ok. so the thing is to just colonise tons?
Yup. How you do that is up to you: take over other people's planets, or colonise your own. Raid for the resources, or trade for them.
does having 2 arc in 1 fleet help speed things up?
I'm not sure. I think that just gives you more population/resources on the planet that you colonise, meaning it gets up and running quicker.
I went for two separate fleets of 1 Arc each, but in the long run it probably doesn't matter much.
