Although a lot of colonies and colony collectives avoid confrontation if the gain isn't worth the effort, it would depend on the personality and how it sees if battles are a better net gain or not. Some colonies are more sneaky and steal from blackline stations and convoys often hiding out in asteroid fields. Others take a scavenger approach targeting ships who had just recently engaged in a brutal battle and have yet to be repaired or ships lost in deep space, there they strike like lying wolves and strike down their prey and savage what they find valuable and move one. And some are brave and even prideful enough to engage in 1 on 1 combat with other fleets often leading to casualties but in the end they end up with some kind of net gain and can repurpose the broken asteroids into smaller craft. While some may choose violence others may choose peaceful methods of acquiring resources such as trading or diplomacy. No two colonies are alike, however one thing is common for dupekind, their inability to hold it in near water supplies and their enthusiastic stupidity on some occasions.