Yes, Bruck had learned well from Xanatos.
"I was always better than you," Bruck taunted him. "Now I am even stronger."
But Obi-Wan knew that he, too, was stronger. Thanks to Qui-Gon he was a smarter fighter, cooler, with better strategy.
As long as I don't give in to my anger.
Obi-Wan remembered how Qui-Gon had pointed out that in the battle on the platform, Xanatos had subtly kept them away from what he was trying to conceaclass="underline" the airspeeder. Now Obi-Wan wondered if the apprentice had learned from the Master: was Bruck pushing him back slowly in order to keep him away from seeing Bant?
With a great leap, Obi-Wan suddenly launched an offensive. His furious blows sent Bruck backward, and he kept up the assault, driving him down the path. Sweat poured from his body as he swung the lightsaber in a ceaseless motion, attacking Bruck from all sides.
The highest waterfall loomed ahead. Normally the cascading water flowed into a deep pool, but since Miro had turned off all systems, the waterfall was dry.
But the pool was not. Obi-Wan felt his heart stop as he glimpsed a flash of a lighter blue underneath the deep sapphire of the water. Bant's tunic! His fear threatened to choke him, but he willed it to calm. He drove Bruck before him relentlessly until they reached the edge of the pool.
Bant lay on the bottom. Her ankle was securely chained to a heavy anchor. Obi-Wan felt relief course through him as tiny bubbles rose to the surface of the water. She was still alive.
Bant could last underwater for long periods of time, but she needed oxygen to breathe. How long had she been under?
"She doesn't look too good, does she?" Bruck remarked as he took advantage of Obi-Wan's distraction to administer a two-handed blow toward his midsection.
Obi-Wan raised his lightsaber and deflected the blow. As he staggered from the impact, he screamed Bant's name, calling on the Force to help him reach her.
Her eyelids opened slowly. She blinked. But she seemed to barely register his presence. Her eyes closed again.
Hold on, Bant!
But Obi-Wan did not feel an answer. Her living Force was ebbing. He could feel it. Bant would die.
"That's right, Obi-Wan," Bruck taunted him. "Bant is dying. I won't have to do a thing. I'll just make you watch it. We would have freed her if we got the treasure. But another person will die because of you. Right in front of your eyes. Just like your friend Cerasi. I overheard the other Jedi talk about how you failed her."
At the sound of Cerasi's name, something shattered inside Obi-Wan. The composure he'd fought for was gone now. He attacked Bruck in a fury, not caring about strategy or finesse.
Startled, Bruck backed up the hill that formed the waterfall. It was a rocky slope, the footing treacherous. Ruthlessly, Obi-Wan pressed Bruck, driving him up, keeping him off-balance. Their lightsabers tangled.
Obi-Wan's arm muscles ached as he swung with all his might with each stroke.
He felt clumsy in Garen's too-small boots.
Bruck reached the top of the hill. He took the opportunity to plant his feet and swing down at Obi-Wan, aiming for his chest. Obi-Wan twisted as he parried the blow. His foot slipped on the mossy rocks and he landed on one knee. Pain sliced through him, followed by fear.
If he lost this battle, Bant would die.
Still on one knee, Obi-Wan managed to deflect Bruck's thrusts. But he had allowed anger to pierce his heart — deadly for such an intense battle.
The muscle weakness he had felt outside Tahl's quarters returned. He could barely keep the lightsaber moving in order to counteract Bruck's blows. He tried to use the Force again, but it proved as slippery as the moss-covered rocks.
"Good move, Oafy-Wan," Bruck sneered.
Bruck had given him that nickname when they were students in the Temple, making fun of his growing legs and his occasional misstep during training.
At the memory of Bruck's cruelty, a sudden passion for vengeance rose in Obi-Wan. Bruck's cruelty had once been petty. Now it was dangerous.
Xanatos had made Bruck a killer.
Boiling anger blurred his vision. He hated Bruck as he had hated no living creature. Anger drove out the Force completely, leaving him in a vacuum that he filled with his rage. The rage united with his fear and panic and created a dark cloud that threatened to overtake him completely.
Bruck saw the change in his eyes. His own pale blue eyes flashed with cruel satisfaction. He planted both hands on the hilt of the lightsaber and raised it high.
In that split second, Obi-Wan saw the seeds of his own defeat.
This is the moment. The very worst time is the time you must follow the Code.
Cast away your doubt, Padawan. Let the Force enter you.
Obi-Wan raised his saber. He let his anger and fear move through him, exhaling them in a breath. He reached inside and found his center of calm.
Bruck's lightsaber came down, and he blocked it. But his diversion had cost him. He struggled to the lip of the hill and gained it just as Bruck's next blow fell. Obi-Wan parried the strike, but did not have the balance to counterattack. It didn't matter. He had regained his calm. He could regain his footing. He knew now that he could defeat Bruck.
But Bruck was equally certain of victory. Obi-Wan's fall and his unsteady footwork had con- vinced him that the battle was his. Bruck's flaw had always been overconfidence when he thought he was on the verge of winning….
Obi-Wan circled around Bruck, forming a new strategy. He bounded from a rock and flipped over Bruck so that he was behind him. He just needed a moment to check his chrono so that Bruck would not notice.
Miro was shutting down the system for twelve minutes. He had about eleven seconds until Miro began powering up the different systems, one by one. First, security. Then the water systems would resume.
Obi-Wan moved forward, pushing Bruck back toward the dry bed of the waterfall. He made sure to continue to block Bruck's blows and retaliate, but weakened his stroke slightly. He still wanted Bruck overconfident.
"Getting tired, Oafy-Wan? Don't worry. It won't be long before I finish you off."
Out of the corner of his eye, Obi-Wan saw the red security light beam on the service console. The water would be next.
Bruck's ponytail whipped around as he whirled, attacking Obi-Wan from the left. Instead of blocking the blow, Obi-Wan stepped aside so that Bruck's momentum would send him into the dry waterfall bed.