Landfall

Everyone expected the Vesians to come to the Glowing Planet. How could they not, when its resources lay bare to their archrivals?

Anything the Bright Republic enjoyed, the Vesians always tried to ruin it. They'd been waging several wars against the Bright Republic for over a hundred years just to snatch the Bentheim System.

It was a matter of time before they came.

"They still arrived too quickly." Fadah muttered. "They must have sneaked past the border the moment they heard the news. Not that's it's hard to cross the border anyhow."

In the vast depths of space, borders served a symbolic purpose. The distances involved were simply too large to defend. Still, even if the Vesians strolled past the Republic's outposts, they shouldn't have reached the Glowing Planet for at least a couple more days.