The Trap
Rhizome of Green had been had. The realization dawned upon it as a ton of bricks currently in progress of falling upon his head.
He sweared with all the naughty words Ganvius had. And then, he invented some more. After that, he threw his cup of grub across the bridge of GNS Silver Needle III. It hit a one of the navigator’s viewscreens, cracked it and spread the green goo all over the console. The crew looked up in distress, seeing the usually so calm and confident Admiral to lose it. And a sense of forthcoming doom creeped upon them. For they looked at the Admiral and saw only distress.
These filthy aliens, these nasty Normans had taken Nectar of Hope, an undefended colony closest to their border. And then left, leaving the planet with only token forces. Virtually undefended. “These aliens are stupid,” Rhizome of Green concluded and the Serene Protector, Petals of Burgundy agreed with it. The Normans had made the first strategic error and by exploiting it, Ganvius could turn the nasty invaders back.
Filthy aliens over the Ganvius colony
As the Norman fleet entered Desplad system, with all of the armies in tow and with obvious intent on taking the second unprotected colony called Scion, Rhizome left the protective barrier of the spaceport of Ganvius Primus and went to take back the Nectar of Hope. Perhaps there was hope for the Ganvius after all.
The map of the Ganvius Empire
He realized now that this is exactly what the bloody stinking aliens wanted him to do. As his fleet was entering the orbit of Nectar of Hope, the Norman fleet appeared. In Ganva system! In home! Landing almost upon the wormhole station, the Normans blew it out of the sky. Thus, springing the trap and leaving Rhizome and his fleet in Castor system. For this was the last wormhole station the Ganvius had.
Stranding the enemy
Rhizome of Green clutched his feelers. He had walked into the trap the aliens set up and now, he is stranded in Castor system. The stinking aliens had won. Rhizome of Green had been had.
Clearing the Sky
Rhizome of Green ordered his fleet to bomb the Norman armies in Nectar of Hope. It’s not like he had anything else to do. Normans sustained. They knew and Rhizome knew that this was just a show of force, not actual force, for Rhizome did not have any armies with him and the personnel of fleet was not enough to take back even a village, and definitely not the entire planet.
As he was bombing it’s own planet, the communications fro Ganvius Primus became more panicked as the Normans were approaching to their homeworld. Not needing to hide anymore, the Norman fleet of 11 destroyers, 1 frigate and 20 corvettes was approaching with steady speed.
It was September 2232 when the first Norman slugs hit the massive structure orbiting the homeworld. It was strong, it was heavily armoured, it had plenty of weapons. But so did the Normans. Half of their destroyers were equipped with large and medium cannons, designed to penetrate the heavy armor of the spaceport. Small corvettes swarmed the station, while large cannons chew through the protective layers.
Attack on spaceport begins
In the end, the result was as predicted. Normans lost 7 corvettes, but the sky of Ganvius Primus was defenceless. And Ganvious had lost their ship production capability. As a final insult, the Normans destroyed the sole construction ship. Ganvius had no chance to build up their fleet, no chance to get Rhizome out of Castor. Alejandro Vasquez smiled. The Ganvius had been had.
End of the only spaceport of the enemy
Alejandro now had all the time in the world. Instead of hitting the enemy fleet, he set course back to Earth. To repair the existing ships and pick up some new ones.
The End
It was half a year later. In April 2233, when the Hauteville Fleet detached itself from the docks of Earth. Almost up to their former strength, with 18 corvettes, and all the battle damage repaired, the Normans were ready once again. They set course to Castor, to end it once and for all.
Rhizome knew this was it. It and its 27 corvettes, inferior to Norman ones in all aspects except for the shields, were either to win or perish, for they had nowhere to run. It gazed at the scans of the Norman ships. The sheer size of destroyers and the cannons of the corvettes... It knew he was going to fight an uphill battle. But it is not like it had a choice. The enemy had played it and the rest of the Ganvius and now, there was no other choice but to attack and hope to win. So, it gave the order to attack. And just hope that its belief about the inferiority of aliens compared to Ganvius had some root.
The Ganvius ships are quite outdated
It didn’t. GNS Silver Needle III was one of the first ships to be hit by the Normans. It was blown up at the early stages of the battle, when ships were still exchanging fire from a long distance. Rhizome did not survive the explosion. It was good for him too, for he did not see the devastating results.
First shots being exchanged
Desperately, the Ganvius ships were trying to fight. They knew what was at stake- their freedom. Their lives free from the yoke of the disgusting aliens. Their way of life. It did not help. There was less and less of their ships around, hammered by Normans, hit from all sides. As vile as the aliens were made to be, they knew how to fight.
Normans taking the enemy apart
Until there were none. The Ganvius fleet was nothing but a scrap of metal, floating in space, waiting for Norman scientists to scan and explore and to get the shields technology. The enemy had dealt the final blow.
The end of their fleet
Ganvius had lost it all. Their fleet, their spaceport and their ability to travel between starts- all had been taken by the Normans. There was but one thing to do- Serene Protector, Petals of Burgundy, not wishing to see the Norman armies touch their beautiful homeworld, while the Norman fleet devastates it from orbit, surrendered.
The surrender of the Ganvius
The Normans had won their first proper war.
The Spoils of War
Ganvius Primus, in Ganva system, was the homeworld of Ganvius. Huge planet, maximum population of 20 billion people. Natural beauty, if you happen to like the arctic scenery. But it is breathtaking. Mostly white, with frequent Aurora Borealis lighting up the sky, turning the serene scenery into something more coloured. And the skiing possibilities... The only negative part is that the planet is filled with Ganvius, who happen to be quite isolationist xenophobes, so the tourists have quite good chance to be beaten up.
The enemy homeworld, in all their glory
Scion, in Lappland System, is the second colony of the Ganvius. Even bigger then the Ganvius Primus, most of the planet is covered by glaciers that need to go before the planet can be fully exploited.
This is one huge planet
Nectar of Hope, now in Lulea System, is much smaller then the rest of the two. It is already full though. Ganvius are fast breeders. Once the restrictions are removed, this is also a good planet to thrive.
Now, who the hell builds planetary capital on top of perfectly good Betharian resource?
The Ganvius are the fourth non-mechanical species in the Hauteville Empire. There is total 32 billions of them, making them almost as numerous as the Humans (40 billion). As per Hauteville traditions, even the most obnoxious aliens have a right for everything. So, the Ganvius were granted full citizenships, given access to decent standards and requirements to serve in the local militia.
The Ganvius policies
The Ganvius Systems were put into seperate sector, dubbed Norrland. It was governed by Fan Wek.
The Conclusion
After the huge parade in Palermo, showing off both victorious soldiers and sailors, Empress Emma held a great reception in the Hauteville Palace. It was all cheering, happiness and other similar things.
Apart from the private meeting with Alejandro Vasquez, the hero of the war.
“The cost was too high,” Alejandro said. Emma just nodded.
“13 ships...” the Admiral sighed. “This is not good”
“Apart from the cost of lives, these ships are expensive,” Emma agreed. “It was the yearly income of the Hauteville Empire to replace them.”
“We need better ships,” Alejandro continued. “And also, we need more of them.”
“Agreed,” said Emma. “And you shall have both, i promise.”
"Also, we need to improve our mineral output," Emperor Consort Bohemond pointed out.