Oil and Blood, Tor Megiddo - part 17 - Pit Fight!

By the grinding of gears

Rust for our fears
Oil and blood mix
On the dusty arena floor

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Pit Fight at False Hope

Clouds of red-orange dust swirled around the walls and gates as dozens of trucks and transports rumbled into the shanty town that clustered around Promethium Refinery Station 534. The Pit Fights were starting up again for the new year and the Yaike Yaike tribes were keen to try and win fortune and glory by sending their biggest, toughest and shrewdest fighters to compete. In an atmosphere of a market day combined with a holy pilgrimage the tribes temporarily suspended their open hostilities and eyed each other suspiciously. They looked over each other's champions, weighing the chances of their own champions against them.

Locals Jiman and Bobert commentated on the fight through vox-hailers.

The arena!

The Slipgibbets gathered on the south walkway, overlooking the inert Rustman in the centre of the pit.

The Purebred congregated on the west side.

The Disciples of the Black gathered on the north side.

The champions entered the pit and the crowd cheered and howled.

After a few moments of maneuvering around each other Cable, the heavy mutant of the Slipgibbets, pounded toward Phospho and punched him repeatedly with his mutated and oversized left hand.

Phosphos staggered, spat out a tooth then wound up his servo claw, smashing Cable's makeshift armour right off him then knocking him to the ground.

Warfather Dez shifted his position while the fist fight was going on and he was able to unleash a torrent of burning promethium at Phospho.

The Slipgibbets boo'd at Cable's loss but cheered when his aggressor was bathed in flame.

The fighters eyed each other for a moment...

Then, singed and smoking but not down or on fire...

Phospho charged Dez, once more leading with his servo claw.

The crowd cheered as Warfather Des, badly wounded but indomitable, slashed at Phospho with his jagged blade.

And Phospho went down!

Warfather Des revelled in his blood-stained glory!

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The Purebred made huge gains after this competition - they shot up in both reputation and wealth. The Disciples of the Black's champion also received a status boost. The Slipgibbets didn't gain anything but saved face for submitting a fighter to the Pit.