The Toron can be reasonable. Try to keep some smaller ships with point defence and one weapon in the fleet with your bigger ships and the fighters won't be too much of a problem. Point defence may be a better defence against the masses of Colonial fighters than shields.
Most TDM modpak races research phased polaron beams early, which skip the shields you're about to research.
If you've mined warp points you're core systems are safe -- bearing in mind the A.I. is smart enough to enter treaties with you, fill your systems with ships, then declare war
