The Sentinels: An Absolute Monster (Book Six of The Sentinels Series)

Underground

A/N aside from my OCs I don't own any characters that may appear all rights belong to their respective owners. Thanks to Zzshark_Stormbeard for allowing me to use their character Serial Designation U from their Murder Drones fan comic Serial Designation U

September 14th, 2603, 0750 Hrs below, Cabin Fever Labs, Copper 9, UNSC controlled Space

The elevator jolted to a stop, and Carter hit the ground face-first, his ISR helmet's visor smeared with blood. "Sitrep, who's still with me?" Carter called over the comms. "I'm here," Ritter responded. "I'm fine, but Davids is gone," Eric reported, shoving debris aside. "We're still alive," Tyler, Watson, and Moore chimed in together. "Mccoy, how many of your guys made it?" Carter asked. "Just me, Brookes, O'Brien, Daniels, Wolf, and Uzi. Frank and Lopez didn't make it," Mccoy replied, gesturing towards the two fallen Hylians. "Fantastic, we're down to less than a full squad, no heavy weapons, and now we're trapped here with who knows what," Wolf commented sarcastically, standing up. "We've still got Moore's SAW and an M41 Jackhammer," O'Brien interjected, slinging the dual-barreled rocket launcher over his back. "Okay, two heavy weapons, but no exit means we're still in a bind," Wolf countered with a dry tone. "Will someone stop N before he collapses the entire tunnel on us?" Carter demanded, reloading his MA40 Assault Rifle as N frantically tried to dismantle the rock wall blocking the elevator. "N, listen to me, you have to stop, or you're going to get us all killed," Mccoy urged, placing a hand on N's shoulder. "I can't, J needs help," N replied, panicked. "I understand, but we can't do anything about that now; our best bet is to find a way back to the surface," McCoy advised gently. N glanced at Mccoy, "Alright," he conceded reluctantly. "Good, now let's move," Mccoy directed. "But first, we need to address our little problem here," Tessa interjected, pressing the blade of her broadsword against Uzi's neck, prompting the five Hylians to aim their weapons at her instantly. "Tessa, put the sword down," Mccoy ordered, his finger on the trigger of his M23 carbine. "Or what? You'll shoot me? Go ahead, but when the Solver takes control of her again and she kills all of you, don't say I didn't warn you," Tessa retorted sharply. "What the hell is your problem?" Mccoy asked. "My problem is that you don't realize the danger Uzi poses to everyone here," Tessa explained. "And you do?" Mccoy challenged. "Yes, I do," Tessa affirmed, removing her glove to reveal her scarred skin and the prosthetic arm beneath. "The Solver was the one who killed my parents and is the reason I have this damned prosthetic arm if that doesn't count then I don't know what will." Tessa snapped. "You're not killing Uzi. If she's possessed by the solver again, I'll handle it," Mccoy told Tessa. "Listen up, we need to find a way out and we've got a lot of ground to cover. We'll split into teams of two," Carter commanded. "Here are the teams: Mccoy, Brookes, O'Brien, and N, your team one; Daniels, Wolf, Uzi, and Tyler, your team two; Eric, Tessa, Ritter, and I will be team three; and Watson and Moore, your team four," Carter announced. "Any questions? Good. Now let's move out," Carter ordered, and the four groups dispersed.

Mccoy led his team through the narrow mineshafts when something flickered in his peripheral vision. Whirling around, he spotted a hand tethered to a cable skittering across the floor, latching onto N's leg. Brookes discharged a 40mm flare from his grenade launcher, illuminating a chaotic amalgam of twisted flesh and rock trailing down the shaft to a breach in the wall. The hand yanked N into the aperture, with Mccoy plunging in after him. Landing at the pit's base, Mccoy seized N's arm, attempting to pry him from the tendril's hold, only to be pulled in too when a pickaxe cleaved through the tendril. Simultaneously, N was struck in the face by a thumb drive shaped like a cross, as a grotesque crab-like creature wearing a miner's helmet landed in his grasp. "Why is Cyn after her own murder pet? Are you stupid or something?" the crab creature asked N. "Oh, absolutely," N retorted nonchalantly, forming a finger gun. "Then let's go," the creature commanded as the centipede monster roared, as it started chasing N and Mccoy. N morphed his hand into a grenade launcher, blasting at the beast as it gave chase. "Think you can deliver this cross topside? I'm searching for a hunk named Khan," the crab creature proposed. "Hold on, Uzi's dad?" N interjected as they swerved around a bend, narrowly evading the Solver. "How do you know my daughter?" the creature asked. "That's a long story" Mccoy interjected.