Chapter 22: Who poked the hornet's nest?

21. Who poked the hornet's nest?

A starship abruptly exited hyperspace, appearing in the void of space.

"Alright, we've entered Mygeeto's gravity well. Prepare for landing," Vunt said.

Tang Xiao looked out the window as a beautiful planet appeared before his eyes. This planet was the home of the Muun, the third planet in the star system. Because of its extremely low temperatures, the entire world was almost entirely frozen, making the planet look like a gemstone.

In the ancient Muun language, the word 'Mygeeto' actually meant gemstone.

The YT-1000 starship flew steadily toward Mygeeto. Using the identification code provided by Hego Damask, the ship successfully bypassed the planet's defense perimeter, flying past several massive Munificent-class communications frigates.

The Munificent-class communications frigate was a large warship built by the InterGalactic Banking Clan and was a notorious presence in the galaxy. Any planet in conflict with the Banking Clan had, to some extent, been threatened by these warships and forced to submit.

Despite being called "frigates," they were actually behemoths measuring 825 meters in length. Flying past such a massive vessel made Tang Xiao's heart race; their 28-meter-long YT-1000 looked like an ant in comparison to a Munificent-class frigate.

Possessing such super-warships was the ultimate romantic ideal in every man's heart!

Moreover, in the *Star Wars* universe, the Munificent-class frigate wasn't actually that impressive. In this universe, powerful warships were everywhere.

As the ship entered Mygeeto's atmosphere, the window was filled with white clouds and the flames generated by the friction between the hull and the atmosphere. This lethal high temperature was completely blocked out by the ship's deflector shields. A moment later, the surrounding flames vanished instantly, and a landscape of ice and snow appeared before them.

Whether mountains or plains, depressions or hills, everything was covered in ten-thousand-year-old ice, shimmering with multicolored light under the faint sunlight. These colors did not come from the sun, but from a type of energy crystal found within Mygeeto's ice—the very foundation of the Muun's immense wealth in the galaxy.

Aside from scattered factories and transport pipelines, no cities were visible on the planet's surface; Muun civilization was built underground.

Vunt compared the coordinates Hego had given him and then flew the ship to a stop beside a frozen mountain range. Ten or more massive pipelines connected the two peaks, with a constant stream of ships and trains moving through them like ants, transporting the lifeblood that kept the entire civilization running.

Tang Xiao sat in his seat somewhat absentmindedly, staring blankly at the distant ice mountains. He was once again thinking about Hego Damask II, worrying about the direction this mission would take.

Regardless, one thing was certain: as long as the Sith were involved, it was definitely not a good thing.

But looking at it from another angle, setting aside the Sith identity, Hego could be considered one of the most powerful figures in the InterGalactic Banking Clan. If he could build a good relationship with such a tycoon, even the scraps falling through the Banking Clan's fingers would be enough for the current Fourth Civilization to enjoy.

And Hego's ultimate fate... Tang Xiao frowned, and an incredibly bold plan began to take shape in his mind. But the plan was so audacious that even thinking about it made his spine tingle and cold sweat pour down his back.

At the other end of the cockpit, Vunt was engaged in a heated discussion with Quinto and Spad about exactly what kind of person this Semide was—whether he was a vicious wanted criminal or a murderer who had committed a great atrocity.

Just then, a violent explosion suddenly occurred in one of the pipelines on the mountain ahead! Then, a hovercar burst out from the ruptured gap, charging straight toward the starship!

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

"He has pursuers behind him!" Quinto yelled.

Sure enough, behind the hovercar, dozens of STAP single-pilot combat flyers were in hot pursuit, all piloted by B-1 battle droids! As they chased, the droids continuously fired their blaster rifles from the flyers.

*Boom! Boom!!* The missed blaster bolts exploded around the car, kicking up clouds of ice shards and water mist.

The hovercar maneuvered desperately to dodge, but it was still struck in the rear by a blaster bolt, instantly emitting billowing black smoke.

A panicked Muun projection appeared on the communicator, shouting loudly, "Are you here to save me? Help me! Help me!!"

"This won't work, he's definitely going to get hit!" Quinto shouted.

"I know! You man the turret! I'll handle this!" Vunt immediately engaged the ship's engines, and the disc-shaped hull of the YT-1000 surged into the air.

"Wait! You haven't closed the hatch!" Quinto cried out, scrambling down the hatch to reach the turret at the bottom of the ship. He grabbed the twin laser cannons, aimed slightly, and pulled the trigger!

*Swoosh~~~~* A green laser beam swept across the front, instantly slicing through two single-pilot flyers and triggering a violent explosion.

By this time, the other flyers had begun to flank the hovercar, and B-1 battle droids were already leaning out from the sides to fire blasters at Semide!

Vunt pulled the ship around and flew close to the ground. He continuously lowered his altitude; as he skimmed past an ice rock, one of the landing gear pieces struck it with a *clack* and fell to the ground.

"Are you crazy?! The ship is going to crash!" Quinto screamed from the turret at the bottom of the ship. To him, it felt like he was personally scraping against the ground!

"Trust me, it won't," Vunt said through gritted teeth. Under his extremely precise maneuvering, the ship flew hugging the ground, swept past the hovercar, and slammed head-on into the pursuing STAPs!

*Boom! Boom!!* Over a dozen STAPs were instantly destroyed by the impact, and the resulting chain reactions were all absorbed by the ship's shields. Vunt then maneuvered the ship to turn around again, flying past the other side of the hovercar.

The STAPs were smashed into pieces by the ship like toys. Vunt flew the ship directly in front of the hovercar, matching its speed, and roared into the communicator, "Get in, fast!"

Semide didn't hold back; he slammed on the accelerator, and the hovercar shot directly through the open hatch of the starship! Just as the car was about to crash into the interior of the ship, a towering figure stepped forward.

T-850!!

*Clang!!!* The T-850 spread its arms to meet the out-of-control car, colliding with it violently! After a bone-chilling sound of metal grinding, the car was actually brought to a dead stop by his sheer strength!

"There's more!" Quinto roared.

Sure enough, more single-pilot flyers were pouring out from the ruptured pipeline, a dense swarm numbering in the hundreds! Not only that, but the silhouettes of starfighters were also appearing in the distant sky!

There was no telling what Semide had done, but it was as if he had poked a hornet's nest—the entire local garrison was coming for him!

[Easter Egg Image 1: STAP Single-Pilot Combat Platform]

[Easter Egg Image 2: Munificent-class Communications Frigate]