Swords slashed at ropes and the catapult arm jerked upward, slamming into the stop bar and sending the cargo in the basket hurtling high over the wall. Lost in the starry sky, the collection of wooden kegs with hissing fuses rained upon the tank with pinpoint accuracy, and it was coated with booming explosions, the dense smoke masking the effect of the barrage.
“Reload the catapults! Launch the rockets!” Kissel shouted, and the fuses were lit.
Spraying sparks and smoke, the rockets streaked away into the night on tails of flame. A few angled toward the woods, one went straight into the ground and detonated in the dirt, another spiraled off to nowhere, but the rest zoomed in straight and pounded the Ranger with satisfying accuracy. A second salvo was released, then a third, as the cheering men on the wall emptied their blasters into the inferno.
Then out of the smoke rolled the Beast. Every external antenna was removed, radar gone, its video cameras reduced to sparking trash and dangling wires, but the hull wasn’t visibly breached. It headed directly for the gate, the laser cannon angling upward and strobing at the palisade.
Blind, or with their heads on fire, screaming men tumbled off the catwalk and plummeted to the cold ground.
IN THE CITADEL. Amanda and Richard raised their heads from studying the map on a table as McGregory entered the audience room.
“Well?” Amanda snapped. “What’s happening out there?”
“Report. Captain!” Richard barked.
“The situation is poor, my lord,” McGregory said. “The outer defenses have failed. The sec men hit the tank numerous times with rockets and bombs to no real effect Even the boulders did little damage. The guards are preparing to retreat to the slave cottages in Detail and continue fighting from there.”
“Is it through the gate yet?” Amanda asked.
“Not yet, no. But soon.”
“Acceptable,” Richard said, returning his attention to the strategy table. Colored markers of different types and tiny flags covered the map of Novaville. A black box sat prominently near the gate in the wooden palisade.
“Deputy Ward, you are wrong,” McGregory heard himself saying. “I’m duty-bound to tell you that I believe the fight is hopeless unless the guards get those bazookas! Even just one could make all the difference.”
“No,” Amanda said, moving a marker from the palisade to the inner stone wall. “Those are for our personal protection.”
Richard shifted another. “We’ll destroy the machine in the market square. There’s no need to waste precious supplies.”
“I only hope it’s enough.” McGregory sighed, accepting a cup of wine from a kneeling slave girl.
“Explain yourself!” Amanda demanded hotly. “Our father, the ward, personally designed the ville defenses.”
“But he hasn’t seen this thing, my lady,” McGregory said wearily, “and I have.”
Chapter Nineteen
In ruthless efficiency, Kissel dispatched the last of the screaming men with a pistol and silence returned to the battlefield. The huge wooden gate was pierced in several places by burning holes and the Beast on the other side crashing repeatedly into the resilient bamer. Each attempt bent the crossbar more and more, widening the cracks in the weakening timber. Only the iron locking bars held it in place, and when those went, so would the gate.
“Everybody who can see, back on the wall!” Kissel shouted, dumping his spent cartridges and reloading frantically. “I want every rocket we’ve got launched right now! Do you hear me? Now!”
Less than a dozen sec men stumbled up the ladders to the catwalk. Many more stayed where they were, wandering aimlessly or sitting in the dirt, clawing at their dead eyes. Then there was a deafening crash and the burning gate exploded off its hinges.
The horse beneath Kissel went wild with fear at the sight of the machine, rearing wildly. The sergeant struggled to maintain his seat in the saddle, but tumbled off, almost getting trampled under the slashing hooves.
Cursing bitterly, Kissel stumbled away and drew his revolver, then from out of the smoke the Beast was upon him, towering over the sec man like a metal building. Its laser traversed to the left, pulsed once, and a catapult burst into flames, while it continued to roll toward Kissel, crushing the bodies of guards under armored treads.