Starquest: Space Pirates Of Andromeda by John C. Wright
Book 1. Action! Adventure! Pirates! Tyrants! Destroyed suns!
It opens with a girl witnessing the death of her world. Her parents' sacrifice gets her off it.
It then cuts forward in time, after the fall of the Empire, to when Athos, of the Space Patrol, is infiltrating a pirate ship, not only to find where they are getting their supplies, but to discover how his oldest brother died, and who killed him. During this time, he meets a Temple Maiden -- except she says she's not, she did not take vows. She does have the power to project herself through space. They discover many things. It involves free robots, fighting with spears, Athos's mother's having rescued a comrade, and much more.
There is another thread about an Imperial soldier, years before this happened.
More lies ahead.