The now reformed Imperialists and the large republic of the UGE bump heads with each new system as their own internal politics decay into corruption and vile deals made behind cloaks of gold. With both factions at the brink of spilling over into each other or imploding into chaotic civil wars, the criminal activities perverse the outer rim and dissolve the core with the lack of law enforcement.
Now at the dawn of a new era of war which might ignite a chain of events, science brings itself deeper and deeper into territory which should never be traversed. Soon they will understand why it is unwise to meddle with time and space itself...
(but before all that)