Brotherhood of Steel (Fallout: Tactics)

The Brotherhood of Steel in the Midwest is a splinter faction of the original Brotherhood of Steel.

Background
After the defeat of the Master, the original Brotherhood found themselves at odds with their need for new blood versus their code of technological secrecy. The debate went lightly. Finally, the elders ruled against sharing the technology with outsiders, convinced that they would endure what they had before. Further discussion was discouraged when the elders ordered the minority who wished to share their technology on a mission across the wastes. The Brotherhood constructed airships and dispatched the minority East, to track down and assess the extent of the remaining super mutant threat. However, as they traveled over the great mountains a great storm broke the main airship and flung it far from its course. The mighty airship was badly damaged, the smaller sections were torn from the main craft and never to be seen again. Many of the expedition leaders, including Paladin Latham, were lost to the winds. The fraction of the crew that still survived, struggled to keep their ship aloft before finally crashing on the outskirts of the ruins of Chicago. Survivors eventually formed a new organization, which diverged greatly from the ideals of the old Brotherhood. In time, they established a harsh rule over the towns and villages in that area.

After long fights with countless raider bands, a warlike technological cult known as the Reavers, and a super mutant army led by mad Paladin Latham, a survivor of one of the other Brotherhood of Steel airships, in 2198 the Brotherhood eventually faced their greatest enemy - a robotic army commanded by the Calculator, the mad AI of Vault 0 in Colorado. Eventually, the robotic army was defeated and the Calculator was either destroyed or merged with a new mind. That of the Warrior or that of Simon Barnaky.

As of 2277, the fate of the splinter faction is unclear. They have come into some contact with the original, West Coast Brotherhood, but it refused to accept the authority of the Lost Hills elders. Thus, they are considered to be reluctant allied of there by the rest of the Brotherhood. They also differ from the rest of the Brotherhood as they are willing to accept non-humans into their ranks. During the war with the Calculator, the Midwestern Brotherhood's forces consisted of survivors from the expedition, human recruits from tribes and towns, ghouls, sentient (hairy) deathclaws, some super mutants (many recruits came from defeated enemy forces), and machine legions from Vault 0.

Symbol
It is said that in the Brotherhood of Steel symbol, the gears represent their engineering knowledge, the sword is their will to defend themselves, the wings are the uplifting hope, and the circle is the wholeness that makes it a Brotherhood.

While the original Brotherhood uses different colors for different elements of the symbol (blue for the wings, gray for the sword and black for the gears), the Midwestern Brotherhood uses a blue monocolored variation. It should be noted that they also use a mirrored version of the original insignia interchangeably with the original one as well as variants of other colors (golden and black).

Sayings

 * "There is always another enemy."
 * "There is strength in numbers."
 * "Better to err on the side of caution."

Squads
The Midwestern Brotherhood of Steel operations base on small, versatile squads deployed to engage the enemy. They rarely hold more than ten brothers. A rough listing of the most notable, named squads follows (player's six-person squad excluded):
 * Brimstone - Simon Barnaky's personal guard, composed of battle hardened paladins. Obliterated in St. Louis.
 * Dagger - considered to be the most elite unit in the Midwestern Brotherhood of Steel. Dagger squad helps the warrior during the assault on Vault 0. Their color is blue.
 * Demon - support squad for Brimstone. Obliterated in St. Louis.
 * Falcon - another regular battle squad. Was assigned to watch over Great Bend along with Smear squad.
 * Fang - heavy squad deployed in St. Louis. Destroyed by a super mutant rocket team.
 * Grail - led by Paladin Lancelot, this squad perished in their assault on the Buena Vista Nuclear Power Plant. Dark green team color.
 * Lance - mentioned only by Gloria Timmons.
 * Repo - a squad dedicated to acquisition and transportation of valuable technology.
 * Shadow - regular battle squad of the Brotherhood, deployed in Kansas City to ensure the safety of the nuke.
 * Smear - regular battle squad of the Brotherhood, which, along with Shadow squad, was deployed in Kansas City and later in the town of Great Bend with Falcon squad, to protect the area from robots that might return.
 * Talon - under the command of Paladin Emerald Solo, the Talons managed to survive St. Louis and evacuate with help from the Warrior. Their color was teal.
 * Tusk - a battle squad that, along with Dagger squad, participated in the war against Calculator. Mentioned in the demo as the ultimate assignment of the demo squad mates.
 * Urban - intelligence squad under the command of Paladin Klotz (also known as Ma Baker), which monitors and confronts raider activity.

Related holodisks

 * Journal of Sir Latham
 * General's holodisk to wife Maria

Appearances
The Midwestern Brotherhood of Steel appears as the main faction and player's affiliation in Fallout Tactics.

In Fallout 3, Scribe Reginald Rothchild makes a mention about a small detachment of Brotherhood in Chicago that have fallen off the radar and gone rogue. The only known group of Brotherhood that has operated in and around Chicago is the Midwestern Brotherhood of Steel.

In Fallout: New Vegas, Caesar mentions that the Legion has captured Brotherhood scribes back East. The only known Brotherhood group operating close to and east of Legion territory is the Midwestern Brotherhood of Steel, most likely in Colorado. This is considering the fact that both Caesar's Legion and the Midwestern Brotherhood have been to Colorado.

The Midwest Brotherhood of Steel were also to appear in the canceled Fallout Tactics 2 and Fallout Extreme.

Behind the scenes
The term "Midwestern Brotherhood of Steel" is never used in-game, but was created by fans to differentiate it from the original Brotherhood of Steel.