A/N Remember to review on your way out!

Battle of the Somme Part 2

It was a tight squeeze. The walls were suffocating. In the beginning, Esq had no trouble crawling in and out of the vents but now, there were extra people crawling around with her. She realized that it was a very bad time to discover one was claustrophobic. Anyway, Will was busy not being in the chutes. Only Dunbar was with her and eventually, she politely asked him to leave. "Will cannot be left alone," she pointed out. "And, I'm the only one who knows these vents fine. Somme might consider heating them so it is safer for you to be in the brig with Johnston."

They might not have been good reasonable points. Private Dunbar however, was not eager to be crawling to the heart of the base where Somme's memory crystal was. Undoubtedly, her memory crystal would be heavily guarded. What really made him go to Johnston's side though, was when more "transport carts from hell" tumbled into the brig. While not fully dangerous against any marine, Johnston's leg was pulverised and so, unable to defend himself from the sharp wires.

Esq was in a weird way, glad that she was by herself though for selfish reasons. First, her claustrophobia was gone. Second, she would earn a lot of respect should she finish this mission by herself. Reassured from the battle rifle slapping against her back, she struggled forward.

It was when she was at an intersection, she heard an odd noise. It was the clacking noise of needles against metal. It was also, coming closer. By some instinct, her legs immediately pushed forward. The smooth material of the olive drab she wore slid smoothly across the metal surface of the chute. Now, she began using her hands to push herself forward. Sweat perspired from her forehead and dripped down onto the metal sending gentle pings across. Still, the clacking continued and eventually, she heard the terrified sobs of a Human. Someone else was in there with her…

A horrible rasping noise ensued as she dug in with her hooves to face whatever monstrosity was heading her way. However, when she looked down the corridor, she saw nothing. The noises 

were also gone. What she did see was odd to the point of creepy. A single drop of red blood remained. That was when she noticed a hole. Whatever was back there probably fell through the grating.

Her muscles tugged at the battle rifle and she unlimbered it. Crawling slowly to the edge of the chute, she looked down. There was a marine. His neck was broken and blood was saturated across his neck. That was not the first thing she noticed. What she saw was a female Human who had a sniper rifle on her back. She wore a long black gown. Her skin was pale and motes of light danced across her head. And her mouth was covered in blood. Esq did not stop running.

Another laugh rattled the chute. "I spy with my little eye…."

Esq was not unduly worried about this. Whatever the marines had done in the last battle, they had effectively disabled all cameras. Somme was relying on heat signatures. Esq had no heat signature or at least not a very strong one. She was a young Sangheili. Reptiles were cold blooded and got their heat from the surrounding environment. Esq was not wearing an active camo generator either. She was effectively invisible. She did not know that yet. All she knew was that Somme had no mechanical eyes to spot her with.

She felt incredibly satisfied when she crushed Somme's mind with her hooves.

Walking back to the brig was easy. She really did feel good. A smug look was stuck on her face. It slipped away quickly when she saw that the brig was dark. She hesitated at the door before getting on her hands and knees and cautiously crawled in. There was no point in smashing into walls. Her questing fingers felt something wet and sticky. Her sensitive nose registered a salty metallic smell… It seemed familiar to her. Her feet knocked against something soft and her hands felt around that area. It registered a face… A face with no eyes imbedded in its sockets. Her fingers just went through the two holes in the head until it found soft brain. Esq found herself shuffling backwards in 

horror. Her back met with the wall and something moved in the dark. Deep heavy breathing was heard everywhere and a very familiar sadistic voice said, "You missed me…"

A/N Please Review on your way out!