Humiliation

"Boss, looks like they're going to fight us to the death!" On one of the three bounty hunter ships, a man stared fearfully at the massive mothership before them. "A ship that huge could crush us with a flick of a finger!"

"You coward, look closely! Such a huge ship, yet it doesn't have any turrets on it. Get it? It's a goddamn civilian vessel! What good is it no matter how big it is?" their leader cursed.

"But it must be carrying fighters inside!"

"So don't head toward their ship. See that mining station near the Endor gas giant? We'll go there and test their strength. If they really are that formidable, we'll use the mining station as a shield and run!" the leader said.

"Hahahaha! Exactly! If they're just a bunch of useless security guards, we'll make a killing this trip!" another man added with a wild laugh.

"But... Master Dooku only told us to come investigate..."

"Why are you so damn long-winded? You're as stupid as a Bantha! Master Dooku told us to investigate, so naturally we need to investigate whether these people have any money! Hahahaha!"

"Hahaha! Right! Let's go get some meat!!"

The three ships began accelerating, lunging straight toward the interstellar mining station like three starving wolves!

"Hahahahaha!!" Amid the bounty hunters' manic laughter, two G-9 light freighters and a GX-1 transport ship charged directly at the mining station built by the Fourth Civilization on the outskirts of the Endor gas giant!

A returning mining ship failed to evade in time and was immediately struck by a barrage of dense laser fire. This kind of mining ship had virtually no defenses and was instantly blasted into a fireball!

Almost at the same moment, the mothership's enormous central hangar platform opened, and four squadrons of Blade-class fighters streamed out. The mothership's hangar could even launch and recover cruisers directly, so these fighters did not even need to queue for takeoff.

The four squadrons, a total of forty-eight fighters, flew toward the threatened mining station.

"Boss! They're coming!"

"They're just light fighters! What are you afraid of? Take down a few, then we'll run." The bounty hunter leader was exceptionally fierce. Even while fleeing, he intended to drag a few enemies down with him.

In many parts of the Milky Way Galaxy, bounty hunters and space pirates were often interchangeable; it simply depended on what kind of job you were doing at the time.

Especially in the Outer Rim of the galaxy, where the Galactic Republic had no control at all, lawlessness ran rampant.

The G-9 freighters had been modified with two additional turrets mounted behind their cargo holds. Once the Fourth Civilization's Blade-class fighters drew near, the turrets rotated into position and opened fire!

Bolts of energy shot out like red meteors. The Blade-class fighters immediately spread into formation, each twelve-fighter squadron dispersing once more into three four-fighter flights.

The fighters opened fire from a great distance away. Their twin six-barreled Electromagnetic Cannons spat flames as countless rounds streaked out, showering the targets like rain.

But at such a distance, the bullets could not land effective hits at all. Even the few rounds that struck the bounty hunters' ships were completely stopped by their Deflector Shields.

Meanwhile, the two modified G-9 ships unleashed even fiercer firepower. Energy bolts poured forth continuously, quickly striking a Blade-class fighter. Without energy shields, the fighter had no chance of survival. The energy bolt tore open its fragile hull, and amid a series of secondary explosions, it became a fireball.

At that moment, the larger GX-1 transport ship also turned around. This nearly forty-meter-long transport had been modified with even more laser turrets, and every Blade-class fighter that approached was destroyed outright without any flourish.

The two sides quickly closed the distance and entered close-quarters combat, but the result remained despairing!

The bounty hunters' ships were larger, faster, and more heavily armed, while their shields were nearly impregnable. The Blade-class fighters, equipped only with basic Electromagnetic Cannons, could not even inflict effective damage on them.

Of the four squadrons, only one had fighters fitted with infrared laser weapons. Only their attacks could produce visible ripples across the bounty hunters' shields.

However, compared to laser weapons that required sustained exposure, explosive energy weapons that blew things apart with a single hit were clearly far superior. What was more, the Blade-class fighters' insufficient power output had yet to be resolved.

Even with forty-eight against three, the Blade-class fighters were still being shot down one after another. Yet the remaining fighters continued attacking without pause, charging forward like moths into a flame.

"Hahahaha! Boss! Their fighters are pathetic! Hahahaha!!" The bounty hunter who had been timid moments ago now burst into loud laughter at the sight of his opponents' weakness.

"Hmph! So they're all bark and no bite! Come on! Show them what we can do! Today, we'll make them fill our cargo holds with money!" The leader's eyes gleamed viciously.

Having discovered the disparity between both sides, the three bounty hunter ships became even more aggressive. They no longer even maintained formation, relying on their Deflector Shields as they rampaged through the Fourth Civilization's fighter formation.

In the mothership's command center, Qi Jian watched as fighter icons turned red and vanished from the screen one after another. His fists clenched tightly, and his entire body trembled.

"Sir! Our fighters are no match for them! The performance gap is far too great!" The adjutant beside him had bloodshot eyes as he shouted.

Bang! Qi Jian slammed his fist onto the table with such force that even the holographic projection shook. "Tell the pilots to delay them as much as possible and lure the battle toward the mothership. Draw them into the range of the mothership's close-defense fire. They can't break through the mothership's shields. At worst, we'll abandon the mining station for now!"

Then he turned to Clement. "Also, notify the Engineering Department. Replace the weapons with infrared lasers as soon as possible. That will at least give our fighters some ability to resist!"

Clement nodded silently.

When Guan Yan, Feng Yongwang, and the others from the Research Department heard that fighting had broken out, they also came to the bridge. They had originally wanted to compare the performance of the two sides' fighters and gather real combat data, but the outcome before them was horrifying!

"Do you understand now?" Feng Yongwang said flatly. "Go back to work."

With that, he left the bridge alone. His steps were somewhat unsteady, and he did not even notice when he knocked over a potted plant beside him.

The other members of the Research Department did not say anything either. One after another, they left the bridge and returned to their research posts. They swore to work without rest and complete the analysis of more technologies as quickly as possible! Whether it was the Wraith fighter or a light frigate, they needed more and stronger ships!

They would not allow today's humiliation to happen again! They would not let their soldiers, as they had today, fly fighters an entire generation behind into a hopeless battle.

Bonus chapter illustration 1: G-9 light freighter

Bonus chapter illustration 1: GX-1 short-range freighter

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