So, the closer system (Dragoon) is about 700B kilometers from the jump point, and the more distant one (Deercreek) is about 1.2T kilometers from its jump point. I discovered both about the same time. Both had perfectly-habitable worlds. I know Deercreek has an NPR because they have a civilian mining colony around the "A" star, and I made contact. As for Dragoon, I didn't know, but I have the NPR generation chance cranked up pretty high so I was hopeful.
To scout the systems, I created modified versions of my standard geo survey ship. Typically my survey ship is a 40HS, 0.3 power civilian engine with a civilian jump engine, grav survey module, and a fuel tank strapped on. The efficiency of the engine gets them great range already, but not quite enough for this job. I dropped the jump engine and added fuel tanks and extra deployment time.
The geo survey ship arrived at Dragoon-B and confirmed that there was an NPR there; the journey took about 5 years. It has a small active scanner so I was able to determine their navy is pretty limited: three or four 8000T ships, two orbital defense bases of some kind, four FACs, and 50,000T of shipyards. I made contact, assigned diplomats, and sent the scout ship to a remote planet. He can fly back to the alien homeworld after relations improve, if I need a new scan.
The survey vessel headed for Deercreek-B is still en route. When it gets there, it will have flown about 10 years from the jump point. I am already on friendly terms with the Deercreek aliens, but I have no idea how big their military will be.
The tug's engines are inertial fusion tech, which I just achieved. Talbot and Saunders have been my main P+P researchers for the past four generations of engine tech breakthroughs, and both are old and sick, so I figured this engine would be their last big achievement and I named it after them. They're 50HS and 0.3 power, very fuel efficient. The fighters and missiles I showed earlier are magnetic fusion; new designs are on the way.
Currently my biggest military shipyards are 18000T and are in the middle of "add slipway" jobs, so I'll have to wait a couple years before I can even start expanding their tonnage. My goal is to have 30000T war pods for those tugboats to haul into place. Four "base stars" (carriers) and one "battlestar" (flag bridge, AMMs, and sensors) pulled by five tugs, and a bunch of long-range troopships, per invasion fleet. I know, I'll never be able to haul away the minerals or installations I capture, but what I want most is the economic and research production. And the glory.
