The Spartan Effect

Inside the Fire

Library hallways, 01:45

     Hicks wanted to hide. He wanted to escape by any means necessary. This fear was beyond anything he'd felt before, but he stayed in position and fired another burst at the infected that rushed to consume them all. He would later be asked why he didn't run, and he'd be unable to explain it. He just couldn't, not when his squad was right next to him fighting for their lives. They hadn't been in the facility for long, and they had only gotten about a mile through several twisting corridors when they were trapped. The parasite defended on all sides. A few sentinels had tried to assist, as he was later told, but he overlooked the efforts of the machines. 

     The fight had been so desperate and sudden that Hicks had failed to notice his squad attempting to break through the flood entrapping them. One of his squad had to physically yank him along when they managed to blow a hole in the flood lines with grenades. After that, they were running. Occasionally, they'd turn and fire on the pursuing infection forms to attempt to buy time but never manage to dent the horde that chased them. They didn't understand why there were so many of them. They hadn't seen anyone guarding the entrance and hadn't been followed in. 

     "COVERING FIRE!" One of the marines shouted, and the group turned as one to mow down a particularly aggressive push from the animalistic corpses chasing them. Two marines were dragged screaming into the oncoming horde of disfigured and bloodstained enemies. After a second, an explosion from behind the flood facing them signaled that at least one of them refused to let the parasite take them whole.

     The parasite had, in fact, taken care of their pursuers. Several squads of batarians had arrived shortly after the ODSTs and their Marine reinforcements but didn't make it far. The parasite had descended on them and left behind no trace. Creatures screamed with a dozen voices at once, and one near Hicks leveled what appeared to be a shotgun at him. Hicks managed to get a burst from his rifle off that took the creature's arm and caused it to stagger backward onto the floor.  The ODST next to him tapped his shoulder, letting him know he had cover to retreat. Hicks turned and ran towards the squad, who had now found a large door closing on them. A few sentinels had survived long enough to form a perimeter around the door, and the ODSTs had noticed they weren't fighting alone. Several odd-looking aggressor sentinels drove back the flood from the door while the troopers ran.

     The odd sentinels were unlike any previously encountered by UNSC forces. Their shields were stronger than a major variant, but their armor was still silver, with the exception of Black segments covering existing portions. When they fired their main weapon, the beam was not orange or blue but a blinding white. When the beam struck its target, it left the corpse engulfed entirely in flames and with a hole wherever they had been hit.  These variants were the results of the monitor's continued weapons tests on the ring. No sentinels were spared her tampering, and none suffered for it. Standard variants were still used, but the upgraded design was specifically made for outbreak containment. 

     The downside was that there were few of them. The changes took much longer to apply to existing sentinels and were costly energy-wise, so they were not as numerous. They were effective, though. Hicks was sweating inside his armor as a beam shot past him, his armor struggling to cool him down fast enough. Another of his squad, Bones, he suspected, shoved him towards the door and shouted for him to get moving. 

     "MOVE IT TROOPER!"

     He pushed forward to catch up with his squad, who had rallied at the end of the hallway. The squad managed to reach the door and started covering those who had been slowing the parasite's advance. Hicks ran through the door only to turn and fire upon a combat form that had grabbed his arm. 

     Hicks struggled to pull free until the sergeant cut the arm clean off with a combat knife. The veteran of the human covenant war held down the trigger of his AR and sprayed into the horde with only one arm as Hicks finally was able to bring his rifle up. Once the squad was beyond the doors, the sentinels followed suit, forming a line over the cracks of the massive door. The flood that attempted to jump over the door through the closing sides were met with incineration. The squad took stock of the area and realized they had returned to the entrance and had a moment to breathe.