Tyranny of Steel
chapter-733

A young Bantu man by the name of Bakari stood on the shores of the southernmost coast of Africa. He was the son of his tribe's chieftain and was next in line to inherit his father's position. Currently, he was gathering shells with the intention of trading them to the tribe's craftsman in exchange for the item which the local hunter desired for his meat.

Africa was a large continent with many diverse cultures, however after you reached a certain point southward of the Sahara, they devolved from fledgling civilizations to hunter-gatherer tribes. Because of this, the idea of currency was foreign to Bakari and his people. Instead, they relied on the more primitive system of bartering.

While collecting the shells on the sandy beaches of South Africa, Bakari noticed something in the distance on the water's surface. He tried his best to gaze into the ocean, but could not make out what the foreign object was. However, the longer he stared at it, the larger the object became. Naturally, as a primitive tribesman, Bakari did not understand basic mathematics and was incapable of calculating the distance between him and this giant vessel.

As time passed, more of these ships became visible, and soon Bakari could see the smoke that their engines produced. Such a strange sight bewildered the young man. He had no idea what these strange objects were, or what purpose they served. However, as they drew near, Bakari decided to hide behind a large rock, not knowing whether these alien devices were hostile.

Eventually five armored frigates and three transport vessels became visible as Bakari struggled to understand what he was witnessing. It was not until they had anchored in the bay, and dropped their landing craft, did the man understand that these were very large boats, carrying people from a foreign land.

The people who were on board these vessels were strange to the African tribesman. They had pale skin, golden hair, and blue eyes. Their features were more angular and refined than his own, and they stood quite a bit taller than him.

These foreigners were dressed in clothing that was not just grass skirts and animal hides like his own people wore. Instead, they adorned elaborate arid pattern uniforms and wore painted metallic hats, while wielding strange weapons. Or at least Bakari thought these items were weapons, based upon how the men carried them.

At the head of these soldiers was a one eyed man, dressed in a far more elaborate uniform than his standard soldiers, and by his side was the most beautiful woman that Bakari had ever laid eyes on. She was dressed in a similar sense of fashion as the soldiers, but with a skirt and knee-high boots instead of trousers.

Bakari could hear the one eyed man give orders to his warriors, though the language was unknown to him and because of this he could not comprehend anything they were saying. One thing was certain, judging by the weapons these men carried, they were not here for peaceful purposes. Thus, the young man used the first chance he could get to silently slink off and towards his village in an attempt to warn them of what he had witnessed.

Berengar commanded his troops with a voice filled with authority. He did not want to be surrounded by a thousand screaming african tribesmen, and because of this his first concern was establishing fortifications around their makeshift encampment.

"I want trenches dug, and the sandbags surrounding them. Make sure to mount the Mk2s at the forward positions! If we get beset upon by natives, I want them to fear the power of German steel!"

The soldiers were quick to enact Berengar's orders. Establishing a basic line of defense along the coastline. For many of these men, this was not their first colonial endeavor, and because of this, they were prepared to face whatever this land might throw at them.

Honoria gazed upon the land, where she was quickly flanked by Malissa. She and her crew were more familiar with the African continent, and because of this, they had been ordered to accompany the German soldiers. Berengar was quick to question the former prostitute about what she knew about this region.

"Have you ever made contact with any of the local tribes? Do any of your African girls know the language of this land?"

Malissa shook her head as she admitted they had only charted the coast and the nearby island of Madagascar. They had never actually set foot on this soil until now.

"I'm afraid I don't have the answers you desire. We only charted the coastline from here to the Arabian Peninsula. We have never set foot on this land, and I doubt my girls know any of the local languages. I acquired them far more up north from here."

Berengar sneered in disdain before giving his orders to the privateers.

"You and your girls will be our support for this operation. You can leave the defense and scouting of the settlement to my soldiers. They are more than capable of fulfilling those duties."

Malissa was about to tell Berengar to fuck off, when Honoria raised her hand and smiled before accepting her orders.

"As you command, your majesty..."

After saying this, she dragged Malissa to the side and scolded her.

"Are you out of your goddamn mind? That is the kaiser you were about to curse out! Have you been away from civilization for too long to realize who employs you? If Berengar says to dig a ditch, you dig a ditch. If Berengar says to take care of the cooking, you take care of the fucking cooking! We are not pirates, we are privateers and explorers in service to the German crown!"

Malissa wanted to rebuke Honoria's words, but she could only bow her head in response. She knew Honoria was right, and did not understand why she wanted to yell at Berengar back there. Perhaps Honoria was right, she had been given too much freedom to operate lately, that she did not like the idea of accepting anyone else being in control.

She had to admit it was good having Honoria back in charge. The woman had a better head for politics than she did. Thus, she apologized for her intentions before falling in line.

"I'm sorry, I'm just not used to being given orders these days..."

Honoria pat the woman on the back, and gave her a reassuring smile before informing her of how this job was going to go down.

"We are under the direct employ of the Kaiser, and are working beneath him for his colonization efforts in the region. So just be a good girl and do what he says. I promise we will be rewarded handsomely for our efforts."

Malissa nodded her head in silence and began to undertake the tasks given to her. Thus, the German soldiers began to set up their encampment on the coast of South Africa.

While Berengar and his soldiers had begun to establish an outpost to begin the process of colonization, Bakari had rushed home to his tribe. Unlike the Mali Empire, there was no architecture to speak of in this village. Most of the people lived in dung or straw huts. The tribe's capacity to construct shelters was less than anything Berengar had previously come across. The word primitive did not even begin to explain the village.

There was no palisade, no watchtowers, no great hall, or longhouses. There were only small huts that were spread across the flatlands. Bakari ran through the village and towards his father's hut. He was practically out of breath as he burst through the entrance and alerted his father to what he had witnessed on the beach.

"Father! Strange men have landed on the coast! There are hundreds of them! I think they are hostile!"

The village chief was a man named Amani, he as a middle-aged man, who had a considerable amount of body fat. He looked at his son and his worried expression, and struggled to come to terms with the information he was hearing.

"What are you going on about son? Strange men on the coast? How did they get here? Where did they come from?"

Bakari was struggling to express his thoughts as he tripped over his words. His mind was working faster than his mouth could keep up with.

"These men came from the ocean, on large boats, larger than anything I have ever seen! They wore weird clothing and carried strange weapons. I swear that they had white skin, golden hair, and eyes as blue as the sky! They were tall, and their faces looked nothing like ours. I don't know where they are from, but their numbers did not suggest they came here with peaceful intentions!"

This news was concerning to Amani. They had just recently suffered in a war with a neighboring tribe, and now such a large force of foreigners came to their lands from the ocean? He would need to consult with the village elders on how to proceed. For now, he did not want panic to set in, and instructed his son to keep this a secret.

"Son, have you told anyone else about this?"

Bakari quickly shook his head before speaking up.

"No, I swear!"

Amani nodded his head thrice before grabbing hold of his son's shoulders and lecturing him.

"Bakari, I don't want you speaking a word of this to anyone. I need time to speak with the village elders. If you were to speak to people of these strange foreigners, it will only cause panic. Promise me you won't speak of this to anyone until I figure out how to deal with these invaders."

Bakari was dumbfounded by this line of thinking, by his estimate these white men outnumbered their tribe significantly, and it would be best to pack up and move north. However, he nodded his head and agreed to his father's terms, despite his objection.

"Very well, if that is what you ask. I shall do it!"

With this the Germans had established their first outpost in Africa, but the local tribes had realized their presence. Whether first contact with the natives would prove hostile, like in New Swabia, or would be peaceful like New Vienna, and Neuhafen, that had yet to be seen.