Damn, I'm only level 6 or 7 but I went and got the Mantis ship but followed that up with "Failure to Communicate" so my noob ass is trapped lifting off a planet RIGHT INTO a three pirate scrum that is kicking my ass. Fortunately I had some extra skill points so I could get targeting (how was this gated behind a skill?) and ballistics but it's still not enough. Maybe I'm not targeting the right things on enemy ships to disable them quickly or I'm low on repair mats for my ship, but I'm getting smoked within seconds. I'm either gonna have to load an older save or figure out how to jump away before I get blown up. I can get 2, but there is a higher level one that's just brutal. Is there a way to circle strafe in a ship or something, flying right into them def isn't working and there is nothing around to use as a shield so they missile spam me. Are there countermeasures?