The game is Star Control 2 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Control_2). It is made of awesome and win, and if you decide to play it you won't regret it. I promise. :D

And if you're not really the adventure gaming kind, you can always go through zarla's Screencap Adventure (http://zarla.livejournal.com/192372.html) of it where she screencaps all the game dialogue.

And yes, the VUX are very, very kickass. I'd tell you why, but it would spoil it for you.