You, the intrepid hero, are stuffed into an experimental hyperdrive ship and sent off for help. They drove him back once, so it seems. Good stuff, yes, but the story really doesn't go much beyond that. Eventually you have enough tools in enough places to win. So you do that.
Plenty is involved in doing all of that.
And very well integrated. Some rough spots at the beginning, perhaps. Okay, I'm sorry, they're books. But through most of the game, your actions make good sense in terms of the worlds you explore. You use machines that can reasonably be expected to do what they do, and be where you find them.