Tyranny of Steel

The cold breeze of the early spring spread throughout the fresh North American air. Berengar stood in a watchtower that had been established within his frontier fortress, breathing it in with a broad smile on his face. This bountiful land had yet to be tainted by the stain of industry or the changes brought forth by advanced agriculture.

Though these things were necessary for societal advancement, there was something beautiful in the primal nature of the North American landscape. As he gazed upon his surroundings with awe, he noticed the approach of a group of natives. As the young King witnessed this sight, a smirk appeared on his princely face. The local tribes had finally decided to show themselves to him and his host.

Immediately Berengar began to ring the bell, signaling the troops to assemble. He had no idea if this was a native Warband or a peace delegation. Despite the overwhelming advantage that his soldiers had in terms of training and firepower, it was best not to underestimate the tenacity of the Native American people.

The bell resounded throughout the encampment and the surrounding area; as it did so, the mysterious sound spooked the native delegation, as they witnessed dozens of soldiers clad in strange uniforms rush to the ramparts of the wall, and bear their rifles towards the presence of the unknown native tribesmen.

To the Mohawk people, the fortifications they witnessed were alien and intimidating in design. Thus, they approached cautiously, with their weapons held in a docile position. Their orders were to establish communication with these pale-skinned foreigners, and therefore they had no desire to instigate a conflict with the men inside this timber fortress.

As the Mohawk tribesmen approached the village, Berengar stood on the ramparts with his MP-22 loaded and ready. His fortress was set up like that of the star forts back in the fatherland, the difference being it was constructed of timber and lacked any means of sufficient artillery. Aside from a few 60mm mortars and MG-22 Water-Cooled Machine Guns, this fortress lacked explosive firepower.

Despite the lack of overwhelming Artillery, Berengar was sure that his company of marines could hold this fortress against an army ten times its size; after all, they were still issued with bolt action rifles and machine guns. However, despite the slow approach of the Natives, Berengar did not sense any form of hostility from them; as such, he raised his hand, halting his soldier's actions as he issued an order.

"It appears that they might be peaceful, do not open fire unless you are opened fire upon. I would very much like to see if we can establish some form of communication with these natives..."

The soldiers under Berengar's command looked at him with confusion; just what could these savages provide to the great Kingdom of Austria? Despite this, they were given orders by their King, and thus they followed them; the soldiers lowered their weapons from an offensive position while keeping a close eye on their surroundings in case they were to come under assault."

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As the Mohawk delegation closed in on the fortress, the gates swung wide open, revealing Berengar, Honoria by his side, and a few grunts to protect them. Their weapons were lowered, so they were not overtly hostile but could be rapidly deployed if necessary.

Eventually, the Mohawk tribesmen stopped roughly fifteen feet away from Berengar and his group; they gazed curiously at the camouflaged parkas in use by the German soldiers. They had never seen such strange clothing before; of course, Honoria's deep blue sailor outfit and indigo hair confused them even more.

Eventually, the Chieftain's daughter, who went by the name of Kahwihta, stepped forward and attempted to introduce herself in her language.

"I am Kahwihta, daughter of the great Chief, Okwaho; we come bearing gifts, please accept this corn as a token of our friendship."

Neither Berengar nor the people beneath his command understood a word that the woman was saying and instead gazed curiously upon her as she spoke the words. However, when they brought out a few wicker baskets filled with Corn, Berengar immediately noticed that they offered a gift. He said in German as he ordered his troops to stand down.

"They come in peace; lower your weapons!"

Kahwihta was surprised when she heard the German tongue being spoken for the first time; not only was it a completely foreign language that she had never heard before, but it sounded incredibly aggressive, so much so that the warriors under her brother's command immediately flinched, thinking that these men were about to become hostile.

However, upon noticing that the Austrian Marines had slung their weapons over their shoulder and accepted the gift of maize, the Mohawk warriors sighed in relief. Though neither of the two people could understand each other, they knew by their actions that there was no hostility between them.

Berengar smiled and nodded his head as he accepted the token of friendship with gratitude; as he did so, he thanked the Mohawk delegation in his language, which though they did not understand, they could make an educated guess as to what he was saying.

The Austrian King immediately opened up a path to the fortress and, with a gesture, led them inside. Unfortunately, since there was no direct translation between the Iroquois language and German, Berengar would have to start from scratch. He used the most basic forms of establishing contact: pointing to objects and exchanging each other's words for what represented said object.

As Berengar led the Mohawk tribesmen into his makeshift fortress, he took notice of Kahwihta's natural beauty and leered at her from afar. This action immediately caught Honoria's attention, who sighed heavily as she witnessed this. Did her man seriously not have the ability to keep it in his pants? She was amazed that he had managed to avoid having relations with his sister for so long.

Of course, while Berengar was checking out Kahwihta, the men who had followed her were doing so to Honoria; her pale skin and indigo hair were alien yet appealing at the same time. Of course, they could guess that this woman belonged to one of the men in this fortress, and thus they did not make any advances.

Eventually, Berengar led the delegation into the building constructed to house both him and his wife. He pulled out several golden chalices and filled them with his favorite beer as he did so. Since these people had so kindly brought him one of his favorite foods from the New World, he would share one of his favorite drinks from the old world. After filling the cups with the dark brown liquid of the doppelbock beer, Berengar handed it over to his guests and proposed a toast in German.

"To our newfound friendship!"

Though the Mohawks had no idea what they were saying or what this strange liquid was, they were brave enough to take a sip. The hearty flavor of the doppelbock was something that not everyone would enjoy; especially if they were unfamiliar with alcohol. As such, several members of the delegation wanted to spit it out upon tasting its flavor but chose not to do so to avoid offending these foreigners.

Kahwihta, in particular, seemed to enjoy the beer deeply and drank from it rather rapidly as if no matter how much of the substance she consumed, it could not satisfy her desire for more. However, the beer was 8% alcohol and thus quite heavy for such a beverage. Eventually, her cheeks turned red, and she had difficulty thinking straight.

At that point, Berengar took away the chalice from her hands; he had forgotten entirely that her people were not used to alcoholic beverages and thus had a low tolerance to the drink. After getting the Mohawk's drunk, Berengar found them some quarters and allowed them to sleep it off. After placing the Chieftain's daughter down upon a feather mattress and covering her with fur covers, Berengar chuckled before commenting on the situation.

"Fucking lightweights..."

Honoria gazed at him with a curious expression as she asked the question on her mind.

"What are we going to do with them now?"

Berengar smiled before answering with a confident expression in response to this.

"We will try to get to understand these people, the old fashion way. It may take some time, but sooner or later, we will be able to teach them our language and learn more about this mysterious land. In the meantime, I want you to go back to Austria and ferry across more men and supplies. My objective with this military outpost is to be established for the long term."

Honoria gazed at her husband with surprise as she heard this order; she did not know why he was so interested in this strange land; thus, she inquired further about his intentions.

"You want to establish a permanent settlement here in Vinland?"

In response to this, Berengar grabbed ahold of one of the stalks of corn and bit into it; as he did so, he reminisced about his past life, and the barbecue he would always eat on the fourth of July, grilled corn, ribs, and potato salad was a staple in his house on such holidays.

After trying the fresh corn, he handed it over to Honoria, who took a bite of her own. She immediately fell in love with the juicy food; as Berengar witnessed this, he began to answer her question.

"This substance is simple proof that we have entered a new world, with plenty of resources that we can learn from and cultivate to improve our society. Not only do I intend to establish a permanent military fortress here in Vinland, but I also intend to colonize this land in the future! We need to make contact with the natives and learn how to interact with them.

A few years after we have crushed the Catholic Church and destroyed their influence over Europe, we will embark on a full-scale colonization effort; we already have a booming population growth due to the advanced agricultural practices I have established. We will have too many people to sustain our population in a few generations, even after I unite the German-speaking regions.

Thus, the German people need to establish living space if we wish to sustain our growth! Look around you; this land is ripe for the taking, and filled with all kinds of natural resources! Here in Vinland, our people will grow and prosper; the resources they gain here can be sent back to the fatherland to improve it as well! This land is not only the future of the German people but a great Empire as well!"

Honoria chuckled as she heard this; her husband's ambitions were truly grander than she had ever imagined; as such, she began to make a snarky remark to the man she loved.

"Why do I get the feeling that you were not only aware of Vinland's existence for some time now but have already included it in your plans of expansion long before you broached the subject with me?"

Berengar smiled in response and remained utterly silent; this was enough to convince Honoria that she was right. As such, she sighed heavily before responding to Berengar's orders.

"Fine, I will ferry supplies and troops across the Atlantic while you establish communication with the Natives. However, I swear to God if you sleep with this woman or any other while I am away, I will never forgive you!"

Berengar had a cheeky grin on his face as he responded to this statement with his glib tongue.

"So does that mean I am allowed to sleep with her so long as you are present to bear witness?"

Honoria scoffed at this suggestion before storming off. Sometimes she did not know why she loved this asshole. With that said first contact with the native peoples of North America had been made, and plans for establishing the first German colony in the New World had begun to take place.