Tyranny of Steel

Cualcoatl stood outside the gates of Machu Picchu with his vast army of Aztec Warriors. The mighty Inca citadel was a proud symbol of what was perhaps the last bastion of sovereign native rule within the Americas.

Over the last thirty years, the German army had swept through the new world, and conquered nearly the entire landmass, while incorporating all of it into their own empire. What few tribes that remained living after such a bloody and brutal conquest were pushed into the Aztec Empire, where they assimilated to the local culture and society.

Only the Inca remained free from the boot of German tyranny. And though the Luftwaffe flew regularly above the borders of the Inca Empire, the German army did not trespass upon their lands. The reason for this sudden halt of military action east of the Andes was known only to Berengar.

Or so most people thought, but Cualcoatl could understand his father's intentions, even if he had never asked about them. After all, they were similar men in a lot of ways. The new Aztec Emperor revered his father, so much so that he believed this war of his would be a tribute to the mighty Kaiser.

The Inca Empire was left alone for one reason, and one reason alone. For a bastard like Cualcoatl to prove himself worthy of his lineage, by declaring war, invading, and annexing a near peer. And there was only one nation left in the world that could be considered as such.

Thus, the man stood before the gates of the might Inca citadel, while dressed in a mixture of jaguar hides and steel scale armor. In his right hand was a short spear, made of a hardened wooden shaft, and a sharp high carbon steel head. In his left hand was a round shield, similar in design to those which the vikings wielded centuries ago. Albeit painted in the colors of the Aztec Empire, and adorned with beads.

Cualcoatl did not intend to give his adversaries a way out, this was a war of conquest, one that would determine whether the new Aztec Emperor was worthy to share the same lineage of his brothers who were Emperors in their own rights, or was simply a backwards savage living in a primitive society across the world.

The weapons the Aztec Empire wielded were primitive by the standards of the rest of the world, most of which had moved on from melee weapons, and instead now purchased firearms in bulk from the German Reich or its tributaries.

There were no muskets, rifles, or cannons in Cualcoatl's army. Instead, they made use of torsion catapults, short spears, and bows. Of which, the Aztec archers were currently raining arrows upon the Inca citadels' inhabitants.

While the arrows continued to rain down upon the foes of the Aztec Empire, the catapults flung large stone projectiles into the citadel in an attempt to damage its structures. All the while, a battering ram continued to pound at the mighty gates. With each passing second, the Inca warriors dwelling within their fortress began to say their prayers to whatever deity was listening, and instead waited for the moment their enemies flooded inside.

Soon enough, that is exactly what happened. The gates came crashing down, while the heavily armored Aztec foot soldiers forced their way into the city, with the mighty son of the feathered serpent, a demi-god in the flesh, and an emperor in his own right leading the charge.

Cualcoatl bashed his immediate opponent with his shield, which pierced through the opponent's wicker defenses aside, before he finally thrust his spear forward and into the soldier's belly. After ripping the spear from its new home, blood and guts poured from the man's abdomen, but Cualcoatl was not the slightest bit deterred.

Instead, he ignored the man as he bled out, and moved onto another target, who came at him with a wooden club in his hands. Cualcoatl swiftly dodged the man's attack before digging his sharp steel spear into the man's throat, killing him on the spot.

Violence surrounded Cualcoatl, and yet believed in the capability of his army, and pressed forward, believing that no harm could be done upon him. After all, his vitals were covered in steel, as was his skull, and no weapon the enemy wielded could possibly pierce such mighty defenses.

Instead, Cualcoatl screamed like a madman in his people's native tongue as he thrust his spear into the femoral artery of an unsuspecting Inca warrior.

"Glory to the feathered serpent!"

All around the Aztec Emperor, his warriors cried out, repeating the same words he had spoken.

"Glory to the feathered serpent!"

This caused Cualcoatl to smile as he thrust his spear forward and into the heart of another enemy. With each attack, he claimed another man's life, and his warriors were having a similar effect. The wicker shields of their opponents could not stop the weapons of the Aztec Army, and thus they mercilessly cut through their enemies.

Not all of the Inca's weapons were made out of wood and stone, a select few warriors made used of copper headed maces and battle axes, and if these landed on a particularly vulnerable part of an Aztec Warrior's body, then they would cause significant damage.

Yet, it was not enough to stop the onslaught. Steel was a vastly superior material for weapons and armor, and the Aztecs wore it from head to toe. And because of this, few of the men in the Aztec Army suffered any significant injuries from their Inca opponents.

Eventually Cualcoatl made his way to the center of the fortress, walking through piles of corpses, which had fallen by the wayside as his army made their advance. The enemy General was standing behind a wall of his soldiers, who hid behind their wicker shields and pointed their weapons towards the Aztec Warriors who now surrounded them.

However, just when the Aztec Army was about to pounce like the vicious jaguars who skins they wore, Cualcoatl raised his hand, and spoke in the Inca language towards the enemy General, hoping to end the bloodshed before it went too far.

"I have a proposal for you! Your men have fought bravely, even in the face of overwhelming odds. Join my Army and hold this fortress for me as I force the rest of your people to submit. Kneel before me along with all your men, and proclaim me your emperor, and I will spare you all!

The alternative is death, whether at the hands of my army, or the Germans who have no regard for your people, considering them less than human. I am a far more merciful God than my father, and if you choose to worship me, I will give you all the benefits you can ask for! What say you?"

At first when Cualcoatl first spoke, the enemy general was hesitant to accept the Aztec Emperor's offer, but after hearing the man so boldly claim himself to be a god in the flesh, the Inca general simply scoffed before spitting in the face of Cualcoatl's peace offer.

"You are not a god! You are a delusional man who has let his power go to his head. No, we will not surrender. We will die here in Machu Picchu defending the lands of the Inca Empire from any and all foes!"

Cualcoatl could only sigh and shake his head in disappointment, before giving another order to his army, one which confused the enemy.

"Bring out the crossbows!"

Immediately upon receiving this order, the Aztec warriors brought out several hundred crossbows, all of which were more than capable of punching through the enemy's wicker shields, and whatever padded textile armor they may be wearing for protection.

With a simple order, the hundreds of crossbowmen let lose their bolts in a single volley, which indeed shredded the remaining enemies. Turning them all into a pile of pin cushions as their bodies bled out from the dozen or so bolts that had pierced through each of their bodies.

The Inca general was the last to die, as he slowly bleed out from a single bolt lodged in his gut. Where he gazed in disbelief at the weapons the enemy wielded, which were so easily capable of piercing through his people's defenses. His dying words voiced his disbelief.

"How?"

Cualcoatl approached the dying general and snickered as he pressed his boot upon the bolt which was lodged in the man's gut. This only increased the rate that the man left this world behind. The last words he heard came in the form of a capricious tone in the Aztec Emperor's voice.

"If you think crossbows are unbelievable, then I truly pity you. You sit here with copper and stone weapons, and think that you can endure the test of time? While the rest of the world is armed with weapons that are simply unimaginable to your feeble mind. Sorry, man, the truth of the matter is, the game was rigged from the start."

After saying this, Cualcoatl thrust his spear straight into the man's brain, before ripping it out. With this, the first major fortress of the Inca Empire had fallen into the Aztec's hands.

What was left was a swift and brutal conquest of an enemy, which time seemed to have forgotten.