elder of the Brotherhood. A raider group known as the Vipers began to establish a power base to the south of the Lost Hills Bunker. They began raiding more frequently than before, eventually attracting the attention of the Brotherhood of Steel. The Brotherhood sent out a few squads of scouts to track the Vipers down. The Brotherhood was convinced that a small detachment of troops in power armor would be sufficient to deal with a group of raiders.

The squad led by High Elder Maxson found the group. Expecting the raiders to break and run at the sight of soldiers in power armor, Maxson did not take into account their poisoned weapons. A single arrow nicked him while his helmet was off, causing him to die a few short hours later. His grandson John Maxson took up the role of high elder, and Rhombus became the new head of the paladins and the order of knights. The paladins began a full-scale campaign against the Vipers, tracking them down and wiping out almost all of their members within the span of a month. Some of the Vipers were able to flee north and east.

Water Merchants
Meanwhile, the Water Merchants of the Hub attempted to barter a large quantity of water for a weapons stockpile. Although the Brotherhood turned down the offer, the merchants attempted to take the weapons regardless. The thieves were caught, but the Brotherhood Elders voted down a retaliatory expedition.

Unity
The Brotherhood then faced a new threat in the form of super mutants. Training was stopped and Vree autopsied the specimens to determine their origin. Scouts were sent out to determine the threat level, and those that returned reported encountering mutants, "strange beings, all muscle with burnin' eyes." The Brotherhood was able to destroy the threat alongside the Vault Dweller.

Enclave
The Brotherhood learned of the technologically advanced Enclave and attempted to observe the group from afar to learn as much as they could. The Brotherhood had waned in influence and power over the preceding years, now unable to deal with the Enclave by force. The Enclave had access to vertibirds, a technology that the Brotherhood lacked. In order to learn more about them, the Brotherhood created a network of outposts to observe Enclave activity, keeping a low profile while doing so.

Initiatives
The Brotherhood expanded eastward, sending out an expedition to the former Washington, D.C. area to recover technology under the leadership of Owyn Lyons. In addition, a contingent under the leadership of Father Elijah moved into the Mojave, with their sights set on the Hoover Dam and HELIOS One solar plant. The Brotherhood initially had good relations with the nearby New California Republic, to the point that one of the states of the federation was named after the founder of the Brotherhood, Maxson.

Locations
Category:Fallout 2 Brotherhood of Steel locations

Appearances
The Lost Hills Brotherhood of Steel appears in Fallout and Fallout 2, and is mentioned in Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, and Fallout 76.

Behind the scenes

 * The Lost Hills Brotherhood of Steel was mentioned on the Official Fallout Twitter account.
 * The group was mentioned several times by developers in the Fallout Bible.