One of the mercenaries has to capability of converting a dead planet into a class 16 colony. So, when are we going to see a research item for this?
I like the idea of having three levels of this technology. First level randomly converts dead planets to class 4 to 9. Second level converts to class 10 to 15 while third level converts to class 16 and above.
Having three levels results in players having to decide when and where to convert planets. Do you rush to convert planets near a hostile player? Do you hold off on converting planets near a shipyard or a good colony? It would also make maps that have a lot of planets but few habitable planets more interesting.