Phoenix on Fire

233 years have passed since the events in Phoenix Imperiled. The Empire has grown to include all the colonized planets that existed at the time of its birth. Over a hundred new colonies have been formed and make up the Rim. They are still independent and resent attempts by Imperial Chartered Companies(ICCs) to exploit them economically. The ICCs have become powerful enough to be a potential threat to Emperor Sigismund Bentrik. His Merlin-type supercomputer is already predicting a slow decline for the Empire. But if Sigismund can't keep the ICCs in line, that decline will turn into a nosedive. What he doesn't know is that one of the ICCs has its own supercomputer and is asking itself the following question. If the Empire is sliding down a slippery slope leading to an abyss, why not give it a push? Can the Bentrik dynasty keep the dream of a peaceful empire alive?