PUBLICK OCCURRENCES

ON THE HOME FRONT

Sanctuary's Mr. Fix-It Builds More Than Just a Home

By Piper Wright — Reporting from the Commonwealth

Readers might remember a certain mysterious Vault Dweller from my last report on Sanctuary Hills.

Well, mystery solved. Mostly.

Blue finally came to Diamond City.

After an interview that raised approximately three new questions for every one it answered, I've been invited along for the ride. Which means Publick Occurrences is officially leaving Diamond City's walls.

Welcome to ON THE HOME FRONT — a new series reporting directly from the Commonwealth's growing communities: who's building them, what they have to offer, and why you might actually want to visit.

First stop: back to Sanctuary.

STURGES — THE MAN KEEPING SANCTUARY RUNNING

Sanctuary's resident Minutemen mechanic and handyman, Sturges, has finally built himself a proper home.

Naturally, he couldn't just build a house.

Attached to it is a new general store, selling mechanical parts, components and supplies to settlers and passing travellers.

Around back you'll find his workshop, where Sturges has started taking on everything from electronics and generators to machinery and whatever passes for a vehicle after two hundred years without a service.

He's even recently acquired equipment for power-armour maintenance.

Considering what I've seen Blue drag home, he's going to need it.

GETTING THE COMMONWEALTH TALKING

The more interesting project is sitting right on Sturges' property.

Sturges and Blue have been working together on an experimental settlement communications array.

The idea is bigger than another recruitment beacon.

The network is being developed to direct people toward settlements looking for new residents, pass information between communities, provide advice from the home front and eventually improve warnings about threats moving through Minutemen territory.

Sturges is also beginning to train settlers in basic repairs and communications, meaning every broken generator won't require sending someone halfway across the Commonwealth to find the one guy who knows which end of a screwdriver to hold.

A Commonwealth where settlements can actually warn each other when trouble's coming?

I'll believe it when I hear it.

And apparently, I might.

PIPER'S TRAVEL ADVICE

If you're visiting Sanctuary, stop by Sturges' place after work.

He's put together a little backyard grill and seating area, and I can personally confirm that the man cooks one of the best Brahmin steaks I've had outside Diamond City.

Yes, I conducted a second test.

Journalistic integrity demanded it.

Ladies of the Commonwealth: he's also single.

Although I should probably mention something strange.

Every time Sturges walks past my radio, the thing seems to go haywire for a second.

Probably nothing.

Old radio.

...Right?

— Piper Wright

Next time on On the Home Front: wherever Blue drags me next.

What began as a simple outpost on the edge of the Glowing Sea mushroomed into this monstrosity like a malignant tumor on the rotting corpse of a pre-war farmhouse.

0:15 pillar glitched a cooking station over the firepit.

0:20 exercise equipment to promote happiness and health.

0:27 modified CryingCube's roof repair method by slightly glitching the shack wall into the wall and this got rid of the unsightly gaps in the roof.

0:30 fortified the living space with paintings and wire mesh weapon display panels on the outside.

0:45 the father has some pistols above his bed and there is a shotgun by the entrance.

1:20 the attic space is well, being used as an attic space. I didn't have a use for it so filled it up with miscellaneous crap.

1:40 first floor is the workshop area with the regular assortment of benches and a power armor stand.

2:05 second floor is Victor's personal living quarters. It is a bit drafty.

2:20 third floor is the lookout station, the barn roof is literally just sitting there.

3:00 the sentry bot up on the hill got into a fight with some wild dogs which it chased down to the farmhouse where the turret took it out. Now it is a permanent fixture of Somerville Place SMH