Great Air Convoy

The  was a seminal event in the history of the Brotherhood of Steel, leading to the emergence of the Eastern Brotherhood of Steel.

Background
Faced with the increasingly demanding situation in the wasteland, a minority within the Brotherhood of Steel advocated amending the code of technological secrecy, to allow for new blood to join the Brotherhood. The debate ended with a ruling by the Elder council against sharing technology with outsiders, as the Elders were convinced that the Brotherhood would endure as always. Further discussion of the topic was discouraged. Eventually, the vocal minority was ordered on a mission across the wastes, to track down and assess, whether the super mutants that fled eastwards after the Master's defeat posed a threat.

The brothers set out on board several airships, tracking them down. The expedition took a turn for the worse when a storm hit the airships as they were crossing the Rocky Mountains. The main airship was severely damaged, losing smaller sections of the craft and several of the Air Convoy's leaders. A fraction of the crew that survived managed to keep the ship in the air long enough to reach the ruins of Chicago. Another ship, carrying Paladin Latham and his crew, managed to reach Osceolla before crashing.

Stranded hundreds of miles from headquarters, the survivors rallied, setting out to create a new Brotherhood of Steel, around a new ideology. The fledgling organization exchanged protection for recruits and food with the local villagers, gradually building up a force that the wastes would have to reckon with.

Appearances
is mention throughout Fallout Tactics.