Tyranny of Steel

A group of mercenaries sat on the deck of an Adela Class Armored Frigate while the banners of the German Empire swayed with the wind. Over a month had passed since Kaiser Berengar von Kufstein had given permission to the Gunther Merchant Company to form a Private Military Corporation, and the ability to establish a Colony in the New World. 

The wealthy merchant had spared no time in securing the necessary people, ships, and equipment to begin colonization of an Island in the region known as the Caribbean in Berengar's past life. The Island in question was among the largest, if not the largest in the area, and in another world it was known by the name of Cuba. 

Here in this world it was ripe for conquest and settlement, and because of this, various men had gathered under the contract of the Gunther Merchant Company to claim the island for themselves. At the head of the vessel was the eldest son of Gunther, whose name was Henrick.

Henrick was a tall, and robust man who had lived his early years as a lowly peasant. Now he was the son of a business mogul and had all the wealth he could ever ask for. Despite this, he desired to step foot on the foreign soil that the German Empire had discovered in secret. The reasoning was simple: the spirit of adventure lived on in his heart. 

As with every young man in the Empire, Henrick had served his four years in one of the German Military branches. It was because of this that his father had tasked him with leading this band of mercenaries to establish an agricultural settlement so that the Gunther Merchant Company could grow sugarcane and coffee. Both of which were luxury items that the fatherland lacked the means to grow. 

The retired soldiers who stood aboard the deck were armed with G22 Bolt Action Rifles and 1422 Service Revolvers. Rather than looking like some common rabble, these mercenaries wore distinctive uniforms that resembled those worn by the Austro-Hungarian Army during the later portion of the Great War from Berengar's past life. 

Because they were entering the unknown, the company had purchased helmets and body armor previously only available to the Imperial Guard and issued them to the mercenaries. With 1916 style Stahlhelms on their heads, and concealable plate carriers over their torso, there was no weapon in the enemy's arsenal that they needed to fear. Or so they thought... 

At the moment Henrick was gazing through his binoculars, searching for the first sight of land. He continued his search for some time before he noticed they were approaching the Island that Honoria's crew had charted in recent months. With this in mind, he quickly gave orders to the soldiers on deck.

"At the ready, men, we have almost arrived! I want the area secure the moment we touch the ground. Do not fire upon the natives unless they prove hostile. Though we come as conquerors, I would hope that we are able to take these lands with as little conflict as possible!"

The mercenaries nodded their heads in agreement. They did not want to risk their lives if it was necessary. They were here to do a job and get paid for it. If they did not have to fight, then they would not do so. Soon, the ships pulled into the bay and dropped their anchors, where they let out the landing craft so that the German mercenaries could land on the soil of the unnamed island. 

It was quite a sight to behold as five Armored Frigates and several Dominion class ocean liners sat in the bay, dropping their landing craft into the water, which contained dozens of soldiers on each boat. Naturally, such a large gathering of foreigners did not go unnoticed by the natives, who gazed upon the strange pale-skin men with curiosity. 

It did not take long for the first rowboat to hit the shore, where Henrick stepped onto the sandy beach with his revolver in one hand and an infantry sword in the other. Though he wanted to avoid violence, he was well prepared to engage in it should such a thing be necessary.

A group of locals gathered at the beach as they gazed upon the men dressed in strange uniforms, who were holding strange weapons. They did not know what to say about this situation.  Henrick immediately stepped forward, surrounded by his soldiers, as he tried to make contact with the natives. 

"We come from across the Atlantic Ocean. The German Empire now stakes its claim on this land!"

Naturally, the native Caribbeans did not have the slightest clue what the Germans were saying, and were surprised when a soldier came up with a flagpole and stuck it in the soil. The meaning of flags were completely lost to such a primitive tribal society, and they could not fathom the idea of these strangers coming to their homes and declaring themselves in charge. 

Immediately, an elder of the nearest village came out and presented gifts to the foreign men. They were nothing more than primitive jewelry made of beads, but the gesture was enough to convince the Germans that these people weren't hostile. Upon seeing this, Henrick smiled and accepted the token of friendship before giving out a gift of his own. He reached into his rucksack and pulled out a ration of canned chicken, and handed it to the elderly woman. 

The rations that these mercenaries were equipped with were some of the best products that the Gunther Merchant Company offered. Just earlier this afternoon, the crew of the vessel that Henrick dwelled on had dined upon a meal of buffalo chicken pasta. Which was made by the chefs on board using mostly canned and bottled foods. 

The elder of the local tribe gazed upon the canned chicken with interest before opening its tab and revealing the pre-cooked poultry within. Upon smelling the substance, she dared to take a bite, and after tasting the juicy meat, a smile spread across her face before nodding her head in approval. She said some words in her native tongue to her people, and with that friendship had been established between the two foreign populations.

Of course, if the natives of the Island knew the Germans had come here for conquest and settlement, they likely would have resisted from the beginning. Unfortunately, they did not know this, and because of this lack of communication, they invited the German soldiers to stay with them. 

Henrick was pleased that the locals proved to be friendly, and thus he took them up on their offer, using the beachhead and the nearby village as a staging point for the development of their settlement. He quickly got to work giving out orders for the establishment of a proper fortress for the German mercenaries to live in. 

The German mercenaries did not hesitate to get to work. They were being paid to do a job, and many of the engineers and builders they had brought with them began establishing the first German settlement on the island. It was a primitive wooden fortress in the shape of a star fort. They did not have the stone, nor mortar to build anything complex like Berengar had done in Berenstadt. 

It would take several days before the fortress was complete. In the meantime, Henrick would work on teaching the locals his language and learning theirs so that he could communicate effectively with them. It was a long and difficult process to learn a new language completely from scratch, especially if there was no direct translation of the new language you were learning.

However, following Berengar's example in the New World, Henrick quickly found a way to communicate by pointing to objects and saying the word in german, while learning the native word for it. He was more than happy to share the goods of his father's company with the locals. In doing so, he gave them a taste of the convenience the Empire had to offer. 

The lead ship of the Gunther Merchant Company would use its radiotelegraph on board to communicate with the fatherland, informing them that they had landed on the large island and made contact with the natives. This one ship would remain in the bay while the others returned to the fatherland to ferry more men and supplies over to the new colony. 

Gunther had gone spent a great expense to establish this colony, and he had no plans to give up on it now that it was finally being started. The man would frequently come into contact with Berengar and personally inform the Kaiser about the Settlement's development. For the time being, the German Empire had peaceful ties with another native group. Something that could not be said about the Settlement of New Swabia. 

As for Berengar, he had more important matters to attend to at the moment and left the development of the newest colony completely up to Gunther. The fate of the natives were entirely in the hands of the Agricultural tycoon, and his young son.