Leslie and Jackson showed her to a closed walkway above the shop, with glass windows overlooking the massive workspace. Ahsoka surveyed the room, trying to take in as much as possible.

There was a back exit in the corner of the room, this walkway that led to the lobby, and a door that led to a garage that connected to the shaft. There were eight sections with tools and parts scattered in them, four wide and two tall. Those must be the workbenches. If she could get on top of them, she could see the whole room from about two-thirds of the way to the ceiling, which was about thirty feet off the ground. It was the second-highest platform in the room, the first being the walkway, but this was closed.

She could probably get on top of those rafters, though. Ahsoka was light enough that they could support her weight if need b-

But there shouldn't be any need. Ahsoka wanted to kick herself. She was trying to move on from the war, but her first instinct on entering a new room was still to analyze it for battle strategies.

She smiled before the other two could suspect what she was thinking. "It's bigger than I thought it would be. You wouldn't guess it from the outside."

"Yeah, I think Fuller built it that way," Jackson said, leaning against the glass a few feet away from her. "Makes it looks like there isn't much worth stealing."

Ahsoka nodded. "Does it work?"

He shrugged. "So far."

"So you live in the Lower Levels now?" Leslie asked. "Where were you before now? Unless it's a touchy subject, I-"

Ahsoka smiled and assured her, "Don't worry, I don't mind sharing." She recalled the story she had come up with the night before. It wasn't altogether a lie, either. "I've been traveling for the past year, seeing what else is out there. I got stuck a few times, though, and eventually turned up back here. Figured I might as well stay and start over."

Just enough of the truth to sound believable. That was how Ahsoka was going to live, for now, she had decided. Just enough to create an honest lifestyle.

"Where did you go?" Jackson asked, turning his head to look at her.

Ahsoka shrugged, trying to appear disinterested. "Separatist systems, mostly. New places I haven't been as often. It's not much different than the Republic systems, actually." She chuckled. "If you replace clones with battle droids, it looks more or less the same."

Jackson laughed with her, but Leslie seemed startled. "They really have droids just swarming the place? Isn't that dangerous?"

"Well, think of the surface," Ahsoka explained. "The clones up there, they're for protection. The droids are the same thing for their citizens. Unless it's a war zone," she remembered, feeling the need to clarify. "Then yeah, it's dangerous."

"Did you go to war zones?" Leslie inquired.

"A few times. Only when necessary."

Jackson looked through the window, staring off into space. "That's so crazy. You've probably seen everything."

Ahsoka gave him a half-grin. "Some days I think so, and then tomorrow happens."

"Okay, then," he said, standing straight and facing her. "What's the coolest planet you've been to? Go."

Ahsoka blinked, caught off guard by the question. The coolest planet? How was she supposed to decide, or even remember? How many had she been to?

Just pick one and go with it, she told herself. Just not Mortis, because it technically doesn't exist.

"Mustafar was a bit of a shock, the first time," she recalled. "Have you heard of it?"

Both of the humans shook their heads.

"Take a volcano, and turn it into the whole planet. Add a Separatist base, and that's Mustafar."

"What's a volcano?"

Right. There were almost no geographical points of interest on Coruscant, just tons of buildings. These people didn't know what a volcano was. "It's a mountain that erupts lava. The whole planet is burning hot rock, basically."

"No way," Jackson said in awe, but poor Leslie looked more terrified than ever.

"And people live there?" She asked, horrified.

Ahsoka laughed. "No, they just hold meetings there. They have a few safe places, where they don't get hurt."

"Well, why did you go there then?" Leslie crosses her arms.

Ahsoka tried to remember the first time she had set foot on the fire planet, then realized she probably ought to censor it a little bit. If Leslie wasn't very keen on lava planets, then she probably wasn't all for rescuing Younglings from said lava planet.

"It was a retrieval mission, I think. One of my first, actually."

By now, Jackson looked thoroughly impressed. "That sounds so awesome. You must have had a crazy childhood."

Well, he wasn't wrong. "Crazier than most, I'd imagine."

"You wanna go down and look?" He asked, and Ahsoka nodded. She might as well see what she was getting into up close.

Leslie has a different idea. "I'm going to go start sorting next week's forms." She pointed behind her. "Nice to meet you, Tano."

"You as well," Ahsoka smiled, but she was sure Leslie was trying to distance herself from the traveler. She knew better than to take it personally, though. It had happened before.

Once the door shut, Jackson chuckled. "I don't think she's ever left Coruscant. She's not used to that stuff."

"Have you?" Asked Ahsoka, following him as he opened the door to the stairs. It would lead right to the floor of the workshop.

Jackson snorted. "Nah, but I've heard of it. I try to pay as much attention to what the news says about other planets when it comes around. I have a list of places I want to go to if I ever get a chance. I just added one."

Ahsoka raised her eyebrows as she walked down the stairs. "I wouldn't go to Mustafar right now. I think the Separatist Senate has rebuilt their offices since the last time I've been."

"How long ago was that?"

Last week. "Before the bomb, and I'm not sure it's open to visitors."

They reached the bottom of the stairs, and Jackson walked Ahsoka to one of the eight workbenches. The empty one was on the top and was the farthest right.

"This was Frand's old bench, it'll be yours once you start," Jackson told her. "You have anything like this way back when?"

Ahsoka shook her head. "I didn't, but I know a few people who did. It was never my job to fix stuff, I was just taught how to."

"How do you pick up mechanics on the job?" Jackson asked. "I thought you were all busy fighting or meditating, or whatever else you do."

"This was my 'whatever else I do'."

"Huh." He leaned against the counter and watched her as she walked around.

The workbench was supplied with tools and whatnot, although they were a little worn. Maybe once Ahsoka was a little more financially stable she could get her own set of tools. If this was going to be a long term job, they would probably come in handy. She started wondering how much they would cost.

"Hey, Jackson!" Someone called behind her, and she turned to see who it was. A Pantorian female (An extremely strong one, by the looks of her build) was leaning around the side of the wall that separated her workspace from the next one over. "Since when does Fuller let in visitors on Saturday?"

"She's not a visitor, she's taking Frand's workbench." Jackson held out an arm to motion to Ahsoka. "She goes by Tano."

The Pantorian nodded at her. "About time, I've been working late for weeks, now. Call me Wheeler."

Wheeler, Ahsoka repeated, hoping that she could remember all of their names. "Nice to meet you."

"Where you from, Tano?" She asked, walking into the workbench.

"The surface," she answered vaguely. "I moved down here not long ago."

Wheeler smirked. "I feel ya. I was born up there, but life seemed too fast, too easy. When I moved out, I came down here. Fuller picked me up, and I haven't moved since."

Her story kind of reminded her of LeaAnne, the wife of a Cuudek senator whom Ahsoka had met on a mission. LeaAnne had married into the living in the fast lane, though, while Wheeler had moved out of it. "Do you visit often?"

Wheeler shrugged. "Sometimes. Depends if my parents are close or not. I try to avoid surface life if I can." She nodded to Ahsoka. "What about you?"

"That's the plan, for now," she answered. "Everything is cheaper down here, anyway."

Wheeler laughed. "That's the spirit. Welcome aboard," she greeted her, before ducking back into her own workspace and spreading the word about the rookie.

Ahsoka turned to Jackson. "Who all else is here?"

"Well, there are seven benches, eight including yours. That's Wheeler, and there's Journey, Granger, Jake, Luce, Thyla, and Nox." He looked around, searching for someone else to introduce. "Over there, that's Journey and Thyla, or Jyla, if you want to combine their names."

Ahsoka followed his gaze and saw two humans, having an intense conversation. They could be arguing, but Ahsoka couldn't hear over the clanging from a few spaces over. "Is there a reason to combine their names?" She asked.

"It's their ship name," Jackson told her.

Great. Something else I can add to the list of things I don't know. She nodded, pretending that she understood.

Jackson leaned in close to her. "Honestly, I think they're everyone's favorite couple." Oh, so they're courting each other. Why couldn't he have just said that? "They used to hate each other, a few years ago, but it's been almost a year since they started going out."

"What changed?" Asked the Togruta.

Jackson shrugged. "No one really knows. It just sort of happened one day, and everyone just accepted it once it did."

A knock came from the wall, and Wheeler returned with someone else. "I'm assuming you want to get introductions out of the way?" Ahsoka nodded, and she pulled three more people out from behind her, two humans and a Rodian, all-male. "This is Granger, Jake, and Luce."

"What the..." One of the humans seemed to recognize her immediately and pointed at her. "You're that ex-Jedi girl, aren't you?"

Ahsoka nodded. She decided that they were probably not going to be her favorite person here.

"Since when do Jedi know how to be mechanics?" He asked, scrunching his eyebrows suspiciously.

"Maybe since you started assuming that they didn't," the Rodian retorted, smacking his arm. "That's Granger, don't mind him. I'm Luce."

Ahsoka took note of their names quickly. "So you're Jake?" She asked, pointing to the last human, who hadn't spoken yet. He nodded, jumping onto the counter of her workspace and sitting on the edge.

"How long ago did you apply?" Jake asked, leaning back on his hands.

"This morning," Jackson cut in. "She beat Frand's time on the hyperdrive."

All of the others, Wheeler included, fell silent for a moment.

"How?" Asked Wheeler. "I mean, no offense to you, but Frand was crazy good with those. That's how he got a job on the surface."

Ahsoka didn't really know what to say, other than: "I don't even remember what my time was. I forgot to ask earlier."

Granger walked out, mumbling something about "the rookie thinks she knows everything, doesn't she?" The other five watched him walk away.

"Don't let him get to you," Luce told Ahsoka. "He gets sour when the world doesn't seem to revolve around him."

Wheeler, Jake, and Jackson all laughed, along with two new voices that came around from behind Wheeler. The human couple, Journey and Thyla, had noticed something was happening.

"What's Granger mad about now?" The female asked, her black braid falling over one shoulder.

Jake pointed to the Togruta. "New recruit, and she's already pissed him off."

"I didn't try to upset him," Ahsoka protested, "I just answered a question."

"Oh, don't worry," The male of the couple, reassured her. "Anything and everything will set him off if he wants to get upset. You probably did nothing. Journey," he introduced himself, holding out a hand to shake.

Ahsoka took it. "Tano. I'm guessing your Thyla?" She asked the female, and she nodded.

"Who else have you met?" She asked, standing next to Wheeler.

Jackson answered again. "Everyone in here plus Leslie and Granger. I don't think she's met Tyme yet."

Another voice called out from the stairs that led up to the walkway. "HEY!"

Everyone turned, and Luce muttered lowly, "Well, she's met him now. "

"Boss says to get back to work! And Jackson, Leslie needs you for something, she didn't say what."

The collective groaned, minus Ahsoka. Jackson yelled back at Tyme, "Tell her I'm coming!" He turned to Ahsoka. "You can probably hang out here if you want. I've got to go."

Ahsoka nodded. "Thanks for introducing me."

"No problem," he assured her, and the group slowly scuttled back to their workbenches as Tyme got a clearer look at the newbie. He made eye contact with Ahsoka, who smiled and gave him a wave. He waved back but made no other motion to interact with her further. He and Jackson went back towards the offices and the lobby, and Ahsoka was left to explore her workbench.

As far as introductions go, that had been okay. Could have been better, but she had to start somewhere, right?