If you have played Age of empires 3 or Emperor:battle for dune (this is what i am basing my sugesstion on) civilizations can create allies with minor little civilisations. These mini civs can do much to add stradagy to the game, they have additional technology to research what does good to the entire civ and they have specail units that only you can have, these units should have only one purpose and scolding be a base of an army also their numbers should be limited. So what i am proposing is that you find a inhabited nutral planet who says that they will ally with you if you can give them tech, resources save from marauders ect.

now when you save them they are now still independent but help you.

like the TEC finds a independant mining outpost - they claim that they cant hold out forever against the marauders, please help. The TEC helps them and kills off the marauders now the miners help the TEC. the MINERS give the "Plasma mining laser - inproves mining colonies output by 5% also they provide an improved freighter called the mining barge - much more HP and has anti fighter capabilities but is slower and build count is at a max of 5.

now this may be a bit large to implament at this stage of the beta, but neither the less it is an idea.