As humanity stretched into the galaxy and settled colonies on distant worlds, they discovered the ruins of ancient alien civilizations. Their corporate governments had no interest, as there was no immediate profits. However, over time, explorers and archaeologists learned that artifacts found within these ruins held within them long-latent powers, and the profit-driven and power-hungry governments grew more interested.
Now these empires have gone to war; each trying to gather their own relics to give themselves a leg up in the ever-growing "Relic Wars" which could determine the dominant faction in the galaxy.
This is book 5 in the Relic Worlds series.