This is the last post which is in this chunk. I will work for some more time on putting together a real, much shorter, coherent story.
Next, and finally, I'll talk about the player.
We are a fairly new species, only a few billion years old from the time we were cells. No matter your archetype, the first thing you will do, is investigate a colony ruined by the Grox, and the second will be fighting off the drones left over, which are desperate to protect their people from these currently illusive grox. Very similar to the short story, There Will Come Soft Rains, in my opinion.
You will encounter the Grox more than a few times. They're usually seen as hoards of powerful and immovable ships, burning your and your allies colonies down without remorse.
As you venture towards the center, you'll reach a line of occupied stars, and as soon as you identify them as Grox, you're in a war zone.
But, the story of Spore, where the player is involved, requires you to, well,
With endless gifts, fireworks, happiness rays, and just about everything else there is, you can not convince the grox to form an alliance with you.
This is, until you use your archetype's respective super-power on an occupied planet, breaking the galactic code.
Seeing that you are capable of apathy and cruelty, just like them, the grox look after you a second time. You've been kind, truly kind, but it is not your nature to be.
You are the only race who is ever kind to them, and though they've long lost their humanity, and aren't sure what to do with your kindness, they recognize it, and they will accept you.
By forming the alliance, and Dancing With the Devil, you betray everybody else. You treat with kindness a creature who has so consistently eradicated people, ruined lives, and taken over well over two thousand solar systems, with five thousand planets between them.
But, you find that the grox, the only people left who claim not to hate you, will still attack you when you try to move towards the center. They're hiding something from you, and, after all of that time and effort you put in to earn their alliance, this feels personal.
So, you gather your best upgrades, fill your inventory with energy and health packs, and you quickly jump from star to star, through the forces of the grox. You meet Steve, and are gifted with the staff of life.
He doesn't express it, but a few things become clear. One, the Grox wanted to hide Steve from you, and two, that they're still not kind, even towards their only ally.
The grox die at anything besides T0, as they've replaced so many parts of themselves in order to be superior, that they're hardly alive. A proper planet with grasses and animals might mess up their prosthetics, and they've given up the ability to walk freely on a living planet.
Well, Steve gifts you with an item which allows you to eradicate the grox off of one planet with a single click. However, you find that the staff of life has a very limited number of uses. Fifty, if I remember correctly.
So, though it looks like, eventually, you're going to have to end the Grox, Steve isn't of much help in the grand scheme of things. You'll have to get your own hands dirty.
You fill three colonies on each of fifty planets, you rebuild relationships with the nearest few species that you can, and build some trade routes, you build your money, you begin trades with the grox as well, collect weapons, and prepare yourself.
Then, you'll reach a point, where you feel that you're ready. (You're not, you never will be.) You take your weapons, and you attack a grox planet. Immediately, your alliance is off, and now, you've truly betrayed ever single space bearing creature in the entire galaxy.
One day, if you spent enough hours for enough months, you'll take over, and defeat the grox. It's stressful, and terrifying. Like spending months fighting a final boss.
Badge Outta Heck, the only other secret achievement I've ever got (please don't tell me if there's other ones I wanna learn on my own, thanks!) You, to my knowledge, have to Dance With the Devil, to gain the upper hand you need to earn Badge Outta Heck, and defeat the grox.
It feels, to me, that the rest of the galaxy sees the player as the new Grox initially. Those wars don't go away on their own, and I'm not sure it's possible to rebuild every single relation. You take the Grox's place as the most powerful, most hated group in the galaxy, but its important to me, that you are very different.
You are not jaded, or cruel (unless you are which sounds like a really fun way to play the game:D) you are capable of being kind.
I've always, including on that world, made it to space stage with full red cards, besides the blue card of omnivore, as I didn't know there were cards at the time, making me a warrior archetype, but I did replay the game a few times after badge outta heck. The story feels a little hit different depending on how you play it.
