The Commonwealth Faction War

The Commonwealth Faction War is the four way war between The Brotherhood of Steel, Commonwealth Minutemen, Institute, and to a lesser extent, The Railroad. It starts as a war of attrition, but quickly blossoms into open warfare between the first three major factions while the Railroad functions more as wild card. The only thing in common among the Brotherhood, Minutemen, and Railroad is that The Institute is their common enemy. Despite this, the three factions are unable to work together due to differences in policy.

The Conflict

Prelude

The release of Aubrey Wilson from Vault 111 starts a series of events that lead to the Commonwealth Faction War, especially with regard to her building up the Commonwealth Minutemen and retaking The Castle. The Brotherhood of Steel's arrival and subsequent operations begin to antagonize the Institute, causing more synths to be deployed to protect Institute assets.
With the partial restoration of Liberty Prime and the expulsion and exile of Paladin Logan Danse, a war of attrition begins between The Minutemen and the Brotherhood of Steel, with the Minutemen constructing artillery units at most major settlements and The Castle. The Institute enters the war at The Battle of Bunker Hill, where they face off against the Brotherhood of Steel and the Railroad in a fight over some escaped synths. This battle was the first overt battle of the faction war.

Deployment

The Institute easily has the fastest way to deploy troops via their Molecular Relay. They are easily able to send divisions of synths and/or Coursers to anywhere in the Commonwealth virtually instantaneously. That being said, they do not have any sort of naval or air presence and are limited to quick surgical strikes on targets. The The Castle Seige is their longest engagement, lasting nearly three days, and the Institute Strike is the largest coordinated strike in which they attack nearly all of the settlements flying the Minuteman flag simultaneously.
The Brotherhood of Steel Steel has the superior air presence of the four major factions, able to quickly mobilize vertibird squadrons to points of conflict across the Commonwealth. They also have the best armed infantry of the four factions, barely edging out the Institute through the heavy use of Power Armor. Their naval presence is limited to being able to send out a vertibird over water for a limited time.
The Commonwealth Minutemen have the advantage of long range artillery at their disposal, allowing them to attack large targets from a distance, but lack the manpower and technological advantages of the Institute or Brotherhood of Steel. They are limited in any sort of deployment of troops to foot speed or horseback. At the time of the Faction War, they are still built of smaller, disjointed squadrons spread across their territory. While they do have access to Sleipnir horses for quick bursts of speed, most of their mounts are built for endurance, not speed. Only a few units of Power Armor are stored at The Castle in the Southern Metropolis, and as such are not able to be easily deployed. Where the Minutemen shine, however, is the loyalty to and willingness to help survivors of battles. The Minutemen are the most trusted out of all of the major factions, and civilian groups and settlements are more likely to join them or send them aid, supplies, or weapons. They also have a seasoned diplomatic leader at the helm, as well as a leading council of bright minds and military veterans, making them a well-rounded force. They also have access to a rudimentary naval force, although it is primarily used for trade along the Commonwealth's eastern coastline.
Of the four groups, The Railroad is the smallest and has the most difficulty keeping a presence in the war. Due to their secretive nature, and the heavy use of compartmentalized information, many Railroad agents do not receive orders on how to strike, mobilize, or aid until after the danger has passed or already been dealt with by another, more mobile, faction. Combined with the heavy losses sustained at both the Switchboard Massacre and the Second Battle of Bunker Hill, they only have a handful of active agents able to mobilize anyway. To mitigate this, they allied themselves with the Minutemen, whose leader was also a notable agent in the Railroad, and provided intelligence services. However, relations were strained as the Railroad not only wanted the Institute completely destroyed, but the Brotherhood as well; goals that were not in line with the Minutemen's ultimate goals. Shortly after The Battle of CIT, relations between the two groups soured, leaving the Railroad to operate alone and in secret once more.

Battlefield

Various skirmishes and conflicts occur throughout the Commonwealth Wasteland. 
Notable conflict locations include:

• Bunker Hill
• Sanctuary Hills 
• The Castle 
• Boston International Airport
• Commonwealth Institute of Technology 

The Engagement

The rules of engagement in this conflict varied from faction to faction.  The Commonwealth Minutemen and Brotherhood had very strict rules of engagement, whereas the Railroad and Institute's were more lax.
The only thing all four factions could agree on was the protection of children.  If any children were in danger, attempts would be made to get them to safety.  However, 'safety' was defined differently by each faction.
A list of rules of engagement for each faction follows:
The Brotherhood of Steel:

• Any party that belongs to the Institute or is a known synth is to be shot on sight, no questions asked.
• Non-combatant adults should be allowed to surrender provided they are not Institute personnel or a known synth. Once a cessation of hostilities is reached, they must be detained and returned to Boston Airport for interrogation.
• Non-combatant children should be gathered and protected by Power Armored units, then taken to Boston Airport to be processed into squires.
• Medics, both civilian and not, are not to be fired upon, unless they are Institute personnel or a known synth.
• Combatants of The Minutemen are not to be fired upon or detained, unless a Brotherhood soldier is fired upon by them.
• Combatants of The Railroad are to be detained and returned to Boston Airport for interrogation.
• Any advanced technology or weaponry in the possession of fallen enemies or detained non-combatants must be collected, preserved, and transported to Boston Airport.

The Commonwealth Minutemen:

• Minutemen soldiers are not to fire unless fired upon by any hostile, sapient, party. 
• A diplomatic attempt at negotiation or deescalation must be made prior to engaging a hostile party.
• Medics, including enemy medics, are not to be fired upon under any circumstances.
• Children, including enemy children, are to be gathered to a safe area, then all attempts to locate their parents or guardians must be made before escorting them to one of the orphanages located at Diamond City, Sanctuary Hills, or Starlight City.
• Neutral or allied non-combatants should be allowed to flee or surrender.  If such non-combatants are fleeing, every effort to protect them to the edge of the battle should be made.  If such non-combatants are surrendering, every effort to defend them from further hostile action must be made.  Once a cessation of hostilities is reached, they must be allowed to leave unhindered.
• Enemy non-combatants should not be allowed to flee, and must be detained in a humane manner and defended from further hostile attack.  Medical attention must be rendered if a non-combatant needs it.  Surrendered non-combatants must then be transported safely to the Castle or a Minuteman outpost for detention and interrogation.
• Enemy combatants should be given the chance to and allowed to surrender.  After surrender, they must be disarmed, and will then be considered an enemy non-combatant and treated as such.
• After a cessation of hostilities is reached, and safe transport of any children or enemy non-combatants has been arranged, all attempts to render aid to civilians in the area should begin.  This includes rebuilding damaged structures, replanting damaged crops, and rendering medical aid to any who need it.

The Institute:

• Any non-synth party not belonging to The Institute will be destroyed. The only exception are children, and Aubrey Wilson.
• Every attempt must be made to reclaim any known synths, including those under the protection of The Commonwealth Minutemen or Railroad.

The Railroad:

• Railroad personnel have the first priority of protecting any known synths in a given area.  All attempts must be made to get the synth out of harm's way, even at the cost of human or other sapient life.
• Railroad personnel have the right to fire upon Brotherhood of Steel and Institute forces at their discretion, as well as any civilians who prove hostile to friendly synths.
• If there are children in a hostile area, Railroad personnel must make every attempt to leave them unharmed, but are not required to directly intervene.
• If a Railroad agent is detained by The Brotherhood of Steel or The Institute, that agent has the right to commit suicide to protect themself and the integrity of the organization.
• Railroad personnel are allowed to approach the Commonwealth Minutemen for aid, provided they do not reveal the identity of any synths with them. The only Minutemen personnel allowed to know who is a synth is General Aubrey Wilson.
• If information on how to further the goal of both the destruction of the Institute and the Brotherhood of Steel is brought to light, that information must get to HQ before being given to any allied party.

Outcome

After The Battle of CIT, the war was considered to be won in The Commonwealth Minutemen's favor.  The Director of the Institute, Shaun West, surrendered to General Aubrey Wilson, and the Minuteman swiftly put an end to all SRB operations.  All Coursers were immediately recalled from the field and detained along with any hostile dissenters.  All operations regarding synth production were halted and the synths and scientists alike were all offered the chance to relocate to a surface settlement of their choice, or would be allowed to continue non-synth related research projects under Minutemen supervision.  Synth production projects would be halted until a crew of synths were properly trained in how to use the technology, and then would be allowed to continue only while operated by other synths.  Dissenters and the recalled coursers were eventually offered the same options as the non-hostile scientists and synths.  Non-sapient Gen1 and Gen2 synths were recalled and deactivated.
The Railroad, still in a shaky alliance with the Minutemen, began the process of relocating any synths that wanted out of the Commonwealth.  A few Railroad agents began secretly searching the Institute for information on how to destroy it completely.
The Brotherhood of Steel recognized that the Minutemen now had access to not only artillery, but a lot of advanced technology that could easily destroy them.  However, in a rare moment of maturity, Elder Arthur Maxson decided to wait and see what General Wilson's plan was for the technology, as he was quite aware of her distaste for violence.  Dr. Madison deserted the Brotherhood for the second time, and asked for and was granted asylum with the Commonwealth Minutemen and was swiftly relocated to Nordhagen Beach, and then to Starlight City.
After the surrender to Minutemen forces, Institute dissenters quietly regrouped under the leadership of Justin Ayo and began to concoct a plan to destroy their newly activated nuclear reactor, under the idea of "if we can't have it, no one can."  The synth child, eventually known as Shaun Wilson was activated by Shaun West and he began to focus on having the boy's memories secretly altered before removing the synth component from his body entirely, making the child more a clone rather than a synth.
One week after the surrender of The Institute, the dissenters put their plan in motion, however they were betrayed by former Courser known as X6-88.  The betrayal came too late, however, and the Minutemen were forced to order the evacuation of all non-hostile personnel before the reactor would explode.  General Aubrey Wilson would only have enough time to sound the evacuation order and begin teleporting anyone and everyone out of the Institute as fast as possible, and to random points in the Commonwealth.  During the fray, Shaun West gave temporary custody of Shaun Wilson to X6-88, with the intention of having the child given to his 'mother,' Aubrey.  West himself, suffering from systemic cancer, chose to remain behind in the Institute and let the explosion kill him quickly, rather than suffer through the slow decline of terminal illness.  The explosion was unable to be prevented, and the Institute -- and all of its highly advanced food and medical technologies -- were destroyed in atomic fire.

Aftermath

After the destruction of the Institute, the Commonwealth found itself in a new era.   General Aubrey Wilson, despite the grief of losing her son for a third time in a relatively short stretch of time, managed to radio orders for all Minutemen to accept, aid, and potentially relocate any Institute refugees.  However, she gave temporary command to Colonel Preston Garvey, as she recognized that she was emotionally compromised, and needed some time to heal.  She was reunited with her fiancee, Nick Valentine, outside of Bunker Hill, and eventually the synth child, Shaun Wilson, and the courser X6-88 outside of Starlight City.  She chose to adopt the boy into her family, and started for Sanctuary Hills to spend some time recovering. 
The topography of the Commonwealth was permanently changed after the destruction of the Institute, as the CIT ruins were completely demolished in the explosion, instead leaving a crater that quickly filled in with rubble and water from the Charles river.  The main bridge to Diamond City was demolished in the explosion, forcing foot traffic to reroute to one of the other bridges either near Greentech Genetics or Oberland Station.  The CIT crater is also radioactive, and could continue to be for many years. 
The Minutemen and Railroad ultimately sustained minimal casualties due to the warning of X6-88.  The Minutemen, under General Wilson's orders, and Colonel Garvey's supervision, began the process of relocating and educating the human refugees from the Institute while the Railroad claimed jurisdiction over relocating and assisting the synths.  Colonel Garvey agreed to this in General Wilson's stead, and turned the Minutemen's priorities to refugee assistance and further reconstruction efforts from the Institute Strike a few months earlier.
The Brotherhood of Steel took the destruction of the Institute as a worrisome omen of the Minutemen's potential changing views on violence.  They began to deploy troops to civilian settlements not directly run by the Minutemen in an attempt to recruit them, thus undermining some of the Minutemen's clout and manpower.  However, after a few trigger happy soldiers attempted to raze the Slog, a settlement primarily populated by Ghouls, Aubrey Wilson returned to her position as General and demanded a diplomatic meeting between herself and Elder Arthur Maxson.  Maxson, fully aware of the artillery units that were still capable of taking out the Prydwen with a few well placed shots and a single word from General Wilson, reluctantly agreed.  A summit was held on neutral ground and The Brotherhood-Minutemen Non-Aggression Pact was drawn up and signed, establishing a formal ceasefire between the two factions, as well as protections for former Institute personnel and non-human but sapient species under the Minutemen's flag.  Eventually, after three years, the Prydwen would withdraw from the Commonwealth completely, returning to the The Capital Wasteland, and leaving only a small outpost at Boston Airport, and a completely abandoned Cambridge Police Station.
The Railroad viewed the above non-aggression pact as an affront of everything the Railroad stood for, as the Brotherhood still intended to destroy any freed synths outside of Minutemen territory.  With the exception of two high-ranking members, they severed ties with the Minutemen and went back to secretive operations.  Although one of the above former members attempted to guide the Railroad to working to free non-synth slaves, as their namesake once had, the organization would eventually fade away and disband after three years.  After that point, the only known remnant of the Railroad would be in Acadia.
The Minutemen thrived after the Faction War, with many settlements viewing them with a certain amount of awe.  Their subsequent fair and humane treatment of refugees regardless of background also granted them quite a bit of clout.  Under General Wilson's guidance, a psuedo-governing body for the civilian settlements was formed, as well as a proper judicial system and a postal service.  Schools were also built in some of the larger settlements, including Starlight City, Sanctuary Hills, and Bunker Hill.  General Wilson also took the opportunity to write into the Commonwealth Minutemen Charter a stipulation that the Minutemen served the civilian settlements they protected, rather than the other way around.  
The destruction of the Institute also left a power vacuum that the Minutemen only partially filled.  Without the suppressing threat of Institute operations, The Gunners and various Raider Gangs began to grow their efforts to claim territory.  This would eventually lead to further conflict with The Minutemen.

Historical Significance

Legacy

The legacy of this war is overall a positive for the Commonwealth.  The destruction of the Institute gives residents the peace of mind to travel and expand businesses, as well as begin to have more children as the families no longer fear being kidnapped by the Institute.  The Minuteman's humanitarian aid and fledgling social programs also contribute to a population boom in the area.
Despite the loss of knowledge and technology, Institute refugees do eventually start to contribute to scientific development in the area, allowing for advances in defensive, medical, and agricultural technology.
The Brotherhood of Steel does view the destruction of the Institute as a favorable outcome, despite it being at the hands of another faction.  It is eventually forced to pull back to The Capital Wasteland due to a lack of new technology being discovered and preserved, and the increasing cost of getting food and supplies up north to all their troops. 
The Railroad, stubborn and unwilling to change their stance on who they help, fades into obscurity after the last of the synths are safely relocated.
The Minutemen are cemented as the primary leading faction in the Commonwealth with a reputation for diplomacy, fairness, loyalty, and humanitarianism.  They eventually begin to slowly expand outside of the former state of Massachusetts, despite smaller conflicts with various raider groups and The Gunners.

Conflict Type

War

Battlefield Type

Land

Start Date

06/10/2288

Ending Date

MM/DD/22XX

Conflict Result

The Destruction of The Institute, Non-aggressive relations between Brotherhood of Steel and Commonwealth Minutemen.

Location

The Commonwealth Wasteland

Belligerents

Minutemen

• The Commonwealth Minutemen

Led by

• Aubrey Wilson

Strength

At start: medium sized army, spread across various Commonwealth settlements. Access to artillery units built in major settlements. Radio tower and control provides long-range communication.

Casualties

Major forces and infrastructure lost during the Institute Strike and The Castle Seige.

Objectives

• The protection of Minutemen-protected and other civilian settlements during the fighting.

• The pacification of Institute forces.

• The pacification of Brotherhood of Steel forces

• The freedom of the synths under Institute rule.

• The safe reintroduction of other Institute agricultural and medical technologies into the Commonwealth.

Brotherhood of Steel

• The Brotherhood of Steel

Led by

• Arthur Maxson

Strength

At start: Large standing army consisting of a plethora of ground troops and an active air force.  The main hub of BoS forces is the Boston Airport and Cambridge Police station.
They also have access to Power Armor of various types, Vertibirds, medical technology, and reverse-engineered Pre-War technology.  They pose a clear and distinct threat to other factions in the conflict.

Casualties

Casualties are minimal for the BoS due to their access to advanced medical and defensive technologies.  Aside from The Second Battle of Bunker Hill, they do not get the chance to partake in many major battles.

Objectives

• The destruction of the Institute
• The eradication of any and all synthetic lifeforms
• The takeover of all surplus producing farms in the Commonwealth
• The collection and preservation of all Pre-War and Post-War advanced technology

Railroad

Led by

Strength

At start: very weak, with only approximately 10 individuals able to immediately mobilize.

Casualties

Most human forces lost at Second Battle of Bunker Hill.

Objectives

• The preservation and safe relocation of freed synths.
• The destruction of the Institute
• The destruction of the Brotherhood of Steel

Institute

• The Institute

Led by

• Shaun West

Strength

At start: a multitude of synths of multiple technological levels. A squadron's worth of highly trained and very effective Coursers. Use of the Molecular Relay allows for near instantaneous transport to any point of contention in the Commonwealth.

Casualties

Many synths, both sapient and not, are destroyed in the battles with the Brotherhood and Minutemen. Civilian casualties are kept to a minimum, as they rarely leave the underground portion of the Institute. However, a large group of dissenters, as well as the Director, are lost in the explosion of the nuclear reactor.

Objectives

• The destruction of the Brotherhood of Steel
• The destruction of the Railroad
• The disbanding, and eventually destruction of the Commonwealth Minutemen
• The completion and perfection of the Gen 3 synth program.
• The reclamation of any escaped Gen 3 synths.
• Self-sufficiency of The Institute facilities.