Juckto/IGH/Attack something
If you go wandering about looking for a fight then three things are bound to happen. First you will spend 5-10 minutes stuck in back sectors, away from the front lines. Second you will finally find an enemy who will take about 5 seconds to blow you out of the sky. Finally you will spend about 3 minutes floating back to base in your life pod (see "Lifepods and respawning" section).
To avoid this, the first thing you want to do is learn how to read the minimap (see "The Map" section) so you can figure out where you are in relation to the enemy. Secondly, you want to fly a ship that has a decent chance of winning a fight. Your main choices are:
Fighter - An average fighting ship. It carries guns, missiles, a rechargable shield, a booster, and it can teleport quickly. Sometimes it even has mines.
Interceptor - A good fighting ship, fast and highly manuerverable. It carries guns and a booster, and that's it. Once you're booster is out of fuel then the ship becomes average speed and manuevrability.
Stealth fighter - A sniper ship. It is slow, clunky, and doesn't have many hitpoints. However it has long range missiles and a cloaking device. It does come with a shield, but most people remove it so they can hide better.
TBC
