You'll find that the reaction in combat is largely a function of familiarity with combat in that environment. That and FPS combat is very different from ship combat, totally different skills. I don't bother much with FPS, I was never very good at it. Flight combat though I was pretty good with. Problem is, if you're flying a mining, exploration, or cargo ship you're not going to be able to defend against any but lower experienced fighter pilots. The idea is get out of Dodge, as fast as you can. If firing a shot helps do that, by all means. But if you're in a ship like the Misc Prospector, all you have is a pea shooter. You aren't fast enough, and don't have a weapon that packs enough dps to do a lot. Even if there are other squad mates on the same server, they probably aren't going to get to you fast enough to help if you stick around in a dog fight.