Alex Rider: Operation Far Far Away
Chapter 4: New Friends

Obi-Wan and Alex rounded the corner into a huge hanger. Alex was once again struck with awe. There were dozens of what he could only describe as spaceships dotted about the hanger. Mechanical things that looked like robots of every size, shape, and color darted back and forth along the length of the room. More of the armored men like Cody, Switcher, and Slip were talking while they worked on different ships, and the smell of motor oil and smoke filled the air.

Obi-Wan gestured and Alex followed him past numerous ships until they stopped at one. Alex didn't see anything to different about this one, but he assumed this was where Obi-Wan's friends were.

A female voice suddenly called from behind the ship. "Hey, Skyguy! I think this motor coil is torn!"

Another voice (masculine this time) sounded from underneath the ship where a pair of legs stuck out. "Snips, I've been working on ships since before you were born. I think I know how to repair them a bit better than you do."

A sharp bang was heard from underneath the ship and a huge "BOOM!" sounded from behind it, causing Alex to jump. A massive cloud of black smoke erupted and a young girl ran out from behind the ship, coughing and fanning her face with her hand.

This was, again, not a being Alex had seen before. This girl, who seemed to be a teenager about his age, had orange skin with white markings on her face making a distinct pattern. On her head, what Alex had first assumed to be hair seemed to more like tendrils, though much different than Kit Fisto's had been. They were blue and white striped, falling over her shoulders and back, with two sharp points sticking out of the top of her head on either side. Along her hairline, she had a line of triangle shaped objects, which created some sort of headband. They almost looked like teeth. She had on brown elbow length fingerless gloves and was wearing a brown tube top, a short brown skirt with a belt around her waist, cream-colored leggings, and high brown boots.

"See!?" the girl said, coughing. "I told you it was the motor coil, Master!"

The legs slid out from under the ship and were shown to be attached to a young man. The man was in his early twenties and had pale skin. He had brown hair that fell to just past the nape of his neck, harsh chiseled facial features, and bright blue eyes. Alex noticed a scar running along his right eye. He wore a brown knee length tunic with a dark grey vest-like garment over it, brown pants and dark brown boots and dark grey gloves that went up to his elbows.

The man rolled his eyes as he stood up. "And I told you that I could handle it, Ashoka."

The girl- "Ashoka"- also rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. "Oh, obviously! And I expect that the huge messy explosion was all part of the repairing process, oh wise Master?"

The man gave her a mischievous grin. "Of course it was, my young Padawan!"

Alex stared at the exchange between the two as he quietly chuckled. He then looked to the side and saw Obi-Wan having a deadpan look and, while his mouth didn't move much, he could have sworn he heard him mutter, "Wonderful. Now I have three children to look after."

Alex looked back to see Ashoka rolled her eyes again and seemed like she was about to say something else when she noticed Alex and Obi-Wan. "Master Obi-Wan!" she cried happily, grinning as Alex and his Master approached the pair.

The man turned to Obi-Wan with a grin as well. "Hey, Master! Who is this?" His smile faltered as he glanced quizzically at Alex.

Obi-Wan placed a hand on Alex's shoulder. Alex felt very strangely like a new student being introduced to the rest of the class. "Anakin, Ashoka, meet Alex Rider. Alex, meet Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan, Ashoka Tano."

Anakin raised an eyebrow. "And he's with you because…?"

Obi-Wan smiled. "It was decided by the Jedi Council earlier today that Alex would become my new Padawan."

"Really?" Anakin asked, intrigue in his voice. He glanced at Obi-Wan. "You know, you seem to have a habit of getting assigned students a little above the age limit."

"Believe me, it wasn't really my choice," Obi-Wan said in a dry yet joking sounding tone. Alex wondered if Anakin wasn't happy that he was here, just like Samuel was.

However, after a few moments, Anakin grinned at Alex just as he had with Obi-Wan, extending one gloved hand. "Well then, it's very nice to meet you, Padawan Rider."

Alex smiled as he took the offered hand. However, he was surprised that the hand was cold to the touch under the glove. It's metal! Alex realized. This man had a robotic hand! Alex pulled himself from his thoughts and looked at Anakin. "It's nice to meet you too. And just Alex if it's all the same to you, Master Skywalker."

Anakin nodded as he dropped his arm back to his side. "Alright. 'Alex' it is then. You can call me Anakin, by the way. Master Skywalker sounds too stuffy."

Ashoka extended her own hand to Alex, who was relieved to feel warm skin under her glove instead of cool metal. "Nice to meet you, Alex! Funny though. I don't remember ever seeing you during my training at the Jedi Temple."

Obi-Wan looked uncomfortable. "Ah…Alex wasn't trained at the Jedi Temple." Anakin and Ashoka looked confused, but Obi-Wan gave them a meaningful look. "I'll explain later."

Ashoka stare for a bit before shrugging and turning to smile at Alex. "So, Alex. Know anything about ships? Maybe you could give us a hand."

Alex hesitated, trying to think of his time with Ark Angel before giving a shrug of his own. "They….go fast? And they work in outer space?" He felt himself grow hot with embarrassment. He really did feel like a new student; one who knew nothing on the subject the rest of the class had already learned.

Anakin laughed. "I can see that I'll have a lot to teach you! Obi-Wan doesn't like flying very much, so I'll teach you my flying techniques instead." He puffed up his chest with pride. "After all, I am one of the best in the fleet. Don't worry, we'll have you flying like a pro in no time!"

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes with a huff of annoyance. "Anakin, the last thing we need is another person flying around like you!"

Anakin gave Obi-Wan a large grin. "Hey, it's better than having him puttering along in a ship like you, Master."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "Why did you call him 'Master?' You're a Jedi Knight, not a Padawan."

Obi-Wan smiled at Alex. "Anakin was my first Padawan back when I was a Jedi Knight."

"Basically, I was the first older kid he taught," Anakin said.

"Oh…okay." Alex said. He was starting to get a slight headache from everything that he was learning.

Anakin then turned to Ahsoka who was smirking. "And no cracks about my age, Snips!" he stated sharply.

"Who, me!?" Ahsoka asked in a voice that was supposed to sound insulted but was anything but. "I would never dream of it!" she stated, putting a hand over her chest. She then glanced at him. "After all, you act like you're a youngling, so there should be no guess to how old you really are."

Anakin glared balefully at her. "Now listen you little-!"

He was cut off by a loud shrill whistle and beeping; one that made Alex jump in surprise like with the explosion. From behind him, the source of the noise came rolling into the middle of the group. It was a robot! It was medium sized and colored blue and white. It rolled along on two long legs trailing along behind it and one smaller leg underneath it. As stated, it was making shrill beeping and whistling noises, seemingly as a way of communicating. It turned its domed head to look at Anakin before giving off a few more sounds.

"Rex is done with his starfighter and wants to help with mine?" Anakin seemed to be translating what it said, though how he was understanding the machine was beyond Alex. "Well…"

Ashoka interrupted with a small grin on her face. "Tell him we'd be happy for the help, R2. Anakin just blew up the ship's motor coils."

The robot beeped and rolled away, seeming to be making laughing sounds as it left.

"Ashoka! R2 is never going to let me live that down!" Anakin said as he glared at his Padawan.

Ashoka shrugged. "I knew you would never ask for help willingly and we need to get this ship flying again as soon possible."

As soon as she finished talking, the machine came rolling back beeping and whistling again. This time, it stopped by Ashoka.

"Rex will be here in a few minutes." Ashoka nodded, translating. "Thanks for telling him, R2."

The robot-"R2"- beeped, and then turned to Alex and Obi-Wan. It rolled up to them and beeped inquisitively, turning its head to look at Alex.

"Um…hi. I'm Alex." Alex said to it with an awkward wave. Hey, if everyone else was talking to the robot, he might as well do it to. The robot gave a happy whistle in response.

Ashoka walked over and put a hand on R2's head, smiling. "Alex, this is R2-D2. He's Anakin's Astromech droid. R2, Alex is Obi-Wan's new Padawan." R2 gave another happy couple of whistles and beeps. Ashoka quickly translated. "He says it's great to meet you and that he's happy to have you on the team."

Alex glanced at her confused. "Team?"

Anakin then answered. "Obi-Wan, Ashoka, and I, along with our troopers and R2, are kind of one large team. Nine times out of ten, we all get sent on missions together."

Alex knelt down to rub R2's head. "Well, it's great to meet you as well and I'm glad to be on the team." R2 gave a few more happy beeps and Alex chuckled. "I think I'm gonna to like you. You're kinda cute."

R2 made a squealing sound and spun around a little as Alex stood up, causing him to chuckle again. He then watched as the droid rocketed over to Anakin, beeping angerly at him.

Anakin sighed, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes. "R2, just because I don't call you 'cute' doesn't mean I don't like you. It just means that I don't want to make your motherboard any more inflated than it already is."

As the pair argued, a man came walking up. Like many of the other soldiers around here, he was dressed like Cody and his men with tarnished white armor, except his had an odd shoulder pad and he had blue markings on the helmet under his arm. Alex also saw that he looked exactly like Cody except he had blonde hair shaved extremely close to the scalp.

"He looks just like Cody and his men…" Alex mused.

Ashoka looked at him, another small smile on her face. "Well of course he does. They are clones after all. Where do you live that you don't know what clones are?"

Alex chuckled. "I'm… from a place far, far, away." Alex then registered that she had said "clones." "Wait…when you say 'clones,' do you mean like Dolly the Sheep?" The word also brought up painful memories of Point Blanc Academy and Julius Grief, but Alex pushed them away.

Ashoka cocked her head to one side, looking confused. "Dolly the… Sheep? Now I'm the one that's confused. What's 'Dolly the Sheep?' For that matter, what is a sheep"

Alex shook his head. "Never mind. So does that mean that they all have identical DNA?"

Ashoka shrugged. "Pretty much. But don't let that fool you. Each clone has his own personality and is different from his brothers in arms. They even all sound different."

Alex nodded, remembering Switcher was a bit faster paced in his speech, while Slip was slower but had a slightly higher pitch than both him and the deeper-voiced Cody. As the man approached, he saluted each of them in turn but faltered when he saw Alex. "Who's this shiny?" he asked with a small grin.

Anakin walked over, leaving an angry R2-D2 beeping quietly. He placed a hand on Alex's shoulder. "Rex, this is Alex Rider, Obi-Wan's new Padawan. Alex, this is Captain Rex of the 501st Clone Legion."

Alex reached out a hand, smiling. "Pleasure to meet you, Captain."

Rex shook the offered hand. "Same to you, sir. It's good to have some fresh blood in the group. Sorry about the shiny crack."

Alex waved a hand dismissively. "It's okay. I've already been called that once today." Alex decided that he liked the clones. They reminded him a bit of K-Unit from his time at Brecon Beacons. If
K-Unit had all been clones of each other that is.

Anakin turned to Ashoka as Rex walked over to inspect the damaged starship. "Snips, it's getting late, and you promised me you'd work on your meditation. How 'bout you go and help Alex settle into the Temple and meet a few of the other Padawans. Once you're done, work on meditating, 'kay?"

Ahsoka groaned "Aw, Skyguuuy!"

Anakin grinned at his Padawan. "Don't 'aw, Skyguy' me. Consider this payback for that age crack. Now go on!"

Obi-Wan, Alex, and Ashoka walked out of the hanger, heading back the way he and Obi-Wan had come.

Ashoka looked at Alex as they walked. "So where do you come from anyway? One of the Outer Rim worlds"

Alex glanced at her. "Sort of. Like I already told you, a place far from here."

Ashoka opened her mouth to ask more, but Obi-Wan cut her off. "I will catch you and Anakin up to speed later, Ashoka." He turned to Alex. "Now, we have one last thing to do before you go meet the other Padawans, young one. We need to change your clothes."

Alex looked down at the jeans, t-shirt, jacket, and tennis shoes that he was wearing. "What's wrong with my clothes?" He asked, somewhat offended.

Obi-Wan shook his head. "I'm afraid they aren't fit for a Jedi. We'll have to get you something else. I'm sure we can find some new clothes in storage."

Alex looked at Obi-Wan, dead set on arguing the point, but the look on his Master's face told him not to. Instead, Alex huffed. "Fine," He relented. "So long as I don't look ridiculous."

Fifteen minutes later, Alex was standing in a mirror, barely able to recognize his reflection. "I. Look. Ridiculous!"

Obi-Wan smiled. "Nonsense. You look like a Jedi Padawan."

Alex turned to Obi-Wan with a deadpan look on his face. "I look like a monk." He said, holding up his robed arms.

Alex could not believe what he was wearing. He had on a knee length, cream colored tunic over a shorter, darker tunic of lighter fabric. A brown belt like Obi-Wan's was tied about his waist. He also had on brown pants that tucked into dark brown boots. To top it all off, he had on a dark brown hooded robe that fell over his shoulders and was just shy of dragging on the ground. Alex looked in the mirror again. He looked like a mini Obi-Wan, minus the reddish beard and hair and the blue eyes.

Other than change his clothes, the only other thing that Obi-Wan had him do was braid a few strands of his blonde hair together. Obi-Wan had called it a Padawan braid and said that it would let those that saw it know that Alex was a Jedi Padawan. It fell behind Alex's ear, a reminder of the odd reality he was now in.

Alex looked at Obi-Wan. "Tell me again why I can't wear my own clothes?"

Obi-Wan's smile didn't falter as he answered. "Because I would prefer for you to wear clothing that is typical for a Jedi."

Alex gestured at Ashoka, who was stifling a giggle. "She doesn't have to wear this stuff!"

"That is because she has Anakin as a Master, young one."

Alex groaned. Tom would have had a laughing fit if he could see him now.

Obi-Wan cocked his head to one side. "There is only one other thing that is missing."

Alex glared at him. "If it's some kind of damn hat, you can bloody well forget it," he growled.

Obi-Wan chuckled. "No, Padawan, it is not a hat. I'm just worried that you have no way to defend yourself."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "I can defend myself. I know martial arts and stuff."

Obi-Wan nodded. "I know, young one. I was talking more traditional Jedi methods. All Jedi, as younglings, go on a mission to collect what we call a Kyber Crystal. These crystals power a Jedi's best defense." He unhooked a cylindrical metal object fastened to his belt. He pressed a button and, with a loud "HISS," a blue beam shot out of one end of it, glowing brightly and giving off a soft hum. "This is called a lightsaber. It is a Jedi's life."

Alex stared at the glowing beam. Even without holding the device, he could tell that it was a very powerful weapon. What he would have given to have one of those on a past mission. "So, what can it do?" he asked.

Obi-Wan smiled as he pressed the button and the beam retracted back into the cylinder. "Many things. However, I should wait and explain it more when we get you a Kyber Crystal, and later, a lightsaber of your own."

Alex suddenly remembered the small object the Daughter had pressed into his hand when he had arrived early this afternoon. His mind reeled for a moment. Had it really been only a few hours since he had been walking to his house in Chelsea? Alex shook himself from his thoughts. He darted over to his pile of discarded clothes and dug around in his jean's pockets. His fingers touched the cool surface of the object and drew it out.

"Is this a Kyber Crystal?" Alex turned to Obi-Wan and Ashoka and held out his hand. Sitting in the middle of his palm was a small, blue crystal.

Obi-Wan looked amazed. "Where did you get that?"

Alex shrugged. "The person who brought me here gave it to me."

Ashoka looked amazed as well, though her voice was tinged with a bit of annoyance. "So, you didn't have to go through any of the Jedi trials or anything?"

Obi-Wan looked at her. "Trust me when I say that Alex has had to go through more than enough trials to pass the one needed to get a Kyber Crystal, Ahsoka."

Alex looked down at the tiny crystal in hand, then up at Obi-Wan. "So…what does this mean?"

Obi-Wan smiled. "It means that you can build a lightsaber, Padawan. I suppose, in a way, it also means that you are supposed to be here."

Alex sighed as he looked at the crystal again. That's what he had been afraid of. The little crystal in his hand now seemed to be mocking him. You won't get home now, it seemed to be saying. This is where you are meant to be.

A/N Thank you so much to all of you who have read the story so far. It makes me so happy to know that people are actually reading something I've written. Don't forget to tell me what you think! I've been having loads of fun writing this and having a blast figuring out how Alex would react to things. (Alex is really fun to write! He's just a sassy boy with no filter 80% of the time!) 😄

Anyway, the next upcoming chapters are going to be actual episodes from the series that I've rewritten, starting with Holocron Heist. I'll try to update the story on a bi-weekly basis, probably on Saturdays but it may vary depending on what's going on in my life.

I hope you'll keep reading the story and feel free to leave a review!
I also hope you have an AMAZING rest of your day! ~Deerpelt