If you put the races in your debt eventually you will be able to stave off the intergalactic war and obtain help from these races in not defeating but at least mollifying the eternals. The eternals are a race of evil or at least morally indifferent people of incredible power, who need to be given their due of they will unerringly destroy the galaxy. 24 different alien starships with 48 unique weapons, each one with unique features and special weaponry. The rip in the universe can cause you to find planets completely devastated in your travels, until you find and eliminate the cause. Back again, are your old friends and enemies from previous star control games.
Some races return from the previous game combined with all new races.
Understanding alien humor is a factor in these confrontations. The communication is by choice from a preset list of responses, selected by mouse click. Free form responses are not allowed. Hand sculpted, digitized puppets replace the others on the screen. The digitized speech can optionally be augmented with a text equivalent.