Brotherhood of Steel (East Coast)

The Brotherhood of Steel in the Capital Wasteland is a splinter faction of the original Brotherhood of Steel. Its headquarters is the Citadel, built into and beneath the ruins of the Pentagon on the edge of what used to be Washington, D.C.. As of 2277, it is led by Owyn Lyons and is one of the most important and influential factions in the Capital Wasteland.

History
Following the destruction of the Enclave on the West Coast, the Brotherhood dispatched an expedition to Washington D.C. on a mission to reconnect with the Midwestern Brotherhood of Steel, investigate reports of super mutants in the area and recover any advanced technology. Led by Elder Owyn Lyons, the group included Ishmael Ashur, Reginald Rothchild and Lyons' 3 year old daughter, Sarah.

Contact with the Midwest chapter was unsuccessful, so the group traveled to Pittsburgh. The city was being terrorized by Wildmen, trogs, slavers and raiders. Lyons' force swept through the city, destroying many hostiles and suffering only one casualty: Ishmael Ashur. Believing him to be dead, the Brotherhood gathered the surviving children into their ranks and continued toward Washington D.C.

On their arrival, the wilderness outside the city was overrun by super mutants. Attacking head on, they drove the mutants into the ruins of Washington D.C. and earned the favor of the local population. Their investigation of the Pentagon uncovered a remarkable cache of technology, including the two-story tall Liberty Prime. The discovery earned Owyn Lyons a promotion to Elder and a change in his orders: Instead of returning to the West Coast, they would establish a permanent presence in the area. They founded their base, the Citadel, in the remnants of the old Pentagon.

The Brotherhood's actions toward people in Pittsburgh and in Washington marked a characteristic trait of Elder Lyons' leadership. The Brotherhood's primary objective was to recover and preserve technology. In many prior instances this directive was followed, even in the face of human suffering. Elder Lyon's faction prioritized people's lives and well-being over machines. When the Elders in Lost Hills learned of these new priorities, they cut off all support to the Capital Wasteland chapter, though they still considered it as part of the Brotherhood. The chapter suffered a further setback when a number from within their ranks left in protest to form the Brotherhood Outcasts.

It was in this weakened and isolated state that it was possible for the Enclave, having relocated from the Core Region as well, to re-establish a base of continual operations at Raven Rock, to make its move. They seized Project Purity, then set up outposts in Washington D.C. and its surrounding wilderness. However, with the assistance of the Lone Wanderer, the Brotherhood ended the Enclave's presence in the known region; driving them first from Project Purity and then from their final holdout at Adams Air Force Base. The fate of the Enclave as a whole after these events remain a mystery.

Society
The Brotherhood of Steel is a neo-knightly order that rose from the ashes of the American military of the West Coast in the years following the devastation of 2077. The organization's tenets include the eradication of mutants and worship of technology, and the Brotherhood has never been very keen on sharing their resources with their fellow wastelanders (whom they consider too ignorant and irresponsible to deserve such advanced technology).

The Brotherhood is generally beneficial to humanity, but they have their faults: they don't care for mutants, they worship technology (and in many cases put it above human life), and they don't like to share their choicest technological discoveries, despite the obvious benefits their technology could bring to the Wasteland. It's commonly accepted within the Brotherhood that the people of the Wasteland are not responsible enough to use and maintain all of the technology the Brotherhood has at their disposal. They are known for trading some of their technologies with frontier communities and NCR states, but they keep the more sensitive technologies to themselves.

Unlike the chivalrous knights of old, members of the Brotherhood are not interested in justice for the obviously weaker and less fortunate around them, but instead in keeping their secrecy and preserving and developing technology. Their motives are often unclear, and Brotherhood members are not people to be trifled with. The east coast contingent of the Brotherhood has "gone native" under the leadership of Elder Owyn Lyons. Lyons believes he has a responsibility to protect the people of the Capital Wasteland from the super mutant threat. His knights have forgone the mission to recover new technology, and instead acts as a kind of security force. Lyons runs operations from a stronghold christened the Citadel, a heavily defended structure built from the ruins of an ancient building known as "the Pentagon."

Military
The Capital Wasteland Brotherhood is divided into three clear ranks.
 * Initiates who are born into the Brotherhood or local volunteers who are recruited to become members, however in recent years this has become a problem, with many of the Initiates lacking proper training and being rushed into combat. Unfortunately, these are the most numerous members of the Brotherhood's ground forces.
 * Knights and Knight Captains are members who have served time in the Brotherhood and have become fully fledged members. They are the main backbone, less common than Initiates, but much better fighters.
 * Paladins are veterans of the Brotherhood, many being members of Elder Lyons' original party that came out to D.C. They are among the best of the Brotherhood and are often high ranking field commanders or used in elite strike teams. Sentinel Lyons is the highest ranking field commander and answers directly to Elder Lyons, she leads the Lyon's Pride, the best soldiers of the Capital Wasteland Brotherhood of Steel, in one squad.

Relations with the outside
The Capital Wasteland Brotherhood was known to trade with outsiders, but as of 2277, there have been many incidents which has dissuaded the Brotherhood from such activities. Also the Brotherhood was known to help patrol and defend settlements like Megaton, until the super mutant threat became so big that they were forced to pull out of many key locations. When out in the wastes, they try to protect any and all innocent wastelanders they find, and recruit them if possible. They are also known to hire mercs, such as Reilly's Rangers, to carry out jobs they are unable to handle.

Technology
The Capital Wasteland Brotherhood primarily uses T-45d power armor, this armor is much more widely issued, being given to most front-line personnel, and not just select Paladins. Given this, it is possible that most of the Brotherhood's power armor was salvaged from the ruins of the Pentagon, and from other military facilities encountered during their journey east, and used to replace damaged or worn Brotherhood armor and Brotherhood T-51b power armor. It's also very likely due to Rothchild salvaging the Enclave's technology from the mobile base crawler and overall Capital Wasteland Brotherhood usage of Enclave technology from fallen troopers, they have the Enclave's newer power armor models, such as the advanced power armor Mk II, Tesla power armor, and finally the most advanced Enclave Hellfire armor.

They still use energy weapons, mostly the laser rifle and the laser pistol. However, due to the difficulty of finding, producing new parts, maintaining the laser based weapons, and the fact that the Brotherhood no longer receives supplies from the west coast, many paladins use traditional guns, notably the standard assault rifle and the Chinese assault rifle.

Ishmael Ashur of the Pitt wears a version of a T-45d power armor suit that has been heavily modified due to a long amount of use, and few pieces of power armor available. Since Ashur had worn this suit during the Scourge, it's possible that the Brotherhood came across the suits earlier than at the Pentagon.

The Brotherhood formerly had access to Liberty Prime, a super-robot that stands 40 ft tall with enough weapons to decimate anything in its way. It was destroyed by a massive 8 second long orbital missile strike, although members of the Brotherhood hold high hopes of his reconstruction. After the war against the Enclave, the Brotherhood gained access to Vertibirds.

Appearances
The Capital Wasteland Brotherhood of Steel appears in Fallout 3 and in the add-on, Broken Steel. They are also mentioned in the other Fallout 3 add-ons, Operation: Anchorage, The Pitt and Mothership Zeta, and they are again mentioned in Fallout: New Vegas.

Behind the scenes
The Capital Wasteland Brotherhood of Steel have some similarities and differences with other Fallout games:
 * External recruitment is also present in Fallout Tactics, and for the "Texas Expedition" in Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel.
 * The Brotherhood Outcasts, renegades deserted from the newly established Brotherhood of Steel division are similar to the Circle of Steel in Van Buren.
 * The War Department, not the Department of Defense, was mentioned in the Maxson Log holodisk in Fallout. The difference with real world name of this department is explained by divergence theory.

Gallery
Hermandad del Acero de Yermo Capital Confraternita d'Acciaio della Zona Contaminata della Capitale Bractwo Stali Ruin Stolicy Братство Стали (Fallout 3)