Attack of the Clones (AU)/Chapter 5

It certainly wasn’t the best idea, being towed on a repulsor board behind a speeder driven by one of the Order’s best pilots, but Padmé really hadn’t thought about all this when she strapped the board to her foot and jumped off. She didn’t even think about it now, all that mattered was she didn’t let this dizzying ordeal overcome her.

More than once she had to twist in different directions so as not to collide with oncoming air-traffic. Fortunately, they were doing their best to stay out of her way which wasn't always a good thing.

Somehow, Anakin managed to get them closer again, so close she could see some of the detail on the green speeder. It wasn’t the best but it would have to do.

“Turn around!” she shouted, hoping Anakin heard her.

Whether he heard her shout or somehow knew what she wanted there was not difference, he put the speeder through a three-point turn whipping her around in an arc. She moved with it, angling her body so she wouldn’t spin as had happened the first time.

Then, at the right moment she pulled free of the cable and the board, using the momentum of Anakin’s turn to dive through the air towards the assassin’s speeder.



“Clear that cable,” Anakin said quietly. “Clear it,” he repeated when Obi-Wan didn’t respond. “It’s dragging us.”

While Obi-Wan clambered over the back seat, Anakin could fully appreciate Padmé’s astonishing leap from the repulsor-board to the assassin’s speeder. And without any hesitation or admonishment from his Master.



The Jedi were still after her. Zam cursed as she put the speeder into a higher gear, wishing she could do away with all of them with that one motion. Her speeder then shuddered violently as if something large had hit it, this was followed by the sounds of sliding and scraping.

She swore again when she saw what slid past the viewport. One of the Jedi! The female who had stopped her first attempt on the senator, and far too close for comfort.

Zam threw the throttle into reverse, smiling as she heard the Jedi slid back over the speeder and to the edge. But not over the edge. She threw the throttle forward again, hearing the Jedi slide back.

She laughed, Jedi or no Jedi, she had the upper hand.



If it was a crazy idea to jump onto the speeder the way she did, it was crazier still to hang onto it while it was moving like this. As she hung from the back the speeder lurched again, she pressed her hands hard into the frame and flipped onto the roof. With her free hand she got out her lightsaber.

The green blade cut into the green durasteel, removing several circuits with the crackle of sparks. She didn’t want to cripple the vehicle but she did need to slow it down.

As she lay on her stomach to sever something more critical the speeder reeled again and Padmé dropped her lightsaber. She was able to catch her weapon in her mouth so she could hold on to one of the holes she had made with both hands.



“I’m going to help her,” Anakin said.

They were right above her now, Padmé had managed to slow the assassin down but that was about it.

“Anakin, she has things under control,” Obi-Wan told him.

“Not now she doesn’t,” Anakin replied.

Obi-Wan looked down to see Padmé hanging on with both hands to the now out of control speeder with her lightsaber in her mouth. What has she done? he wondered.

But there was no time to consider the question as the next moment Anakin stepped over the side of their vehicle and landed next to Padmé below.

“I hate it when he does that,” Obi-Wan muttered, taking the controls.



By the time Anakin had joined her, Padmé had managed to regain some control. She was just about to cut off something else when Anakin landed beside her.

“Anakin, what are you doing here?” she demanded.

“Helping you,” he replied as if the answer was obvious, he stiffened his arm so he could move with the speeder.

“I don’t need—”the speeder collided with an air-taxi, throwing her back until Anakin caught her wrist. “Thanks,” she murmured, then climbed up to lie beside him. “Do you think you can disable this thing?” Anakin nodded. “Good, I’ll give you a few minutes.”

She loosened her grip so she could slid past the cockpit.

Zam had just about had enough of the Jedi, more so given the fact that another had joined the first. Who were they to hang onto her speeder like suicidal maniacs?



A sharp tap on the viewport made her look up. It was the female Jedi, she brandished her lightsaber in her free hand then ignited it. The green blade swang dangerously close to the window, making Zam blink and forget her concentration. Her Clawdite features flashed across her face for a moment.

With the tip of the blade the Jedi then cut a hole in the viewport filling the cockpit with air. Cursing, Zam reached for her blaster pistol, but it was ripped out of her hand and falling out of the hole in the window before she had a proper grip on it. She snarled and swerved the speeder, satisfied when the Jedi slid out of sight.

Suddenly her engines were no longer responding, her readouts said they were losing power for some unknown reason. The other Jedi! she realised as her Clawdite features showed again. She inclined the speeder into a steep dive, pushing the steering all the way down.

If she couldn’t escape alive, neither would the Jedi.