Welp, another loss with the federation cruiser.
How the bloody hell can people like this ship? The artillery beam is so freaking terrible, and completely precludes getting something useful like the cloak. 
Max out the artillery beam as soon as possible, like Euld says. It'll fire almost as often as the glaive beam, and you won't have to worry about shields getting in the way. After that, it's all about tanking. Max out the shields, get a defense drone or two to take care of missiles, boost your evasion if you can, and you're nearly invulnerable. If you can fit additional weapons to complement the arty beam, you'll just win faster.