i recently got a planet building upgrade available called soldier outpost. it costs 50k and 5 political favor points. what are these and where do i get them? do i want this outpost on my planet? can someone help?

You get them from a mission you might not encounter for ~5 levels. A soldier outpost provides 90 invasion defense at a relatively small size. It won't defend your population, but it will make your planet more difficult to actually invade in a rather space-efficient way.

Almost more importantly, it gives you Cloak +100 which is decent for it's size.

That is the resistance base, spoil sport.

Whoops, you're right, it is.