I'd say if the boosts are that small though, they'd have to come fairly easily. A 2% boost to exp gained every mission is very small, and each mission lasts 20 minutes or longer. I'd just as soon scrap my ship anyway and ignore that boost.
Maybe something like a champion-only resource like the unlock points are, specifically for building little champion drones that provide area-wide bonuses or something. All drones die when you do, and you lose all of that resource. Even then, that seems like so much work for something so small. Assuming it wasn't, here's a bit of what the drones would be like;
Attack Boost Drone: Confers a +1% attack boost for all ships in a range around it. Permanently cloaked, but cannot move. The boost stacks with other nearby drones, but only goes up to 10%.
Tachyon Drone: A permanently cloaked, immobile drone that emits tachyon coverage over a considerable area. Acts like a tachyon turret.
Force Field Drone: A force field-carrying drone. The drone itself isn't particularly healthy, but its force field does not shrink as it takes damage. Ideal for protecting allies.
Fortress Drone: ...let's just stop the idea train here. The point is, they give little buffs that you spend living-long moneys on.