"There's your problem" Tobias announced triumphantly, holding aloft the small broken in the midst of the half disassembled diesel generator he'd been working on for most of the morning. "Told you I'd find it!" He said, looking around to discover that his audience had slipped away unnoticed sometime before. He sighed and stood up, stretching his legs and brushing the dirt off his coveralls.

The generator, responsible for powering the small unnamed settlement outside of Blanche, had already been old before the Fall, and had been ticking away reliably before it had conked out a couple of days previous. Tobias had been part of the small Vanguard that had ventured out to see why the settlement had suddenly gone dark.

The settlement probably did have a name, Tobias mused, not that he'd been paying any attention. Something ironic, like Eden or Haven, to describe the small cluster of buildings and the low wall that made up the tiny mote of civilization. He walked outside the small shed and started rooting in his pack. "Found your problem! Should have the spare in here... Gotcha!" Tobias held the replacement part aloft as he turned to go back into the shed.

"So you're nearly done Tobe?" A voice drawled from behind him. That'd be Vince, another member of the Vanguard party. Unlike Tobias he didn't get involved in any of the technical matters, preferring to solve his problems with his old rifle and his fists.

"Much quicker now Vince, just gotta put it back together" Tobias said, fitting the new part and screwing it back into place. "Good, I can't wait to be back at Blanche" Vince replied, following him slightly into the dingy shed.

"Not a fan of Haven? We're the Vanguard, places like this are where the action is!" Tobias retorted, allowing a note of sarcasm to seep into his voice. Vince snorted, "Place is called Sanctum, and the action I'm missing is back at Blanche, so get a wriggle on" Tobias chuckled in response and reached for the next part; coaxing it back into place with a sharp rap from the handle of a screwdriver.

Tobias busied himself with reconstructing the generator, sliding the last piece back into place and doing up the bolts with his trusty shifter. Checking the fuel tank he primed the engine and tried to start it up, biting his lip as it coughed and spluttered but refused to turn over. "Work dammit!" He cursed, giving the engine case a sharp smack with the wrench. The engine backfired twice, then roared back to life, settling down to a low steady hum.

"Up and running!" He called out, starting to collect his scattered tools. Slinging the toolbar over his shoulder he walked out of the shed towards the main farmhouse. "Try your power" he called out, smiling again as some of the lights flickered back on. "We'll just test the radio, then we'll be gone." 

The old farmer nodded and gestured towards the old CB style radio in one corner of the kitchen. That was the real reason they'd dragged themselves all the way out here for a crappy generator; Sanctum was a outlying post, and the regular radio contact was an invaluable source of intelligence and news for the area. That and the people expected some small measure of return from the tithe of goods and services they tipped to the Vanguards.

"Blanche HQ, Blanche HQ, this is VG party three on repair mission, copy?". Static ruled the airwaves for a long moment before the speakers crackled "VG Three, this is Blanche HQ, reading loud and clear, what's your status?".

"VG Three, job completed and heading home, over and out" Tobias signed off and hung the microphone back on its hook. He shook hands with the farmer and headed out. "All done Vince! Round up the rest and let's head home". They'd done what they could for Sanctum, and Tobias knew there was plenty more repair work to do back at base.