Aurelian had never been one to take the road less traveled. Having joined the military of the Dawn Empire to see the vastness of the cosmos like every other adventurous and naïve youth. Now finding himself a scarred veteran, of uncountable and constant wars, there was only one problem. In his profession, if you live long enough the well-trodden road becomes the one less traveled. And traveling was never without its perils. ... Unless you traveled with an Elder Gateway, they had after all never failed. Say what you want about the mysterious Elders, the only thing everyone agreed upon was that they were builders without peer. Thousands of years after their disappearance from the cosmos, the unfaltering artifacts left behind in their wake are the heart of the known universe, each successful Gateway transit another beat in the unceasing pulse - but now the heartrate was fading and Aurelian found himself with front row seats.