Tor Megiddo: Oil & Blood, Part 9

The Caravan

And as the Purebred celebrated, out of False Hope the Slipgibbets went. And yet, the vile mutant never accepts its humbling. Greedy for the tech and food traded in False Hope, the Slipgibbets laid in ambush. Great was the loot they piled upon the Stranger, and on the red sands, it weighed the truck down. Slowly they advanced, ravelling in their impurity. And Great Warfather Arun swore he would make them pay the price of blood. And Commander Blitzer of the Ashtown Wasters threw his lots with Arun. Not out of rage at the mutant acted Blitzer, but coveting the spoils of its demise.

And the sudden allies rushed through the Scorched Plain, 'till the Stranger was in sight.

Loud rang Arun's voice, drowning even the bark of guns. Forward, the Great Warfather ordered the Purebred, and Dez' flames engulfed the Stranger. Out of the truck some Slipgibbets jumped and others cowered behind its armour. And bullets and grenades wistled and blasted and blood drenched the sand. Blitzer waded in, his hammer taking a great toll of the impure. And yet, the stranger ground on.

And then, the vile Hijack felled on Snapper.

And once again, the Vulture stepped out of the dust. On the Great Warfather, the Rust Man's gaze fell. And Arun turned to listen, for the grinding murmurs of the God Machines are said to reveal the future to those that can decypher them.

And with the Great Warfather's lead gone, rage overtook Dez, for Snapper was his loyal companion. Flames engulfed Hijack and then Dez turned his back to the Stranger to vent his hanger on the wounded Slipgibbets.

And then, it was just Eshelon the Rider and the Wasters to take the fight to the Slipgibbets. Again and again, they surrounded the truck. And yet, the Stranger ground on.

And then, the sands gave way to sulphur flats. On solid ground, the Stranger roared and away it went. Punishment had been dealt on the Slipgibbets, and yet they still held onto most of their ill gotten gains.