Operation: Sunburst

Operation: Sunburst was a decisive strike on the Mojave chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel by the New California Republic (NCR) over the control of the pre-War, Poseidon Energy solar plant HELIOS One during the Brotherhood War in 2276.

Background
The occupation of HELIOS One was a decision made by Elder Elijah, who intended to unlock the secrets of the power plant. The Mojave chapter operated freely amid the Vegas wastes for several years, carrying out many reclamation missions without serious opposition. The balance of power shifted in 2273, when a large contingent of NCR troops entered the region and occupied Hoover Dam. Conflict was inevitable.Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide Collector's Edition p.43: "Brotherhood of Steel" "The Brotherhood of Steel is a militant organization devoted to the preservation of pre-war technology and human knowledge. Their professed mission is to preserve pre-war technology and human knowledge for the benefit of future generations. In practice, its definition of technology is strangely selective, ignoring basic but potentially useful technologies (genetic modification of crops and civil engineering, for example) in favor of combat technology such as energy weapons and power armor: and even now, nearly two centuries after the Great War, the Brotherhood zealously restricts the use and knowledge of such technologies to its own membership. ''The Mojave Brotherhood operated freely amid the Vegas wastes for several years, carrying out many reclamation missions without serious opposition. The balance of power shifted in 2251, when a large contingent of NCR troops entered the region and occupied Hoover Dam. Conflict was inevitable. Nearly two years of guerilla skirmishes culminated in a pitched battle at HELIOS One, a solar energy plant the Brotherhood had been refurbishing for several months with the goals of bringing it back online and activating its hidden offensive capabilities (the ARCHIMEDES II death ray). The battle for HELIOS One (Operation: Sunburst) proved a disaster for the Mojave Brotherhood. More than half its Paladins and Knights were killed. The chapter's leader, Elder Elijah, disappeared without a trace. The Brotherhood was driven from the facility, which suffered extensive damage. Survivors retreated to Hidden Valley.'' ''Since that defeat, the chapter's leader, Elder McNamara, has restricted activity outside the bunker to occasional reconnaissance missions and high-value raids. All operations take place at night, and engagement of NCR forces is strictly forbidden. Though the Brotherhood's ascetic lifestyle has prepared its members for a sequestered existence better than most, the passivity of their current situation has proved highly stressful."'' (Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide faction profiles) Note: The date of the NCR occupying Hoover Dam is wrong, as the first NCR Rangers scouted Hover Dam in 2273, with the deployment following in 2274; article dates have been corrected to match.

In 2274, the NCR had officially set up a base at McCarran International Airport and moved into the Mojave in force. The Elder's obsession with HELIOS One and the need to defend against NCR forces deploying into the Mojave resulted in the Brotherhood ignoring the expansion of the Van Graff family into the Mojave, despite them distributing pre-War energy weapons. The Elder's orders were clear. Two years of guerilla warfare against the NCR followed, ultimately leading to the confrontation at HELIOS One in 2276.

Battle
The power plant was not defensible, leaving Brotherhood forces exposed to attack from all sides, save for a small canyon leading to Hidden Valley. Despite recommendations for fighting a retreating action, Elder Elijah ordered his troops to dig in and protect the facility as he attempted to unlock the Archimedes orbital weapon system. The Brotherhood forces dug in, but their positions were exposed, vulnerable, and impossible to defend properly.

The Elder's decision to remain at the facility doomed the chapter. NCR troopers attacked the Brotherhood from every direction in waves, allowing fresh troops to sustain the attack while those who were repulsed pulled back to rally and regroup. Outnumbered fifteen to twenty times, the Brotherhood defenders were eventually exhausted and their defensive lines began to fragment. When the collapse became imminent, Elder Elijah disappeared. Head Paladin Nolan McNamara assumed command of the Brotherhood remnants and led a counter-offensive west into the McCullough mountains. Disappearing into the mountains, he managed to save what remained of the chapter. Over a half of its number was dead or left behind.

Aftermath
Elder Elijah abandoned troops under his command and disappeared into the wastes. McNamara wasted no time in gathering the survivors and retreating to Hidden Valley from HELIOS One, but not until reactivating the security measures inside the solar collection tower to prevent NCR from picking up on Elijah's research.

With their leader gone, McNamara assumed command in accordance with the Brotherhood's chain of command protocols. Abandoning the facility, the surviving Brotherhood members retreated into the canyons west, towards Hidden Valley. Instead of pursuing, NCR forces regrouped and secured the power plant; when they finally set out to locate and destroy remaining Brotherhood forces, they were nowhere to be found.

The Brotherhood, hidden within their sole remaining stronghold in the Mojave, declared a full lockdown. Activity outside the bunker was drastically restricted: only supply runs, occasional reconnaissance missions and night patrols were allowed to leave the underground installation and even then, they were strictly forbidden to engage NCR patrols. Though the Brotherhood's ascetic lifestyle has prepared its members for a sequestered existence better than most, the passivity of the current situation has proved highly stressful - especially as the order was extended in response to the NCR increasing its presence in the Mojave five times, while the Brotherhood failed to recover its strength. The lockdown order has remained in effect for five years, until 2281, when the conflict in the Mojave forced the Brotherhood to be either destroyed or become active once again.

Although the bulk of the fighting force was almost immediately redeployed to secure Hoover Dam in preparation for the coming confrontation with the Legion, the NCR established a garrison in HELIOS One. Due to a stroke of bad luck, an incompetent con artist was hired to act as the facility's principal engineer. He was unable to bring the facility to even moderate operational status, leaving it stuck at 1% efficiency. Ignacio Rivas was posted by the Followers of the Apocalypse to research the facility independently and ensure that the ignoramus hired by the NCR would not figure out a way to unlock the facility's dark secrets. As he puts it, "Some things are best left buried with the Old World."

The Circle of Steel would also send Knight Christine Royce to track down Elder Elijah by any means necessary and execute him for the abandonment of his chapter at Operation: Sunburst.

Appearances
Operation: Sunburst is mentioned only in Fallout: New Vegas and its add-on Dead Money.