I forgot I had this game for a while, and decided to give it a shot. I was never that good at first flavor of this game. And had a rocky start with the current build. Just as I thought I had it all together, the pirate ships seem to change their fleet power from the time I look at them to the time I attack them. There is not turn being processed, my fleets there, their fleet is in system and I go to fight and get slaughtered. Looking at the after action report, the pirates will have four to five times the damage they had before I attack.

This is the first time I've noticed this and I've started a dozen or so games just learning the mechanics and a build order that won't lead me to ruins. Is this suppose to happen, am I missing something?

Best advice that I can give you is that what you are experiencing, a rocky, slow start, is normal. After the third planet you are able to defend yourself a lot more.