Grox Empire (Alycine Continuity)

The Grox were a sapient species of cyborg aliens that were undeniably the most hostile and aggressive sentient race in the galaxy. Feared by most and hated by all, the Grox Empire was both a target and boogeyman for any nations that were aware of them. 
The Grox controlled a vast empire with approximately 240,000 star systems, inhabiting the Outer and, more prominently, Inner Core. 
One of the oldest known civilizations, the Grox ruled in fear for millennia before their ultimate defeat and destruction in 5 BGS at the hands of the Gorron. Their worlds, once cold and desolate, are now beacons of color and life, forming most of what is now the Core Republic.
== Biology ==
“The Grox are the ultimate evil in the galaxy. They are machines that exist entirely outside of nature.”
- Stones of Life
Grox biology is perhaps the most unknown factor of their kind. How they are born, their lifespan, diets, are all a mystery to the scientific community. Most of what is known comes from autopsies done on deceased Grox.
Grox bodies recovered would usually result in confounded scientists and paranoid militaries. The fear of post-mortem booby traps or even hidden WMDs resulted in many encounters with a corpse ending in vaporization. When their bodies were successfully recovered and studied, it was revealed that underneath their scary cybernetics, the Grox are rather unremarkable.
Short stature, weak arms and legs, along with a myriad of other issues make the Grox one of the galaxy's physically weakest beings, on the verge of being an unsustainable species.
Most notably, the immune system of a Grox is horrendously insufficient. The bacteria and fungi found in essentially every liveable ecosystem will quickly kill a Grox. Even without these impurities, the Grox would be unable to survive any world above T0 due to their small and delicate respiratory systems.
=== Cybernetics ===
Grox cybernetics controlled everything from breathing to walking, and allowed them various benefits; the most notable ones being:
* Eye Visor: Grox eyesight and depth perception is terrible, this lens (usually on the right) brought it past 20/20.
* Leg Brace - The metal brace found around Grox legs (usually just one, on which seemingly being random) helps support their body weight and agility. Since the Grox's legs are already so weak, these enhancements really only bring them up to normal abilities.
* Cybernetic Vest - Nicknamed the "cybervest", this vest is actually implanted into a Groxes abdomen. The purpose of this "suit" is to monitor and correct cardiovascular and respiratory systems on a constant basis.
* Arm/Grasper - Most Grox are found with a cybernetic arm, almost exclusively being the right. The cyber arm allows a grasper with immense grip strength to be utilized, along with panels to allow access to systems such as a database or intranet.
** Some Grox wear these as a brace, whereas others have amputated their forearms for a permanent replacement. There seems to be no pattern or reason for either.
==== Theory ====
The fact the Grox managed to survive this long in such a state is implausible. What most genealogists and general researchers agree on is the Grox must have been at some point more sturdy than their modern variant. Thanks to their overreliance on technology and cybernetics, their bodies became less and less self-sufficient. Eventually, the Grox could not survive past infancy without cybernetic enhancement.
This has lead some to wonder what they were like at their peak with cybernetics, but hope of finding an answer is low.
== Government ==
Unique in their governance, there is no known structure of power seen in Grox civilization. Theories of a hive mind have sprouted up from time to time but lack of evidence shuts down these claims. It truly seems the Grox as a species collectively united in extreme xenophobia and isolationism as a people, the reasoning lost to outsiders.
With no government in-place, the Grox may have been the galaxy's most successful anarchy, but most political scientist argue against this analogy.
== Culture ==
“The Grox are machines with absolutely no sense of humor! They destroy entire races and never offer an explanation of what it is that ticks them off!”
- Blocks of Chance
Other than isolating themselves from both outsiders and other Grox in general, little is known about the daily lifestyle of a Grox. The only glimpse into their cultural behavior is the fact that their empire understands and partakes in the spice trade with neutral parties on rare occasions. They also manage these transactions with the common galactic currency of sporebucks, showing they at the very least tolerate universally accepted practices to a degree.
== Voice & Language ==
The Grox voice is a glitchy, beeping, fluctuating, computerized voice with many strange words, foreign to the "biological" voices of the rest of the galaxy. It consists of static, robotic, deep pitches while fluctuating to higher, cleaner tones when happy or excited.
The language of the Grox shares some common letters with the rest of the galaxy, such as S, I, and G. After this though the similarities fade into what many call "slanted squiggles". The Grox alphabet has been translated into over 300 spoken languages, and databases can be accessed to decipher the language should it be encountered anywhere.
== Legacy ==
The Grox as a civilization were wiped out by the Gorron, with the latter destroying most of what remained.
Fear of the Grox ended in quick succession to the shift in focus on the Gorron Invasion. By the time the new threat was defeated, few were thinking about the Grox, most now looking towards the bright future without them or the Gorron. Grox ships can still be found scattered throughout space and crash-landed on random worlds. Grox tech can still be discovered in certain corners of the galaxy, and their marks of devastation are still seen in many nations' borders.
There's insufficient proof the Grox were totally annihilated. Some believe a small number managed to flee to another galaxy, others think there may be survivors being experimented on in secret governmental facilities. Whatever the case may be, the galaxy is ready to move on from the Grox, their name slowly fading into legends and storybooks.