If I destroy a dozen ships of a planet's defense fleet, leave the system and come back afterwards, will the planet have it's full fleet again? Do I have to destroy all the ships in one session to conquer the planet?

How much tribute does a planet pay anyway? How does the conquering of a renegade planet impact my status in other systems? Do I become a renegade myself, or will it count as an action against the renegades?

-- Cinga

Yes, you do have to destroy the entire fleet in one session. :frown:
About the tirbute, it depends what technology the planet is. If it is, for instance, a Miranu core world, then you will probably get lots of tribute due to the high tech. rating.
If you conquer any system you are counted as a renegade and people will hate you (Not the renegades, though)
If you conquer a renegade system, then the renegades will hate you, and so will militia/Strandless.
They only like you for destroying the many renegade ships you will need to destroy, not because you demended tribut or anything.

Tip: Do not, I repeat DO NOT attempt to capture Council station. It has 3000+ Crescent Warships and offers a measly 1,000 credits a day. Only conquer it if you drive a very good ship with very good escors and are attempting galaxy domination.