You can use some more mechanics to develop fashion:
red energy crystals are a rare resource used for camouflage devices. Its application for other equipment could be expanded - super accelerators (increased speed or fast movement by 50-100 k), temporary amplification of the detection zone by a radar or a powerful radar working at the expense of a crystal for scanning systems, EMR pulse against NPC. If it is possible to introduce the possibility of accumulation and exchange of crystals, this could become a currency for trade with alien races. You can also make other varieties based on red crystals for different purposes.
You can, in principle, add the event "nomad invasion fleet" for any of the systems - the appearance of a limited but powerful fleet in one of the jumping holes heading for the orbit of an important planet - the task of destroying the fleet
It would be nice to expand the list of drop-down unique equipment in nomads and other races - in addition to weapons for fighters
There is also the vague idea of adding dynamic jumping holes that send into the unknown)))