Tyranny of Steel

The frost air of early spring in the region that was once known as New York in Berengar's past life chilled the Austrian Marines to the bone as they gathered on the ramparts of their makeshift star fortress. In the trees, the Algonquin warriors hid, awaiting the signal to begin the attack on the pale skin's fortress.

It had been a week since the Austrian scouts reported the hostile movements of the local tribe; during this time, Honoria had set sail with the sailors beneath her command back to the fatherland to ferry more troops and supplies to the new world.

In doing so, she left the Austrian King and his company of Marines stranded on a continent that existed on the opposing side of the Atlantic. These men bravely stood within the confines of their star fortress, waiting for the day of the Algonquin attack.

As part of a defensive measure, the Austrian Marines had cleared a great deal of the surrounding brush around their fortress, resulting in large swaths of open territory between their mighty timber walls and that of any attacking force. These men were no greenhorns and were well trained and experienced in warfare.

Because of this, they were selected for this critical and classified operation. Thus When Berengar stood atop the wall, gazing off towards the treeline with his binoculars, he had an expression of complete and total confidence on his face. However, the Captain beneath his command did not share his sentiment; upon seeing his King's haughty expression, he began to give his report.

"Sir, we are surrounded, with no means of escape!"

A chilling smile etched itself upon Berengar's handsome visage in response to this. After gazing at the warriors who hid within the treeline one last time, the young King placed down his binoculars before giving his response to this report.

"Good! The fact that they have us surrounded has greatly simplified our problem! There is now only one solution, keep firing in all directions until this new world runs red with the blood of savages!"

Upon hearing this retort, the Captain was stunned; he did not expect such a harsh response from his King. However, after thinking about it for a few moments, an equally wicked smile formed itself upon the man's lips before he threw up a salute to the Reichsmarschall.

"Yes, sir!"

With that said, the Captain relayed the orders to the company of Marines. After all, what was there to fear when they wielded the power of automatic weapons and explosive mortars? Thus the Austrian soldiers locked and loaded their guns as they braced for combat.

As for the Mohawk delegation, they had since returned to their home, informing their tribe of what was going on; despite this, the Chieftain's daughter had stubbornly remained behind. Her curiosity had gotten the better of her; after all, despite the report that hundreds of Algonquin warriors would be descending on this position, the one-eyed man did not appear frightened in the slightest.

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Thus Kahwihta stood as a witness for the massacre that was about to unfold, the first of many that would result from German exploration and conquest of the New World. She sat within the camp's interior, waiting for the conflict to begin. The silence before the storm caused a great deal of fear to occur within her fragile heart.

Berengar continued to watch the treeline as he gazed down the iron sights of his MP-22 submachine gun. The men by his side did the same with their weapons until, eventually, the sound of battle had begun.

The Algonquin warriors began to chant their war cries, as the hundreds of native men rushed forth from the trees. Berengar gazed in awe as he witnessed this; there were far more of the enemy than he initially realized; thus, he cried out to his soldiers with the following orders.

"Conserve your ammo! We only have so many rounds to put downrange. Fire short bursts, and make sure you have the enemy in your sights before you pull the trigger!"

Though these men were professionals, it did not hurt to remind them how to fight such a large armed force effectively. Thus after saying this, Berengar acquired his target and squeezed the trigger of his weapon, holding it down for no more than a second.

As he did so, a small burst of three rounds went downrange and into the torso of his first target. The man gazed in shock as his torso was torn apart by the three rounds of 9mm; the last thing he witnessed before his life was snuffed away was the sound of thunder accompanying his death.

Berengar paid no more attention to the slain savage, and instead aimed down his sights at the next target, squeezing the trigger, firing a similar burst of ammunition through the air. While Berengar and his soldiers had begun to fire upon the enemy. Kahwihta was standing in the center of the fortress, covering her ears from the loud blasts of gunfire.

A look of horror spread across her face as she realized that these pale-skinned and golden-haired foreigners could conjure thunder. These were not mere mortals but gods who had descended upon her people's lands. Immediately the young beauty fell to her knees and began praying to her new deities for mercy.

These actions went entirely unnoticed by the Austrian Marines, who continued their duties by gunning down the hundreds of Algonquin warriors who had gathered in all directions. The native tribesmen were horrified as their bodies were torn apart by the projectiles that the foreigners had fired at them.

However, that was not the end of their terror; as they got closer to the fortifications, a large explosion detonated in the center of their ranks. Fire and smoke filled the air, accompanied by the blood-curdling screams of the men who survived the blast.

Yet that was not the only explosion to occur immediately. Another round was fired by one of the mortar teams, which detonated once more among the center of their ranks, causing bodies to be blasted apart, and limbs were torn asunder.

Berengar paid no heed to this violence, as it was something he was well accustomed to; instead, he continued to aim down his sights with his one good eye and fire rounds at the oncoming enemy. Not even five minutes had occurred since the battle began, and yet now, the Algonquin warriors had lost over a hundred men and were fleeing for their lives.

Despite their retreat, Berengar showed no mercy, as he and his men aimed down their weapons and fired upon the enemy, gunning them down from behind as they fled towards the tree line in the hopes of escaping this ruthless slaughter.

After firing one final burst at the fleeing enemy, Berengar released his empty magazine and made sure his weapon was cleared before declaring a cease-fire.

"Hold your fire!"

With the King's words echoing in the air, the soldiers who defended their fortress immediately ceased their assault and cleared their weapons; after doing so, they began to cheer. The enemy had been so petrified by gunfire that they had not managed to fire a single arrow or sling a single rock towards the Austrian Marines.

To say that this was a one-sided massacre was an understatement; hundreds of Algonquin warriors lay dead in the field below, their bodies were torn apart, their blood fertilizing the soil. It was only now that Berengar remembered that the Chieftain's daughter had witnessed the battle scene.

As such, he climbed down from the ramparts and approached the young woman, who immediately pressed her head to the ground as she kotowed to the one-eyed man as if he were a god. Though he did not know what she was saying, he could see the reverence that was entangled with fear in her deep brown eyes.

The young Austrian King stood before the native American woman with a smirk on his face. He began to wonder if he could convince the local populace that he was, in fact, a war god, and if so, how could he use such a thing to his advantage?

Of course, he needed no convincing, as Kahwihta fully embraced Berengar as a deity at this moment. After witnessing such battle prowess and the advanced technology that the Austrian Marines wielded, how could she not?

Thus Berengar signaled for the young woman to rise to her feet which she quickly did. However, there was a different reaction on her face than before the battle. Now she was docile, with her head lowered and her gaze averted, she showed a proper level of fear and respect to her newfound god.

Berengar scratched his chin as he thought of what to do with this woman's new reverent attitude; he immediately thought of several things he could take advantage of now that Honoria was gone. As such, he grabbed ahold of the woman's dainty hand and led her towards his cabin. After all, in the King's mind, it wasn't truly colonization unless he had taken the virtue of a local native girl...