The Union of Arcana has expanded through the portals
linking parallel universes for over a century and a half.
In that time, its soldiers and sorcerers have laid claim
to one uninhabited planet after another-all of them Earth,
and in the process, the Union has become the most
powerful, most wealthy civilization in all of human
history. But all of that is about to come to a screeching
halt, for the Union's scouts have just discovered a new
portal, and on its far side lies a shattering revelation.
Arcana is not alone, after all. There is another human
society, Sharona, which has also been exploring the
Multiverse, and the first contact between them did not go
well. Arcana is horrified by the alien weapons of its
sudden opponents, weapons its sorcerers cannot explain or
duplicate. Weapons based upon something called . . .
science. But Sharona is equally horrified by Arcana's
¿magical¿ weapons. Neither side expected the
confrontation. Both sides think the other fired first, and
no one on either side understands the ¿technology¿ of the
other. But as the initial disastrous contact snowballs
into all-out warfare, both sides can agree on one thing.
The portal which brought them together is Hell's Gate
itself!