2) Also! I built a ton of escorts to keep watch on the civilian operations hoping they would attach themselves to the many private freighters traveling the trade routes. I didn't notice if they were shadowing the freighters with any good effect(automation on) when I colonized a marshy planet far in a distant system. As soon as I did so all of my escorts from across the galaxy quit what they were doing and began traveling to this distant planet (out of fuel on the way), then proceeded to immediately leave for another system a good distance away to refuel. After refueling at this third system they returned to the system with the new marsh planet where they were once again out of fuel and did the whole process over again. (several times I might add and for 10 years or more)
Here is a screen when ALL of my escorts abandoned their task to travel halfway through the galaxy to some distant, scarcely populated planet without any bases.
