871, Spaceport Attack
Five days later, late at night.
BOOM!!! A violent explosion erupted from the only spaceport within Pelek-Baw City, jolting everyone awake from their sleep.
The tower-like spaceport, over three hundred meters tall, was blasted clean through at its middle. The massive structure came crashing down, burying the dozen or so ships still docked inside beneath rubble and wreckage.
Pelek-Baw City had only this one spaceport. Every ship's landing and departure took place there.
Haruun Kal's environment was exceptionally harsh. Not only was its electromagnetic environment chaotic, but metal-devouring, corrosive fungal spores were everywhere. The Korunnai used Bacta Amber to maintain their metal tools, but these smugglers did not have such resources.
Yet ships could not simply be left exposed after landing. They had to undergo sterilization immediately. Thus, they had installed an extremely expensive system that protected ships with a unique ionosphere before thoroughly sterilizing them, allowing them to be docked in the hangars afterward.
The planet's administrative hall, laboratories, armory, and other important locations had similar systems. Because of their cost, however, they could not be widely deployed.
Naturally, this explosion was a direct slap in the face to Pelek-Baw City's defenders. The losses were not merely financial. With the spaceport destroyed, Pelek-Baw City was temporarily unable to land or launch large ships—not because it was physically impossible, but because without the sterilization and ionospheric protection provided by the spaceport, ships would quickly be damaged. No one could afford that kind of attrition.
Colonel Loz Geptun, the smugglers' leader, flew into a rage. He immediately ordered the entire city sealed off. No one was permitted to leave, and his subordinates were ordered to find the culprit at any cost!
Calculations showed that blowing such a massive spaceport in half would require enormous quantities of explosives. Yet