You know what I'd like to see more of

[SparkyRailgun]

But barring that, there's nothing that says ships don't still get to the surface of a planet by normal atmospheric entry either.

Like in the case of a faction raiding an enemies home planet, for example..I doubt they'd use docking rings.

This is likely going to be the most important thing said in this thread.
Docking rings only allow for easy transportation of cargo to and from the planet, as they (basically) 'remove gravity' meaning ships do not need to reach escape velocity to exit the atmosphere.
Less fuel:D

However, ships smaller than transports could still enter the atmosphere the old fashioned way, although I can't imagine this is commonplace in modern-day Sirius.

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