Alexander... that is pretty much what I had in mind.

I like the idea of the 'senate' faction continuing the original brief to terraform and prepare for human occupation. It gives them a reason to work together initially, and to fight against the other factions. Simplifies the senate commands to. Thanks for the suggestion!

As far as the rationale goes, I have started off with the limitations I know RTW has, and have thought up a background that allows for this from the outset. I didn't want to fall into the trap of needing 'breakthroughs' in modding to do this.... with this, I have worked out what I CAN do, and started form there.