Basket takes the third Engi Cruiser layout out for the first time. The hangar shows the Tetragon, Layout C, on Normal with Advanced Edition content enabled: Dual Lasers, a Beam I drone, a hacking system and the Defense Scrambler augmentation, which keeps enemy defense drones from targeting anything. The crew list shows Junpeng, Jack and Ryan. Seven parts later the Tetragon destroys the Rebel Flagship in Sector 8, The Last Stand, for a score of 5062.
Part 1: A quest pays off
Sector 1 is a Civilian Sector. At the first beacon an Engi crew option repairs a defense system's targeting from a distance, and boarders in the oxygen room get vented and finished off. The plan for fights forms quickly: the beam drone goes out first, then the lasers go after the shields. A pirate surrenders for fuel Basket already has plenty of, and the Tetragon helps defend an outpost.
At the first store Basket buys a System Repair drone and puts scrap into engines and shields. A Federation signal adds a quest marker, and following it pays well: a well-disguised outpost hands over a Hull Repair drone, and Felicity joins the crew. "So now we can actually heal up our ship by using drones. Amazing." A free Repair Bomb turns up too, and a Pirate Scout with a crew teleporter goes down before the exit.
Part 2: The Weapon Pre-igniter
Sector 2 is the Pirate Controlled Sector. "We've got an extra crew, we have two shields, we've got the hull repair drone," Basket says. Pirates with single blasters cannot get through two shields. Basket pays to delay the rebels, beats a boarding ship, and after a fight with slavers King joins the crew.
With 167 scrap at the next store, Basket picks the Weapon Pre-igniter for 120. "It's a little early." The Repair Bomb gets sold for a Small Bomb. At an asteroid distress beacon the drone cuts a trapped ship free and its crew shares some supplies. At the exit a Rebel Rigger is held in place with a shot to the pilot, and afterward Zerimar comes aboard. The weapons system gets an upgrade so both guns can run.
Part 3: Drones and a bigger laser
Sector 3 is another Civilian Sector. A ship with an anti-combat drone gets hacked shields and a Small Bomb on its drones. A store sells Basket a Backup DNA Bank ("Oh, that sounds really tempting"), and the next one adds an Anti-Combat Drone and a Combat Drone. "We don't have a drone recovery arm, so I have to keep that in mind."
Sector 4 is the Uncharted Nebula. A Pirate Hacker hacks the shields, a Federation ship in the nebula brings in Caldwell, and the wreck of a pirate ship gives up Noemi, the sole survivor of its prisoners. Two more stores turn the loadout over: a Combat Drone Mark II and an Ion Blast Mark II, then a Hull Smasher Laser Mark II in place of the Dual Lasers. "Right away we have three shots."
Part 4: The Mantis Homeworlds
Basket picks Sector 5, the Mantis Homeworlds, knowing boarders will come: "but we have a lot of crew." An escape pod turns out to hold a Mantis, Joel, and with the crew over capacity Basket dismisses Zerimar. A Mantis Assault with three shields and a crew teleporter puts up a long fight before it surrenders a stack of bombs.
The rest of the sector is fights and scrap. One battle is fought in an ion storm, a surrendering ship is finished off anyway ("I want your money"), and the reactor and shields get more bars. An Explosive Replicator augment turns up, but there is no room for it. At the exit a Rebel Fighter begs, "Take everything we have! Just don't kill us," and Basket takes the deal, seven bombs included.
Part 5: Burst Laser Mark III
Sector 6 is the Rock Homeworlds ("I don't like the Zoltan shields"). A live mine latches onto the hull, and the beam drone cuts it up. A Rock Fighter surrenders a Hull Smasher Laser. Then a store offers the Burst Laser Mark III, five shots per charge. "What sector are we in? Sector 6. Ok, so we're nearing the end." Basket buys it for 95, sells both hull lasers and upgrades the weapons system to run it.
The Tetragon now flies with the Burst Laser III, the Ion Blast II and the Small Bomb. It beats a stealth ship next to a sun, steps into a fight between two Mantis ships over a disabled Rock freighter, and calms a disease outbreak with the Engi crew. The part ends with the weapons system maxed and more reactor power.
Part 6: The Rebel Stronghold
"We want to go beat the flagship," Basket says. "We have one more sector to go before we get there." Sector 7 is the Rebel Stronghold. A hacking ship knocks out the weapons and oxygen, and the fights keep coming: four shields and crew teleporters, a Rebel Scout that hacks the oxygen, a stealth ship that takes forever to hit.
A Federation ship on the edge of destruction lets the teleporter beam its survivors aboard. Malott joins, and Basket dismisses Caldwell to make room. A quest marker leads to more trouble than expected. "There's something else part of the quest that we missed and now we have to fight the bad guys." An Elite Fighter attacks under the Stronghold's ASB, and the part ends mid-fight.
Part 7: The Last Stand
The Tetragon jumps clear and into Sector 8, The Last Stand. A few more fights pay out scrap, an outpost hands over drone parts and scrap, and helping a convoy against a Rebel bomber brings scrap and repairs. "I guess it actually does kind of pay off to go to some of the spots."
Then the Flagship. The first fight goes "quicker than I thought." The second stage is the drone battle. In the third, Basket forgets about Mind Control, the beam drone is lost, missiles hit, and the crew runs between repairs and boarders. "Can we just shoot this guy? Just shoot it." The Flagship breaks apart in the target panel.
How it ended
The end crawl thanks the Tetragon and its crew: Junpeng, Jack, Ryan, Felicity, King, Noemi, Joel and Malott. The VICTORY! box shows a score of 5062, marked as a new high score. "I finally beat them with the Engi," Basket says. The win unlocks the Federation Cruiser, which the hangar shows as The Osprey before the end cards.
