Chapter Six: The Uninvited Guest

6. Uninvited Guests

"Hyperspace communication? That means intelligent life! And they are capable of interstellar travel!" Tang Xiao was shocked. "Mainframe! Immediately pinpoint the origin of the transmission, notify all combat personnel, and rush over to seal off that area! Graham, you are in command on-site!"

[Understood.]

A transport ship carrying marines lifted off and flew toward the coordinates indicated by the Mainframe.

"Manager, you don't look well. You should return to the mothership," a female resident said with concern.

"I'm fine." Tang Xiao's face was stern. He turned his head and said, "Let's go, T-850. First, let's go capture the person who sent that signal." As he spoke, he headed toward the landing pad, where another transport ship had just finished unloading cargo.

Following the guidance from the mothership, Tang Xiao, accompanied by the T-850 and several marines, soon arrived at a somewhat barren hill. The transport ship that had arrived earlier had already landed. At the entrance of a hidden cave, more than a dozen marines were blocking the opening, occasionally firing bursts into the darkness.

These marines were equipped with Type-21 assault rifles, which looked very mechanical but felt somewhat out of place in this interstellar era. To put it bluntly, while everyone else was firing "pew-pew" energy weapons, they were still using "rat-a-tat" kinetic firearms—that just wouldn't do!

"What's the situation?" Tang Xiao asked as he approached.

"There are three of them, but they keep hiding in the cave and refuse to come out. There's also a language barrier, making it difficult to capture them alive," a marine reported.

"You go. Make sure to take them alive," Tang Xiao said, looking to test the capabilities of the T-850.

The T-850 said nothing. It grabbed a metal cargo crate inside the transport ship, slammed it onto the ground with a clang, and began pushing the crate forward with one hand, moving at a surprisingly brisk pace.

Cries of unintelligible swearing echoed from the cave, followed immediately by several red blaster bolts. However, these blaster bolts were all blocked by the crate the T-850 was pushing, causing no damage at all. Thinking for a moment, Tang Xiao crouched down and followed behind it into the cave.

Rushing inside, the cave appeared to be a secret outpost filled with various supplies and communication equipment. Three individuals in explorer gear were hiding behind crates, firing continuously. They were still cursing, clearly desperate outlaws.

At this point, the T-850 stood up. Several blaster bolts hit it, burning holes in its neat military uniform, but it merely swayed and showed no reaction at all.

Then, it actually lifted the tall metal crate high into the air and slammed it down with a thunderous crash!

BOOM! Debris and broken supplies scattered everywhere.

The three individuals threw up their hands and knelt down with a thud, their cursing stopping instantly. They were so clean and uniform in their surrender that Tang Xiao wondered if they had practiced it.

"Take them back to the mothership for interrogation and have the language analyzed. Then, clear out this outpost and see if there's anything useful," Tang Xiao ordered, rubbing his forehead. The marines behind him surged forward like hungry tigers, pinning the three militants to the ground.

He looked at the blaster pistol left on the ground by the three men. Recalling the sensation from moments ago, he raised his hand. Then, a magical scene occurred: the blaster pistol twitched, and as if grabbed by an invisible hand, it flew directly into Tang Xiao's palm.

Tang Xiao looked at the blaster in his hand, a smile playing at the corner of his mouth.

Seeing this, the three captives were even more terrified, their eyes darting around, not daring to meet Tang Xiao's gaze.

After bringing them out of the cave, they encountered a group of Ewoks on the way. Tang Xiao pointed at the small, upright bears and asked the three, "Ewok?"

Even with the language barrier, the pronunciation of such a name remained the same.

The three nodded frantically, terrified of what might happen if they were too slow.

Tang Xiao pointed to the ground beneath their feet. "Endor?"

The three nodded again. One of them seemed to realize what Tang Xiao was asking, so he pointed at himself and said, "Corellia!"

Then, he drew an arc in the air and said, "Tatooine!"

Finally, he drew another arc and pointed to the ground, saying, "Endor!"

So, their meaning was that they started from the planet Corellia, passed through Tatooine, and finally arrived at Endor? Tang Xiao curled his lip. Endor should be renamed "Dawn" now—it's my territory!

However, it was time to return to the mothership. Since it was confirmed that this was the *Star Wars* universe and they had captured a few people, there was no time for sightseeing.

Back on the mothership, the three were thrown into the brig, and the Mainframe was tasked with language analysis. Tang Xiao sat on the command chair on the bridge and thought for a while before opening the list of personnel available for awakening. He really needed help now.

Browsing the Elite-tier, he found that many could now be awakened. This included several elite biologists whose requirements were merely a habitable planet with a complete ecosystem to study, along with a simple laboratory; their living conditions only needed to be slightly better than the laborers.

Familiar with the process, he awakened the biologists, had them report to the medical bay for physicals, and then come to the bridge to receive their assignments. Finally, they boarded a transport ship to land on the planet Dawn.

These biologists would begin studying the ecological structure of Dawn to determine which human crops could be grown. If not, they would need to find suitable local crops. Additionally, they would test whether livestock like pigs, cattle, and sheep could survive there, and study local fauna to see if any could serve as a food source.

There were many similar tasks, so Tang Xiao also awakened an expert in management and colony construction from the elite tier to serve as his assistant.

Soon, a woman in her 30s walked onto the bridge and saluted Tang Xiao. "Hello, Manager. I am Daphne Clement. Per your appointment, I will assist you in the construction of the colony. Please give me some time; once I fully understand the current progress of the colony, I will immediately begin drafting further plans."

According to the database, Daphne Clement had been responsible for refugee resettlement and post-disaster reconstruction, and she was highly experienced in this field. Once, after a region was devastated by a super-tornado and flattened, she led her team in tireless work, handling everything from tent city management and relief distribution to temporary housing and final town reconstruction. She had done an excellent job.

Her awakening requirements were not particularly high: sufficient supplies and enough manpower.

Interstellar colonization was much the same; it was a process of "crossing the river by feeling the stones," and much experience could only be drawn from similar work. Daphne Clement was exactly that.

"Very well, thank you for your hard work. Please begin," Tang Xiao replied with a smile. "I will grant you the authority to awaken common-tier residents. You don't need my approval for groups under 100. You are our first Chief Administrator."

"Understood!" Clement stood tall, saluted Tang Xiao, and said, "My personal team still has some members; I hope they can also be awakened to assist us."

Tang Xiao waved his hand. "I said, you don't need my approval for groups under 100. Furthermore, the five administrative staff members already working here will be reassigned under your command. Form an Administrative Department with yourself as the head."

"Understood."

After Daphne Clement began her work, Tang Xiao sat back down and had the Mainframe open an editable interface, where he drew a vertical line. He wrote several terms on it from top to bottom.

At the very top, the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire were in opposition. In the middle, a long stretch showed only the Galactic Republic dominating the galaxy.

Further down, the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems were in opposition—Tang Xiao labeled this as the First Galactic Civil War.

Continuing down, both the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems were marked with an "X," replaced by the Galactic Empire dominating the galaxy.

Finally, the Galactic Empire split again, in opposition to the Rebellion. He labeled this as the Second Galactic Civil War. He drew a circle here, labeled it "Endor"—now the planet Dawn—and drew another "X" on it, noting it as one of the major battlefields.

This was the timeline of the main events in the *Star Wars* universe. Tang Xiao then drew a large question mark beside it. Since there were no signs of war near the planet Dawn, it meant the current time was before the Second Galactic Civil War. But even so, that still covered a very long period.

Tang Xiao took a deep breath and looked at the interface with a solemn gaze. Now, in what era do we find ourselves?