Hidden Roads to Hegemony

2762. The Centaurian Hegemony once represented the apex of human civilization. With the discovery of an artificial structure partially encircling Proxima Centauri, human technological development was pushed forward by hundreds of years, powered by an energy source of unfathomable scale. Within decades, the Hegemony had expanded to control thirty star systems and forty worlds.   But their reach quickly exceeded their grasp, and relics of lost civilizations are seldom well understood. In 2671, against a backdrop of rumblings of war and increasingly totalitarian government, the Farcaster teleportation gates tying the burgeoning empire together started to fail. System by system, travel and communications between the protectorates was cut off.   In the Lyria system, home to some of humanity's most established exocolonies, sudden isolation transformed the generations-old cold war between the Hegemony's citizens and a group of colonists whose charter predated Centaurian rule by two centuries. Cut off from their greatest energy source, the Centaurian citizens of Lyria were forced to choose cooperation with their erstwhile rivals over a slow death. Led by the charismatic but shrewd Amaro Magnusson, the two civilizations united into a loose association of industrial nation-states.   Ninety years have passed since the Farcasters failed. Devoid of any contact with human life outside the Lyria system, the entire society has thrown itself into the goal of terraforming Elodia, Lyria's fourth planet. Shared ambition keeps tensions at bay, but repeated setbacks are mirrored by growing social tension. Unsettled questions about the abrupt fall of the Centaurian Hegemony raise fears that Elodia may be humankind's last chance to gain a foothold among the stars.   A gifted engineer is faced with the consequences of decisions she made decades ago as a young naval officer, and a strange reunion with an old friend opens new possibilities and leads her on a hunt for some of Lyria's best hidden secrets- a personal quest with consequences that could affect everyone she loves.   A geneticist makes alarming discoveries about the terraforming efforts, casting doubt on the possibility that humans will ever thrive on the fruit of the labor of generations. His findings threaten the very foundation of the greatest industrial society ever to exist- but there may be more important issues at stake...   The great-grandson of Amaro "Bridgebuilder" attains the political spotlight after generations of decline have clouded his one-prestigious family name. He believes himself best suited to lead humanity into a new era, but a dynasty can be a dangerous thing, and his visions for leadership clash with plans set in motion decades ago.   Combined, their discoveries will open new paths and chart the destiny of the Lyria system and its inhabitants.