A fairly short update, not surprising if the goal is to hurry up and start playing with the aliens.
I'd say the Council is making a serious mistake in pressing for a foothold in Luyten's Star. Even if it is a nice jump nexus, it will be a while until the Federation has a need or practical ability to exploit systems which are 25-30 billion km away, round trip. Meanwhile, aggravating the
cough cough 61 Cygni aliens accomplishes nothing but risking war and there is no guarantee here that such a war can be ended by anything less than total defeat of one side, particularly if the shooting starts before communications are established.
Better to hold at Meridian and patrol Psi Herculis I think. With any luck we would make friends and Meridian could become a thriving trading planet.
Though even becoming a fortress world is probably better than the 'real' Meridian...