Conspiracy

Outer Rim of the galaxy, Modell Sector, Endor system.

Mars Feraci stood by the spacious viewport of the mothership, gazing out at the beautiful Dawn Star Planet, her thoughts unknown.

She and the other three companions who had gone ahead to Dawn Star Planet to prepare the cargo had now been assigned quarters aboard the mothership. Their living conditions were excellent, with no shortage of food or drink. Compared to their old lives in the slums of Corellia, this place was practically heaven.

The only problem was that their freedom had been restricted. Especially after those three bounty hunters had come with ill intent and caused severe losses, Qi Jian had tightened the supervision over them.

Now, two stern-faced Marines stood guard outside their quarters at all times.

Comparing their builds, Feraci believed that even with four people on her side, they would be absolutely no match for them.

At that moment, one of her companions, Kenneth, leaned over and whispered in Feraci's ear, "Boss, do you know about those bounty hunters who attacked before?"

"I do. Why?" Feraci frowned.

"You were all in the quarters over here then, so you couldn't see the battlefield. But I happened to be on the other side of the ship teaching several people Galactic Standard, and I saw the battle unfold," Kenneth said.

"Three bounty hunters came to rob the place and caused heavy losses, but they were killed afterward. I know that. There are still engineering ships recovering the wreckage of those bounty hunters' ships," Feraci replied.

"No, that's not the important part. Do you know why just three bounty hunters were able to cause such terrible losses?" Kenneth lowered his voice. "I saw it!"

"What?"

"This mothership is so enormous that everyone assumed its defenses were unbelievably strong. But that wasn't the case at all. Their fighters were practically products of some primitive planet! Those three bounty hunters were flying two G-9s and one GX-1, all old modified ships, yet they swatted their fighters out of the sky like flies!"

"That really happened?" Feraci was finally startled. When she had first laid eyes on the mothership, she had been so intimidated that the thought of resistance had never even crossed her mind. She had never expected things to turn out like this.

"Of course! Those three ancient ships actually shot down more than thirty fighters! Those Fourth Group people were completely helpless. They could only keep building more fighters to throw into the fight, and in the end, it took a visiting Jedi Knight to kill them!" Kenneth's eyes gleamed as though he had discovered a gold mine.

Feraci's expression turned solemn. "What are you planning?"

"Their defensive strength isn't worth mentioning, while this mothership and the colony below are bottomless money pits! Listen, I know a few friends in the business. They have dealings with Black Sun, and they've got an old Hammerhead-class cruiser. It might be a little run-down, but crushing the Fourth Group's defenses would be no problem at all!" Kenneth said.

"A cruiser? I remember the Hammerhead-class being a corvette," Feraci asked.

"No, this is the kind left over from the Sith Wars more than twelve thousand years ago, the 315-meter model. Not the 116-meter corvette model later developed by Lundili Interstellar Engineering Company. They bought this ship as a half-scrapped wreck on the black market for cheap, then modified and refurbished it several times. It's formidable now! Around Tatooine, his ship is the biggest."

Feraci frowned. "But right now, we have no way to get a message out."

"That's where you come in, Boss. Look, we're hostages here, but isn't Boss Kunto out running errands with them? When he gets back, talk to him and we'll send the message out. Once that friend comes and takes over this mothership, just think about the good life we'll have!"

"Taking over the mothership would be your friend's business. What does it have to do with us?"

"That's different. We just need to make an agreement with him: an eighty-twenty split. We get two, they get eight. They'll definitely do it. Besides, such a huge mothership needs people to manage and run it, doesn't it? We'll be the first ones here! By then, forget ten or twenty thousand credits. We might casually throw around hundreds of thousands of credits at the casinos in Canto Bight, hahaha!!" Kenneth could not stop himself from laughing, but he immediately cut it off and warily looked around.

"So, Boss, are we doing this job or not?" he asked again.

Feraci said nothing, but her gaze gradually turned cold.

Tang Xiao and Cun Te returned to the mothership. Although the trip had nearly been a brush with death, they had ultimately made it back safely.

For Cun Te, it had truly been a haul. Not only had he earned one hundred thousand Republic credits, but more importantly, they had also brought back a YVX-865 Auro class freighter!

This freighter was 52.3 meters long and 16.44 meters tall, with a trapezoidal hull. A pair of sturdy wings sat beneath the ship, its engines mounted at the wingtips, giving it a wingspan of 42.33 meters.

Though it was an outdated ship, the Auro class freighter was still used in many places because of its ample cargo capacity and reliable performance. A brand-new Auro class freighter had a market price of 240,000 Republic credits!

This kind of business suited Cun Te perfectly. He traveled all across the Milky Way Galaxy for moments like this, didn't he?

For Tang Xiao, however, things were far more complicated. He had answered the call of his dream and traveled to Tatooine, believing it to be a resonance between himself and Anakin Skywalker, the Chosen One. Yet it had turned out to be the Dark Lord, Darth Pregas! And ever since he had met Darth Pregas, his dreams had never appeared again...

The situation was truly extremely complicated...

Better to think about the good side. Tang Xiao's gaze fell upon the hangar platform. Aside from Cun Te's YT-1000 light freighter, the Fourth Civilization now possessed a second ship capable of hyperspace travel, making their operations far more convenient.

However, they soon received news that filled them with fury...

"What did you say? We were attacked by bounty hunters?!?!" Tang Xiao, who had just sat down to rest, shot to his feet upon hearing the news.

Qi Jian and Clement stood side by side before Tang Xiao, heads lowered and bodies bent at the waist. They said heavily, "Yes. Three bounty hunter ships suddenly entered the Endor system and launched an attack on us without warning."

"What were the losses?" Tang Xiao's face darkened, and his voice became low.

Qi Jian took a deep breath. "We initially dispatched four squadrons, forty-eight fighters, to intercept them. After that, another twenty fighters and scout craft took off in succession. Thirty-one Blade-class fighters and three Arrow-class Scouts were destroyed, and thirty-four pilots died. In addition, four small transport ships at the collection station were destroyed, along with eight pilots."

Tang Xiao's lips moved, but no words came out.

"Administrator, our fighters really were no match for their ships... The gap was simply too great." Qi Jian clenched his fists, his body trembling slightly. "Only now do I understand your foresight, Administrator. Indeed, even if we had been equipped with Blade II-class fighters, the outcome would not have been much different. Only by getting the Wraith fighters into service as soon as possible will we have the strength to fight."

"Mainframe, show me the battle footage," Tang Xiao said.

Understood, Administrator.

-

Bonus chapter illustration 1: YV-865 Auro class freighter

Thank you to samwyc for the 4,500 Qidian Coin reward!! Thank you to Darth Zanna for the 500 Qidian Coin reward!!