[Q] Error when flashing system.img topic

Im currently following a guide to update my encrypted N6 to 5.0.1 and it is all working well up until i go to flash the system.img that i got from 5.0.1 where i get an error.

Code:

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C:\Users\Chris\Desktop\android-sdk-windows\platform-tools>fastboot flash system
system.img
target reported max download size of 536870912 bytes
sending 'system' (457800 KB)...
OKAY [ 14.332s]
writing 'system'...
(bootloader) Invalid sparse image
FAILED (status read failed (Too many links))
finished. total time: 14.353s

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Im not sure where to go from here, any tips?