Author's Note: Hey all! So I'm posting this story on another site as well but, I wanted to post it here too since a lot of people who read my stories are not on both sites. Hopefully this story takes off and you guys like it!

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Alright, enough chit-chat, let's get to it, shall we?

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Star War Universe characters. I own just my OC and any other OC's I throw in there!

His voice sounded distant; muffled even as he began waving his hand in front of the somewhat shocked expression on her face. "Ground control to Ash. Anybody in there?" He asked again as her eyes began to focus.

Did she hear him correctly? She had to have heard him wrong, there was no way her skill set was that impressive. At least, impressive enough to get her work on one of the biggest projects this galaxy had ever seen. A top secret base that needed a mechanic; a mechanic who could not only repair satellites or ventilation but ships and air-lock configurations. A mechanic that could do it all and under the heaviest of pressure. Ashlyn Novafall was that mechanic, apparently. "I'm sorry, I may have misheard you. The First Order came to you in need of a mechanic on their new base and you submitted my application for their consideration?"

It didn't seem too out of the ordinary. Many walks of life came to this particular shop for maintenance assistance. It was one of the most well-known workshops in the galaxy for many reasons. The number one priority was discretion, of course they reached the attention of The First Order.

He rolled his eyes, aggravation obvious on his face. She really hadn't heard the entire story, had she? "Ash, they didn't just consider you, they hired you."

After a few blinks, the ship made dock in her mind. "Oh gosh—" She said, realization washing over her with full agonizing force. "Laynor, I can't just go work for The First Order. I've heard stories about people who've worked there. People have died for mistakes; mistakes I'd probably end up making—" She was panicking and underselling herself, Laynor saw right through that. "Besides, I swore I wouldn't take sides in this Galactic… thing going on."

Laynor, his aging face with deep bags under his eyes, sighed. His greying hair was surely her doing, he'd argue that point another day for sure. "You don't have to pick sides, you just have to help with maintenance and getting things running." He assured her. "If I didn't think you could handle it, I would have gone with another. Your qualifications are above and beyond their needs, you'll be more than fine."

"I'm flattered, really, but the First Order—" She tried to reason again. "That's a lot of room for error and causation for termination. Literal termination—" She continued. "Like, I'd be dead, termination."

"It also pays handsomely and gives you immunity while staying among their base. You'd be protected, unless of course, attacked."

She grimaced. "You're not helping…"

He ignored her retort and continued. "Ashlyn, I have more than enough faith in you. You'll be fine, you'll get your work done and once it's over you can come back. You have an extendable six month contract, should you change your mind to continue. You don't have to pick sides, just do your work. An opportunity like this does not come around often. I'd take it."

And that was how Ashlyn Novafall found herself on a heavily guarded transportation unit to an unknown location in the galaxy. All she had on the location was a name, and a poorly executed one at that. The First Order base; StarKiller. It wasn't a very creative name but, she wasn't contracted for marketing now was she?

Her instructions were simple, get in and get out. She had been hired under contract for six months to help with the internal workings of this new base and all its functions. Laynor Gal-Far, her superior back on the planet Lothal, recommended her for the work. With little to no choice in the matter (and a firm belief that she was sent here so Laynor wouldn't have to go), Ash was heading to StarKiller to lead the maintenance team.

Granted, as a neutral party to the Galactic war, she was an ideal candidate from the start. It took little to no convincing from Laynor in regards to Ashlyn's actual expertise, regardless that she was actually his best mechanic for the job. However, if asked today Laynor would not argue that he really did not want to go himself. He was, as he so politely put it, 'Too old for that shit'.

It didn't matter anyway, Ashlyn was already on the transport unit and on her way. The Storm Troopers that had accompanied her were pretty silent. Only the hum of the engine made any noise. Ashlyn wasn't sure if she would prefer small talk or the humming. In fact, it wasn't until the StarKiller landing pad came into view that Ashlyn had anything to say at all, which turned out to be nothing positive. "Snow?" She asked, her eyes wide. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen snow. "No one told me this planet was going to be cold." She looked at the Storm Troopers, their expressions hidden behind their masks as Ashlyn looked down at her ill-prepared outfit. "I'm going to freeze!"

"The base will be warmer, ma'am." One trooper assured her, hoping to give some sort of comfort to the girl. She hardly believed him. However, pleasantly surprised when she disembarked the freighter and wandered into the largest launch bay of StarKiller.

This place was huge. The launch pad itself held at least fifty Imperial TIE fighters, two freighters and some weird, black Upsilon-class command shuttle she assumed to be customized for the owner. A ship she had never worked with too closely but couldn't wait to get her hands on.

In her state of awe, Ashlyn was swiftly approached by a uniformed maintenance worker with a data pad. His blonde hair slicked back perfectly, not a single hair out of place. He wore a black jumpsuit, standard uniform for all maintenance. However, this uniform looked almost two sizes too big, it was practically swimming on him. "Ms. Novafall?" Ashlyn snapped out of her distracted state and responded with a quick nod. "Name's Sid, I'm here to welcome you on StarKiller."

Ashlyn pursed her lips. "No fanfare?" She joked dryly, receiving only a raised brow in reply. "Kidding." She corrected quickly, adjusting her top anxiously. "I assume this isn't exactly the fun base."

His lips quirked into a small smirk. "We make do with what we're given." He said. "Besides, you're in the best department; maintenance. I was second in command before our first got into his little accident. Guess that makes me first in command now." Ashlyn, whether it was his dry sense of humor or his sarcastic wit, really took an immediate liking to Sid. "That's where you come in. I hear you're a natural at this stuff. A real whiz, if you will. Fine by me but, at the end of the day you still answer to me. Got it?"

Ashlyn nodded. "When do we start?"

Sid chuckled. "Eager, are we? First, we have to go over the basics of the base. Then I can give you the first round up of assignments. Let's take a tour of your new home."

Ashlyn knew the base was huge, she didn't realize just how big it actually was. Not until she wandered the halls with Sid. He spoke quickly and with distinct execution in each word as he explained the locations of the different engines and inner workings of the planet. Sid explained in great, and almost a little too much detail, in regards to the different capacitors and schematics needed to hold this place together. That's when Ashlyn realized, this place wasn't fully functioning just yet. "Sid, is StarKiller even up to code yet?"

Sid shrugged as the two casually walked the main halls. "To be honest? No." He admitted. "We still have a lot of work to do and I need a more competent team. Obviously, the people we have now aren't exactly fit for the kind of work we need done. There's an entire south wing that needs a complete overhaul with ventilation and wiring. That's where you come in. I need a special eye and hand on some of these parts, particularly the main reactors. Of course, we do have some smaller maintenance that needs to be handled accordingly in-between the bigger jobs. We're pretty understaffed, as you can see."

"Will I be working on the main reactors?" Ashlyn asked.

"Main reactors, ships, ventilations; the works." Sid clarified a little more. "Basically, I need to know you can wear many hats, Ms. Novafall."

"You can call me Ash. No need for formalities." She mindlessly corrected him. "And yes, I am more than qualified."

Sid grinned, his bright brown eyes sparking as he ran his hand through his slicked back blonde hair. "Excellent. One other thing, Ash." He grew a little more serious. "It's best to think the outside galaxy doesn't exist and to just focus on what we have here. Ignorance is bliss in a place like this, it's best to stay out of all that riff-raff. Got it?"

Ashlyn nodded. "I'm here to do what's asked of me. That's it."

His grin returned as he gave a satisfied chuckle. "Then you're ready to get started."

Ashlyn's first day was fairly simple, Sid had gone over more of the inner workings of the main reactors and showed her a few more places she'd need to know. One being the mess hall, the other being her sleeping arrangement. Maintenance workers had a small section on the 400's level, each worker having their own quarters. The studio apartment was complete with basic furnishings; a couch, bookshelf, coffee table, kitchenette, dining table and a curtain that hid the sleeping area. The bed was a full size with a decent sized wardrobe closet. Granted, most of Ashlyn's clothes would now consist of the maintenance uniform, which hopefully was her size. "Not bad, right?" Sid beamed as he watched Ashlyn explore her new studio. "The base is big enough for larger rooms unlike the transport units. On the Finalizer, we had much smaller arrangements. Everything functions, checked it out this morning. No one actually lived in this unit before you so it's like getting a brand new place."

Ashlyn smiled slightly as she wandered to the book case, noticing the selection was small and mostly decorations took over the shelves. The books that were there, however, were borderline propaganda, nothing about revolution or with negative words about the First Order, the old Empire or anything of the Galactic History. It was probably better that way, she thought. "Is everyone on this floor?"

"Mostly maintenance." Sid confirmed. "The higher-ups are 200 and 300 respectfully. Some have rooms on 100 but, those guys are a little more important than we are." As if he said something wrong, Sid inhaled, realizing he had left out some rather important information regarding the other inhabitants of the base. "Speaking of which, everyone here is nice. Don't get me wrong, most of the people you'll meet here are pretty normal. Some won't even acknowledge your existence. There are some, however, that you should avoid at all cost."

Ashlyn gave him a curious look. "Higher-ups, I presume?"

"Something like that." Sid said. "Listen, we're maintenance and we usually keep to ourselves anyway. You'll be too busy to get into trouble, hopefully. However, when on the higher levels, keep your head down."

Sid seemed to be referring to someone or something in particular. At least, that was the vibe Ashlyn was getting. "Head down, stay out of trouble, got it." She said with a reassuring smile.

He returned with an unconvinced smile of his own. "Well, I'll let you get situated. We start early tomorrow. There's a data pad on the coffee table, use it to get around and find your way. Of course, you'll need it for work as well so don't break it."

Ashlyn gave her most genuine smile, regardless of his vague warning, Sid really made her feel welcomed. "Thanks, Sid." He nodded in reply before seeing himself out of the studio apartment. Ashlyn looked around at the quiet room, the hum of a vent from above the only real sound in the room. The 400's were a very quiet floor, something she knew she'd need to get used to. However, as far as first days go, this one wasn't so bad. At least, until she fell asleep.

She knew she was asleep, that was obvious. Normally, people woke up once they realized they were dreaming. However, Ashlyn didn't. She wasn't sure when she started dreaming exactly but, she suddenly became aware. As if her eyes closed and then BAM! Dream world. Yet, this wasn't really a world or even a normal looking dream for that matter. It was black, everything was black. There was nothing. No formations, no shapes, no structure, nothing. It wasn't dark, that was something odd. She could see her hands in front of her perfectly, as if she were illuminated and the ground below her was definitely solid. Ashlyn did the only thing she could do and walked forward for what felt like an eternity.

It was not hot or cold, in fact, Ash felt nothing as she walked. It were as though she existed in an empty space, a void that left much to be desired. She couldn't see anything on all sides of here because there was nothing. The black seemed to go on forever and leading nowhere. A peculiar dream it was, and until she woke, a peculiar dream it stayed.

The alarm clock sounded on the nightstand next to the full sized bed, with grogginess, Ash opened her eyes and glared at the beeping from the small robotic box. With a groan, she tiredly slapped the beeping box, missing at first and only succeeding upon the second strike. An exaggerated yawn followed with a very satisfactory stretch, Ashlyn swung her legs over the side of the bed and slowly stood. It was her first day on StarKiller, she knew it was best to not be late.

After a quick shower and changing into the proper black uniform (relieved the jumper wasn't too baggy or too snug), Ash wandered over to the data pad to see she had a memo from Sid.

'First task, newbie. Generator in Section 200, Hall M is out. Tool kit is right outside your room. Get to work! – Sid'

Ash grinned slightly at the memo. Regardless if she felt out of place here, at least Sid was somewhat welcoming to her. That would make the next six months a little bearable. Insignificantly and possibly unnoticeably bearable.

As promised, Ash found her tool kit sitting to the left of her doorway. It was more so a belt with a few tools attached rather than an actual kit. With an amused smirk, she picked up the belt and latched it around her waist. The data pad in her hand began to vibrate slightly; a new message was received. With a curious expression, Ashlyn looked down at the data pad to see the new message from Sid.

'Don't forget to use your map to find the Generator. – Sid'

An eye roll and mumbling about how capable she was at reading a map, Ash opened the map in her data pad and headed to the 200's.

Final Thought: Thanks again for reading! Remember to review and see you next chapter!