Kendra held the northern approach through the night and did not put one wheel across Torrel Bend's line. The city had asked for nothing yet, and a convoy that arrives uninvited is an occupation with better paint.
The request came at first light from the operator himself, priced and signed under his own seal. He asked for anchor defense only, on the ground his crews could not cover while the national sync stayed dark.
She read the terms twice before she moved, since the last thing this city needed was a rescue with a claim inside it. The contract bought her crews a defensive position at the anchor and nothing else, no civil authority, no route rights, no say in the vote.
"Signed and posted, so we roll to the anchor yard, then stop there," Kendra said across the relay, "and if one of my people prices a street inside that city, they answer to me first."
