The best combat ship? I think I've given my opinion on that one a few times before. If you like nimble, agile ships which will get you here to there and back again quickly (while still holding its own in battle), the Rebel Destroyer is for you. Powerful, one of the fastest in the game, and insanely inexpensive. Another ship comparable in stats the the Rebel Destroyer is the Corvette.
Like Luke mentioned, you need to complete a string of (challenging) missions before you can get either the Confederate ships or the Rebel ships. In my opinion the Corvette is the best speed civillian fighter.
If you're going to go for one big, fatass , (that's a keyword there) warship you want the Confed Cruiser. Again, you can only get it if you do the Confed missions. My personal favorite is the Rebel Cruiser, though. Not quite as powerful as the Confed Cruiser, but faster and still really powerful. The closest civillian equivalent to these two would be the almighty Kestrel. (man, I loved that thing. I thought I was so great before getting stripped by that stuip Rebel Destroyer) Finally, when starting out, before going for the Corvette, it would be a good idea to get a Rapier. It kicks.
If you need mission help on how to get the Confed and Rebel... missions, just ask. But know, my young padawan, that you can only do one string per pilot. This means you will have to choose between the Confederate ships and the Rebel ships. (and, obivously, who you want to be allied with) Yes, there's a method for getting both strings and doing them at the same time, but I'm getting sick of typing this. G'night folks!
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