1) usual recommendation (and right now, looking at my progress, I'm inclined to agree) is to go for REP
2) get your Arx (and the largest passenger hauler you can cobble up) over to Cann Relay in Evangelis and run station evacuation missions for the Feds. I'm doing the same in Onoros for the Imps (I want a Cutter). Both systems are among those that have been attacked by Thargoids last Thursday (but the other six systems only have Alliance factions, so no good for Fed or Imp ranking). Depending on how long you take (and how much traffic there is - the rescue ships only have one large pad), you can do 6..10 trips per hour. In my Corvette, thats 10 or so missions per run - 60 per hour. The only problem is that I can clean out the Imp missions before they refill, so I have to take a few Alliance missions to fill up the gaps.
If you want to do this, just keep in mind that those rescue ships (and all the nearby stations) are pretty short on equipment, especially passenger cabins. So you'll either need to find a carrier that will sell you some, bring them from the Bubble (~800 ly) or put them in storage in the Bubble and have them transferred (~2.5 hrs) once you get there.
If you want to make money instead - each passenger pays ~10 k (some pay less, most slap on a time bonus, so it's probably even more in the total). With 170 seats, that's 1.7 mil per run.
Oh - and don't forget to bring a fuel scoop.
