I would say you need only space stations at this point, the alliance station is little bit of boost, but not being in an alliance is making it ineffective. Can you even build anything at the quay without spending at least 20,000 crystals on pirate officer, plus doing quest and finding a level in expedition? Right now ops stations what everyone after (we see after new update) so space stations with gravity guns is what you should be aiming for, and as many as you can.