All right, we are nearing the climatic confrontation of Arc 1.

"I suppose I should apologize." Semreh began, explaining his plan. Every Jedi, Palace guard, and Handmaiden was assembled around him. They'd need every able bodied man and woman for this, but if it worked…

"I sorta stole this idea from the Naboo security plan for the Queen." He pointed at the map of Theed before them. "Now, the Imperials will expect us to try and escape alone the path of least resistance. And that's here." He pointed at the street to the left of the palace. "The idea being that we circle around their force and attempt to escape in the Royal hanger."

Semreh drew a path with his finger, tracing the path that they should, in theory anyways, take. It was a narrow street that cut to the left of the palace gate and continued around the plaza in a wide detour and ended on the other side, at the royal hanger.

The center street, the most direct towards the hanger, was filled with troopers, and therefore a deathtrap for escape. However, there were less guarding the side street.

"However, no doubt the Imperials have realized this and are waiting. As soon as we leave, I suspect tanks and troops would pursue us."

"A logical conclusion padawan." Sha Koon agreed. "So the obvious problem…"

"Is making sure said pursuers are occupied." Bant finished. "So, a diversion?"

"Yes." Semreh nodded.

"Really?" Hanna groaned, looking at him. "A diversion? That's the best we can come up with. What makes you think they'll take the bait?"

"Because, we are going to make it very, very realistic." Semreh answered confidently. "We'll send half our Jedi, every vehicle we can spare, and the Chasers down that street, along with a decoy of the Queen. It'll be a mobile convoy of speeders, a target the tanks couldn't possibly miss. Plus, by sending at least part of the Jedi, we add a bit of believability to the ruse." He traced a second path, this one straight up the center of the plaza.

"Once the tanks and troopers have taken the bait, the Queen, her handmaidens, and the remaining Jedi and RSF units will punch straight through the middle of any remaining resistance, moving on foot to the hanger. Logically," Semreh shrugged. "Well, if the decoy convoy creates enough trouble, then, even on foot, they should reach the hanger before any Imperials."

"Yes." Sha Koon murmured. "A good plan, but it all relies on the diversion convoy drawing off the tanks. All the tanks. There are at least three out there you know."

"I know." Semreh continued. "But perhaps the particle cannon will help solve that particular problem. As long as it stays on line long enough to cover the Queen's escape, then this plan will succeed."

He emphasized the word will, trying to get across to the group that this was their do-or-die moment. If they failed and all died, the rebellion would probably die with them. If they died, the Jedi Order may die with them as well. If they died…everything they believe in died. Naboo would fall, and the Jedi Order would lose more members that it just couldn't afford to waste.

"Now, let's split into teams." Sha Koon commanded. "The Decoy team will consist of Semreh, Elena, Halber, Lena, and Hanna, along with any RSF you can gather, and speeders that are still working."

Semreh started slightly. Most of the masterless padawans were in that group. Sha Koonattempting to keep them aliveby giving them the least dangerous job? Or a strategic sacrifice meant to keep those with most of the knowledge of the Jedi Order alive? Either way, it didn't matter. Semreh could understand the decision. The best Jedi would have to guard the actual Queen.

Semreh nodded, resting his right hand on the blaster in his belt. "We'll keep the Imps busy."He turned to the rest of the padawans, RSF officers, and Chasers that would make up their decoy convoy. Fless and Sten looked calm, as if this was something they did on a regular basis…and Semreh supposed that was true. Protecting, bodyguard work…that was what the Shield Chasers were all about.

Elena looked eager to get going, and was stretching and pacing. She looked like some type of predator ready for a hunt. Halberwas leaning against a wall, pressing his forehead to his repeating rifle, in an almost meditative stance. Lena was examining her lightsaber behind him, and whispered something to him that made him grin slightly. Hanna had ignited her own saber, and was passing it from hand to hand, going through all the preparations as if it were a padawan tournament back at the Temple.

On the other side of the room, the Queen was speaking to one of her handmaidens, a woman named Dabe, who would provide the illusion that the Queen was escaping for the Decoy convoy. She looked very similar, and would be hard to distinguish from the Queen on the battlefield. More importantly, she could shoot, which would come in handy when the convoy had to shoot its way out of trouble.

"Shoot our way out of trouble."Semreh thought with grim humor. "Yeah, right."

The only plausible escape plan for the decoys would be to make a break for the outside of the city and the countryside. Maybe then, Semreh and the Chasers could set up some kind of resistance group or something. Either way, the Queen would escape, and Sha Koon could take command of the resistance. Maybe finally, Semreh could get some rest.

He knew he was being foolish, but was it too much to ask.


The Arrow fell out of hyperspace like a stone that had gently plopped into a river. Of course, if that was true, it was a river filled with piranhas, and sharks. Somehow, that analogy did not compare to the rather impressive string of curses that Sonya let off when their ship appeared among a ring of three Star Destroyers.

"The Imps are already here!?" Scout exclaimed, bracing herself in her seat. "Where's Semreh's comlink signal? Is it still in system?"

"Checking…" Sonya murmured, her hands flying over the Arrow'sconsole. A second later, she looked up, nodding her head. "Yeah, but you're not gonna like this." She brought up a holoprojector of the planet and its surrounding orbit. The three Star Destroyers hung, suspended like daggers in a puppet show, their weapons trained at the planet.

"We should be able to slip by them." Sonya explained, already angling their ship so it would slide beneath the ships. "But his signature is coming from Theed which, if the Imperial's com chatter is right, is where all the heavy action is taking place. Plus, getting back out could be a problem, as they're trying to stop ships from escaping."

Scout leaned back against the wall of the Arrow's cockpit, imagining what running a blockade like that would do to their ship. She was weighing the odds, and they didn't look good.

"Oh boy." She thought, strapping herself into the copilot seat. "Why couldn't I be born a Corellian?"

But aloud she only murmured. "Lock onto Semreh's signature and take us down."


Semrehwas ready, as were the rest of Decoy squad. Waiting just outside the palace were five Flash speeders, each able to hold eight people, though they would be squished. Bravo Squadron would take the leading two speeders, while Semreh, Elena, Halber, Lena, Tara and Hanna took the third speeder, plus the two Chasers, making a point of protecting the decoy queen Dabe.

They'd fly down the streets, flashing their lightsabers like idiots and causing as much chaos as possible. Hopefully, they'd be able to make it down the street and be off, drawing the stormtroopers and their tanks down there. Then, once the line of stormtroopers was thinner, the Queen and her bodyguards would punch down the main street and rush as quickly as they could to the hanger.

The main idea was to keep the tanks occupied in the twisting side street long enough for the Queen to make it to the hanger and take off. However, even if the Decoy squad could only delay them a short time, hopefully the side street would be a long enough detour to provide the Queen with enough of a head start to make it there first. Either way, the Queen escapes.

"And we die."Semreh thought grimly, looking at his fellow Jedi. Across the way, the rest of the Jedi looked sullen and even a little sad. Semrehcouldn't help but get the feeling that they had wanted this job. After all, death would be nothing compared to having to live in hiding the rest of your life. Still, Semrehhad a strong desire to live, if only long enough to see his rebellion take fruit.

"Padawan Semreh, come here."

Semreh turned, and saw Master Sha Koon standing cross armed before the large double doors of the palace. She had a sad look in her eyes as the rest of the Decoy team gathered, in a single file line in front of the front door.

Semreh expected some speech about dying for the Jedi and the Republic. For justice…or something. Instead, all Master Koon whispered was, "Thank you."

She bowed her head and stepped aside, flinging open the door with the Force. With a roar, Semreh stepped out, igniting his lightsaber, and the battle was on.


Seth surveyed the battle from his perch atop one of the buildings of the main plaza. It was far to tall and steep for any normal trooper to climb, and he may have been drawing a little too much attention to himself. Still, he could see everything from up there, and the cool breeze felt good when he took off his helmet. At least, one of his helmets.

Below him, the stormtroopers were trying desperately to make their way through a large platoon of RSF officers, trying to make their way to the console controlling the particle cannon no doubt. They were having trouble. The RSF had the advantage of terrain, elevation, and firepower. Of course, the RSF units couldn't move beyond the range of the particle cannon, or else risk being flanked and destroyed by the better trained and more numerous stormtroopers.

So, it was a stalemate. At least, it was as long as that cannon was in the way. Seth watched emotionlesslyas another squad of hapless troopers tried to rush the cannon and was beaten back by a wave of blasterfire. Finally, he let out a sigh and placed his helmet back onto his head.

"Well, I suppose the most logical step is to destroy that cannon first." He said to himself with a sigh. "Otherwise, entering the palace will become that much more complicated."

Stepping out, he braced his feet on the side of the building and leaned forward, clutching the side of the edge with his hands. Below him, the RSFtroopers were unaware of his presence. Then, Seth let go, somersaulting through the air twice like a hawkbat. The fall was long, at least a hundred feet. Using the Force, Seth slowed his descent ever so slightly, and landed, almost silently, within the circle of RSF troopers manning the cannon console.

There were six troopers total, all of them surrounding the console. One who happened to be looking at him at the time gaped for a moment before Seth reached out with a lightning quick hand, grasping the man's neck and, oh so gently, pushing him over the edge of the balcony. The troopers who had been flanking the falling guard turned in surprise, drawing their side arms, but Seth's spun sideways through the air, catching one in the head with the side of his foot in an upward kick while other he grabbed by the ankle.

Seth jerked the ankle sharply as he stood up, throwing the man off balance. As the guards arms waved desperately, Seth reached out and gently squeezed the trigger of his blaster, sending two bolts into two other guards as the blaster wind milled. Lifting the man up by his ankle, he swung the man into the trooper manning the console before he even realized what was happening. The collapsed in a huddle, falling down the steps.

Seth pulled out one of the thermal detonators at his stormtrooper belt, setting the timer and jamming it into a mass of wires and fragile electronic components. He ran, taking cover on the other side of the staircase as flame enveloped the area, burning any of the unconscious RSF troopers left on the balcony to charred hunks of meat.

As the flames died down, Seth saw a wave of stormtroopers steadily advancing, cutting down the RSF officers as they did. They were emboldened now by the sudden cease of fire from the cannon. The RSF rout was imminent, and, according to Seth's calculations, now was when the Queen would attempt to escape. And Seth would be waiting.

Approaching the leading squad of troopers, Seth wordlessly jerked his head towards the palace entrance, where the RSFseemed to be forming a skirmish line. The commander nodded, murmuring something in an awestruck voice about an amazing capture. With a wave of his hand, the stormtroopers began attacking, engaging the RSF line before it could fully form up.

Seth wordlessly approached one of them, a stormtrooper carrying a long barreled sniper rifle. The stormtrooper did nothing, simply waiting calmly. Then, Seth grabbed the stock, yanking it out of his hands. The trooper protested angrily, but a single raised palm shut him up as Seth continued up to the balcony he'd just cleared. It was the easiest position from which to snipe, even if it did now smell like burned meat and hair.

He set up, resting the barrel of the weapon on the railing of the balcony. And just in time. A second later, there was a loud hiss. No, not loud. Almost quiet, but there were several of them, making them sound like a nest of dangerous reptiles gone frenzied. Seth turned his rifle to face the noise.

There, standing in the palace gate, surrounded by Naboo's only reserveguard, the palace guards, were four Jedi. They were children. The oldest couldn't possibly be past his early twenties, and the youngest looked six or seventeen. They and the palace guard gave a roar, and a flare of energy rose up as the RSF and palace guards surged forward, making their way towards a convoy of speeders waiting near the wall. They fired on the stormtroopers, briefly beating them back with their desperation.

It provided the Jedi and the Queen to escape into the convoy of speeders. They gave short jerks, and then shot off, their twin repulsorlifts burning jets down a nearby street before the stormtroopers could stop them. They burst through the thin line, keeping their heads down as they did so the blaster bolts merely splashed against the speeders armored hulls.

However, they didn't get away clean. All three of the repulsor tanks jerked into action, moving with a speed that matched even the tiny speeders, and were in hot pursuit with several squads of stormtroopers in tow. Too many stormtroopers. In the confusion of battle, even the clones were a little disoriented. They had left only a few squads behind to hold the plaza.

Reaching out to the Force, Seth felt its currents, its ebbs, its flows, and suddenly, everything was clear. It was a diversion. A clumsy gambit by the Queen to escape. Still, with the particle cannon destroyed, perhaps it would be much easier. Readying his rifle, Seth waited, atop the balcony, for his prey.


Semreh usually knew when a plan of his went wrong. In fact, he knew the exact moment it went wrong. In the case of the Decoy convoy, it was the moment all three TX-130T fighter tanks turned down the street. Admittedly, that had been the whole point of their convoy, but success wasn't making Semreh feel any better in this case.

The TX-130T fighter tank was the pinnacle of light tank technology. Fast, agile, and exceptionally heavy when it came to armor and armaments, it was the tank of choice for Jedi commanders. Semrehhimself had fought a battle from the turret of one of them, and knew they were very effective. They had a crew of three; pilot, copilot, and a beam turret gunner.

Armed with heavy plate along their sloping fronts, the tanks could outlast most enemies while their twin laser cannons and proton torpedo launchers mounted on either side tore the enemy apart. Atop the hatch, there was also beam turret with three hundred sixty degree line of sight, stopping any enemies from boarding. In speed, they were a match for the Flash speeders, and unlike the open cockpit Flash speeders, their only real weak point was their bottom, where the unarmored repulsorlifts propelled it.

"Oh, wonderful." Elena growled as one of the rearguard speeders suddenly exploded into flame. "Maybe next time you can just line us up in front of an Imperial firing squad." She looked at him expectantly. "Well?"

Another explosion, and the final speeder between them and the tanks disappeared, reduced to a couple rumpled bodies and ash. "Well what?" Semreh snapped back.

"You're the idea guy!" She shouted, slapping the back of his head with an open palm. "So, you have anything yet?"

Semreh rubbed the back of his head, watching the tanks as they tried to get a lock on their speeder. At the controls, Fless was growling and cursing, trying rather desperately to stay out of the tanks sights.

Behind them, the tanks were arranged in a long column, unable to fully spread out in the narrow streets due to their bulk. Semreh looked at them, a little distressed. Then, he had an idea.

"Fless, keep driving!" He ordered sharply, grabbing Halber by the cuff of his tunic and pulling him to his feet. They were standing at full height now and Semreh pulled his lightsaber from his belt, ordering Halber to do the same. The lead tank was only thirty feet from them now.

"Okay," The red haired Chaser said, keeping his eyes on the road. "But what are you-"

Semreh didn't catch the rest of his question because, at that moment, he had leapt forward with a Force propelled leap, dragging an annoyed Halber with him, and landing on the front of the tank with a metallic thud. Halber, still gaping from the shock of having jumped thirty feet onto the front of a tank from the back of a moving speeder, rolled to the side as the beam turret on top of the tank sliced towards him, nearly taking his head with it.

Halber continued rolling, letting himself fall off the edge and cling to the bottom of the tank so the ground rushing below him was a mere foot from his back. Leaping forward, Semreh ignited his lightsaber, lashing out with it so it burned a neat hole through the front of the stormtrooper's helmet. The trooper fell back into his tank wordlessly and the beamed stopped.

"This is such a stupid reckless idea!" Halber exclaimed, pulling himself up. "What could have possibly possessed you to think this was a good idea?"

"Hey, they stopped firing." Semreh shot back with a shrug. A second later, a thud on the hull of the tank caused him to spin, almost scything through Elena, who had leapt from the speeder to the front of the tank.

"This is the best idea you've ever come up with!" She grinned in delight, already igniting her yellow saber. "What's next?"

Halber groaned, and pulled himself up from the tank's side. Then, a flash of light. Halber dashed forward, his saber arching inches past Semreh's head, intercepting the bolt that had been burning towards it, and sending it hurtling back towards its owner, a stormtrooperwho had climbed up, out of the turret to remove them. The trooper fell back, his blaster clattering against the armored hull of the tank, a neat hole smoking from his helmet's eye socket.

"You stay here. Try to burn your way inside." Semreh said without hesitation, as if nothing had happened. "We'll take out the other two tanks."

Elena gave a cheerful nod and began walking up the tanks sloped front towards its rear. A second later, the tank jerked harshly and she almost lost her balance, landing in Halber's arms. Her fellow Jedi steadied her, pushing her upright even as he began burning through the front armor of the tank with his green saber. It would take a while. After all, these tanks were made to resist cannons.

The tank driver was now jerking crazily, trying to throw them off now that both his copilot and gunner were dead. Somehow, it was still keeping up with the convoy, and Semreh saw that the speeder they'd just leapt from was in its sights. Semreh tossed Halber a small concussion grenade from his belt, telling him to use that once he was through, then followed Elena to the rear of the tank.

Elena and Semreh crept towards the top of the tank, trying to stay out of sight of the next tank in line. By now, the others realized something was wrong and were backing off. Their gunners on their beam turrets were alert and waiting. Still, there was no point in turning back now. Either they stopped these tanks, or the convoy was as good as gone.

"It's quite the jump." Elena murmured to herself. A brief look of doubt slid across her face.

"We'll try it." Semreh said confidently.

"Do," Elena chastised with a slick grin. "Or do not. There is no try."

Semreh scowled. The last thing he needed right now was a Yoda quote. "Just jump." He growled, and they leapt.

He felt Elena following him, a tornado of Force energy lifting them up. The kept their saber unignited, careful to not injure each other as they flipped through the air. Then, as suddenly as they'd risen, they plunged downward, hitting the front of the tank. They tucked into rolls to minimize the impact, rising up with sabers flashing. Semreh immediately plunged his own wand of blue flame into the tanks front, the smell of ozone burning his lungs as it chewed through the durasteel front. To his left, he heard a yelp of surprise, followed by a scream as Elena dealt with the gunner.

"Why not just go in through the hatch?" She asked, opening it enthusiastically. She jerked her head back as a blast of plasma energy shot out, nearly burning through her skull. "Okay." She said, resealing the hatch. "That's why."

"We need to cut through to the electronics." Semreh yelled over the roaring wind. "Ideally, we'd hit the bottom of the tank, but at these speeds…"

"Got it." Elena agreed, still on guard against any troopers planning to ambush them from below. "Cut a hole, drop a grenade. Can't be har-"

The tank slid under her feet, causing Elena to stumble violently. Her arms windmilled and it looked for a second like she might fall. She was only saved by a desperate Force grip from Semreh that caught her arm in a vice and pulled her back on.

"I've got it." She protested, shaking his grip off.

Semreh wordlessly returned to the front armor of the tanks sloped front, pressing his lightsaber deeper into its thick metal. It was slow going. The metal around the fiery blade was fraying, turning to molten slag from the sheer heat, but creating a hole large enough to break through would probably take another thirty seconds; thirty seconds they didn't have. Behind him, there was a metallic scraping sound, followed by a muffled yell and a blaster shot.

Elena was having troubles of her own. One of the stormtroopers had hauled himself out of the top hatch, and was grappling with a somehow lightsaber-less Elena. Semreh saw it a few lying feet from himself, but had to focus all his energy and skill into penetrating the tanks hull, leaving her to trade punches and jabs with the trooper alone.

Finally, Semreh was through. There was a book sized rectangular cut in the front, large enough for Semreh to slip the grenade inside. At that moment though, Semreh was forced to pause. They had given a lot of thought and effort into destroying the tank, but still hadn't actually thought out how to get back to their convoy.

A second later, the tank in front of them dropped, an explosion puffing its armor out, making it look like an overinflated spine collared toad. It dropped with a thud, its bottom screeching against the ground as its repulsorlifts died. Semreh glimpsed Halber leaping away from the burning tank, his robes charred, but otherwise looking unhurt. He landed gracefully back on the Flash speeder, holding on for dear life even as he looked back at the destruction he'd caused.

Elena was now rolling on the ground, her neck in the grip of the trooper, but she was ramming his side with a continuous flurry of hits, making the already winded trooper gasp with pain. As he leaned back, trying to catch his breathe, Elena brought her elbow up into his nose, bloodying it. The trooper released her neck, and now Elena was on top of him, her hands clasped around his throat. There was a wild look in her eye as she began choking the life out of the trooper.

Beneath Semreh's feet, the tank jerked wildly, dodging to the left of the disabled tank. For a moment, the port side repulsorlifts of the tank were pushing them off the walls of the streets buildings. Semreh held on tight, his arms straining against the force of gravity, before the armored vehicle finally settled out on the straight street again. Semreh couldn't help but admire the driver's skill.

Behind them, the third tank had also made it through and was, judging from how its powerful cannons were aimed, preparing to destroy the tank Elena and Semreh were riding. This, in and of itself, was not a problem. After all, that was why they'd leapt atop the tank to begin with; to destroy it. However, there was the small problem of them being on it, and the danger that posed to them.

A blast of heat singed his head, pulling out of his thoughts. He turned, drawing his own blaster. Elena had finally finished the man she'd been fighting, having removed an arm with her saber before pushing him towards the edge. The stormtrooper had, in a last ditch effort, drawn his blaster, squeezing of a shot at Semreh before hitting the hard pavement below.

Elena turned, worry on her face. She looked him over, saw he wasn't hurt, then stumbled as the tank jerked under their feet, involuntarily bucking from the cannon blasts fired from the third tank. Semreh looked around and saw Fless, still at the controls of their speeder, slowing down until he was just within jumping distance.

"Go!" Semreh yelled, yanking the detonator off the grenade in his hand. She obeyed, taking two steps then, making an outstretched jump for the speeder. She caught it, her legs rattling against the ground as Lena and Hanna pulled her up.

Semreh took the hand holding the grenade and shoved it into the molten hole. He was about to release it when he felt something catch his fist. He looked down and saw a helmeted head staring up at him with an eyeless visor. The clone pilot, deciding he wasn't going down alone, had grabbed Semreh's hand, forcing him to hold onto the ticking grenade. Semreh pulled desperately, fear gripping his chest as he felt the pulsing energy in the grenade, but the clone held on fiercely.

Semreh then made one finally pull, and, with a decisive jerk, gritted his teeth and pulled both his and the clone's hand into the white hot metal side of the hole he'd made. They both gave yelps of pain, and the clone let go, even as Semreh dropped the grenade from his injured hand and turned, leaping through the air just as it went off, propelling him forward with easily triple the force he'd intended.

He spun once, twice, three times, somersaulting like a wild, untrained gymnast. He glimpsed Fless beneath him, staring opened mouthed at him as he flew up and over his target.

"This is it." He thought helplessly. "I'm going to die, hitting the pavement. After all this…" He felt his arc fall, and bend towards the ground. He closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable impact.

There was an impact, and it certainly didn't feel good to Semreh, but it also didn't feel lethal. Cracking an eye with a groan, Semreh looked around. He was in the crowded Flash speeder with Elena, Halber, and the rest of them.

"You are so lucky I'm a good driver." Fless said from the front seat, eyes still carefully watching the road.

"I hope you have a few good ideas." Tara exclaimed, her voice rising in panic. "Because there's another tank on our tail!"

They all turned, and sure enough, there was the final fighter tank plowing through the smoke and remains of the other tank. Its own cannons must have disintegrated the fighter tank Semreh had disabled, and it was hot on their trails. Semreh leaned back, sighing and closing his eyes.

"What are you doing!?" Sten yelled from the passenger seat.

"Give me a second." He murmured, thinking, meditating. "Trying to figure out a way out of this."

There was a roar and the Flash speeder was twisting and dodging again, trying to let the bolts pass them rather than burn into their thin hull. One blast could kill them all and, although moving too quickly to be hit by one of the heavy proton torpedoes, even Fless was coming uncomfortably to close to the laser blasts.

One of said blasts finally hit them, striking the right r`epulsor engine and burning it off. Fless cursed and the whole speeder cried out as it dipped to the right. Lena, sitting on the right edge of the speeder, was grabbed by Hanna and pulled suddenly out of the way as the speeder's right side began ramming into the buildings, even as Fless tried to wrestle it away.

Sten wordlessly got out of the passenger seat and leaned the lower half of his body out of the speeder, bracing his legs between it and the wall they were scraping against. With a roar, he pushed off, knocking the speeder away from the wall, but his legs were out of it now. For a moment, he seemed to be running besides the speeder, his feet barely touching the ground. Then, he pulled himself back up and into his seat.

The tank was on them now, and the pilot was obviously savoring the kill. Its cannons lowered, targeting the open canopy where they were all seated. One torpedo was all it would take.

Then, Semreh had an idea.

"Cut the engines." He ordered sharply.

"Wha-" Fless protested, but Semreh had already reached forward and, with a simple push of the Force, turned off the Flash speeder. For a second, it felt as though they were silently flying through the air.

Then they dropped, hitting the cobblestone road. Sparks flew as their speeder's bottom was slid along the ground. Behind them, the tank had fired, but the sudden drop caused its shots to go over their heads, barely missing them.

Without a glance or even change of expression from his determined face, Semreh sent a pulse through the Force to his fellow padawans and grabbed his lighsaber with his uninjured left hand. As one, Elena, Halber, Lena, and Hanna each ignited their lightsabers alongside Semreh. Wondrous lights of blue, green and yellow rose up, held high in the air even as Semreh ordered them all to get down.

Their Flash speeder, now at a significantly lower altitude (that is, no altitude) was quickly slowing as a result of the friction exerted on it by the ground. The tank, still hovering a foot or two or three above the ground, caught up to them quickly, far too quickly for the bewildered pilot to brake. It shot forward, its front rising up and over the Flash speeder, taking said speeders rear mounted cannon with it. However, the passengers, all of which had ducked down into their seats, were unharmed as the bottom of the tank flew mere feet above their heads.

The same could not be said for the bottom of the speeder. Its repulsorlifts were no longer pushing off the ground. Rather, they were pushing the tank up and over the speeder and, more importantly, over its passengers. Unfortunately for it and its pilots, it was not high enough to avoid their lightsabers.

One lighsaberslashing through the unarmored bottom of a tank, where its lifts were located, was bad and sure to cause bantha's worth of damage. Two was worse, and three was an almost definite kill. However, all five of the padawan's lightsabers had cut through the bottom, like a set of spikes, and gutted its bottom. The tank continued for a few yards, wobbled, and then fell with a loud screech of metal and dust.

Silence. Then, Semreh heaved a loud sigh of relief.

"THAT WAS AWESOME!" Elena yelled, pumping the air with her fist and grabbing a shaken Halber by the shoulder. She was practically dancing and high-fived an equally jubilant Tara.

"Let's get out of here." Halber murmured to Fless.

"Yeah." Fless agreed, equally shaken, already revving up their damaged speeder. "We-We should catch up to the rest of the convoy."

The Flash speeder rose with a small whir, then, still listing to the right, sped around the tank, and limped the street.

I thought this turned out well. Pretty much listened to chase scene music throught the whole thing. Anyways, please read and review.