Hannibal Crane

High Inquisitor Hannibal Crane is a Scribe of the Midwestern Brotherhood of Steel, leader of the Brotherhood Inquisition, and the main antagonist of Fallout: Detroit. High Inquisitor Crane plans to broadcast a signal, derived from a robobrain's Mesmetron, from Galaxy News Detroit to make the people of the wastes passive and docile. He has created a number of brainwashed sleeper agents to help any obstacles in his way, like the Resistance and even the Brotherhood itself. He believes deeply in his vision and sees it as the only way to end all conflict in the world.

Background
Hannibal Crane was born a few years after the Brotherhood claimed the Calculator under Cheyenne Mountain, during the time they were establishing themselves as protectors of the Midwest. Even at a young age, it was evident to everyone in the Brotherhood that Crane was gifted. He was top of his class during combat training and had an affinity for technology that took years for some Scribes to develop. His instructors were split on whether his talents would be better suited as a Knight or a Scribe. In the end he chose Scribe and his instructors recommended he join Repo Squad, a squad that sees a lot of action and is dedicated to reclaiming lost tech.

Soon Crane was the top Scribe in Repo Squad. Then led he it, the first time any of the Brotherhood's squads weren't led by a Paladin. During his time on the squad, he met a bright, young woman named Josephine and the two fell in love. They married and together they formed a new squad, Cyber Squad, a group made up entirely of the brightest, battle-hardened Scribes whose mission is to seek out and study lost technologies, reporting directly to the Head Scribe and Elders. Unfortunately Josephine died giving birth to their son, Isaac. Crane was heartbroken but decided to press on in her memory. He tried to honor her in the raising of their son, in the squad they formed, and in the Brotherhood's mission as protectors of the people, which she loved so dearly.

In the years that followed, Crane found happiness again. Isaac was a prodigy in school, just as his father had been. And Crane had never been more proud than the day Isaac graduated and was recruited into Repo Squad, the same place he started. Repo Squad was where he met Josephine. If she were alive, she would be just as proud of their son as he was, thought Crane. Also, Repo Squad and Cyber Squad were often deployed together, meaning father and son would be working together. Things were good for the Cranes. They served together for years, reclaiming dangerous tech and protecting the people of the Midwest from the dangers of the wasteland. Crane hoped to recruit Isaac into Cyber Squad, the squad his parents founded. Maybe one day, Isaac would take over Cyber and recruit his own son into it.

Then came the fateful day outside St. Louis. A group of raiders were sitting on a military stockpile and using the weapons to harass a nearby village. Repo and Cyber Squads were sent in to deal with the raiders and reclaim the stockpile in the name of the Brotherhood. During the battle, one of the raiders manage to launch a mini nuke. It landed a few yards from Isaac and killed him instantly. The loss of his son devastated Crane. Isaac was his life, his legacy. Josephine's legacy. The villagers were thankful to the Brotherhood for wiping out raiders. They honored the Brotherhood soldiers who died to keep them safe, buried them in the village cemetery and vowed to never forget their sacrifice. The gesture brought Crane some solace, but he was still grief-stricken. The Brotherhood departed after giving the villagers a number of robots linked to the Calculator, the Brotherhood's biomechanical supercomputer, to protect the village when Brotherhood patrols weren't nearby.

Unfortunately, a few years later an explosion under Cheyenne Mountain took out the Calculator and much of the Midwestern Brotherhood's leadership. Squads in the field were recalled to Bunker Alpha in Chicago to choose new leadership. Crane's name was tossed around for both Elder and Head Scribe, but still mourning his son he declined. The Brotherhood also had to discuss how to deal with their newest threat; most of the robots once controlled by the Calculator were now frenzied and attacking anyone and anything. Reports of the attacks had been coming in from settlements all across the Midwest, including a small village outside St. Louis. "St. Louis", thought Crane. "Isaac's village." As soon as he heard the news, he gathered Cyber Squad and left Bunker Alpha. When the squad reached the village, they saw the robots had massacred half the people. The Brotherhood destroyed the robots, losing a man in the battle. This time there was no funeral for the fallen, no honor bestowed. The villagers weren't thankful to the Brotherhood. They blamed them for their robots going haywire. When the villagers were coming out of hiding, one old man spit in Crane's face. Something broke in Crane that day. Josephine's legacy was Isaac; Isaac's was the village, right? Had the villagers forgotten his son's sacrifice? Isaac died so they could live.

Afterward Hannibal Crane became withdrawn. His fellow soldiers figured it was only a matter of time before they woke one morning to discover he committed suicide but that day never came. In better times the Brotherhood would've placed Crane on leave and gotten him treatment, but the chapter was falling into ruin and needed every person they had. The Brotherhood was suffering casualties everywhere in the fight against the robots. They were losing the war and everyone knew it. Some wanted to stop and reassess their mission, maybe protect only the areas closest to Bunker Alpha instead of spreading themselves too thin across the Midwest. The chosen leadership refused, saying it was core to Brotherhood principles to protect people from rampant technology and solely their responsibility to deal with the robots they themselves created and distributed across the wastes. A rift formed in the chapter. The leadership was challenged and changed hands multiple times, with Crane's name never being brought up as Elder as it had before. Some squads deserted and took provisions and ammunition when they did. Some turned their weapons on their former brothers. For years the Midwestern Brotherhood's numbers, influence, and territory waned.

In 2281, things started looking better for what was left of the chapter. A new Elder arose; a young woman, a battle-hardened Paladin with a known aptitude for command. She recalled the tales she was told as a child, tales of the Brotherhood's past deeds. Glorious battles against unsurmountable odds. Brave men and women standing up for the people of the wasteland. She reminded the chapter of who they once were and who they're supposed to be. She had the support of the older members who remembered those times, and the younger ones raised on the same stories. In some ways she reminded Crane of Josephine, the way she saw the Brotherhood as protectors. Josephine would've liked her, he surmised. The Elder's vision had given Crane a reason to live for the first time in years, which could be said about almost everyone in the chapter. The Elder reasoned they didn't have to defeat the robots plaguing the Midwest, just regain control over them. Old scout reports said many factories were still standing in the ruins of Detroit, possibly some able to be restored to working condition. She suggested relocating the entire chapter there and use the Calculator's specs stored in the databanks at Bunker Alpha to attempt to rebuild the Calculator and reestablish a link with the frenzied robots. Everyone agreed with the Elder's plan. They took everything they could carry from Bunker Alpha and locked it down, vowing they'd return when they were ready to reclaim the Midwest.

The trek to Detroit wasn't easy and not everyone made it but that didn't shake anyone's faith in the cause, even Crane. When the Brotherhood arrived in the city, they found their first choice of home, the Chryslus Corvega Megaplex, heavily defended by the old robot workers and automatic turrets and the Brotherhood suffered massive casualties trying to fight their way inside. They retreated and decided to press on to Zug Island, which contained a number of factories like Zug Island Steel and General Atomics, as well as a nearby military base. The Brotherhood claimed the sites, much to the local scavengers' dismay. But the Brotherhood had no other choice. If they went back out into the wastes, their mission was lost before it even began.

Tension grew between the Brotherhood and the locals of Detroit, and Crane struggled to understand why. Detroit was filled with raider groups, crime families, and junkies. The Brotherhood's presence kept these dangers away. The Brotherhood was protecting the locals. And the Scribes were giving them medicine and teaching their kids. His mind often wandered to that little village outside St. Louis and the old man who spat in his face. That old man might as well have been spitting on Isaac's grave. He should've killed that old man and burnt the whole ungrateful village to the ground. And the locals of Detroit were just as ungrateful. It's not that the Brotherhood wanted to be next to the locals' piss-poor town, but they had to be there. There was no other choice. Why couldn't the locals get that? Crane's thoughts grew darker.

In their quest to rebuild the Calculator, the Scribes on Zug Island came across something called CODE conditioning, some conditioning program they used during brain extraction for the Calculator. Terminals at General Atomics mention the process in the creation of robobrains as well. The terminals point to a prison outside of Detroit, Western Wayne Correctional Facility, where subjects were conditioned before being sent to General Atomics. The Head Scribe chose to send Crane and his Cyber Squad to the prison to learn what they can of CODE conditioning and to bring the research back to Zug Island. There, Crane learned of the other applications of CODE. Brainwashing. Reconditioning enemy soldiers. Could that be used to pacify the locals? And what about the robobrain's weapon they were testing on the prisoners? The Mesmetron. Would that work? Cyber Squad stayed in the prison for weeks while Crane obsessed over the research. He thought of his family. He thought of the raider who launched the mini nuke that killed Isaac, and of that ungrateful village and the old man. He resolved to find a way to use the technology en masse, to make the wasteland peaceful and conflict-free. No more sons would die the way his had. That would be Isaac's legacy. That would fulfill Josephine's vision of the Brotherhood being the wasteland's protectors. Crane ordered some of his squad to deliver the data regarding brain extraction to the Head Scribe on Zug Island while he stayed at the prison and delved deeper into the research.

Crane began to abduct locals to use as test subjects in his experiments with CODE. Cyber Squad had been loyal to Crane for years. Many had been with him when he lost his son, and a few even had been serving with him when he lost his wife. They believed in him and were loyal to the end. And many were as fed up with the locals as Crane was. They knew what CODE conditioning could be used for, what Crane planned to use it for. Many were on-board with his plans. Those who weren't on-board became some of the first test subjects; Crane hoped to condition them to accept his plan but most went insane during the experimentation. Cyber Squad lied to their superiors on Zug Island and said they were caught off-guard and attacked by an armed group, and their comrades had died a heroic death.

Conflict was almost assured between the Brotherhood and the locals of Detroit. The Resistance had formed and were actively voicing their dissent. Yet Crane needed more time for his research before that happened. He needed more test subjects and he needed access to the Calculator project, an integral part of his plan. He hoped he could find a way to use the Calculator to deliver commands to the people of the wastes, similar to the way it linked and gave commands to an army of robots. But first he needed access to the Calculator. One of the locals abducted and subjected to CODE showed great promise at following orders. Crane concocted a plan. The reconditioned local would kill the Head Scribe, and Crane or another member of Cyber Squad would assume the role. The locals would be blamed and the Brotherhood would have no choice but to act. The plan was underway and things went awry. The brainwashed local went insane and nearly killed the Elder instead of the Head Scribe, then turned his weapon on everyone he saw, both locals and Brotherhood members. Crane feared empathy might be shown towards the locals and he was right. While some favored war with the locals, others were willing to let the incident slide, since the man was obviously crazy and firing at both groups. An idea came to Crane in the moment: an inquisition. The Brotherhood could sanction an inquisition to sniff out anyone who means to harm them, including the secretive Resistance. It was a compromise everyone in the Brotherhood agreed on. The Elder chose Crane to lead the Inquisition, believing him to be a lifelong Brotherhood idealist who would get the job done. Crane convinced the Elder to reopen the prison he was sent to by the former Head Scribe, Western Wayne Correctional Facility, where he'd secretly been experimenting with CODE for months. He reasoned it would be an ideal place to hold and interrogate dissenters away from the main city. The Elder agreed. High Inquisitor Crane now had access to the Calculator and plenty of test subjects.

Despite Crane's best efforts, the Resistance remains a worse problem than ever and the Inquisitors are no closer to finding them and stamping them out. Captured Resistance members refuse to give information, even under heavy duress. When CODE conditioning is used during the interrogations, the subjects usually lose their minds before revealing anything useful. High Inquisitor Crane came up with an idea. He would put one of his more successful test subjects in a cell with an imprisoned Resistance member. Crane hoped the test subject would be able to gain the trust of the Resistance member and ferret out information over time. Test Subject 42 was chosen for this task, one of the best at following orders, and was given the codename "The Prisoner". The Prisoner was given a new identity and was transferred to the cell only moments before an explosion rocked the prison. Much of the prison's population escaped, including the Resistance member and Test Subject 42. Reports say the two are traveling together and seeking refuge after the prison break. Crane sees this as an interesting development and has ordering his Inquisitors to monitor the situation closely without interfering. If the Prisoner manages to locate the Resistance headquarters, the plan might turn out better than Crane would've ever expected. The Prisoner is programmed to seek out the Inquisitors when he learns vital details of the Resistance's organization and High Inquisitor Crane is looking forward to that day very much.

All that remains now is to give the Scribes time to finish constructing the Calculator. Once it's complete, Crane will be ready to make his power play. He's already secretly installed equipment capable of broadcasting the Calculator's signals at Galaxy News Detroit, a Brotherhood-controlled radio station used to coordinate troops in the field, as well as play music and spread the Brotherhood's message. He's placed CODE conditioned sleeper agents in most major settlements and even within the Brotherhood to eliminate any threat that arises when he assumes control. High Inquisitor Crane's plan to eliminate all war and strife will soon come to fruition.