Basket takes the Mantis Cruiser out again with one goal: "get the first achievement which is kill the crew of 20 ships by sector 6 in the Mantis Cruiser." The ship is The Gila Monster, on Normal with Advanced Edition content enabled, carrying a Small Bomb, a Basic Laser and the Mantis Pheromones augmentation. The crew list shows Vincent, Filip, Valeriya and Lana. Over six parts the crew boards ship after ship, earns the achievement, and destroys the Rebel Flagship with five crew left.
Part 1: Boarding for the count
Sector 1 is a Civilian Sector. At the first beacon a ship beams a Mantis aboard, and Maxim joins the crew list. The plan is set early: bomb the enemy weapons, teleport the Mantis crew over, and clear out the enemy crew. "So that's two ships," Basket says after the second fight. "I only need to do another twenty-eight. Math. Math is fun."
A trader hails the ship offering "laborers," and Basket pays 41 scrap to free one, Maria, an Engi. At the store Basket buys Sensors so the crew can see inside enemy ships. A fight at the next beacon ends with a Flak I on the weapons bar. An asteroid mining colony asks for 5 missiles, and Basket declines.
Part 2: The Uncharted Nebula
Sector 2 is the Uncharted Nebula. The first ship has no crew and uses mind control on the boarders, so Basket gives up on it: "It's not worth trying to kill the guy." A Pirate Fighter goes down and leaves a Shield Overcharger drone, though the ship has no drone system to run it.
At the next store Basket sells the drone and buys Mind Control, "because then we can have an extra boost" when boarding. A cloaked ship with big lasers beats up the hull, and Basket jumps back to a safe beacon to repair. Mind Control gets its first use in the next fight, and a Human, Sophia, comes aboard before the exit.
Part 3: Mantis Homeworlds
The pause menu shows the goal as "Take no prisoners!" with the tooltip "Kill the crew of 20 ships by sector 6 in the Mantis Cruiser." Sector 3 is the Mantis Homeworlds. Basket buys Drone Control at the first store, but with only one shield layer the fights push the hull to Hull Critical.
An escape pod turns out to be Mantis. Basket pries it open, and Geryk joins. Basket saves a ship under attack, and one of its crew, Williams, offers to join, which puts the ship over capacity. Sophia is dismissed, and Williams takes over the shields. A repair stop and a second shield layer follow, and Sector 4, a Mantis Controlled Sector, brings more weapons power so the Flak can fire. The part ends in an ion storm, where the storm takes out the enemy weapons. "Well that worked out really well."
Part 4: Take no prisoners
Sector 5 is the Engi Homeworlds. A distress call gives a second Flak I. Then an Engi ship insists the Gila Monster carries a virus. Basket has the Engi crew negotiate, and the event text reads "Maria is gone." After the Engi Scout is beaten, a crew member named Virus joins. Basket sells the Basic Laser at a store.
Sector 6 is an Engi Controlled Sector, and Basket is not sure the count has made it in time. A quest leads to a Rebel Rigger that keeps trying to jump away. The crew finally kills it, and Basket cheers: "Mantis B. We have reached our primary objective." A popup names the Mantis Cruiser Type B. More quest fights and a store stop follow, and by the end of the part the ship carries three Flak I guns.
Part 5: Pirate space
Sector 7 is a Pirate Controlled Sector. With the achievement done, Basket wants to "at least kick butt." The first store sells a Reconstructive Teleport, so crew heal fully when they teleport back. A free Rockman, Jose, comes aboard, but the ship is full again and Basket lets Jose go.
A beacon on a moon leads to a lost person, and taking the survivor home brings "lots of stuff." The flak keeps working: "the flak isn't very accurate but it's charging up pretty quick." Asteroid fields and two surrenders later, the scrap reaches 280. "And all three of these flaks we got for free. This is silly." The part ends at the exit.
Part 6: The Last Stand
Sector 8 is The Last Stand. Basket spends scrap at a store, then stays to finish a fight instead of jumping: "This could be a bad choice." It is. Filip, Lana and Geryk leave the crew list. "Oh no, we lost three guys."
The Rebel Flagship comes next with only Vincent, Valeriya, Maxim, Williams and Virus. In the first stage Basket says the Flagship "hacked my teleporter," and after a tense stretch Basket says, "We survived it." The later stages bring missiles, intruders and a hull nearly gone: "the ship is almost destroyed, but so am I." In the last stage the boarders clear the Flagship's crew, and the event text says its AI has taken control. Soon after, the Flagship is destroyed.
How it ended
The end crawl thanks The Gila Monster "and her successful crew: Vincent, Valeriya, Maxim, Williams and Virus." The victory screen reads "Congratulations! You've defeated the Rebel Flagship and ensured the victory of the Federation!" with a score of 4138 and "New High Score!" A popup names the Slug Cruiser, and Basket looks over the Mantis Cruiser Type B and the new ship in the hangar. "Alright, I'm glad we beat it."
