Who Stirred Up the Hornet's Nest?

Who Stirred Up the Hornet's Nest?

A spacecraft abruptly dropped out of hyperspace and appeared in open space.

"Alright, we've entered Makito's gravity well. Prepare to land," Cun Te said.

Tang Xiao looked out the window. A beautiful planet lay before him. This was the Muuns' Homeworld, the third planet in the system. Due to its extremely low temperatures, it was almost entirely frozen over, making it look like a gemstone.

In the ancient Muun language, "Mygeeto" meant gemstone.

The YT-1000 flew steadily toward Makito. Using the identification code provided by Hego Damask II, the ship successfully passed through the planet's defensive perimeter and flew past several massive Munificent-class communications frigates.

Munificent-class communications frigates were large warships built by the InterGalactic Banking Clan, and they were notorious throughout the Milky Way Galaxy. Every planet that had conflicts with the InterGalactic Banking Clan had, to some extent, been threatened by these warships and forced to submit.

Though called frigates, they were actually colossal vessels 825 meters long. Flying past one made Tang Xiao's heart race. Their 28-meter YT-1000 looked like an ant beside a Munificent-class frigate.

Having a super warship like that was the ultimate romance in every man's heart!

Besides, in the Star Wars universe, Munificent-class frigates were not even particularly impressive warships. Powerful vessels were everywhere in this universe.

The ship entered Makito's atmosphere. Outside the windows were endless white clouds and flames created by the hull scraping against the atmosphere. The deadly heat was completely blocked by the ship's Deflector Shield. A moment later, the flames vanished, revealing a world of ice and snow.

Whether mountains or plains, valleys or hills, everything was covered in ancient ice that had formed over tens of thousands of years. Under the faint sunlight, it shone with all sorts of colors. Those colors did not come from the sun, but from an energy crystal found within Makito's ice sheets—the foundation of the Muuns' immense wealth.

Apart from scattered factories and transport pipelines, there were no cities visible on the planet's surface. Muun civilization had been built underground.

Cun Te compared the coordinates Hego had given him, then brought the ship to a stop beside a frozen mountain range. More than a dozen enormous pipelines connected two mountain peaks. A constant stream of ships and trains traveled through them like ants, carrying the lifeblood that sustained the entire civilization.

Tang Xiao sat in his seat absentmindedly, staring blankly at the distant icebergs. He was once again thinking about Hego Damask II, worried about how this mission would unfold.

No matter what, only one thing was certain. Anything connected to the Sith was absolutely not good news.

But from another perspective, setting aside his identity as a Sith, Hego was one of the most powerful figures in the InterGalactic Banking Clan. If they could build a good relationship with someone like him, even a little something slipping through the cracks of the InterGalactic Banking Clan would be enough to benefit the Fourth Civilization enormously.

And Hego's eventual fate... Tang Xiao frowned as an extraordinarily bold plan began taking shape in his mind. But it was so audacious that merely thinking about it sent chills down his spine and cold sweat pouring down his back.

At the other end of the cockpit, Cun Te was enthusiastically discussing with Kunto and Spade what kind of person this Semir was—whether he was a vicious wanted criminal or a murderer who had committed some grave crime.

Just then, one of the pipelines on the mountain ahead exploded violently! A speeder burst out through the blasted opening and charged straight toward their ship!

"He's here!" Cun Te shouted, immediately opening the ship's hatch.

"He has pursuers behind him!" Kunto cried.

Sure enough, dozens of STAP Single Trooper Aerial Platforms were hot on the speeder's tail, all piloted by B-1 battle droids! The droids fired their vehicles' blasters continuously as they gave chase.

Boom! Boom! Missed blaster bolts exploded around the speeder, sending ice shards and mist flying.

The speeder swerved desperately to evade them, but a blaster bolt still struck its rear, and thick smoke immediately billowed out.

A terrified Muun hologram appeared on the communicator. He shouted, "Are you here to save me? Help me! Help me!!"

"This won't work! He'll definitely get hit!" Kunto shouted.

"I know! Get to the turret! I'll handle this!" Cun Te immediately started the ship, and the YT-1000's disk-shaped hull rose into the air.

"Wait! You haven't closed the hatch!" Kunto cried out. He scrambled down through the opening into the turret beneath the ship, grabbed the twin laser cannon mounted there, took a brief aim, and pulled the trigger!

Whoosh~~~~ A green laser beam swept across the space ahead, slicing two STAPs in half and setting off a violent explosion.

By then, the remaining STAPs had begun flanking the speeder from both sides. B-1 battle droids on the sides had already drawn their blasters and opened fire at Semir!

Cun Te turned the ship around and flew low along the ground. He kept lowering the altitude, and as the ship skimmed past an icy boulder, one landing gear struck it with a crack and fell away.

"Are you crazy?! The ship's going to crash!" Kunto screamed from the turret beneath the ship. From where he was, it felt like he himself was scraping along the ground!

"Trust me. It won't," Cun Te said through gritted teeth. With his precision pushed to the limit, he sent the ship flying inches above the ground. It shot past the speeder and slammed head-on into the STAPs chasing it!

Boom! Boom! More than a dozen STAPs were instantly smashed apart by the ship, and the resulting chain explosions were all blocked by its shields. Cun Te then turned the ship around again and flew past the other side of the speeder.

The STAPs were smashed to pieces by the ship like toys. Cun Te brought the ship directly in front of the speeder and matched its speed, then roared into the communicator, "Get aboard!"

Semir did not hesitate. He floored the accelerator, and the speeder charged straight through the open hatch! Just as it was about to crash into the ship's interior, a towering figure stepped forward.

T-850!!

Clang!!! The T-850 spread his arms and met the out-of-control speeder head-on, colliding with it violently! After a screech of metal against metal, he actually brought the speeder to a dead stop!

"There are more!" Kunto roared.

Sure enough, even more STAPs flew out from the blown-open pipeline breach, densely packed, numbering well over a hundred! On top of that, fighter craft appeared in the distant sky!

Who knew what Semir had done? It was as if he had stirred up a hornet's nest—the surrounding garrison had all come after him!