*Chapter 32: Lesson One*

The screen flickered to life, displaying footage of that lopsided space battle. Three bounty hunter ships tore through the Fourth Civilization’s fighter swarm like they owned the place. The Blade fighters’ basic electromagnetic cannons didn’t even scratch the hunters’ shields. Even the infrared laser weapons, underpowered as they were, only made the shields ripple faintly.

On the flip side, the bounty hunters’ turbolaser and blaster cannons were one-shot kills against the Blade fighters. Thirty-four fighters destroyed, thirty-four pilots dead. Four transport ships blown apart, eight crew members gone—no chance to escape.

“It wasn’t until the visiting Jedi, Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi, stepped in that things turned around,” Clement explained from the side. “Their piloting skills were unreal. With just one ship, they took down all three bounty hunter vessels. Then they left without a word.”

Ventus watched the brutal footage, his jaw clenched tight. Anger surged within him, and through his connection to the Force, small objects around the room began to tremble, as if caught in a minor quake.

When the video ended, he took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and after a long pause, said, “Get Feng Yongwang and Guan Yan in here.”

Once the two scientists arrived, Ventus got straight to the point. “How long until the Phantom fighter is ready, given our current progress?”

“We’re picking up the pace,” Feng Yongwang replied. “With those two elite computer and engine specialists on board, we’re moving faster. Still, it’ll take about six months.” He glanced at the video, gritted his teeth, and added, “We’ll pull all-nighters if we have to, whatever it takes to get it done.”

“Rushing leads to mistakes,” Ventus said firmly. “Stick to a steady pace and take breaks. I don’t want fatigue causing errors—that’d be disastrous.” He turned to Guan Yan. “I need your team to focus on two things moving forward.”

“Name them,” Guan Yan said with a nod.

“First, the small shipyard should be finished by now. I want at least one viable light frigate ready for production. Second, in the meantime, squeeze every bit of potential out of the Blade fighters to boost their combat ability.”

Guan Yan nodded. “On the second point, we’ve got a plan. Dr. Feng, you want to take this?”

Feng Yongwang stepped in. “We’re analyzing the Phantom fighter’s weapon systems, and we’re close to cracking it. Its primary weapon is the Gemini missile, a top-tier air-to-air missile. Once we’ve got it figured out, I’ll pass the data to Dr. Guan’s team to outfit the Blade fighters with them.”

Guan Yan picked up the thread. “We’re also working on basic energy shields and small fusion engines. The tech’s fairly mature, so we should see results soon. That’ll boost the Blade fighters’ power supply, letting us amp up the infrared laser cannons. Adding basic shields will make them even tougher. But…”

“Spit it out,” Ventus said. “Whatever the problem is, I’ll do what I can to fix it.”

“We’re short on people,” Guan Yan admitted. “Our team’s stretched thin, and we can’t take on more projects. The group analyzing the light frigate only has six people—nowhere near enough. Adding more staff means we need more labs, equipment, and space, which takes time to set up.”

“I’ll handle the staffing and space issues,” Ventus said. “Tell me about the frigate options.”

“We’ve got two basic light frigates to choose from,” Guan Yan explained. “The Knight-class, 28.5 meters long, is a well-rounded ship—decent firepower, speed, and armor. The Hammer-class, 31.4 meters, leans heavier on armor and firepower. If we want to build anything else from the tech database, it’ll take longer to integrate the systems.”

“Scrap the Knight-class,” Ventus decided. “Focus on the Hammer-class. Hold off on other tech systems until we have more teams.”

“Understood,” Guan Yan said. “Please do what you can about the personnel and lab space, Administrator.” She and Feng Yongwang excused themselves.

Ventus closed his eyes, meditating briefly before turning to Qi Jian. “That captured YV-865 Aurore-class freighter—get a crew trained to fly it ASAP. Also, check if we have any elite pilots we can wake up.”

“On it,” Qi Jian replied. “Also, we’re salvaging the wrecks of those three bounty hunter ships. We’ve recovered two turbolaser cannons in working condition. I’m planning to mount them on a transport ship to use as a gunship. It’ll give us a bit more firepower.”

“You’re doing great, Qi Jian,” Ventus said. “You’ve done everything you could. It’s not your fault. None of us expected to be found so soon, caught unprepared. We did what we could.”

“I understand, Administrator,” Qi Jian said, still sounding down.

Ventus clapped a hand on his shoulder. “We might face even heavier losses down the road, but this is the path we’re on. Let’s grow from this, Qi Jian. This is our first lesson. Plenty more challenges are waiting.”

He pulled up the personnel list and saw several elite pilots on standby—battle-hardened, top-tier talent. But throwing them into Blade fighters would be a waste. For now, he woke just one to pilot the YV-865 Aurore-class freighter: a Black female pilot named Gloria Judith.

Why a female pilot, and a Black one with a name that rolls off the tongue? It wasn’t some quirky preference on Ventus’s part. It was because…

This woman was a tank. According to her file, she stood 1.92 meters tall, weighed 172 kilos—not an ounce of fat, just pure muscle. Her hobby? Thrashing opponents in flight sims, then dragging them to the sparring ring for another beating.

Ventus immediately decided she’d be teamed up with Quinto. If Quinto got any funny ideas, Judith would probably pound him until his own mother wouldn’t recognize him.