[dHay]

One way to survive is to skirmish near a spaceport. When you get hurt too much, scoot over and get repaired.

This can chew through a bit of cash though...

Finding another Terran ship and getting it involved in the fight helps too.

Part of the problem is the initial weapons are kinda pathetic. If you can get a capital missile, or a better beam weapon, that can help too.