'I'm right here.' Obi-Wan locked eyes with her, hoping to drive away the fear. 'I won't let anything happen to you.'
Roenni's brown eyes cleared. Trust drove out fear. But Cerasi and Nield couldn't keep the guards down forever. They were exposed. Obi-Wan spotted the empty fuel drum the droid had knocked over. He reached out with the Force. Nothing.
Never gone. Always there, it is.
Obi-Wan groaned. You think so, Yoda? Not for me!
Blaster fire ripped into the fuselage of the starfighter over his head.
Obi-Wan pushed Roenni down. Keeping his body bent over hers, he ran, hunched over, to the barrel. Not the greatest protection, but it would have to do.
'We're going to have to crawl,' he told Roenni. 'Keep yourself behind the barrel.'
Roenni crawled in front of him as he pushed the barrel steadily toward Nield and Cerasi. Blaster fire pinged off the metal. Obi-Wan could feel Roenni shaking. When they reached the pile of cargo boxes, she slid behind them with relief.
Obi-Wan rolled the huge barrel toward the front guard. It smashed into his knees, and he fell backward into the guard behind him. They teetered into the line of fire of the other guards.
The four friends took advantage of the moment and ran, firing as they went. They reached the safety of the fuel tanks. Cerasi was the most nimble of them all. She hustled Roenni down, then followed. With a last blast, Nield jumped down. Obi-Wan slid through the opening, then threw out a timed explosive device.
'Run!' he yelled.
They all scrambled to safety — and then the tank exploded, taking most of the hangar with it.
'That should keep them busy,' he told the others.
Nield raised Mawat on the comlink. 'It's done,' he said. 'The Elders have no starfighters anymore. You can contact the Middle Generation.'
Mawat's voice crackled over the comlink. Though the transmission was faint, they could hear his glee.
'I think we just won the war!' he crowed.
The lightsaber came down, missing him by millimeters. Qui-Gon jumped away, surprised. The blow came from nowhere. He hadn't been paying attention.
He whirled, raising his own lightsaber in defense. His opponent parried, then twisted away to come at him from his left. Their lightsabers tangled, buzzing. Suddenly, his opponent shifted his feet and moved right.
Qui-Gon hadn't expected the move, and his dodge was ill-timed. The lightsaber glanced against his wrist. The burn was nothing compared to his annoyance at himself.
'Round three, it is,' Yoda called from the sidelines. 'Approach from opposite corners, you should.'
Qui-Gon wiped his forehead with his sleeve. When he had agreed to take part in a training exercise with the advanced Temple students, he hadn't expected to work so hard.
He could hear the murmur from the student onlookers as Bruck Chun bowed and retreated to his corner. Bruck was doing better than anyone had expected. He had made it through all six rounds with different opponents.
This would be his final match.
Qui-Gon remembered Bruck from his last visit to the Temple. The white-haired boy had fought Obi-Wan in a tough, long match. The two boys were fierce rivals. They had fought out of fury at each other and a desire to win Qui-Gon's approval. Qui-Gon had been impressed with Obi-Wan's skills, but not with his anger. Watching Obi-Wan fight, Qui-Gon had been determined not to take the promising boy as his Padawan.
Why hadn't he listened to his instincts?
Qui-Gon wrenched his attention to the present moment. He must concentrate. Bruck's fighting skills had improved tremendously. The duel should have been easy for Qui-Gon, but he found his distraction harder to fight. Bruck had surprised Qui-Gon more than once. The boy fought doggedly, never tiring, and was quick to take advantage of Qui-Gon's lapses in concentration.
Bruck circled him, his lightsaber held in a defensive attitude. The training sabers were set on low power. A blow would cause a sting, not an injury. Blocks littered the floor to make the ground uneven. The lights were kept at half-power to add to the difficulty. A blow to the neck would declare the winner.
Qui-Gon watched, waiting for Bruck to make his next move. Bruck began to fade to the left. Qui-Gon noted how his hands tightened on his lightsaber. Impatience had always been Bruck's weakness, just as it was Obi- Wan's….
Was his former Padawan's impatience getting him in trouble back on the treacherous world of Melida/Daan?
Too late, Qui-Gon saw the flash of the lightsaber. Bruck had utilized a simple trick, a trick that never should have fooled him. He had reversed direction. The blow came down as Bruck leaped into the air, twisting to come at Qui-Gon's opposite side. The blow missed Qui-Gon's neck by a hair.
Qui-Gon ducked, and took the blow hard on his shoulder. As he staggered, he heard the onlookers gasp.
He'd had enough of this. He was tired of his own inattention. It was time to end it.
Qui-Gon allowed his body to ease into his misstep, fooling Bruck. The boy came at him too eagerly, his balance off. Qui-Gon whirled and attacked.
Bruck stumbled backward, surprised. He flailed at Qui-Gon with his lightsaber. Another mistake. Qui-Gon's
