The first sectors went surprisingly well. I found some stuff I didn't need so I sold it for some scrap and bought some upgrades like sensors and a cloaking device. Luckily I came across AI drones very rarely and found some crew in the first 3 or 4 sectors. Until I reached sector 6 all went well but then things started to change.
The lack of good weapons which could get past 3-4 shields and the problem that I got a drone bay but no defense drones (these damn shops...) almost got me killed. After a jump to a beacon near the exit of sector 6, an AI scout appeared and attacked me. I think it had small bombs, a not too nasty missile launcher and a crappy laser. I tried to get rid of the shields by attacking it with small bombs but they missed all the time. With three shields active my hull laser II was completely ineffective. One option was to jump to the next beacon but the rebel fleet was already right behind me and I didn't want to give up when there was a chance to kill it. I got an idea which I saw on someone's let's play: I teleported two mantis on the scout.
Because of my level 2 teleporter the cooldown went off when they had only 10 health left. These brave fighters destroyed the weapons so much that the scout had to disable all but the laser. After a long healing time (med bay 1) I started to knock out its shields. The problem was that the bombs went back online after I destroyed one layer of shields. I changed my tactic to destroy the helm but the scout was very well built. I think it was maxed out... After I damaged it, my bombs still missed and I had to sent my fighters to the weapon systems again.
I don't know how long this was going on but suddenly I realized that the scout went out of missiles. After a long hard fight the scout finally was destroyed.
A screenshot of this long fight:
The next systems should be easier, I thought... I was wrong.
I came across a rebel which was powering its FTL drive. I managed to destroy their helm but they repaired it too fast. I sent two fighters in but the ship got away with them... these poor mantis fighters. The next beacon was an AI scout which was powering its FTL and got away too. And I lost one of my engis in a fire during on of these fights. He was badly injured and was already leaving the room when another fire bomb exploded and killed him (the engi in the shields room).
Somehow I got to sector 7 and unlocked type B of this ship. Things started to get better in that sector. I got a burst laser II and found two new mantis and a zoltan to replace the lost crew members. When I jumped to sector 8, I had gotten the augmentations stealth weapons and shield charge booster, a defense drone and so much scrap that I didn't know what I should upgrade. Too bad that the power is limited
The fight against the flag ship was easier than I expected but it took me a while to take it down with only 6 laser shots at the same time and missing bombs.
In the end I set a new personal top score of 4822 and some new records in sessions and crew. I don't have a screenshot of the stats screen of that play through.
I think it would be a nice let's play if I had made one. And since I'm not an English speaker, It wouldn't be in English :p