The Terran Federation just made first contact with the second alien race it has found (the first being automated defense ships in the Epsilon Nebula). 4 10,000 ton ships have closed to 50m km of the survey ship Discovery 003, and remain there while the ships exchange messages in an attempt to establish communication. The Federation is unaware of this find, and does not expect the Discovery to report back for several weeks, as it was commanded to inspect the ideal habitable world present in the system, and then survey system for minerals.
The Bushehr Republic has encountered the first alien race in it's history. The planetary sensors on Bushehr Prime detected an active sensor signature several billion km from the homeworld, and on a direct heading for it. In response, the Bushehr dispatched the 1st Cruiser Group, consisting of 1 jump cruiser, 1 missile cruiser, and 2 escort cruisers. After closing to 50m km of the alien ship, they began communication attempts, while the Bushehr surveyors were attempting to find the jump point the alien ship originated from.
Communication between the two races was established 17th April, 2043, marking the beginning of Federation-Republic relations. The 1st Cruiser Group followed Discovery 003 out of the Bushehr system, into the system the Terrans call Epsilon Indi, a nebula with a Terran colony and archaeological dig, although that wasn't mentioned when the Discovery politely informed the Bushehr that the system was under the control of the Federation.
Edit: The Terran Federation has finalized it's design for the Orion class Battleship, meant to operate primarily in the extensive Epsilon Nebula. It is still going to be some time before a shipyard is large enough to accommodate it, though.
Orion class Battleship 32 000 tons 760 Crew 5124.6 BP TCS 640 TH 1920 EM 0
3000 km/s Armour 10-89 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 30 PPV 180
Maint Life 2.19 Years MSP 2001 AFR 819% IFR 11.4% 1YR 563 5YR 8441 Max Repair 360 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months Spare Berths 0
Flag Bridge Cryogenic Berths 200
N240-20 Ion Drive (8) Power 240 Fuel Use 64% Signature 240 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 4 000 000 Litres Range 35.2 billion km (135 days at full power)
20cm C4 Ultraviolet Laser (6) Range 256 000km TS: 4000 km/s Power 10-4 RM 4 ROF 15 10 10 10 10 8 6 5 5 4 4
300mm C4 Plasma Carronade (16) Range 240 000km TS: 4000 km/s Power 24-4 RM 1 ROF 30 24 12 8 6 4 4 3 3 2 2
TN/SAG-5 Beam Fire Control (3) Max Range: 256 000 km TS: 4000 km/s 96 92 88 84 80 77 73 69 65 61
P-9 Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor (10) Total Power Output 90 Armour 0 Exp 5%
TN/SPD-3 Missile Detection Sensor (1) GPS 108 Range 8.6m km MCR 941k km Resolution 1
TN/SPS-1 Active Search Sensor (1) GPS 3456 Range 69.1m km Resolution 16
TN/SPY-9 Large Area Search Sensor (1) GPS 28800 Range 257.6m km Resolution 80
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Another Edit: Another game, with the Terran Imperium, a xenophobic empire that believes it is destined to rule the galaxy, has been in a war with a 450% difficulty NPR for about five years. Although they haven't found Sol yet, my brief engagements with them have demonstrated that my anti-missile ability is very effective against them, but the range on my ship's systems is lacking. Currently, the entire Terran fleet is stationed on the warp point that leads to the NPRs territory.
In addition, I have a single survey ship (formerly two survey ships) trapped behind enemy lines, desperately surveying new systems in an attempt to stay ahead of the alien forces, and possibly find a warp point leading home.