Seraph-class urban landspeeder

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"I always thought the Flash speeders were only good for joyriding. Then the Trade Federation invaded and I found out why we keep these green genies around. I just closed my eyes, and the next thing I knew, I was ten kilometers away from Theed."

―RSF lieutenant Gavyn Sykes^[1]

The Seraph-class urban landspeeder, also known as the Flash speeder, was a small landspeeder used by the Naboo Royal Security Forces (RSF).

Description[]

FlashSpeeder ep1ig — Flash speeder schematics

The Seraph-class urban landspeeder was a variant of the Seraph-class landspeeder, which was a civilian model.

The military variant was used by the Royal Naboo Security Forces as a patrol craft and personnel transport. To assist in these duties, the Seraph was armed with a rotating blaster turret positioned on the rear of the vehicle. A single driver operated the Seraph, and up to three passengers could be accommodated in its open-topped interior.

The vehicle's repulsorlift engines allowed it to reach a height of two meters above ground level, and gave the Seraph a maximum speed of 200 kph. Designed for urban environments, the Seraph was suited more to patrolling city streets than traversing uneven terrain.

History[]

Flashspeeder console — A flash speeder console display

Introduced thirty years before the Invasion of Naboo, the Seraph-class urban landspeeder was designed to complement the larger V-19 "Gian" speeder. Members of the RSF had long felt that the Gian Speeder was not maneuverable enough for patrolling in cities, and their suggestions led to the creation of the vehicle. The new craft proved popular with RSF members in the capital city of Theed, and other cities, such as Keren, soon made use of the Seraph.

Seraph-class urban landspeeders saw little combat prior to the Invasion of Naboo, their actions mainly limited to criminal pursuit and officer dispatch. Occasionally, the vehicles were deployed to hunt gun runners in the service of Borvo the Hutt or frighten away wild animals that had intruded city limits.

During the Invasion of Naboo in 32 BBY, many of the Seraph-class vessels in service to the RSF were destroyed by the invading droid forces of the Trade Federation. As resistance cells began to form across the planet, the remaining Seraphs were used to pass messages between cells and for reconnaissance missions. When Queen Padmé Amidala joined forces with the Gungans to ignite the Second Battle of Theed, Seraph landspeeders were used to transport her, Captain Quarsh Panaka, and a strike force to Theed's secret tunnels, allowing them to invade the palace and capture Nute Gunray.

Civilians used an unarmed, unshielded model during the invasion.

Following the Battle of Naboo, heavily armored variants of the Seraph were commissioned and added to the RSF motor pool.

By 21 BBY, the Separatist terrorist Perrive possessed a Flash Speeder which was finally stolen by Kal Skirata and Walon Vau after his death during the Mission to Coruscant.^[7]

During the early days of the Galactic Civil War, several RSF Seraph landspeeders mysteriously disappeared only to resurface later in the hands of the fledgling Rebel Alliance.^[1]

Behind the scenes[]

Seraph-class urban landspeeders first appeared in 1999 with the release of Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace.

The speeder was also in the 2001 video game Star Wars: Episode I: Battle for Naboo.

A Flash speeder deed was a special pre-order reward from GameStop when pre-ordering the Jump to Lightspeed expansion for Star Wars Galaxies. Other than its unique appearance, it was like any other vehicle in-game in terms of performance. It did, however, have an ability to be quickly re-granted in-game using a special command in case your current speeder had been destroyed.