The Final Journey: A New Route - Destruction of the Aztec Empire.

After Columbus passed, I wanted to find a purpose. I felt like I was haven't truly achieved anything throughout these journeys with Columbus and sought to find another explorer. I quickly learned of a new quest assigned to well known Spanish explorer Hernán Cortés. He was assigned to establish trade for Cuba by the governor. He gathered us and we departured from Cuba in 1519 where he informed us for his real intentions of conquering the Aztec Empire. Cortes soon ordered a stop at Cozumel Island. It was a brief stop as he sought a person that could speak with the mainland native people. We found a person and headed towards Veracruz. Upon arrival, Cortes established his first settlement "La Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz" and aimed to solidify his presence in Mexico. He quickly realized that the people of Veracruz disliked the Aztec and so he persuaded them to make allies.

We left Veracruz and before long arrived at a new territory called Tlaxcala. The people were hostile and suspicious of us. After a few weeks they engaged in skirmishes against us and we were heavily outnumbered, however, had far superior weapons and technology. They noticed that and approached us to make peace. Overtime we learned that they were against the Aztec empire and they agreed to become our allies in exchange for protection. Cortes proceeded forward and we arrived at Cholula. The Cholulaians were initially peaceful and religiously oriented, however, Cortes later found about strong ties between them and the Aztec. As more time passed and Cortes's suspicion rising, he received "word" that the people of Cholula aimed to ambush him and did one of the most devastating massacres of our time. He orchestrated a strike against their people and killed thousands of civilians to send a message to the leaders and any other Indigenous power. This was the most horrifying scene I have ever witness and caused me nightmares for months. Cortes plan to raise fear worked and we would soon leave Cholula and reach Tenochtitlán: The Aztec Empire.

Surprisingly once we arrived, we were greeted with a ceremony with the emperor personally welcomed us in to stay in his palace. They believed that Cortes was a return God but remained suspicious. Tensions began to rise as Cortes noticed all the wealth in the Aztec empire and began plotting. He took their emperor prisoner in the palace to show authority and he. submitted, however, the rest of the royals resented us. Cortes later on left us and had to leave to deal with prior complications with Velazquez.

The Tenochtitláns revolted against us for Cortes's actions. After Cortes returned we were pressed and forced to retreat at night. The Aztec found about our retreat and a bloody battle went down that ended with half our force getting killed. We retreated back to Tlaxcala and gathered a massive army with our allies. Tlaxcalan's allowed Cortes access to the lake that provides water to the Aztec, resulting in him cutting off the supply. We proceeded back in the Aztec Empire and a brutal siege awaited. Killings occurred and the Tenochtitláns kept getting weaker due to diseases. Eventually, the Aztec Empire collapsed in 1521, leaving their city in ruins. After our success Cortes established Mexico City and ultimately colonized the empire.