Seraph-class urban landspeeder

"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

The Seraph-class urban landspeeder, commonly referred to as a Flash Speeder, was a small landspeeder used by the Naboo Royal Security Forces, alongside the V-19 landspeeder.

Characteristics


It was actually a slightly modified version of the civilian Seraph-class landspeeder used for street patrol, personnel transport and high-speed pursuit of criminals. The Seraph could easily carry two armed RSF officers to almost any location in Theed within minutes.

Although Naboo was a fairly peaceful planet, it was nonetheless armed, with a single rotating pursuit and defense blaster mounted on the back of the speeder.

The Flash speeder could comfortably seat two people, including the driver, and two more passengers could squeeze into the rear seats. The engines were tuned to give the pilot maximum control in the streets of Naboo and it could use its repulsorlifts to attain a height of two meters, and a maximum speed of 200 kph. the speeder could fly smoothly over Naboo city streets, but became unstable on rocky or rough terrain.

History


The Flash speeder was first introduced three decades before the Invasion of Naboo, when the RSF's Palace Guards suggested a small landspeeder to complement the larger yet less maneuverable Gian Speeder. The Naboo favored the Seraph partly because it shared design elements common with their own vehicles, which were often streamlined with gentle curves.

The Flash Speeders were popular with Theed and was soon also adopted by other Naboo cities like Keren. The Seraph enabled authorities in these cities to patrol narrow streets, pursue criminals and quickly respond to several security situations. Prior to the events of the Invasion of Naboo, the Flash speeders saw very little combat action. Sometimes, they were used to hunt gun runners in the service of Borvo the Hutt or frighten away dangerous wild animals that had intruded city limits.



However, the vehicle's role changed dramatically as a result of the Trade Federation's invasion of the planet. Many of the RSF's Seraph landspeeders were destroyed by the invading Trade Federation's droid forces. Flash speeders were used for reconnaissance missions and to carry messages between resistance cells spread across the planet. These vehicles also allowed Queen Amidala and Captain Panaka to reach Theed's secret tunnels without arousing suspicion.

After the Battle of Naboo, the RSF quickly commissioned more heavily armored variants of the Flash speeder. These landspeeders would continue to be an important component of the RSF motor pool.

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.

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

Appearances

 * Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
 * Star Wars: Battle for Naboo
 * Star Wars: Battlefront
 * The Clone Wars: The Valley
 * Republic Commando: Triple Zero
 * Shadows in the Force
 * Star Wars Galaxies:Jump to Lightspeed
 * Shadows in the Force
 * Star Wars Galaxies:Jump to Lightspeed

Notes and references
Seraph-Klasse Landgleiter Seraph-luokan urbaani maakiituri