The Mountain Terrain Scout Transport (MT-ST), often nicknamed the "bug walker" due to its six-legged and insect-resembling design, functioned as a ground walker serving the Imperial Army in the early years of the Galactic Civil War. With a height of 7.2 meters and a length similar to that of a sizable speeder, the MT-ST could move at a swift pace of 100 km/h. This walker was equipped with a solitary twin blaster cannon and provided space for only one pilot.
At the Academy of Carida, Imperial cadets initially received training using simulated versions of the MT-ST, followed by prototype models, in the months after the Battle of Yavin. In one particular war game scenario around 1 ABY, Cadet Shira Brie, secretly an apprentice of Darth Vader, utilized a prototype MT-ST meant to have training lasers but secretly armed with live weaponry to decimate a rival squad, resulting in the deaths of six other cadets.
The Mountain Terrain Scout Transport (MT-ST) represented a type of ground walker employed by the Galactic Empire. Commonly referred to as the "bug walker" because of its insectoid form, the MT-ST was supported by six legs. According to Imperial Cadet Myrette Davani, it appeared "a little creepy" upon close inspection. The MT-ST's height reached 7.2 meters, and its length was roughly equivalent to that of a large speeder. The interior of the walker accommodated a single pilot only, with no room for passengers, and included a small cargo area that could hold up to thirty kilograms. Armed with a single, linked twin blaster cannon possessing a range of 200 meters, the MT-ST could attain a top speed of 100 kilometers per hour, and Davani noted that it moved swiftly even on the high-gravity surface of the planet Carida. In battle scenarios, MT-STs were typically deployed via drop pod. Cadets in training could get the MT-ST prototype operational in under five minutes. The MT-ST was not available for civilian purchase.
The Imperial Army added the MT-ST walker to its resources during the months following the Battle of Yavin, amidst the Galactic Civil War. By eight months after Yavin, Imperial Academy of Carida Cadets Myrette Davani and Shira Brie practiced using cockpit simulations of the newly introduced walker to prepare for its eventual use in an upcoming war-games competition. Around 1 ABY, cadets at the Academy finally tested MT-ST prototypes in the field, engaging in direct combat within the rugged and mountainous Caridan war-games area known as "Tarkin's Teeth."
Drop ships transported both the competing cadets and the MT-ST prototypes to the training area. Davani, Brie, and a group of supporting cadets formed one team, while another group, called Bantha Squad, served as their opponents. The prototype walkers that the cadets operated for the war-games exercise were equipped with training lasers that were designed to automatically shut down when automated sensors registered that the vehicles were hit—except for Brie's MT-ST, which, unbeknownst to the other cadets, was actually fully armed. Davani and Brie ventured out alone to find Bantha Squad, leaving the rest of their team to defend their designated perimeter, and Brie quickly located her targets first. Within a few minutes, Brie completely eliminated the opposing team, killing six of her fellow cadets and destroying a total of twelve MT-STs in the process.
Much to Davani's frustration, the Academy's authorities took no disciplinary action against Brie, who had been personally chosen by the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader for expedited training in Imperial Intelligence. The Academy attributed the charged lasers on her MT-ST to "instructor error," and the cadets' deaths were dismissed as "regrettable casualties." Davani later documented the incident and her training experiences with the MT-ST in a series of HoloNet messages to her parents, which were eventually intercepted by Rebel Alliance Intelligence.
Cory J. Herndon, a former editor for the Star Wars Roleplaying Game, conceived the Mountain Terrain Scout Transport for the Planet Hoppers article series entry titled Carida: Heavy Duty, which was published on Wizards.com in September 2003. This article focused on Shira Brie's training at the Academy of Carida. Herndon initially mentioned the MT-ST as a new vehicle being used for cadet training at the Academy in the second installment of the Carida article series, Boot Camp, which was released on September 11.
The MT-ST shares some similarities with the Mountain Terrain Armored Transport, a walker design that first appeared in the 1994 The Jedi Academy Trilogy novel series by author Kevin J. Anderson. However, there is no explicit connection between the MT-ST and MT-AT.