Lyons Pride
The Lyons Pride, also known as the Eastern Brotherhood of Steel, or the Lyons Pretenders, was a former chapter of the Brotherhood under Owen Lyons, which travelled east in the 2250's seeking the technology of the Northeast. While initially promising to the Council of Elders in the Southwest, Elder Lyons quickly earned their ire due to his changes in policy. Most controversial was the turning away from the collection of tech.
The Eastern Chapter's change in goals came as a direct result to the situation around them. At the time, the Brotherhood had grown accustomed to the larger nations and cultures growing out of the wastes in the west. When they reached the Atlantic, they found a literal hellscape. There were no large nations to negotiate with, there were no settlements larger than a few thousand, raiders outnumbered the ordinary folk, mutants, ghouls and other dangers made leaving walls impossible, and the earth was still so irradiated from the sheer amount of concentrated detonations that swaths of territory were still too dangerous to scout let alone live in. Technology was few and far between, but many, including Elder Lyons and his daughter Sarah, could not just turn around and leave the wastes the way they were. So setting up in the ruins of the Pentagon, the Brotherhood began protecting settlements, and clearing mutants and ghouls out of the areas surrounding the ruins of Washington DC. Due to the complete abandoning of the mission, the council of Elders demanded Lyons's resignation, to which he responded by severing contact with them. At the time, the chapter had more pressing matters, including Project Purity, a device in the old Jefferson Memorial that was meant to purify all of the water in the Potomac River. This fell apart in the early 60's however, after its lead scientist abandoned the project due to the death of his wife.
The only contact that would come from the west afterwards, would be in 2268, in the form of 4-year old Arthur Maxson and a single paladin, sent from the besieged city of Maxson, seeking refuge. It was then that Elder Lyons learned of the NCR-Brotherhood War, and that the Brotherhood as a whole was falling apart. Lyons immediately opened communications with the west again, but received no responses. The Citadel (Pentagon) held out hope for quite some time, until new years day in 2275, when the radios were finally silenced, and Elder Lyons declared that the Brotherhood was most likely destroyed, but that the Pride, as the group had come to be known by the locals, would carry on the legacy. This reinvigorated many, but for some, it was the final straw. Many hardliners had grown annoyed at the complete neglecting of their original goal, so in 2276, Henry Casdin and over a fourth of Lyon's forces deserted, and formed the Brotherhood Outcasts. Though the two would not come to blows, they drew lines in the sand, and had laid claim to their own territories. The Schism would call into question Lyons's leadership, and he had difficulty retaining order from then on.
Things heated up in 2277 after after the Project Purity initiative was restarted, and then seized by the long thought ended enemy, the Enclave. Despite this obvious foe, Lyons was hesitant to act, much to the chagrin of many, including his hot-headed daughter. Instead, Lyons sent the Lone Wanderer to find missing pieces to the Project, to ensure the Enclave couldn't get their hands on them, and to give himself time to assess the situation. Thankfully for the wastes, the Enclave would force his hand, when they captured the Wanderer and the missing pieces. Lyons ordered various Enclave positions across the DC ruins be attacked, an order that the Paladins and Knights of the Pride accepted with glee. After several days of fighting, the Lone Wanderer was able to escape the Enclave, and destroy their base at Raven Rock. Upon his return, Lyons, now confident in their victory, ordered an offensive on the Purifier. Lead by Sarah Lyons and the Lone Wanderer, Elder Lyons authorized the use of Liberty Prime, the massive mech that would lead obliterate enclave forces outside the facility.
In the aftermath of Project Purity being recovered and started, the Pride began controlling the distribution of the Clean Water. While it did help life in the ruins of DC, it stretched their numbers and supplies even further than before. Lyons was short of supplies and men long before the Enclave showed up, and now the only thing keeping the enemy at bay was Liberty Prime. This meant that Prime was the main target of the Enclave, and a few weeks after the Battle of the Purifier, they used the Bradley-Hercules Orbital Missile Platform to destroy the mech. This was a fatal blow to the Pride, one they would never truly recover from,as Enclave forces began garrisoning various outposts across the region, escalating the conflict further. Only a daring assault by the Wanderer into Adams Air Force Base, the Enclave's last base would be the final nail in the Enclave's coffin. The enemy was finally defeated, but the Pride was faltering. Already short on manpower after the schism, any losses against the enclave were truly devastating, and there were many. Alreadyin his 80s, the stress of the expedition was major, and the war and its aftermath were the final straw. He would die of a heart attack in 2279.
Owen's death sent the Pride into a spiral. Traditionally in the old Brotherhood, the leadership was inherited, but that was with the Maxsons, and Arthur was still too young to lead. So instead, Sarah Lyons took leadership, which was controversial in itself. Sarah was simply Elder Lyons II, but many thought that Arthur should be at least trained to take over his rightful role. When the new Elder couldn't elaborate on whether this was permanent or stop-gap, many more Paladins and Knights left for the Outcasts. For his part Arthur did not take part in any arguments or dissent, but it was clear to Sarah and many higher ranking officials that he was troubled. There was clear trauma from what happened on the West Coast, and those whispering in the young 15 year-old's ear that he was supposed to be leading were seemed to be making it worse. By 2282 the Pride was falling apart at the seams, private merchants had taken over the water distribution, removing it from the people's constant sight, meaning less recruits, and the second schism left even fewer numbers, and these were being lost steadily due to Elder Lyons II's crusade against the mutants in the Capitol Ruins. The breaking point came late in the year, when Sarah herself went on a major mission, taking many star Paladins, and Arthur with. The patrol went silent, and days later Arthur returned alone, with a massive deathclaw scar across his face. His tale was harrowing, that the team came under attack from deathclaws, and that he was the only survivor. Over the next few months several members of leadership were appointed elder, but each were ineffective, and would go on to die, tragically or mysteriously. This would completely destabilize the Pride, which had retreated behind the walls of the Citadel completely.
During this time, Arthur was proving to be a reliable young man, who repeatedly claimed to not be ready for leadership, which meant many of the knights and young members began to follow him like a cult, as he became a beacon of stability in the midst of chaos. By the time of 2283, most of the Pride's major leadership was dead, many without knowledge on how, and finally Arthur accepted to title of Elder, and appointed many of his followers into positions they would excel in. Now Elder Maxson, he would order the walls and scrap surrounding the Citdel to be harvested, without reason, and would finally open up dialog with the Outcasts. After learning that Maxson was in charge, and that he had no intentions of keeping the crusade active, the outcasts pledged themselves to him and returned to the Citadel. Indeed over the next few days, the Elder changed from a very hopefull and stoic figure, to a hardline, militaristic leader within a cult of personality. His words echoed purity, and humanity's supremacy over other races and the destruction of anything that could threaten Humanity's sacntity. What was once the Enclave's greatest enemy, began to echo its beliefs. Finally, With all his followers present, Arthur declared the greatest threat to humanity was to the north, indeed rumors had already surfaced that something called the insitute was building synthetic humans. He continued saying that the airship that carried them from the west would be rebuilt, that he had reestablished contact with the west, and that they had confirmed his Eldership, and that the Insitute would fall. He finished with the proclamation that the Pride and the Outcasts were no more, and that the Brotherhood had been reforged. And with that, the Pride, protectors of the east, was gone, replaced by the Militaristic, Fascist Reforged Brotherhood, under the charismatic, and driven, Elder Maxson.
Structure
The Lyons Pride had a similiar structure to the Brotherhood that proceeded it, with an Elder, a Sentinel assisiting them, and a head scribe to advise in tech matters, and lead researching. Beneath the Sentinel would be the Star Paladins, Paladins who had served with distinction, and earned a special place above their peers. Paladin are soldiers who would lead missions, or squads, essentially a mix between officer and NCO. These paladins would be pulled from Knights, the foot soldiers of the Brotherhood. As for the Intel Branch led by the Head Scribe, they would be helped by Scribes. Scribes were responsible for archiving events and tech, repairing equipment, researching tech, and maintaining the Bunker. Squires, or children born into the Brotherhood, would learn basic curriculum until they turned 12, and hey then chose or tested into one of the branches, and began learning until they were sixteen, when they achieved the rank of Scribe, or Knight. The big difference with Lyons Pride, however, was that they accepted recruits from the outside, creating the rank of Initiate, adults who joined the brotherhood, and were being trained in roles that they would fill.
Omnium Salutum
2275 - 2283
Type
Military Order
Alternative Names
The Brotherhood, the Pride
Predecessor Organization
Successor Organization
Founders
Location
Notable Members
Related Species
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