A chapter that seemed on the verge of collapse a few years earlier was now on the rise, culminating in the 2282 launch of the Prydwen.
It was saved by the lack of external threats, allowing the chapter to fortify its position and begin expanding.
In the leadership crisis that followed, the Brotherhood repeatedly appointed one ineffectual leader after another. Not long after her ascension, she was killed in combat with no clear successor in line. Elder Lyons passed away in 2278, with leadership passing to his daughter, Sentinel Sarah Lyons. ĭespite the Brotherhood's success, the organization continued to struggle. Of course, due to the sheer amount of confiscated Enclave equipment, the effort of itemizing them was handed down to the Initiates handled by Scribes. The great amount of gear and weapons recovered in the wake of the Purifier Conflict was already worked on during the conflict, providing the Brotherhood with years of research material. With the threat removed, the Brotherhood solidified its position, leveraging the newly activated Project Purity and its ample supply of water to establish relations with the wasteland settlements, all the while researching Enclave technology. However, the Brotherhood prevailed, using the Lone Wanderer to infiltrate Adams and destroy the Enclave's last remaining command center, the mobile base crawler. The subsequent loss of the robot at the Rockland satellite relay station was a major setback, compounded by the severely depleted stockpiles and shortage of manpower at the beginning of the conflict. Assisted by Madison Li and the Lone Wanderer, the seemingly broken chapter managed to reactivate Liberty Prime and use it as a trump card in the conflict, breaking their military during the Battle of Project Purity. It was in this weakened and isolated state in 2277 that the Brotherhood encountered the Enclave remnants that retreated to the Capital Wasteland, establishing a base at Raven Rock and Adams Air Force Base outside D.C. The chapter suffered a further setback when the Outcasts left the Citadel in 2276, after Lyons refused to allow the excavation of Fort Independence, a token effort to uphold their original mission. When he defied the Western Elders in the 2270s, they cut off all support, but stopped short of declaring him outright rogue. He largely failed: Instead of building infrastructure and close relations with the locals, he ordered his troops to engage the numerous super mutants infesting the region, fighting a war of attrition he could not afford. Rather than following his orders directly, Lyons attempted to shift his chapter from tech reclamation to charity and protecting the wasteland. As a result, he was instructed to establish a permanent presence, the new chapter occupied the Pentagon, founding the Citadel under the newly-promoted Elder Lyons. Following the Scourge of the Pitt, Lyons' contingent arrived in Washington, D.C. The Eastern division of the Brotherhood evolved from Lyons' Brotherhood of Steel, a chapter that formed in the Capital Wasteland as a result of Owyn Lyons' tech recovery expedition sent out in 2253. Main article: Lyons' Brotherhood of Steel#History