Chapter 22: Who Poked the Hornet’s Nest?

A ship snapped out of hyperspace, materializing in the void.

“Alright, we’re in Mygeeto’s gravity well. Preparing to land,” Murt announced.

Ventus gazed out the viewport, a stunning planet coming into view. This was the Muun homeworld, the third planet in its star system. Its frigid temperatures cloaked it in a near-permanent layer of ice, making it shimmer like a gem in the starlight.

In the ancient Muun tongue, “Mygeeto” literally meant “gem.”

The YT-1000 glided smoothly toward Mygeeto. Using the clearance codes provided by Hego Damask II, the ship slipped past the planet’s defense perimeter, cruising by several massive Munificent-class communications frigates.

These Munificent frigates, built by the InterGalactic Banking Clan, were infamous across the galaxy. Any world that dared cross the Banking Clan had felt the shadow of these warships looming overhead, forcing them to bow or face ruin.

Called frigates, they were anything but small—each stretched 825 meters long. As the 28-meter YT-1000 passed by, Ventus’s heart raced. Their little ship looked like an insect next to these behemoths.

Owning a warship like that? Now that’s the ultimate dream for any guy!

But in the Star Wars universe, Munificent frigates were honestly mid-tier. This galaxy was packed with far deadlier ships.

The ship plunged into Mygeeto’s atmosphere, the viewport filled with swirling white clouds and the fiery glow of reentry. The ship’s deflector shields brushed off the scorching heat. Moments later, the flames vanished, revealing a frozen wonderland below.

Mountains, plains, valleys, hills—everything was blanketed in millennia-old ice, refracting faint sunlight into a kaleidoscope of colors. These hues didn’t come from the sun but from the energy crystals embedded in Mygeeto’s ice, the source of the Muuns’ galaxy-spanning wealth.

The surface was barren, save for scattered factories and transport pipelines. The Muuns’ civilization thrived underground.

Murt cross-checked the coordinates from Damask and guided the ship to a stop near an ice-crusted mountain range. Between two peaks, massive pipelines crisscrossed, with ships and trains bustling through like ants carrying the lifeblood of an entire civilization.

Ventus sat in his seat, distracted, staring at the distant icy peaks. His mind was on Hego Damask II again, wrestling with the implications of this mission.

One thing was certain: anything tied to the Sith was bad news.

But looking at it another way, if you set aside the whole Sith thing, Damask was one of the most powerful players in the Banking Clan. Getting on his good side could mean even a sliver of the Clan’s resources—more than enough to boost the Fourth Civilization.

And Damask’s ultimate fate… Ventus’s brow furrowed as a wildly audacious plan began to take shape in his mind. It was so bold, so reckless, that just thinking about it sent chills down his spine, sweat beading on his forehead.

At the other end of the cockpit, Murt, Quinto, and Spade were deep in a heated debate about who this “Semid” they were picking up could be. A ruthless outlaw? A murderer who’d done something big?

Then, out of nowhere, a massive explosion rocked one of the pipelines on the mountain ahead! A speeder burst through the shattered opening, barreling straight toward the ship!

“Here we go!” Murt shouted, slamming open the ship’s hatch.

“He’s got company!” Quinto yelled.

Sure enough, dozens of STAPs—single-trooper aerial platforms—swarmed after the speeder, piloted by B-1 battle droids. The droids fired relentlessly, their blaster bolts streaking through the air.

Boom! Boom! Missed shots exploded around the speeder, kicking up clouds of ice and mist.

The speeder swerved desperately to dodge, but a blaster bolt clipped its rear, sending thick black smoke billowing out.

A panicked Muun appeared on the comms, his holographic face wide-eyed. “Are you here to save me? Help! Please, help me!”

“He’s not gonna make it like this!” Quinto shouted.

“I know! You man the turret, I’ll handle this!” Murt fired up the ship, the YT-1000’s disc-shaped hull lurching into the air.

“Wait! You didn’t close the hatch!” Quinto yelped, scrambling toward the ship’s underside. He slid into the ventral turret, grabbed the controls of the twin laser cannon, took aim, and squeezed the trigger.

Zwoooosh! A green laser beam swept across the sky, slicing two STAPs clean in half. They erupted in fiery explosions.

But the other STAPs were closing in, flanking the speeder. B-1 droids on the sides were already aiming their blasters at Semid.

Murt yanked the ship into a sharp turn, skimming dangerously close to the ground. He dipped lower, and as they grazed an icy outcrop, one of the landing struts snapped off with a crunch, tumbling into the snow.

“Are you insane?! You’ll crash the ship!” Quinto screamed from the turret, feeling like he was practically scraping the ground himself.

“Trust me, we’re fine,” Murt growled through gritted teeth. With pinpoint precision, he flew the ship straight at the pursuing STAPs, skimming past the speeder.

Boom! Boom! The ship plowed through a dozen STAPs, their explosions harmlessly absorbed by the shields. Murt swung the ship around again, roaring past the speeder’s other side.

The STAPs scattered like toys, smashed to bits. Murt pulled the ship directly in front of the speeder, matching its speed, and bellowed into the comms, “Get in, now!”

Semid didn’t hesitate. He floored the accelerator, and the speeder shot through the open hatch. Just as it careened toward the ship’s interior, a towering figure stepped forward.

T-850!

Clang! The Terminator braced itself, catching the runaway speeder with both hands. Amid a grating screech of metal, it brought the vehicle to a dead stop.

“More incoming!” Quinto roared.

From the ruptured pipeline, a swarm of STAPs poured out—hundreds of them! And in the distance, the silhouettes of fighter craft appeared in the sky.

Whatever Semid had done, it was like he’d kicked a hornet’s nest. The planet’s entire garrison was coming for them!

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*Bonus Chapter Images:*

1. STAP (Single Trooper Aerial Platform)

2. Munificent-class Communications Frigate