Background: Rediscovery and the Reverse Rabbit Hole

The inciting event in the prolog of The Man From Empire brings an Imperial human (Osh Scimtar di Baryan, informally ScOsh) to Earth, where he discovers some failed rebels from a long time ago have taken up residence on Earth, intending to use it as a base or springboard for attacks on the Empire.

He meets an Earth native, Graciela Juarez, a non-traditional college student with a troubled past who gets caught in the crossfire. Together, they discover that the rebels have a hand in most of the problems Earth has had for quite some time, as the rebels are able to do things for their stooges that cannot otherwise be done on Earth. After a climactic scene in which they discover just how screwed up the rebels have been in their handling of events on Earth, Grace is left alone.

The events of A Guardian From Earth begin seconds after the conclusion of the first book, as Grace tries to put her life back on track. But she gets an invitation to travel to the Empire to train her newfound abilities, where she spends approximately two years Earth time as the foster child to one of the Empire's more important families, learning how best to harness her new gifts. When she returns, she discovers that her parents have been murdered and that although the rebels against the Empire are gone, their organization is still active on Earth, and there are some very hostile aliens as well.

In Empire and Earth, events are causing governments on Earth to fall apart - but Grace has a plan to preserve some sense of order - until China and Russia go to war against each other, and the fallout from that conflict tilts the balance towards a resolution that accomplishes more than Grace had hoped.

Finally, in Working The Trenches, Grace and her husband join the Imperial military - but the military will not let their unique talents to to waste.

PS: The four book series is available all together in one collection here