Got some more ideas:
Year: 2356
The earth is being bombarded by constant solar flares. The skies are burning, the oceans are boiling and humanity is preparing to leave for the stars. However, they are running out time. In a desperate attempt to save the human race, the United confederacy has confiscated all spaceships, stations and related technology and bolted it togheter in one large ship. After 2 months of hard work it set out towards the stars, taking millions to safety, but leaving billions behind. However problems soon arise, as resources start to run short , and soon the United confederacy falls and different factions are formed.
Version A: Hard Sci-fi. No jumpdrive, the focus remains on this one expansive ship, and it's struggle for survival
Version B:The United confederacy has abandonned most of the ship to fight for itself, and has locked itself up in the expansive engine complex that allows the construction to jump throughout star systems. no signs of live have been given, and people fear that the computer ghost that controls it has gone mad. Recent evidence proves this, as there's no pattern in how long the ship will remain in a given system, making resource gathering dangerous.
(Soft Sci-fi
Version C: The United confederacy has abandonned most of the ship to fight for itself, and has locked itself up in the expansive engine complex that allows the construction to jump throughout star systems. no signs of live have been given, and people fear that the computer ghost that controls it has gone mad. Recent evidence proves this, as there's no pattern in how long the ship will remain in a given system, making resource gathering dangerous. On top of that, strange phenomena are often encountered. Things that shouldn't be happening, objects moving on their own accord. One of our scientists speculated that the Quantum Space Distortion matrix might be reacting to human brain patterns, while other just call it sorcery or magic. (Sci fi + Jumpdrives+ Mysterious magic(only a bit))
The Ship:
The ship is built from a variety of ships and stations, leading to serious difference in design between parts. The most often occuring are:
Ship parts: Parts of the originally planned ship. These are rare, but almost always in perfect state and state of the art. They are often very large, as the originally planned ship was supposed to carry 1/6 of the human population
Biodomes: Orbital habitats constructed by the rich. These are often wellmaintained and luxurous, but use way more resources then other things. These are the only places where a normal Earth landscape is slightly mimiced, and as such quite popular above all the steel corridors and such. They are quite hard to find and to keep, but much easier then Original parts.
Space ships: Real spaceships have been incorporated in the design. These are often mediocre in quality, and have a good balance in resources used vs output. One also speculates that with a good team, one might be able to return them to their former status of indepent ships
Modules: Cheap mass fabricated modules constructed between the other structures. These are abudant, but generally of low quality, requiring a lot of maintenance. Resource usage is mediocre. The United Confederacy used these to increase the capacity of the ship and to quickly make it functional. These modules often rely on supplies from other part to be able to survive
Resources:
Food, fuel and energy will be the most sought after resources. Construction material will be sought after to, and will be extremely hard to find.
That turned out longer then expected. Just an idea btw. There's only one problem with it, and that is that it might turn old rather quickly.