Brotherhood First Expeditionary Force

The Brotherhood First Expeditionary Force, currently referred to as the Appalachian Brotherhood of Steel, is a faction comprising Brotherhood of Steel soldiers sent from Lost Hills to re-establish contact with the original Appalachian Brotherhood. Ever since reaching West Virginia, they have taken the mantle of their brothers and sisters in protecting and gathering technology from all around Appalachia.

Formation
Following the Great War, Captain Roger Maxson used surviving satellites to communicate with survivors across the United States of America, attempting to recruit them under a common cause, which eventually led to the formation of the Brotherhood of Steel. He succeeded in contacting a former colleague, Elizabeth Taggerdy, who formed a Brotherhood chapter with her Army Ranger unit in Appalachia. Contact was lost with Taggerdy when the satellites failed years later, and the Western Brotherhood was left unaware of the outcome of the Appalachian chapter's war against scorchbeasts and the accompanying Scorched Plague.

The former US National Guard and current Paladin Leila Rahmani requested an expedition to Appalachia. After many years, her request was finally approved by High Elder Roger Maxson and the Council of Elders, and she was appointed as its leader. One of the expedition's critical members was to be Scribe Hailey Takano, but due to health issues, she was not able to take part and was replaced by her student Scribe Odessa Valdez, who had volunteered to take her teacher's position. Three knights were given the task to accompany them, including Alan Connors, another National Guard and close friend of Rahmani, Matthew Thornberry, and Daniel Shin. The expedition's goals were to investigate valued technological sites on their journey across the United States and upon arriving at Appalachia, set up camp at the ATLAS Observatory to investigate the facility's true purpose. In addition, they were to discern the fate of the original Appalachian chapter and to take their mantle if necessary, including the protection of Appalachia's inhabitants. Following that, the group would report their findings back to command.

Journey
Paladin Rahmani led the First Expeditionary Force east from the Lost Hills bunker. Upon reaching the Sierra Nevada, they encountered a group of raiders with a cache of highly advanced weaponry, torturing a captured unit of Brotherhood soldiers. Knight Thornberry personally rescued the soldiers and recovered the technology. This earned the respect of Rahmani, who charged him with the task of safely guiding the wounded soldiers back to Lost Hills and seeing to their recovery.

After crossing the Rocky Mountains, radio communications were lost between Lost Hills and the Expeditionary Force. Over the course of the following months, the scribes at Lost Hills tried to reach the group, but to no avail. Command sent various encrypted radio messages, first while estimating their location near Lincoln, and later ordering the expedition to divert from their primary goal. Another attempt was made, estimating their location as east of the Mississippi River, and ordering them to proceed with their original mission in order to establish contact at the target location in Appalachia.

The next radio message was recorded off the record by Elder Roger Maxson via a private channel to Paladin Leila Rahmani. He believed the paladin understood the value and purpose of the Brotherhood of Steel, and despite their disagreements, Maxson hoped the lack of communication was simply due to the inability of answering back. Otherwise, the radio silence would be taken as desertion by the Council of Elders, and Maxson would be overruled in regards to what to do with the expedition and wouldn't be able to defend her anymore.

After more than three months without any contact with the First Expeditionary Force, Elder Maxson sent a last official message to Paladin Rahmani. The scribes estimated they should have already entered the borders of West Virginia and be close to their target destination at the ATLAS Observatory. Maxson's orders for the expedition were to reestablish contact with Lost Hills right after securing the observatory, providing a full report on their whereabouts during their journey, and to represent the Brotherhood in Appalachia.

At some point during their months-long journey, Rahmani and the rest of the First Expeditionary Force encountered a settlement under threat of raiders. Rahmani decided to equip them with government-issue weaponry they had found in a military facility in the Midwest that they had initially intended to keep for the Brotherhood. However, the weapons proved useless against the raider force, as the settlement was wiped out, with only two survivors. Because of the loss of Knight Alan Connors and the raiders actually getting strengthened by the looted weapons, the incident would set off a division between Rahmani and Shin, with Shin wanting Rahmani to stand trial with the Council of Elders.

Arrival
Not far from West Virginia, while approaching their destination, Paladin Rahmani broadcasted a message across Appalachia, announcing their arrival and their objective of taking over the ATLAS Observatory, warning any possible occupants to leave the facility. She announced they were going to help the people of Appalachia by providing aid and protection, and that any help would be welcome. Her voice could be heard across the region, becoming more audible with each passing week.

Russell Dorsey, an enthusiast of the old Appalachian Brotherhood, had heard the radio message and was already at the observatory with several Protectrons to aid in its fortification. He, alongside the Vault Dwellers, managed to clear the exterior of the facility and prepare it for the arrival of the expedition.

By the time the First Expeditionary Force reached the ATLAS Observatory, having had crossed over two thousand miles of wasteland over the course of many months, the group itself was made up of only three of the original five Brotherhood personnel. In addition, they had informally recruited many initiates and hopefuls along the way. After establishing their base of operations, they renamed the observatory to Fort Atlas. 

Steel Dawn
During the first months in West Virginia, the new Appalachian Brotherhood established outposts around Fort Atlas and the Wayward, and sent patrols composed of recent initiates and hopefuls to different areas of the region in search of technology. The Brotherhood chapter was also soon inoculated against the Scorched Plague.

Despite one of their primary missions being to reestablish contact with Lost Hills, the group was unable to do it due to the loss of their long-distance communications transmitter at the hands of raiders. Rahmani expresses hesitation to establish contact, as she fears it would result in having their titles stripped and their influence rendered illegitimate. Despite the fact that re-establishing contact was an order in and of itself, Rahmani believes that they could continue on as a sanctioned offshoot nonetheless, able to spread "authority and goodwill across the nation."

Locations

 * Fort Atlas
 * Makeshift vault
 * Two unnamed outposts in the road around Fort Atlas
 * One unnamed outpost in the road southwest of the Wayward

Members
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Paladins

 * Paladin Leila Rahmani3

Knights

 * Knight Alan Connors
 * Knight Daniel Shin3
 * Knight Matthew Thornberry1
 * Vault Dweller (Knight-Errant)2

Scribes

 * Scribe Hailey Takano1
 * Scribe Odessa Valdez

Initiates

 * Doctor Solomon Hardy
 * Initiate Erika Hewsen
 * Initiate Felton Reed
 * Initiate Luis Ramirez
 * Initiate Norland
 * Initiate Pappas
 * Initiate Russell Dorsey
 * Initiate Vernon Dodge2

Hopefuls

 * Colin Putnam2
 * Marty Putnam2

Robots

 * Recruiter
 * Construction Protectrons
 * Protectrons

Variants
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 * Brotherhood hopeful
 * Brotherhood initiate
 * Brotherhood rifleman
 * Brotherhood scout
 * Brotherhood technician
 * 1Formerly
 * 2Optional
 * 3Formerly, optional

Appearances
The Brotherhood First Expeditionary Force appears only