Escorting the incompetent

I'm escorting the UES Ironsides for Beyond the Crescent, but it isn't very bright. I've tried the mission at least 7 times and he goes strait to the center of the 7 or so crescent warships and always gets disabled by the time I'm done swatting aside the fighters! Any help?

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If you give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day. If you don't give a man a fish, you'll have something for dinner...
Who are we to say who we are?

"I wake, I work, I sleep, I die. The dark of space my only sky. My life has passed and all I've been, shall never touch the Earth again." - Ballad of skyfarm 5. - Alpha Centuari

The mission does not actually require that you go anywhere. If you land at Paaren Station without beating the Crescent Warships, the mission will still be a success, as long as the Ironsides is intact.

Ohhh, ok. Thanks.

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If you give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day. If you don't give a man a fish, you'll have something for dinner...
Who are we to say who we are?

"I wake, I work, I sleep, I die. The dark of space my only sky. My life has passed and all I've been, shall never touch the Earth again." - Ballad of skyfarm 5. - Alpha Centuari