Exlor
Go Battleship, just make sure the wording is right. make sure they are only part of the first ship. Token can change right? Also, free support and knowledge is crazy good. Who else knows warships except the RF. Training and experience for his people is totally worth letting the RF see the prototype of what Ves can do. It is almost free advertising for him. Builds the relationship. Privacy on his flagship is impossible anywhere, he already admits the RA knows everything anyway and he came to accept it 99.9% of the time. I say, let the RF see what he is capable of and pay for the privilege. Then when Battleship #2 is developed swap the token, or earn another one. Long term, if the status quo stays, the RF may still limit warships. If that status quo changes, having a partially paid for first class Battleship > battle cruiser and the knowledge, ability and maybe existing personnel to build warships if they become unlimited... all totally beats a bit of privacy, that he doesn't have and secrecy that he is blowing out of the water with the last two shenanigans.
I vote Battlecruiser all the way!! Involving the fleeters in the ship's design and construction is one thing, but having their officers and engineers working aboard his prized vessel is a non-starter!!! Would their presence be permanent, or just temporary?? As for the Battlecruiser's lack of expensive hull plating, between Gloriana's growing expertise on Archetech and Ves' grasp of the Darkness element, it might be possible to turn it into a giant stealth ship!