I think it would be kind of cool if players could fast-queue in to active PvE games as an enemy ship. The ship that they play as would be randomized and only launch in the next wave of enemies. Players who kill an “enemy” player in the battle would gain a slight boost to their rewards, and players playing as enemies would also be able to make income based on how they perform. (How much damage they deal, and if they kill a player totally they get a larger reward.)
This would make for a very interesting quick game, and also make PvE a lot more dynamic. It would also be really fun for players because they can play with the unique enemy ships that spawn. (But then again it would also kind of take the E out of PvE.)
I guess this would kind of be like the “Beetle in the Anthill” brawl, but with less ridiculous enemies and MUCH faster random queueing.