I don't have the Beta rules which may address this.   I'm a little confused about determing initiative during starship combat.  It seems counterintuitive to use PC values when the state of the spacecraft, themselves, seem to be just as important, if not more so, such as who is moving faster, who is using evasive maneuvers, etc.   This isn't really addressed in the Beginners rules.   Any insights on determining Initiative during starship combat?

Seems to me that Initiative in starship combat is exactly the same as in personal combat. I could be wrong. It makes sense to me. A pilot needs to keep her cool when the enemy ships are advancing, or be vigilant for that lone starfighter that may indicate a moon sized-space station is nearby. So I think it still works.

also keep in mind the players sucsses only states where player and NPC postions in initiative are. The group gets to pick where they would like to be in those slots.

Initiative is abstracted, don't try to think of it in terms of how capable the ship is as that's accounted for in other stats.

Determining initiative simply determines when players can act, your ship is not actually acting, but the players are taking command of the ship. It makes sense that someone who is quicker on the draw is capable of making the right move first. But as I said, it's also abstracted for the sake of ease of gameplay and flow. Don't sweat the small stuff.

Dylan's right that it's the same as a melee/ranged combat, a pilot needs to keep its cool or vigilance. You can be inside the fastest ship of the fleet, if you're not paying attention, it won't do you any good.

However, the manoeuvrability and speed of a ship will come into play when you execute starships actions based on those ship characteristics. I don't know how it works in the Beginner's Box, but the beta has a set of actions, some of them are influenced by those characteristics.

Cheers

Ceodryn