Tyranny of Steel

Berengar awoke the following day with his queen in his arms. Honoria was latching on to him like a lamprey. Though spring had arrived, she still found the weather too cold for her liking, and thus instinctively held onto her man, sucking away the warmth in his body. 

Upon seeing this, a smile etched itself on Berengar's face as he stroked the woman's indigo hair. It was nice to have at least one woman in his harem who dyed her hair with crazy colors. In his past life, Berengar had partially grown up during the scene fad of the mid-2000s. Though he wasn't a part of it, at the time he found the girls who dressed in such an unusual manner to be quite attractive. 

While Berengar was gazing at his wife with a sense of nostalgia, she opened her mint green eyes at this moment and gazed at his expression with a hint of confusion. Just what could have caused him to look at her in such a way? In the end, she made a joke about the whole thing.

"You know you can do more than just look at me, right?"

Berengar chuckled when he heard this before grabbing ahold of his wife's pretty face and kissing her luscious lips. After a few moments of passion, he broke away and sighed heavily before expressing the thoughts on his mind.

"I must say it is nice being here in the new world, just the two of us. It is just a shame that we will have to go back soon."

When Honoria heard this, she bit her lip in discontent. The days she had spent in the new world were some of the most exhilarating she had ever experienced. She dreaded the idea of returning to the Palace and taking part in court politics once more. 

Berengar noticed the expression on his wife's face and immediately became curious. He raised his brow over his scarred eye before asking about the woman's thoughts."

"What is it?"

Honoria sighed heavily before realizing what she had been fantasizing about ever since her first step foot on the new world.

"It's nothing. I just want to go exploring. There is so much we don't know about this land, and I want to be the first one to uncover its secrets. I was just thinking that after we return home, it would be nice if you would allow me to take my girls and sail across this new landmass and see what treasures I can uncover!"

Berengar's first instinct was to reject such a notion; piracy was one thing, but allowing her to explore the Americas by herself and her crew was a hazardous task. However, the more he thought about it, the more he felt he could agree to these conditions.

After all, plenty of famous men in his past life such as Ponce de Leon, Hernan Cortez, and Francisco Pizarro had explored vast swaths of territory and even toppled empires with only sailing vessels and primitive firearms. 

In comparison, Honoria and her girls were much better equipped; as long as they kept their wits about them, they could easily survive the dangers of the new world. After careful consideration, Berengar agreed to his wife's wishes.

"Alright, if you swear, ensure that your crew swear a vow of secrecy on pain of death about everything they see here. I will allow you to do as you please. However, any information you come across must be sold to the Austrian Crown! I don't want this information being leaked to any other kingdoms ..."

Honoria smiled when she heard her dream would become reality and quickly nodded her head with an emphatic expression.

"Of course, I will oversee my girls and ensure that they don't do anything stupid. You know damn well I am not above executing one of them if they do anything detrimental to the Kingdom of Austria!"

This statement had brought a sense of calmness to Berengar's otherwise restless heart; he could ill afford to allow the information of the New World to leak to his rivals and allies so soon after its discovery. He knew Honoria would take the precautions to ensure that the existence of this land and all others would remain an Austrian secret. 

Having agreed, Berengar sealed it with a kiss as he leaned over and passionately intertwined his tongue with that of his wife's. The couple continued began to engage in a passionate display as they embraced each other's warmth. 

Thus, Berengar and Honoria entertained each other once more. By the time the two of them were done with their activities, it was close to noon. Though it wasn't the regular morning exercise routine that Berengar went through, it was more than enough to sustain him for that day. 

After they had completed their actions, Berengar got dressed and exited from his cabin, where he immediately noticed that the fortress had begun the process of being retrofitted, the crude log cabins were being replaced with precise half timber houses in the style commonly found throughout Germany. 

The large felled tree trunks used to crudely construct the cabins were being recycled into expertly crafted timber frames by the Army engineers. As for the foundation of the structures, they were made via a combination of coal-fired clay bricks and type M mortar, which was imported from the fatherland. 

In the end, solid structures that would last the test of time would replace the frontier-style log cabins and form the fortress's interior, barracks, a chapel, houses for officers and long-term residents, even a tavern was being constructed within the settlement. Aside from the Type M mortar, all the resources for making these buildings could be found within the immediate vicinity of the settlement. 

When Berengar witnessed these plans in place, he had a broad smile on his face; he kept smiling as he strolled through the fortress; after stepping upon the ramparts, he noticed that another group of army engineers had taught the native workforce how to create a four-field system, with draft horses and a steel plow. 

After the fields had been plowed, they would be appropriately seeded with a horse-drawn seed drill. The fact that Berengar had brought over the necessary equipment to mechanize his colony's agriculture via animal power from the start was a big plus. This meant that he could easily use a small labor force for farming large swaths of land. 

Though he could not implement the use of combine harvesters for the time being; such innovations could be fielded in the coming years when larger cargo ships capable of ferrying vast amounts of animals were constructed. 

Thinking upon this, Berengar shifted his gaze towards the coast and noticed that the crude dock that had been established was being expanded into a much larger port, intending to accept multiple large vessels for future efforts. By the time his entire navy had been retrofitted into ironclads, its ships could dock successfully in the colony.

Frankly, Berengar's current ship designs were limited by cargo capability; even his clippers could not carry much to and from the new world. He needed his Dominion class ships to come to fruition if he wanted any massive expansion into the new world. 

However, those all-steel ships were still a few years away from being constructed. Thus, he was left with warships and clippers to transport goods across the Atlantic. For the time being, Berengar would use the limited cargo capacity of his warships to ferry men, supplies, and livestock over. The need for secrecy was paramount, and Berengar would only trust his military to keep it that way. 

Having gazed upon the improvements that were taking place in his Colony, Berengar felt satisfied with the results; in a few months, this colony would look like an actual Austrian Town. With this in mind, he climbed down from the ramparts and noticed a team of jaegers was about to set forth from the settlement. 

Berengar took this opportunity to step forward and speak with the men, where they immediately jumped to attention and saluted their King. After seeing the appropriate response, Berengar responded in kind before questioning them about their task.

"Are you departing from the fortress?"

The squad leader immediately nodded his head before responding to his King.

"Yes, your majesty, the various Jaeger squads who have arrived are being deployed for the search of valuable resources. Our objective is to travel into the unknown and seek out granite to begin building proper fortifications instead of these poorly constructed timber walls that we currently have!"

Berengar immediately nodded his head in response; the sooner proper walls could be constructed around the settlement, the better. After reflecting upon his knowledge from his past life, he quickly issued an order to the men.

"Hand over your map; I have received intel from the natives that might be valuable for your search."

The squad leader did not hesitate and handed over his map and pen; it was a relatively crude map based upon scouting reports from the Marine reconnaissance teams and information that had been traded with the native tribes.

Berengar made a rough estimate of a granite location which he knew about from his tenure living in the State of New York during his previous life, before marking a red x. He then handed the map back to the officer and said with a stern expression on his face.

"You may find what you are looking for in that location; however, what lies between here and there is a mystery to even me. So keep your heads on a swivel, and don't be afraid to shoot anything that poses a threat, understood?"

The soldiers immediately nodded their heads in response to their King's statement.

'Yes, sir!"

Berengar left one final remark before allowing the men to begin their journey.

"Alright, you boys, come back safe; I don't want to ferry a body back to the fatherland! Hail victory!"

The Jaegers immediately threw up their salutes once more before responding to their King in kind.

"Hail victory!"

With those words spoken, the Jaegers entered the unknown, searching for valuable resources. Whether they would return to the settlement, and with viable intel, remained unknown.. However, their journey and what they encountered on it would be exciting.