Thanks for the feedback. Sounds like you died on the mission where you can get another recruit. Right now, each "set" of missions is a particular habitat (which is why the first 4 missions look similar - they are all in the same place) and all the sets follow a similar pattern of loot, loot, hostage (new recruit) and boss. We are definitely planning to change this up somewhat and clearly we have work to do on explaining the game.
We know the story is weak. It is basically just placeholder and maybe we should have put more focus on this than the gameplay but indie development is all about tradeoffs. :)
The game overall is meant to be more of a roguelike where you might have to replay the first few missions a few times to get the hang of it, and also to get some lucky breaks in the beginning from the RNG gods. Right now, the beginning seems a bit hard for new players but then gets easier once you level up a few characters and get equipment. We are going to be focused on balancing and content very soon and hopefully you can try it again after some updates.
We'll be making a post next week about the upcoming dev priorities and also then making a poll for our First Access buyers to vote on what other things they might like to see in the game. We will be basing these options on feedback we get, so thanks for sharing your thoughts.