With a loud shout, a cluster of ponies swiveled away from the cannon. It fired a huge shell, lobbed out into the eastern sea of Foxtaur treetops. After the weapon finished recoiling, the workhooves rushed back, loading the next shell.
Along the starboard side of the Steel Wing, several more cannons were fired and reloaded with such expert precision. The air constantly rang with the cacophony of long-ranged warfare.
Josho rubbed his aching head, flinging a dirty look behind Enforcer Shell's back.
Captain Filta strolled up to Shell's side and shouted above the noise. "That's an awful lot of ordinance you're ordering my stallions to fire into the earth, sir!"
"And I know that there is plenty more where that came from," Shell calmly said beneath the thunder.
Filta winced as yet another consussive blast of energy blew at his mane. "Might I ask what this might accomplished? Even if the target was located around Enforcer Josho's estimated guess, they'd likely have fled the site from now!"
"Then what remains to discover is exactly where anything in the forest has to flee to," Shell said. He pointed over the ship's side. "Observe."
Filta trotted over to the edge of the deck. He squinted at the distant impact sight of the mulptile shells. A steady wave of motion was rustling through the trees and branches. The air filled with noise as birds took to the air, surging in the same direction as the waving foliage.
"You're starting a stampede?" Filta remarked.
"I'm instilling fear," Shell muttered. Another nearby cannon fired as he paced calmly across the vibrating deck. "And if there's enough life inside Foxtaur to contend with as I suspect there is, then our targets will have no choice but to follow the flow of nature's panic."
"What of the main target? The pony who flies?"
Shell turned and gazed at the captain with one glaring eye. "If she exposes herself, then we will have her head." He motioned towards the ship's bow. "Rig the gliders. Prepare your finest stallions to take air..."