Tales of a Durramee Chapter 18

Name: Maci Durramee
Year: 2560 March
Gender: Female
Age:22
Rank: Ossoonas (Stealth Force)
Location: Planet Desia

A Growing Darkness

Beneath the planet’s surface in the dark gloomy tunnels, Maci and Raga ventured forth with only the light from Maci’s armour to guide their way. They had gotten down fine and there had been no sighting of the enemy as of yet, surrounded by silence and the eerie feel didn’t help at all within these ever growing darkened tunnels. From time to time they would look from side to side or behind, mostly Raga while Maci focused on moving forward through the darkness. Looking up Maci came to a sudden halt as Raga pulled out his Plasma riffle just in case. Raising her hand she eased his worried thoughts and pointed forward with a sigh that followed.

“Another dead end” Softly she said with what seemed to be a sadden tone.

This was the third dead end, the other Tunnels either looped right back around or where filled with rubble. For the two it felt like hours that they had been walking, the darkness was disorientating for the both of them but only Maci could keep going on, Raga only followed her because he was concerned for her health and feared she would get hurt but she couldn’t tell him how to feel, it was just the fact she wasn’t alone that mattered right now.

“Was this one of the ones on the map?” Raga spoke up, his voice was almost faint as the two started to back track and go down another dark eerie path.

Lifeless with the stale stench of never seeing fresh air could do so many things to your mind, especially one that can be overly imaginative. With a sigh Maci already knew the answer to his question. Most of the tunnels they had searched down where the ones that had been uncharted, no teams had come down here and it could have easily been filled with the enemy but they dared not to show their face, perhaps knowing or at least thinking that nobody would find the way down into the planets core centre.

“No, let’s just hope we find something soon. I hate this darkness” Maci said in a harsh whisper turning back around.

Of Course Maci hated the darkness; it reminded her of the terrible things, nightmares that she could never forget. Many of them had been triggered shortly after the Destruction of Durram but the recent ones had of cause been caused by her overly worried mind that was stressing out. Especially in this situation Maci didn’t want to come up empty handed, she hoped to come back to the surface with information about finding a way, something to give hope but even she was starting to lose grip of such hope and faith that they would find anything.

All the Chatter on the radio was almost dead, no reports of the enemy, no reports about anything new being found or sightings of Jagoree for that matter. Everyone had started to become more focused on repairing the ship but even so they needed resources and luck was not on their side. With all this going on Maci knew that Jagoree had a loophole, an advantage so to speak. If everyone was focused on things like repairing the ship then Jagoree could easily make her way out and take control of the ship, though how she would get off planet was unknown, perhaps some forerunner technology, after all it was state of the art ship and probably could be compatible with Forerunner materials for a temporary time. Not to mention if Jagoree has deliberately commanded the attack on that ship then she must have had a backup plan for getting it repaired to get back to Sanghelios.

Often its times like these you feel that seconds feel like minutes and minutes like hours and it was of no aid to either one of the two, Raga was on edge, being in the dark with little light and in enemy territory was not his idea of keeping Maci safe and as for Maci she felt that all of this was hopeless, her faint hope that did remain was counting on the tunnels but even so she now started to doubt her own plans, perhaps this was why the Commander did not object to her offer going down here, maybe he knew that this would happen but either way Maci could not give up for the fire deep inside of her may be starting to dwindle but she had to keep her head up.

More darkness and more hallways that ended up with nothing but a giant loop. It was amazing the structure of this place, the walls made out of metal with engraved detailing depicting things that neither Maci nor Raga understood, and it was probably more of a design thing though who could tell.  With a loud Sigh Maci stopped in her tracks and looked back to Raga, they had both had their fair share of doubts and of course it may have been good to call it a break for a while, it may not have been wise but Maci felt that she needed fresh air to breath in right now, after all she felt that everything was starting to get stuffy down here, humid too.

“We could both do with a break, down here in this place isolated from everything isn’t going to help us” Defeated and tired Maci softly said turning around and starting to walk away.

As she began to walk past Raga he stopped her mid-way as his hand fell upon her shoulder and he spun her around pointing out towards the darkness. There it was, something glimmering, a reflection of sorts and though Maci should have been excited, she only felt drained and rolled her eyes expecting it to be nothing. It was too dark to see anything and so Maci activated one of her blades to gain better lighting and by the gods did she feel her knees shake and her hearts tremble. There it was another dead end, but not just any other dead end. This one had a large round circular figure on the wall, a small faint orange light glowed, it looked dull from dust but closer examination showed that this wasn’t just some odd decoration. Turning back to Raga and then back to the Door Maci raised her hand up to trace over the engraved circular glowing light.

Without knowingly she activated it, there were no panels or terminals, just a single touch and the door growled letting out a breeze of air that smelt of rot and decay but then a bright light filled through the tunnel, so bright that Maci had to cover her eyes shielding them with her right arm as she deactivated her energy blade. There it was, life on this planet as strange bird like creatures flew over in the sky, A sky that must have been made within the planet, probably fake and created by the use of advanced technology but there was vegetation, lush and over grown with the sounds of various creatures calling out. Some faint but others close and it took Maci awhile to register that this was no dream, she, no they both had done it.

Bewildered as she was, Maci put her index finger up to her helmet and connected with the Ships Command Bridge. At first she didn’t know what to say, how could she? She had never been on anything like this; never saw anything like this only heard of such things like forerunner planets in story tales and stories told by veterans of war. It took her more than just a few deep breaths to sum up the courage to speak.

“We found it…We found our way in” That was all she could say as Maci dropped her arm and stepped into the ray of lighting around her, it felt nice as if it was real but she knew it wasn’t.

Behind her Raga approached even he was bewildered by all of this as they looked up and around. Hopefully the Commander would send in warriors and scout the area, but Maci’s missions may have been somewhat complete, she knew she needed to give them more Intel. Quickly she looked to Raga and then back out to the wide vast over growth, they needed to locate Jagoree or else soon she would try to overtake the ship if they did not move fast enough.

“Raga, we need to locate Jagoree, gain as much information as we can about the landscape and the rest of its inhabitants.” Like a Leader Maci spoke up with such hope and a renewed sense of determination.

Nodding in agreement, the two set off, weapons in hands as they walked into the over growth of the jungle. The leaves cut off most of the sunlight but only little flecks came down. It was lush with such vibrant green colours and the smell of the air was fresh and filled with various scents all around them. Deeper they went following an over grown path that had once probably been a metallic surface but now covered by dirt and mostly vegetation.

The Commander did not reply back and Maci didn’t need him to as she knew they would be able to track the tunnel she went through by the locator on her armour and soon Jagoree would have no escape, no place to hide and like any creature would be forced to flee or fight. It seemed that sometimes when you feel you have given up there is always something just out a head that you grasp and give you renewed hope as Maci had found out. Within this foreign place neither of the pair found nor saw anything, it was just an over growth of lush jungle and who knew how long this Forerunner planet had been going for. A beeping sound alerted Maci to her radio piece.

“We are sending back up down as I speak. Give us as much time as you can Durramee, the ship is almost repaired but we cannot risk Jagoree escaping us this time. Find her and eliminate her if you can” The Commanders voice was deep and almost stern, but the way he spoke his words was both an order and an encouragement.

As the Commander spoke Maci recalled something from her past, she had always wanted to be a warrior, always told herself she was more than worthy of this but now she was here and she had blood that stained her hands. Thinking back to the reclaim of Durram Maci knew she had killed and Raga had almost been the victim though sometimes fate has its own tricks up its sleeves. Looking over to the said Male, Maci gave him a nod. This was going to either be an assassination mission or a full blown battle. The lives of many depended on Maci as she knew that if they didn’t succeed in killing Jagoree fast, then the scientist would use all she has got to fight back and so many would die and once again Maci would have put innocent lives in danger by her own foolishness…Much like Team Delta.

“Another two teams of the Stealth Force will be heading down there as well, keep your eyes peeled” The Commander said once more.

That was all he said as the radio clicked out and Maci felt that she in a way had done more good then she thought, but even so this was not over. Moving on the pair made their way to what seemed to be a cliff’s edge, it dropped off and seemed to go a fair way down to a dark inky pit of water, something that didn’t look overly safe to dive into let along touch. Their path then veered off to the right and further into the jungle, the strange creatures that where on this planet fled fast before Maci or Raga could even see them, for being isolated for so long had probably done a lot of things to them, many would be feral and probably would have a wide range of predators.

“Maci” Raga spoke up, he was focused on looking around them but even so Maci could tell he had something on his mind.

“Do you think we can do this, can you eliminate the scientist or capture her?” There was something in the tone of his voice that told Maci it wasn’t just a random question, it seemed almost personal like as if he needed an answer.

“Its clear, we kill her on sight. If we don’t who knows what could happen.” Silence was his reply for a few brief minutes as Maci pushed a large leaf aside and continued to walk onwards, she didn’t have time to stop and waste her time of silly questions but at the same time she felt a tug of curiosity.

“You’ve come far then” Raga said finally and Maci did not understand why he said it, what his point was but she let it slide perhaps someday she shall but right now she was focused on other things.

Like Finding and killing Jagoree for her actions. Sometimes you find yourself in the midst of conflicts, you feel that you’re between two people and your emotions tear you from one to the other. All her life that was how Maci has felt, when she lost both her parents she was torn between curling up and crying or fighting, but she was too young to fight and so she was forced to cry, to focus on her studies until she could no longer study.

Soon within the next few hours of scouting the new alien terrain, chatter picked up, everyone was communicating along with the Supreme Commander relaying back information that was vital. It was mainly about the landscape, the various forerunner structures that had now been submerged within the jungle. No flood was sighted here, thankfully, and the same for their enemy. Perhaps they had forced the enemy to withdraw and make a final counter attack, or perhaps an ambush, the scenarios never ended as Maci ventured into a small arch, once a brilliant forerunner structure now covered in vines and plant life. With a sigh Maci stopped and looked around, Raga was leaning over near a tree overlooking his weapon as if it needed checking.

They had both come to agree that they needed a break allowing the other teams to scout the area. For the other Stealth Force teams had become overly busy and Maci felt almost excluded but she didn’t mind, in fact she liked it this way as she felt free surrounded by the mystery of the others. Looking up to the small amount of visible sky, Maci remembered her time back on Sanghelios, how the sky was always a cherry red but here it was blue, blue like the human colony worlds, and it was strange as well as fascinating the different colours of skies from other planets. It seemed Forerunners had lived on a similar planet to be using such display of a vibrant pastel blue.

With a sigh Maci returned her gaze back to Raga, she had learned that forgiving is perhaps the hardest thing to do. Harder than any physical or mental test because it’s a personal thing, it’s something that you hate the most and letting go of all that hate and anger is never easy. Yes he had killed many innocent people but Maci could only hope that somehow Raga could indeed come back from all of this, perhaps not entirely but Maci felt that he would somehow become a warrior again, not some deranged and power hungry beast that he had been. Saving her life had opened her eyes to a part of him that she had never seen however she realized her thoughts would never be like the others. So many would still see him as that same monster he had once been, many would want to see him dead. With another sigh Maci leaned up against a part of the metal arch and rested her eyes for a brief moment allowing all the strange alien sounds to pass over her until she could no longer hear them, just the thoughts in her head.

At one point she truly believed the former Supreme Commander was evil, that he was trying to kill off Jagoree and make his way back to Sanghelios, but Maci had been so greatly wrong about that, she knew that now. Because of her actions, because she didn’t think that the former commander was telling the truth, that saving Jagoree was a trap, Team Delta died and with it a part of Maci. Death in Combat was a new thing for her, and losing a team on your first mission is something everyone has to deal with eventually, sometimes it promotes you other times you end up without a rank, as for Maci the Former Commander, despite how cruel and ruthless he was, probably could understand Maci’s view point back then, maybe he saw her leadership skills to go out and do something she thought was right and over time since then Maci had come to a point in her life where she knew she could only take punishment for her actions as it was her responsibility.

Perhaps that was why she is here right now ranked as part of the Stealth Force, teamed up with the male believed to be the root of all evil. In turn Maci had understood she had been turning a blind eye to almost everything as she looked back to Raga, he was approaching her, his rifle now on the side of his thigh armour. In a brief moment Maci knew that she had indeed come so very far from the start of her journey, she betrayed the former commander and yet he found a way to forgive her. How surreal it all felt but Maci could no allow her thoughts to get the best of her, not anymore.

“We should start to head out again, who knows what we might find” Raga stated the most obvious of all things and Maci knew he wasn’t doing it to be a pain but to get her jump started back on their mission.

Somehow Maci had found her hate dwindling downhill and the slow sorrowful emotions start to emerge. Adjusting her armour the young female gave a brief nod and did just that heading out into more of the jungle. Everything they had done so far had turned up with nothing, no clues or signs of Prometheans let alone forerunner activity, but somehow Maci knew that Jagoree was out there, she just had to be.

“Do you remember when we were fighting more than 6 months ago that I had originally planned to kill you?” Raga said in a rather dark tone, his eyes focused out ahead not daring to look at Maci.

“No I didn’t know” Maci said in a more sarcastic and half-hearted tone then she should have.

“When that male was hit by the mine what was your first thought?” Stoic as ever Raga spoke up once more, this time his words hitting Maci harder than expected.

The young female stopped in her path, she couldn’t forget that day, they attacked the Raiders with all they had left and Maci had been so blind to see that Zuka had been there all that time, by her side, protecting her and never saying a single thing because he was afraid of how Maci would react seeing him again. After all that had happened back then, after all that had been done, it was still very hard for Maci to come to terms with the fact she had almost lost Zuka that day and almost lost herself.

“I was so scared I didn’t know what to do. Zuka…I didn’t know he was there until then. My anger….my pain…every single bit of emotions in me rose up and I was so afraid…” Maci said in a calm yet sad voice as she looked towards the dark jungle ground.

“Then why did you not kill me?” Raga said finally turning to look Maci in the eyes.

“Because it was wrong, I knew you had to pay for your crimes and you still are, but I knew if I killed you then you would take all your secrets with you and I…I’d wake every day regretting it telling myself I should have let you go to prison where you are tortured days upon days.” As Maci spoke her words she looked up at Raga taking in a deep breath, her face said everything, that she was sorry even for her own mistakes back then.

“Did you still regret it anyway?” Raga boldly said.

“No I never did, I knew it was the right thing. I was praised as well as my friends, for saving my state and their future.” Maci softly said unable to look at Raga any longer.

Pushing aside a large leaf, Maci couldn’t help but remember back to those days, it felt so long ago that it had happened, but recent events had caused Maci to change slightly, to become different in a sense and she can’t come back from that.

“You were right perhaps…Each day I was tortured, I fed them my sources, and all the Intel I had I gave to them. I was defeated and weak and…I woke up to myself who I was and what you are and I think somehow the guards saw that…” The truth long last slipped from his mandibles as Raga said with a heavy heart.

Though his words started to trail off, she knew what he was saying, he was rambling of course but he was trying to tell Maci in his own way that he had changed, he had come to his senses, but then he said something that made Maci come back to reality.

“It was Zuka you know…Before I attacked Durram we argued, he didn’t want to burn the state down so he fled trying to prevent the attack; I never liked him, not really. He was an outcast, left to die in the desert because he was nothing but an over grown babe. I took him in when I was young, the group I was with raised him and he became a smart engineer but I never trusted him. He always broke the rules and the leader of our group one day decided he had enough…he burnt the youngling’s neck so bad that it left such a deep scar. I never knew it was him, that he was the one trying to protect you. But I honour that, what he has done for you and though I may never like him I can see why he has done what he has.” Raga’s voice was soft and it opened up a lot of truth to what Maci needed to hear.

It was hard to taking in Raga’s words as Maci thought it through. Yes she knew of Zuka’s past but never knew that the two knew of each other. Perhaps it was best left that way but now Maci had a growing question forming deep within her as she turned and looked to Raga. However she was unable to answer him, her voice got caught in her throat as she paused hesitantly which only made the Male before her look with some sort of concern, a look that did not suit him. However instead of saying anything Maci just smiled, it was fake but it had become something to easily do with recent events as the two marched onwards through the thicket of the forest.

“Maci…” Raga faintly called out from behind her as she turned to see him still standing in the same spot as he was before.

“I was afraid to tell you but…With our current situation now may be my only chance. When I told you that I had been given permission to leave the prison, to redeem myself…I lied” There it was in his words, a hint of sadness and sorrow as Maci’s faced contorted with the mixture of emotions, confused as to what he was saying and why he was saying it.

Raga looking down at the ground before he seemed to muster up the courage to look up at Maci again with a faint glimmer in his eyes which seemed to be his only ray of hope, apart from that even she could tell he was filled with guilt and regret and she had to take in a deep breath and look at him seriously for a second. He had murdered people so why did she now feel conflicted on the inside? Torn between wanting him to tell her and wanting to shut him up?

“I wasn’t released, not legally. There is no such thing as redemption in prison, and if they do then it’s after many several years there. Someone with higher up power gave the order to falsify my data intel, assigned me to this crew so that I may have a second chance…to see you one last time.” Raga said, his voice grew fainter with each word ashamed of it.

“But there was a cost?” Maci blurted out as she could see how Raga tensed up while she forced back the choking feeling within her throat.

“Yes…It was a one way ticket out and I took it. I was…they wanted me to do something that I could have easily done but I am no longer my former self anymore…They wanted me to assassinate the leading General, the new Supreme Commander” Raga was almost choking on his words, his breathing had quickened as he took a step forward but then stopped himself.

Maci had lowered her gaze to the ground nodding her head briefly taking in his words before she looked back up at him. Those vibrant blue eyes of hers where now glazed and he could see she was holding back her emotions, trying to seem tough and strong but even here on a foreign world there is no such thing, just pure will to survive really.

“You didn’t though…why?” Her voice wrecked with concern and sadness as she gulped down her fear looking Raga in the eye now trying to see what he was thinking.

“Because I knew that if I did I would lose you and I am glad I have not done that…but my crimes…they cannot be forgotten.” Raga sternly said admitting it to himself that what he has done can’t be forgiven.

With a heavy hearted sigh Maci looked up at him taking a step forward giving him a reassuring nod because she herself had come to the point of understanding where he came from, what he had been through, perhaps not everything but from what he had told her so far she knew no one could come out of it unscathed.

“Do you know what they do to warriors who disobey commands?” Her question was out of the blue as she turned on her heels and began to walk forward, followed by Raga.

This question was not an easy one to answer, everybody who serves the Covenant knows the penalty of letting your Brothers in Arms fall in battle after disobeying an order, compromising the whole entire fleet and mission. Everybody! Raga remained silent for a while and Maci let a faint smile cross her lips as she pushed past thick foliage knowing that Raga did not fully understand her question, so she explained.

“I was assigned to Team Delta, I disobeyed a direct Command, I could have turned back and gone to the fleet but…the ground gave way and my fate was sealed from there. They all died, everyone but me, and even though I have done such great things in those times, even though I have learned my lesson I am still punishable.” Maci’s words where not faint, but they were not full of pride, but rather a sorrowful and shameful tone.

Maci paused knowing what she was about to say, she knew Raga probably already knew about the incident, with Jagoree, her first act of betrayal when she killed her own team members, lured Maci down and killed the rest of them. The only thing was Jagoree never expected Maci to actually live, she only assumed that she would die and the Commander would come after her lost beacon and find Jagoree somewhere waiting to ambush him. Yet things did not go as planned.

“When I return to Sanghelios I shall probably be placed in prison for 12-18 months, I’ll be marked and it will take me years to obtain a rank again, especially becoming an Ossoona.” She paused for a moment and drew in a breath knowing this wasn’t easy to say but she had to because she needed to tell herself this. “I always wanted to become a part of the Stealth Force, make my way up to being an Ultra and then eventually a Commander, I had it all planned out but…sometimes you can’t control fate because fate controls you.”

There it was, the faint glimmer of a tear dripping down her cheek, but she could not shed anymore, she had cried too much, suffered too much and all for what? Raga was silent and so was Maci, she knew he couldn’t say anything; there was nothing you can say to someone who already knows their own fate. No compliments can ever bring a warrior back to the light, for Maci had stained her bloodline, she had dishonoured those of her ancestors and she would never be seen the same again.