Date: 8.21.2224
Location: Houston City Hall
The building had been abandoned for some time. Dust covered every hallway. Furniture remained where people left it, but almost everything of value was gone.
Not stolen.
Removed.
Deliberately.
Whoever left...
left with purpose.
The mayor's office confirmed it.
The brass nameplate had long since been replaced.
Knight-Captain Adrianne Voss.
So, this had become a Brotherhood command post.
Interesting.
The office itself was nearly empty.
No weapons.
No technology worth scavenging.
Even the filing cabinets had been picked clean.
Only paperwork remained.
Orders.
Inventories.
Everyone had gone somewhere.
The paperwork never said where.
Only that they were leaving.
One thing remained.
A single RobCo terminal sitting on the mayor's old desk.
Dead.
Until it wasn't.
I connected my Pip-Boy to its emergency maintenance port.
The screen flickered.
ROBCO INDUSTRIES
Then...
BROTHERHOOD OF STEEL
ENTER PASSWORD
The password wasn't written anywhere obvious.
After searching the office, I found an encrypted access key hidden inside the desk.
Old habit.
People always hide the important things close enough to reach.
I loaded the key into my Pip-Boy.
A few seconds later...
Access granted.
The terminal contained years of operational reports.
I downloaded everything.
Some histories deserve preserving.
Others deserve studying.
Only then did I begin reading.
Brotherhood Terminal
Houston Command Center
Knight-Captain Adrianne Voss
03.22.2218
Paladin Dale Hurst
Search and rescue operations continue following engagement with Enclave remnants and Super Mutant forces north of Houston.Casualties remain unacceptable.
Lieutenant John Clancy, Enclave, age twenty-four, was captured following an airship crash.
Subject escaped Brotherhood custody during transport after hostile engagement.
Last confirmed sighting by Knight T. Lyles and Knight Colby Voss.
Recovery remains ongoing.
Ad Victoriam.
06.14.2218
Scribe Elena Rossi
Archived pre-war educational materials recovered.
Sometimes preserving knowledge feels more important than preserving ammunition.
08.25.2219
Paladin Dale Hurst
Cleared several feral ghoul nests within The Woodlands.
Rabid canines accompanied the attack.
Knight-Captain Voss's companion, Milby, was killed defending Lancer Timmy Argon.
Service record updated.
Loyalty such as this should not be forgotten.
12.05.2219
Paladin Dale Hurst
Sustained severe ballistic injuries during defense of the Sacred Heart Outpost.
My wife was killed by Super Mutants before reinforcements arrived.
Surgery successful.
Recovery uncertain.
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12.11.2219
Knight-Captain Adrianne Voss
It is with honor that we record the passing of Paladin Dale Hurst.
His body failed.
His service did not.
Let every Knight remember that steel may rust, but duty never does.
His name enters the rolls of honored guardians.
Ad Victoriam.
06.22.2220
Knight-Captain Adrianne Voss
Enemy incursions beneath Houston continue increasing.
Super Mutants and Behemoths have breached underground infrastructure through unknown routes.
We have lost:
• 47 Knights
• 25 Lancers
• 16 Scribes
• 44 Initiates
We do not know how they continue entering.
We only know they do.
Every corridor must now be considered contested territory.
11.13.2220
Knight-Captain Adrianne Voss
Expansion plans submitted to the Lone Star Elders.
Today we also celebrated the marriage of Lancer Donna Shawn and Knight Ray Shawn.
In a world that constantly reminds us what can be lost, they reminded us what we are fighting to preserve.
For one day, they were not soldiers.
They were family.
We cannot allow duty to erase the people behind the armor.
A Brotherhood that protects humanity must remember how to live as humans.
May they find the peace that many of us have only known in brief moments.
Ad Victoriam.
04.17.2221
Scribe Emilio Navarro
Water purification upgrades complete.
Refugee intake continues exceeding projections.
Supplies remain stable.
Morale does not.
09.03.2221
Lancer Miguel Alvarez
Patrols along Interstate 288 report increased caravan activity.
Traders now travel farther east than before.
Rumors speak of growing settlements beyond Louisiana.
Ghoul activity increasing along the north banks of Buffalo Bayou.
They are not behaving like ferals.
Patrol Bravo reported observing multiple groups standing motionless beneath the overpasses after sundown.
No aggression.
No vocalizations.
They dispersed before contact could be established.
Recommend avoiding unnecessary night patrols until further observation determines whether this is migration...
...or something else.
05.28.2222
Knight Hassan Rahim
Recovered three orphaned children from collapsed residential district.
No technology recovered.
One child exhibits advanced ghoulification.
Subject displays no signs of feral behavior.
Transported under medical quarantine for observation and evaluation by the Scribes.
Elder review requested before any long-term disposition is authorized.
Mission still considered successful.
08.24.2223
Knight-Captain Adrianne Voss
To the Elders:
Current training doctrine no longer reflects the reality our Knights face.
Punishments have become excessive.
Certain disciplinary practices dishonor the Brotherhood more than they strengthen it.
We cannot continue harming the innocent while claiming to protect humanity.
The ferals are already a threat.
We cannot become a threat to our own kind.
We were never meant to stand apart from humanity. We were meant to work with people, protect them, and preserve what remains.
That has always been part of our purpose.
What happened?
When did protecting civilization become more important than protecting the people who make it?
Reform is no longer optional.
We need to remember why the Brotherhood exists before we forget who we are
10.04.2223
Elder T. Morris
Knight-Captain Voss,
Your recommendations have been reviewed by the Elders.
They are denied.
Your continued questioning of established Brotherhood doctrine is no longer considered constructive dissent.
You have been warned.
Further refusal to comply with Brotherhood directives will be treated as insubordination.
You are ordered to report to Aldine Command for disciplinary hearing on 01.06.2224.
Until that hearing, you will suspend all unauthorized communications concerning Brotherhood policy and cease further attempts to challenge established command authority.
Your rank does not place you above the Brotherhood.
Your service does not exempt you from its laws.
Consider this your final warning.
Elder T. Morris
03.04.2224
Knight-Captain Adrianne Voss
Effective immediately...
Houston Command will no longer accept operational orders issued through Lone Star Brotherhood authority.
We remain Brotherhood.
We simply refuse to forget why the Brotherhood exists.
07.04.2224
Knight-Captain Adrianne Voss
Independence Day.
Today...
We choose our own road.
Houston has given everything it can.
We leave Texas.
Airship Wyndham departs for Bush International on July 12.
From there...
We go east.
We leave with what personnel and supplies we can carry.
We leave no civilian who has placed their trust in us without assistance.
Some will call this abandonment.
Perhaps they are right.
But remaining here under orders we can no longer follow would mean abandoning something far more important.
Our principles.
The Brotherhood taught us to preserve humanity.
We will not forget that lesson simply because our commanders have.
Houston was our responsibility.
We served it.
Now the road is calling us elsewhere.
Whatever comes next...
We face it together.
Ad Victoriam.
Final Entry
07.12.2224
Knight-Captain Adrianne Voss
Houston Command is no longer operating under Lone Star Brotherhood authority.
The Wyndham is ready.
Personnel accounted for.
Supplies secured.
Civilians who chose to leave have been given passage.
There is nothing more to prepare.
If the Brotherhood forgets compassion...
To everyone remaining in Houston:
You were not forgotten.
To those who come after us:
Remember that the Brotherhood was built to protect humanity, not rule it.
This is Knight-Captain Adrianne Voss.
Houston Command is signing off.
We are...
Going East.
Ad Victoriam.
When I finished reading, I leaned back in the mayor's chair.
Funny.
For days I'd been convinced I was the only one walking toward the rising sun.
Apparently...
I wasn't.
I downloaded everything.
Personnel records.
Maps.
Encrypted frequencies.
Maintenance schematics.
Even what appeared to be an old Brotherhood playlist.
Knowledge weighs nothing.
That's why it's worth carrying.
Before leaving, I opened a nearby footlocker.
Inside were several sealed bottles of clean water.
I checked the dates.
The seals.
The pressure.
No signs of contamination.
I took only what I needed.
The road has already taught me something.
Take enough.
Leave enough.
As I stepped back into the streets of Houston, one thought refused to leave me.
Knight-Captain Voss was heading east.
So am I.
The question isn't whether our paths cross.
It's what waits for both of us when they do.
- Chief
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