Relic of Empire — W. Michael Gear

THE CALL TO BATTLE...
The Forbidden Borders, an unassailable gravity-powered barrier, confine rival human empires to a few star systems, leaving them to strive endlessly against one another for domination. Now the balance of power has shifted so drastically that the long-dreaded final war between Rega and Sassa, the last surviving empires, is about to begin. Staffa kar Therma, Lord Commander of the Companions, the finest of mercenary soldiers, knows this war could reduce all human civilization to ashes, and he is desperately striving to avert the spiral into total destruction.

Then, seeking to blackmail Staffa into fighting for them, the Regans kidnap Skyla Lyma, Staffa's second-in-command and the woman he loves. And suddenly Staffa is forced to choose between Skyla's life and the possible end of his universe. Yet perhaps the choice will not be left to him at all. For Sinklar, the son stolen from the Lord Commander as an infant, now a general who has become Staffa's sworn enemy, is already mobilizing his own forces for a preemptive strike....

But others, too, are weaving strategies of intrigue and betrayal as they reach out to seize control of the known worlds. And only time will tell if anyone will survive to claim the title of victor...