Tyranny of Steel

Berengar sat back in his vessel and gazed upon a map that he had created. This was a map that was drawn from memory about Mexico and the current political alliances of the region. The year in this world was 1424, which meant that he was roughly four years away from the creation of the Aztec Empire.

Instead, if this world were to have followed his past life's timeline exactly, there would be three major city states that had yet to align with one another and form the mighty Aztec Empire. Truth be told, Berengar could not be certain that this was the case. 

The reality was that this world differed vastly from his past life. Not only had major historical events and figures changed, but the map of the old world itself differed completely from the history he knew. It was entirely possible that not only had the Aztec Empire been formed early in this timeline, but perhaps they had even conquered several of their neighbors, making the state larger and more powerful than it was in the history of his past life. 

Either way, Berengar needed to be prepared for whatever it was he came to face. It was at this moment that a knock resounded on his door with a stern voice from the other side. 

"My Kaiser, We have arrived...."

Berengar sighed when he heard this and rolled up the map before exiting his quarters. As he climbed to the top deck, he gazed upon the Aztec coastline with a wide grin on his face. In this life, he was able to use his memories of history to come to the New World in advance of the other powers, and secure its resources for himself. The only thing he had to contend with were the native kingdoms. 

Now, he could finally get his hands on the absurd amount of Gold the Spanish introduced to their economy during the 16th and 17th centuries. Supposedly, if history was anything to go by, the Spanish had encountered so much gold that they broke their economy with it. However, in this life, all of that wealth now belonged to Germany, and Berengar would kill anyone who impeded such a thing. 

It did not take long for the German fleet to come into the bay and anchor their vessels, deploying the boats necessary to bring the troops to shore. When Berengar first step foot on the beaches, he gazed into the distance and smiled. This would be the perfect area to create a new colony, if only they did not have such troublesome neighbors. 

The moment Honoria touched the ground, she ran up to her husband and kissed him on the lips, apologizing profusely for her previous behavior.

"I'm sorry that I overreacted. Can you ever forgive me?"

Berengar was startled. It had been weeks since he had revealed his secret to Honoria, and judging by the way she reacted, he thought that potentially their relationship was over. Instead, he received a pleasant surprise the moment she next encountered him. Thus, he chuckled lightly as he kissed her back. With a shit-eating grin on his face, he bopped her nose with his finger and whispered something in her ear.

"I suppose I can, but you will have to make it up to me later..."

Honoria flushed in response and silently nodded her head, understanding what he meant. As the couple were enjoying their time together, the rest of the German Marins began their landing, followed by the soldiers of the German Army, and the engineering corps. 

Berengar was adamant that a proper stronghold be built as quickly as possible, and a port with it. It was no exaggeration to say that there was a major threat further inland, and Berengar wanted a secure base of operations. Because of this, he had brought a sufficient supply of granite and mortar to build a proper star fort on the coastline. 

This was part of the reason Berengar had not invaded the region of meso-America until now. He needed to transport such vast quantities of stone, and his warships were simply incapable of carrying the vast loads. 

However, with his new Dominion Class vessels, he could store several thousand tons of stone, allowing him to bring the materials to rapidly construct a star fort. With 1,000 men to use as labor and the materials, theoretically, he could build his fortress in a matter of weeks.

After all, it took twenty-four hours for his mortar to set and though it would not be fully cured, it could provide a reasonably solid structure when combined with granite blocks. At the very least, it could resist any weapons that the Aztecs may possess. 

As the beachhead was secured by the marines, the engineers brought over the supplies and moved them onto the coast. Small boats ferried important pieces of machinery from the vessels, such as steam shovels, steam cranes, and other construction equipment. Within the first three hours of landing in the new world, excavation had begun, and preparations for setting the foundation of a star fort were being made. 

---

Around the same time as the German Landing, a band of Jaguar Warriors was chasing after an escaped slave. Among their ranks was a beautiful young woman, who wore nothing but the skins of a Jaguar. One of her sizeable breasts laid bare. The only concealment was war paint made from the blood of her victims. 

The sun glistened on the woman's tanned abdominal muscles as she pranced after her target as if she herself was the physical embodiment of the creature whose skin she wore. Just when she was in reach of launching her atlatl, a loud roar the likes she had never heard before echoed nearby, spooking the birds off of the trees and. Into the air. 

Unknowingly, her weapon had slipped from her hand, and launched into the escaped slave's back, who stood in shock at the edge of a cliff. The spear penetrated the man's chest and sent his lifeless body rolling down the edge and onto the beach below. 

When a nearby warrior saw what the woman had done, he ran over and complimented her for her kill. 

"Great job, Princess! The punishment for fleeing captivity is death!"

Despite the kind words, the woman stared in disbelief, trying to comprehend what it was she had just heard. Eventually, she asked her comrades to see if she was simply imagining things."

"Did you hear that?"

The man looked at her with confusion in his eyes and was just about to speak when he heard the shouting of several men, in a language he did not recognize. He quickly rushed through the woods and onto the cliff below to investigate the noise. 

When he gazed down at the beach below, he could not believe his eyes. Golden-haired men with pale skin and blue eyes were dressed in clothing he did not recognize, carrying weapons he could not comprehend. However, the most insane thing of all was that these men came from the east, beyond the great sea in massive vessels, using machines to dig out the sand on the beaches below. 

Some of these men were inspecting the corpse that had fallen from the cliff above, and when they gazed up to see where he had come from, they witnessed the sight of the native warrior with a weapon in his hand. Immediately, the German soldiers reacted by raising their weapons and shouting at the native.

"Drop your weapons! Drop them now!"

Unfortunately, the communication barrier was too strong to overcome, and after seeing their hostile weapons and speaking in an aggressive tone, the jaguar warrior did not react as the Germans had expected and charged down towards them.

Unfortunately, he was dealing with men equipped with vastly superior weapons and the squad of soldiers instantly fired their rifles, sending their .45-70 projectiles straight into the man's torso, claiming his life in the process. 

The woman who had accompanied the jaguar soldier immediately cried out in shock as she witness the death of her comrade. 

"Tlanoch!"

However, as the Germans overheard her shrieks, they rapidly reloaded their weapons and fired in her general direction, narrowly missing her in the process. The Princess immediately collapsed to her knees in fear and ran off in the opposite direction.

She could not believe what she had just seen. These men who had so ruthlessly gunned down her comrade resembled the god Quetzalcoatl and had come from the east where he was said to be banished. On a one reading year nonetheless, were these the envoys of the great feathered serpent? If so, why were they hostile? These were the thoughts that flooded the woman's mind as she ran away from the bloody scene. 

Meanwhile, Berengar had heard the gunshots and rushed over to the location where he witnessed the two dead natives lying in the ditch created by the steam shovel. He glanced around and addressed the NCO in charge of the squad.

"Where did they come from? Are there any more of them?"

The sergeant immediately saluted his officer and reported what limited information he knew about the situation.

"We heard a woman wail after we shot the big one. However, after firing a volley, she appears to have escaped into the woods. As for the smaller one, it appears that big guy was chasing him, and had a spear thrown through his chest. It all happened so fast..."

Berengar nodded his head and gazed into the hills above with a devilish smirk on his face before issuing his orders.

"Alert the patrols we have come into contact with potentially hostile natives. As for the one who escaped, I will get her, quickly fetch me my horse, and the members of my royal guard. It appears a chase is in order." 

The sergeant immediately saluted and responded in the affirmative.

"Yes, my Kaiser!"

After saying this, the Germans were alerted to the presence of the hostile natives and become on edge. Meanwhile, Berengar would begin the pursuit of the mysterious woman with his royal guard in tow.