Palpatine's speeder joined with the heavy traffic in the sky, and for a moment, he felt safe. However, his relief was short-lived as he spotted a speeder manoeuvring through the congestion, closing in on him with alarming speed.

  The guard piloting the speeder executed a sharp dive to a lower altitude, but the Terminator mirrored the move. They attempted to shake off their pursuer, but Palpatine's speeder lacked the necessary speed. Suddenly, the Terminator caught up, slamming into the side of Palpatine's vehicle with a violent clash.

  The guard fired at the Terminator, hitting the side of its speeder. The impact caused the Terminator to swerve sharply, and it crashed into the side of Palpatine's vehicle once more.

  A massive cargo ship loomed before them. Palpatine's speeder narrowly swerved to avoid collision, the guard's expert piloting saving them from disaster. Heart racing, Palpatine glanced behind, hoping the Terminator had been lost in the heavy traffic. His relief was short-lived as the relentless machine emerged from behind another speeder, still in hot pursuit.

  As the Terminator closed in, it unexpectedly leaped from its vehicle, vanishing from view. A loud thud resonated from the roof of Palpatine's speeder—the Terminator had landed atop their vehicle. Palpatine could hear it moving about overhead.

  One of Palpatine's guards leaned out to fire at the Terminator, managing a few blasts before being suddenly yanked through the side window. A moment later, the guard's body was hurled into the distance, spinning away into the bustling traffic of vehicles zipping through the sky.

  The guard piloting the speeder shouted to Palpatine to hold on as he flipped the vehicle inverted in a desperate attempt to throw the Terminator off the top.

  Now flying upside down, the speeder narrowly swerved past another vehicle. Suddenly, a fist punched through the side window, and the Terminator seized the guard. Struggling to control the vehicle while in the machine's grip, the guard desperately reached for his blaster. In a swift motion, he managed to grab the weapon and fire point-blank at the Terminator's face.

  The Terminator’s head recoiled with the impact but still managed to cling to the side of the speeder. However, the Terminator had taken damage, and part of its face was missing, exposing a gleaming metal skull and a menacing glowing red eye.

  The Terminator swivelled its head to face Palpatine, who clung to the back seat for dear life as the speeder righted itself. The Terminator leaned halfway through the window, raising its plasma rifle and taking aim at Palpatine. Just then, the guard piloting the speeder veered sharply to the left. The sudden maneuver caused the machine's shot to go wide, narrowly missing Palpatine by mere inches and leaving a smoking hole in the back seat.

  The pilot fired a few more shots at the Terminator, but the machine reacted with lightning speed. It grabbed the guard, twisting his neck with a sickening snap. As the guard's lifeless body slumped, the Terminator attempted to climb into the speeder. Suddenly, the vehicle, now without a pilot, careened out of control and slammed into a nearby vehicle. The impact sent the speeder into a wild spin as it plummeted towards the ground below.

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  Palpatine used the Force to create a protective shield around him just as the speeder violently crashed into the ground. The screeching of metal filled the air, and sparks flew from the sides of the vehicle.

  The speeder came to an abrupt, violent halt as it crashed into a barrier. Palpatine wrestled with the speeder's door as he tried to escape. Finally, he managed to wrench it open and stumble out, his legs unsteady beneath him. Still dazed from the crash, he looked around, but the Terminator was nowhere in sight.

  Palpatine sat on the floor, his mind racing. Who was this attacker? Why was there an assassination attempt on his life? Through the Force, he sensed Anakin was also in danger from a similar assailant. He focused on his hatred, sharpening his connection to the dark side.

  Suddenly, he felt a presence behind him. Instinctively, Palpatine spun around, activating his lightsaber. In one swift motion, he sliced off the Terminator's arm as it reached for him. The severed metal limb clattered to the ground, its fingers still twitching.

  The damaged Terminator, now grotesque with remnants of flesh hanging off its metal skeleton, unleashed a barrage of shots at Palpatine. Reacting quickly, Palpatine deflected the incoming shots with his lightsaber. However, while focused on the laser fire, the Terminator spun around and landed a powerful kick on him, sending him sprawling backward.

  Palpatine lay on the ground as the Terminator advanced, its metallic skull resembling the one from his vision. He searched for his lightsaber, knowing he could summon it with the Force, but it was too far away—by the time he retrieved it, the relentless machine would be upon him.

  Palpatine's options dwindled as he faced the relentless cyborg. Suddenly, rage consumed him, pure hatred filled him. He refused to be bested by a machine. He was a Sith Lord. With a snarl, he thrust his hands forward, unleashing a surge of Force lightning from his fingertips. The crackling energy engulfed the Terminator, causing it to convulse violently on the floor.

  Palpatine rose from the ground, a mixture of surprise and exhilaration coursing through him. He had only heard of Force lightning but never mastered it—until now. With new-found confidence, he strode towards the Terminator, unleashing another surge of crackling energy, and the more anger he felt, the stronger the lightning became. The Terminator shook violently as its circuits fried, smoke billowing from its metallic skull, and soon its red eyes dimmed to black—the machine was no more.

  Palpatine gazed down at the smoking Terminator, occasional sparks still flickering from its body. This was undoubtedly the machine from his vision. He knew he had to act quickly—the other machine would surely be hunting down Anakin. He couldn't allow his future prodigy to be assassinated and jeopardise everything he had meticulously planned.

  Palpatine activated his holocommunicator, summoning Darth Maul. The Sith apprentice materialised as a shimmering blue hologram, his sinister visage illuminated by an eerie glow. Leaning forward, Palpatine commanded, “Travel to Tatooine immediately. Protect a boy named Anakin Skywalker, and eliminate any threats. Do what must be done, my young apprentice.”

  Maul's yellow eyes gleamed with malice as he bowed his horned head. “It shall be done, my Master,” he replied in a low, guttural tone.

  Darth Maul hurriedly boarded his sleek Sith Infiltrator, the engines roaring to life as he set a course for Tatooine. He initiated the hyperspace jump and accelerated into the vastness of space.