Far Horizons: Tales of Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror. Issue #18 September 2015 | Page 94

vehicle began to grind forward, crushing the remnants
of the wall under its tracks.

platoon sergeants shouted for the platoons to disperse,
and they broke into a trot, spreading forwards and
sideways to make themselves less of a target.

It pushed completely into the open area beyond, then hit one of the buildings. The mudbrick
walls collapsed before the multi-ton bulk of the Land
Frigate, and Greyhound was barely slowed as it
smashed its way into the town, leaving a trail of devastation behind it.

Behind the two platoons, General Summerby
was watching the action through binoculars.He could
see no more than a dozen rebels firing from the fort
wall, and none of their big guns were in action. He
waved to the siege mortar crew and pointed at the
flashes of musket fire on the fort. The gunner waved
back, and the crew turned the mortar to face the rebels
then unshipped the wheels and in less than a minute
fired the first round.
The round flew high and seemed to drift over
the town before falling just in front of the fort wall.
Three seconds passed and a blast of fire and smoke
and what looked like the roof of one of the local buildings went skyward.
The second round landed just behind the fort
wall, and again, there was a slight pause until the fuse
burned down and it exploded. A ball of fire and smoke
and shrapnel engulfed one section of the wall, and all
rebel fire stopped as the surviving rebels vanished.
The Ironsides had fallen behind a little as
Greyhound advanced and were now a good fifty yards
back.The two platoons dispersed as skirmishers were
all around the Land Frigate but taking care not to
move in front of the steam-powered land ship.
In the distance, the lancers and light guns were
also moving closer to provide covering fire if it was
needed.
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Greyhound approached the wall slowly and
steadily. The narrow prow hit the wall first, pushing
bricks aside and breaking through. Then the widening hull pushed through and a whole section of wall
collapsed, the bricks falling apart as long dried mortar
crumbled away.
A cloud of dust from the collapsed wall billowed outward; only the tail and tall exhaust stack of
the Greyhound were visible. The driver changed to his
lowest gear and engaged the drive. The massive steel

The leading platoon advanced behind it, red
coats quickly turning orange and grey as the cloud
of dust covered them. They were slowed by the wide
road of rubble that Greyhound had left behind it and
so were falling behind the Land Frigate as it ground its
way onward.
Greyhound smashed through one final building
and entered the market square, the only large open
area in the town. At once, rifle and musket fire began
to bounce off her thick armour. Lieutenant Houseman
and his gunner Leading SeamanThomson used the
narrow vision slits on the turret and cupola to try and
spot the firers. But there was too much dust and smoke
from the destroyed house they were still sitting on top
of.
dust.”

“Driver, advance, get us out of this damn

Greyhound clanked its way forward into the
centre of the market crushing a number of small
wooden tables as it did so. Clear of the dust from the
smashed building they could now see the flash and
smoke of gunshots coming from the battlements of the
fortress wall.
“Gunner target.” “Load canister.” “The wall.”
“Round loaded.” “Firing Wall.”
The crew wasworking like the well drilled
team that they were, each calling orders or information
over the others.
The twelve pounder fired, smoke and fire
belching from the barrel, the turret rattlingfrom the recoil. The round broke apart almost at once, and a cloud
of lead balls and the base of the round flew across the
distance between gun and wall. The round was fired

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