-Chapter 7-

                              The Flood

Seconds later everyone was inside the mountain-base and the huge gate leading to the outer walls was sealed behind them. They could still hear the meteors falling and slamming on the mountain above causing bits of it to fall increasing the chaos amongst the men who were running all over in search for cover.

"What now Calgar, what are your next orders?"asked S116.

"Alright Spartans, listen up. We don't have much time before the enemy gets through the main gate so I need you to rally the men and get them to an extraction point three levels below. Save as many men as you can on these levels Spartans, I'll do the rest. Good luck gentlemen I'll meet you back at the extraction point. You better be there".

"Don't you worry, we'll be there."

And so the two Spartans and the Space Marine Commander Calgar took their separate ways. The Spartans lost sight of Calgar within seconds after he gave them the order as dust and smoke made visibility almost impossible.

"Can't see shit!" said S116,

"I know, we'll have to rely on our motion sensor to locate friendlies." replied S118

"I see four green dots some thirty meters that way" said S118 pointing south of their location. They run to the way the friendlies should be and they did find  a tactical squad of five space marines.

"Praised be the Emperor! It's the Spartans." said one of the marines.

"We have orders to get as many men as we can out of here. But we could use some help finding where ''out of here'' is."

"The legendary Spartans need our help boys. Well Spartans this is your lucky day. I am Sergeant Cornelius and these are my men, Darius the squad's heavy weapons specialist, brother techmarine Lucius and Marcus the Purifier. We know this base better than anyone so you can count on us!"

"Glad to hear that Sergeant", said S118.

Each one of the marines was massive, clad in their power armor but we could tell they all were special individuals. Sergeant Cornelius was the only one without helmet enabling the Spartans to see his scared face and prosthetic eye. Darius was bigger than a common space marine and he was the heavy weapons specialist, a Devastator, as the space marines call them but he wasn't armed with a heavy gun or anything. Then there was Lucius the tech marine of the team. He had slightly different armor than the others with some mechanical arms on his back and other devices extending from his armor. Last but not list was Marcus equipped with a flame thrower, no wonder the nick name. Aside from the Sergeant, they didn't talk much, but the Spartans were sure they would do their jobs just fine and they would get out of this natural tomb.

"Ok  guys here's the deal. There is an extraction point three levels down from here and we have to go there asap and pick up anyone we can find along the way".

"Hmm, it's gonna be a bit difficult but we can do it. We have to get through the armory first to gear ourselves up first. Darius needs a gun and Marcus some juice for his flamer".

"I'm fine with that Sarge, I might get something for myself", Said S116.

"I only hope we don't stumble across any unwelcome ones", Said S118.

And so a team of two Spartans and  four Space Marines set out to the armory which was located on the first level down. They moved through the rubles of the base, the dust, smoke and the steam of broken pipelines. Navigation was impossible, and some flicking lights were the only thing that could give as a glimpse of the road ahead for a second. Without the help of the Space Marines, we would never have made it.

"It's been twenty minutes now, how close are we Sergeant?", asked S116.

"We are almost there Spartan".

At that moment the power went off and all lights were gone. The blackout was followed by great silence that made them all be at high alert.

"Radio check everyone", said Sergeant Cornelius.

"Darius aye, Lucius aye, Marcus aye, Sierra 116 aye, Sierra 118 aye".

"Ok stay close everyone this is usually when bad things start happening".

"Multiple red dots closing in fast!", said S116.

"I fucking knew it, quickly to the armory!".

The howls and the beastly noises were getting closer but they spotted the armory's entrance and went in without looking back to what was coming. The last one to enter was Marcus and on his right was a red button that he pressed as soon as he got in and the door started closing. As the two sides of the door closed to one another a creature lashed forward in an attempt to strike Marcus. Thanks to the doors only its arm went through as it was ripped off when the door finally closed. It had some tentacles and three fingers but most of it was unrecognizable for an arm.

"What the hell is that Sarge?", asked Darius.

"Don't know Darius but what I know is that the rest of it is outside and there should be more with it so leave the questions for when we get out of this alive".

"Shoot first ask questions later huh?", said Darius as he kneeled to pick up a heavy bolter. A massive machine gun which would fire big rounds with high rate.

"Fine with me hehe".

Bangs on the door started and the first signs of the door's collapse didn't took long to appear as scratches and holes begun to mark the entrance to the armory. The armory was kind of small in space with just a few covers and lockers, some ammo and weapons. It could host no more than twenty people while completely empty so the six wouldn't have much maneuverability in there. But that would have to do for the time being till they could think of a way out of the armory and to the rendezvous point.  

"Marcus is that flamer of yours refilled yet?".

Marcus just nodded to that. Everyone took cover behind tables and craters or whatever they could find was better than nothing at that moment. Darius was the only one that didn't as he would use his heavy bolter to blast whatever enemy would come in front of him. The Spartans had their Assault rifles ready and they were aiming at the entrance, Lucius had a big axe and also his mechanical arms had their own custom weapons on. Marcus was anxious to set whatever was to come through that door ablaze and Cornelius was left with a chainsword, a combination of chainsaw and sword. Everyone could hear the creatures outside as the mysterious creatures hit the door and more of them were gathering to storm the teams position.

"Here they come!", yelled Cornelius and immediately the door fell to the ground. Darius didn't wait to see the enemy, he opened fire into the darkness as soon as the door was gone, lighting the way with his bolter's bullets. The creatures screamed in pain and frenzy and despite their losses they made their appearance and It was then when everyone started shooting weapons free. They were hideous deformed versions of former men or alien very hard to distinguish the difference. One thing was sure and that was their intent to kill the men and they would if the Space Marines and the Spartans were to stay in the armory any longer.

"Is there a way out of this rat hole? We are gonna be slaughtered if we stay here any longer!", shouted S118 as the noise of the gunshots was too high.

"No, we have to make a run for it!", said the Sergeant. Five of them jumped on Darius with such a force that made the big blue giant to fall. After that they pierced their hands through his thick armor and then they pulled him out of the armory so fast that the rest didn't quite realize what had happened. After that incident the creatures withdrew and that gave the team the chance to leave the armory. To their surprise the creatures withdrew and that was the time to make a run for it.

"Marcus take point and burn anything in front of you! The rest move out, the extraction should be just two levels down from here", said Sergeant Cornelius to the rest of us.

"Sergeant, my scanner shows an elevator still operational and the end of the corridor. It should takes us to level three in no time", said Lucius.

"Alright men on my mark!". Everyone reloaded their weapons and took some final breathes waiting for Cornelius' order.

"GO!" The moment they stepped outside the beasts came at them again, more angry and bloodthirsty than before. Everyone shot in all directions, Sergeant was chopping them down midair with his melee weapon and Marcus was burning the way ahead for the rest leaving the enemy burning on the floor.

"There is the elevator!", said Lucius. It was at that moment when a big explosion occurred from the elevator and from it emerged a big bulky beast taller and more massive than even Darius was. The elevator was gone but that was the least of their problem right now.

"Kill that demon!", shouted Cornelius and so they did with everything we had left. It didn't seem to do much other than enraging it and making charging towards us like a raging bull. Its ferocity was tremendous as it would tare apart the walls and the ground under its four legs. Seeing that neither bullets nor fire could do any damage to it, they decided to get out of its way in whatever way they could. As the giant brute was about to strike the team lashed on the sides of the corridor barely avoiding being stomped. But there was not time to rest as the brute soon turned around for another charge.

"Everyone jump through the elevator hole, it's our only chance!", said Cornelius and so the men started running towards the location where the elevator used to be a few minutes ago. Thankfully for them the brute made a big hole on the ground. The men didn't know where it would lead but one thing was for sure. It would lead down and that's where they were heading. Plus with a beast like that charging at them there was no luxury of thinking anything else as a better idea.

"We are not gonna make it!", said S116 and it was then when Marcus spoke for the first time since the team was forged.

"I'll take care of the big guy. You guys go on". What he did next was to become a bait and a bomb as he messed with his flamer fuel supply and in a split of a sec he exploded in a big ball of flame taking the brute with him. The shockwave of the blast pushed the rest away and into the hole like dirty clothes thrown in a laundry basket. They fell from high but thanks to the adrenaline rush they stood up almost immediately as a fire wall followed them through the hole. After that everything was silent again and that in addition to a clear motion sensor made the team feel at ease and allowed them to sit down to catch a breath. An hour had passed since the Spartans last saw Calgar but it felt like a whole day.

"Damn it Marcus you crazy bastard, you left with a bang as you always wanted to", murmured Cornelius. Although he said it in a low-tune voice everyone heard it and felt that awful feeling of remorse and loss of a battle brother , a brother-in-arms even the Spartans felt it even though they were in that team for a small amount of time. They were all soldiers no matter where they came from past or future and for that respect towards each other was in all of them.

"We should move, this place is not safe", said S118. They all agreed and stood up in search of a way to go.

"Switch to night vision everyone", said S116 and right there it was, the gateway out of the mountain where they were to meet up with Calgar. They approached the gate and Lucius looked around for controls which he found at the right side of it. He then placed the entrance password. <<ACCESS DENIED>>

"What in the name of... It should have been this one!"

"Try again Lucius, cause I think our friends are back. We shall provide cover while you get that door open", said S116 as the creatures started jumping down to their location through the roof hole. Guns opened fire killing many of them but they were too many and their ammo was too few.

"Hurry Lucius!"

"It won't open the controls are not responding".

''Is this it?'' thought S118 as his last mag dropped on the ground ''we are going to die here after all''.

"This is Commander Calgar to Spartan team. I have your location. If you don't want to die today I suggest you get clear of that gateway".

He didn't have to tell them twice and so everyone run away from the gate as it was being blown up by missiles coming from an aircraft in which Calgar was on. When the gate was demolished the sunlight barged in striking the monstrous creatures that had haunted the team in the darkness of the mountain for the last hour, causing them to fall back into the cover of the shadows once more. With no further delay the team run to the extraction point where the aircraft landed vertically and picked them up.

"I was starting to believe you wouldn't make it".

"Thanks to you we are alive Calgar" said S118 but by looking at the thoughtful looks of his fellow soldiers, he added <<not all of us though, we lost some brave men back there"

"I know what you mean Spartan, we lost a lot of battle brothers today but through their sacrifice humanity lives to fight another day!"

Calgar being able to understand that S118 was feeling guilty for the loss of his men, approached him and said: "Humanity has been to war for its survival since your time Spartan and  war means fighting, and fighting means killing. Soldiers will die and you should not feel guilty even if you lead them. This is your burden as leader and the sooner you learn to live with that the better. Your mission was to bring as many men alive as you could. And that's what you did. Now we must plan our next move if humanity is to survive". Calgar's words were a bit harsh but he was a Spartan and he knew better. These words were just what was required to bring the Spartan back to reality. The aircraft they were on, flew high and with it hundreds more had managed to flee the fallen mountain-base only to reach orbit where a battle barge was waiting to pick them up.