How do I unlock the Distant Friends Achievement?

Solution 1:

The achievement is unlocked by recruiting one of the three secret pilots,

each from a different race in FTL: a Mantis, a Rockman, and a Zoltan.

Unlike regular pilots, these can only be encountered in special pods, not regular Time Pods or as a Perfect Island bonus. A special pod can be triggered to drop during a mission by picking up a beacon hidden inside an ice tile or a mountain tile.

A beacon can be seen under cracked ice or inside a cracked mountain, and the tile it's in may or may not be damaged at the beginning of a mission. Once broken free, the beacon must be picked up by a mech, which will trigger the pod to drop at the end of the turn. Protect the pod until the end of the battle and it will be opened as usual.