Edited Notes:I owe a VERY big thank you to my Friend Predman1227 for helping me Edit this chapter and make it far more better then the original as well as inspire me to add in far more detailing into my works.
Name: Maci Durramee
Year: 2564 June
Gender: Female
Age:26
Rank: Minor
Location: Unknown Warzone, Sanghelios
The Turncoat
It all felt so surreal, as Sangheili, Unggoy, Kig Yar and even Humans came rushing at them, firing Assault rifles, some plasma pistols and all sorts of standard militia weaponry. No fuel rods, no grenades, not even Energy Blades, just crude but deadly ballistic weapons. Raising her dual blades, Maci reflected the incoming projectiles raining down upon her, while at he same time, running full speed at the swarm.
She let out a deep-throated primal roar, as she charged and leapt at the nearest enemy. A scruffy looking human male with a dirty set of old UNSC armour and mud smeared over his middle aged face, had only a spit second to cry out in shocked surprise, before Maci brought down her right sword in an angle, cleaving right through his left shoulder and the rest of his body. Blood hissed and popped, as Maci cleaved through another less armoured human, that came at her with a crude knife, then she cut down two more enemies that at charged at her with Bayonets on the ends of their Rifles.
How foolish of them, to run towards an opponent that wielded Energy Swords, with such primitive weapons, was close to insane. This baffled Maci but only for a moment, as they just kept on coming, not caring for their lives as she cut them down. She took a shot to the left and kicked out in response, connecting with a Kig Yar's midsection and sending him tumbling back through the gravel and dirt. An Unggoy, who seemed to have lost his weapon, flung himself at Maci's legs and tried to bring her down by punching her knees. This only ended in the small alien's head being cut clean from his shoulders and rolling off into the mob that just seemed endless. Cutting, slicing, blocking, kicking and stabbing in all directions, Maci's body was fuelled with adrenaline as the blood of her enemies splashed across her face and drenched her armour in a multitude of colours.
Voras charged at his enemies with a bellowing war cry, slamming his way into the mob, punching and kicking, tossing his last grenade and blowing a large chunk of the mob up in a bright blue flash of raw plasma. His shields dinged and flared with incoming fire but he went on fighting, firing his plasma pistol till it overheated. But it didn't slow him, as he grabbed a Kig Yar by the throat, took a crude curved blade from him and slammed him down into the dirt. It tried to stand back up but Voras bought his book down hard on the alien's skull, then with another battle cry, he charged back into the fray.
Judge too with no other option and no cover, shoulder barged his way into the mix, his shields flashing with bullet impacts and hand to hand blows to close combatants. But even with the hits he took he gave them out harder, smashing and crippling the bodies of his foes with his bio-augmented strength.
July, exhausted from the grief of Alice's death, struggled as she tried hard to fight back. Her gun jammed after the first few shots, possibly clogged up with dirt from their surroundings and only had a split second to barely move out the way of a Sangheili barrelling toward her. Using her rifle as a crude club, she smashed it hard with all her Spartan might, into the Sangheili's jaws as he turned and sent his lifeless corps spinning into a pile of rumble. She didn't get a chance to catch her breath, when another Sangheili, bigger this time, came charging at her and this time she wasn't quick enough as he slammed into her with all his bulk and sent them tumbling through the dust and dirt.
The dust, it was like a thick fog now, obscuring Maci's vision, as she charged at some other Sangheili, two to be exact and the couple staggered backwards in startled surprise, trying to get a bead on her. But it was useless as purple blood sprayed Maci's face as she slashed horizontally across the male's throat. The second Sangheili, this one a female to Maci's shock, came screaming at her, enraged with tears in her eyes. With nothing but her own two arms, the female jumped on Maci and they fell to the ground in a heap, kicking up even more dust to add the already massive cloud.
The female roared in a primal rage at the death of her mate and tried to tear out Maci's throat with her bare hands. It felt so wrong, so very wrong, but it had to be done, as Maci managed to wriggled out of her grasp and kick her off of her, sending the female plummeting to the ground as she gasped for air. Before she could recover, Maci sprang up and embedded one of her swords in the female's stomach and the female only managed to suck in a wheezing gasp, before she lent limp and gurgled her last.
Yanking her blade free of the now dead female, Maci took a few steps back and panted while she looked around. It was at that point Maci noticed something strange. From within the fog she could hear July gasp and grunt, could hear Judge yell and toss insults around and could hear Voras's growling, roaring and grunting as he killed his way through the enemies, but Maci…Couldn't hear Rio.
At first she thought he was dead, as her bright blue eyes scanned around for his body. There must have been more than 50 or 60 of them, it was like a damn hoard that never ended. She heard a bang from behind her and Maci swatted a bullet out of the air and charged at a lone human that was trying to blend in by some nearby rubble, cutting him near in half.
The bodies, they filled the ground around her as she struggled to find a solid footing. The dust blinded her as she tried to see her way through, a grunt came running out of the cloud at her, and in response she kicked him back with little effort, ending his little life as his neck snapped back.
Panting heavily now, Maci stumbled slightly on a body as she looked around for anymore enemies but saw none. She could hear them however, battling with the others. She was about to go aid them when, she heard something else, soft boots crunching on gravel, and it was heading toward her. She turned to see a slim figure emerging from the red mist and couldn't believe her eyes. It was Rio, and he was…clapping?
"And here we are" He said in a cocky tone, as he stopped a few feet in front of her. "The Tragic tale of Maci Durramee…The Weapon, as Alice or July called you, meeting a dull end."
For a moment, Maci was confused, her mind a haze from all the bloodshed and fighting. "W-What did you say?" She stammered, thinking she misheard him.
Rio, was completely untouched by the fight, his hands fiddled between one another as he stood strong and proud. Some rebels ran passed him, barely visible in the dust cloud but close enough to see them. Yet they weren't attacking him, not even paying attention him, as they continued to run off to another battle. That's when it all clicked. It wasn't Judge, or July or even Voras for that matter. It was Rio…he had been the turncoat, he had been the traitor among them along.
Maci couldn't believe it, as she stared at him wide eyed. "It was you!?" She said in shock, as she pointed one of her blades at him, allowing a faint snarl like sound to escape her mandibles. "You were the Turncoat!?"
The enemies around her stopped coming after her, it was like this had been set up, like as if Rio wanted to kill Maci himself or maybe watch her fall as she looked at him confused, mad and stunned. The Spartan only shrugged as if this was all but a mere game to him. He must have planned this ambush and it made sense, only the insider would know their current location and situation, Rio had been the only one scouting and it seemed to fit. But what about before? How had he managed to attack them last night? Maybe this was just a game the Spartans where playing but it didn't make any sense, as Maci thought to herself.
Rio chuckled, catching her attention once more. He paced slightly, walking back and forth from side to side, as he made gestures with his hand. "You see Maci my dear, I never meant to hurt you. But it makes perfect sense doesn't it? Four Spartans go to Sanghelios to gather information, they run into two Sangheili out of the blue and get ambushed, leaving only one Spartan survivor." He chuckled again. "Sounds like Sangheili want to fight again right?" Rio said in a sadistic voice as he continued to softly laughed.
Maci glared at Rio, gripping the hilts of her blades just a little tighter. "You will not get away with this, RIO!" Maci snarled as she started forward and then charged at the Spartan. "I will NOT ALLOW IT!"
He didn't dodge her, he only raised his left arm up and activated some sort of energy shield that blocked her attack dead in its tracks. She stumbled back from this surprise and hissed with a guttural snarl. The Shield was strong enough to block her blade. This was going to be a problem, as she began to circle around Rio, whom didn't seemed phased at all by her intimidation as he deactivated the shield and seemed to dust himself off as he followed her motion.
The two circled each other for a moment, not saying a word as they eyed one another. Then Rio decided to speak up and his voice only served to anger her further.
"Let me tell you something split lip…Do you know what it's like to be told what to do every single day of your life? To have the only person that is meant to be there to protect you to actually be the one to hurt you huh?" Rio said and softly shrugged. "No, I guess you aliens wouldn't, because you don't feel." He pointed a gloved finger at Maci. "My Father was a Drunk. Every day he would go out and work in the mines for hours and hours, then back come home hours after dark to poor little Rio, whom was starving, wore old clothes and barely had anything to his name."
Rio paused again and looked at Maci directly now, taking his helmet off. " Do you know why poor little Rio was hungry and poor? It wasn't because Big Daddy was drinking his life away, but it was because you. You monsters came and took Little Rio's future away." He smirked at Maci. "That's right, I was there, on that Planet before your kind attacked Earth. I watched my sweet Mamia die, poor Little Rio. But the thing is…" Rio paused again and shrugged, raising his hands up in the air to only drop his helmet to the dusty dirty ground as if it didn't matter anymore.
"No one gave a damn about poor little Rio. No one cared when he got raped, or beaten; no one cared when he tried to be a better person, to do what's right!" He stopped moving and so did Maci. "So Poor Rio grew up and became a Spartan, hoping and waiting for this day to come. To make you aliens the bad guys. You know Rio is a good person right, he's not bad." He paused and smirked with a toothy grin that Maci did not understand.
"I do not care what you are any more." Maci sneered; her anger was boiling to unbearable levels now. "I've had enough of hearing you're story!" Maci roared as she launched herself at Rio with both her blades this time.
Of course Rio activated his shield again which Maci's left hand took the brunt of, but he forgot her right hand as she swished it in behind the shield, almost piercing him in his right arm but Rio jumped back. He merely laughed at this as he began to drop his pistol and rifle and pull out from behind his back a hilt of his own energy sword. He waved it in the air at Maci as if she hadn't noticed it before and he activated the white glowing blade, made perfectly for human hands.
"Oh yeah they gave me this nifty little toy. Now you Must Obey you're code right? It's a Duel, and Poor Rio is going to send you to Alien hell ok?" Maci readied herself and got into a fighting stance. "Good because Rio has been locked away for too long, playing your games, its time you play Rios." He nodded to himself, insanely pointing the sword at Maci with a twisted smile on his face and eyes that had a hint of blood lust and insanity.
"If that is so, then tell me are you the one behind this? All of this?" Maci said as she pointed around them refereeing to the rebellion.
He portended to look shocked, as he twirled his blade. "Little Ole Rio? Oh of course not, Rio merely aided him, he is a nice guy, Rio likes him, you….he wants you gone, doesn't like Sangheili like you, Rio agrees, Rio thinks you're too stubborn in your traditions, swishing those majestic blades around like as if you know what you're doing and doing it in honour." He made a tut sound and waved his blade. "Oh Rio hates that. Rio prefer to give out your current location and earn some nice cash that not even Oni could give Rio" He laughed, his voice still so oddly chirpy in that sadistic way.
Then just like that he used his jetpack to boost himself across over at Maci as he hit with striking force as if she was fighting a strong large Sangheili Male or Brute. She was a little startled by this but it had been something she was expecting, as she merely blocked his attack with her own blades, locking his in a cross-guard and raising his up and above his head. The shield only covered half of him, which was foolish. With his sword hand above his head and Maci with her two hands above her own, she had a perfectly good opening to kicked out at him and ensuring her talons scratched the surface of his skinsuit, cutting through and piercing his skin.
Rio backed up fast disengaging their locked state and looked at the crimson blood as it began to ooze out from his new wound. Though he only looked up at Maci and laughed. "Tis but a flesh wound." He said mocking something she had no idea about.
Didn't take long for him to come crashing back at her again as she swatted his shield hand in time, deactivating it with her strike and forcing him to use his sword as his only defence. He was good, his footwork was on point as he blocked each of her blades as they came down upon him, and his parries were impressive, as he tried to disarm her, but it was worthless. He had a fatale flaw; he had no technique, using his blade more like a club, rather than a blade that was an extension of his soul.
Maci took advantage of this fatale flaw and pressed her attack, parrying and countering his every strike. Rio suddenly looked a little less confident now, as he backed up and kept backing up as Maci kept brining the heat, not giving him any room to breath.
"You lack, Honour, and you lack Discipline!" Maci barked as she slammed both of her energy blades down upon his single sword, making sparks dance and crackle in the air.
Rio struggled to hold her off as he looked up at her, the large energy swords coming closer and closer to his head head, his face turning pale, and his eyes turning bloodshot.
However, Maci didn't know how long it took for his shield to reactivate and she was too late when it did, as Rio reactivated his shield and knocked Maci back hitting her in the face. With a chuckle Rio shook his head as Maci steadied herself and snorted. She wasn't done yet, not by a long shot she wasn't completely exhausted. A pained yell caught her attention and she looked passed Rio to see July in the distance. The dust had cleared just enough for Maci to see her, and what Maci saw shook her to the core.
July was on her knees before the Sangheili she had been fighting, with his hand pierced through her skinsuit and ripping out her internal organs. She didn't scream, she only made an odd gasping sound, her eyes rolling back into her head as she twitched her last. Apart of Maci wanted to yell, wanted to save her, but that wasn't her fight as Rio glanced to where she was looking.
He chuckled at the sight and Maci felt her anger boiling over, kindling a darkness within her, brining it to light. "I hopped that it wasn't you. I thought maybe it was Judge, but I was wrong." Maci said in a sad yet toneless voice. "I seem to always trust the wrong people, but that's ok…because little Rio wasn't cared for!" Maci bitterly said as she snarled, baring her teeth and tossing aside her emotions and feelings.
This enraged Rio as he yelled at Maci and he charged full force at her. Maci charged at him as well, tossing aside one of her blades as she leaped into the air with one blade now. Rio did the same, it was Sangheili tradition to parry one another, send the weakest enemy flying back with pure force and strength to claim victory as Maci smashed her sword down against his.
Rio wasn't strong enough as the force knocked him back, he hit the ground smashing his left gauntlet against a rock, destroying his shield. His energy sword was still in his grasp as he gasped and struggled to sit up. Around his eyes where thick black veins as Maci landed and walked slowly towards the Spartan.
"What have you done to me!?" He yelled at her, his eyes so dilated they didn't look remotely human.
Maci stopped and stood over the weakling, looking down on him with no remorse. "My talons are coated in a poison that destroys the blood cells and the Lymph system." She stated in a deadpan tone, her eyes as cold as a predator's. "It works its way towards the heart. Once it's there, it's pumped out, slowly killing off all other cells, taking over the brain and killing off all nervous systems. Its slow, its painful, and it doesn't stop the heart, it continues to pump out until you are paralysed, until you are no longer yourself, till you can't control your own body and then you slowly decay…I'll be honest you lasted a lot longer than others, perhaps because you are a Spartan, or maybe you were a worthy foe. Either way this is the end." Maci said in an all too calm voice as she took in a deep breath, looking into Rio's eyes.
She trusted him, she believed in him, she thought he was kind, just like Jagoree, just like everyone else. But now, she didn't feel the pain or the guilt, not even the rage as she drew her blade up and thrust it down on his chest. Just when she thought it was finished, at the last second, Rio smacked the blade to the side with his own and then kicked her in the leg, sending her off balance. Then, while she was stunned, he got back up with the last of his strength and delivered a quick upwards strike with his blade to Maci's right eye. The blade just barely missed her actually eyeball, but its tip did cut right through the lip of her helm and bit a shallow scar into the skin of her right brow.
She barely noticed the burning pain, it was swallowed bay her returning rage and in one swift move, she stabbed him right through his traitorous heart. All sense of hope and mercy disappeared in Rio's eyes; everything was gone right before him in a single flash of white and blue. The man named Rio gasped with his mouth wide open; he had tried to stop her, but his hands where too late as he fell lifeless to his sides. Then she pushed him, freeing her blade and letting his body flop down on the bloodstained ground with the various other traitors to all civilization.
He fought hard, he fought well, and Maci honoured that with a clean kill as she looked at the blade, coated in his blood, watching the small crimson droplets dissipate into mere mist surrounding the blade.
Her eye throbbed, but she didn't care, as she took a moment to look down on Rio's corps. "You fought well, but the one you served will pay. Your efforts were flawed, so you failed." Maci said, with no emotion in her tone.
Turning her back, Maci grabbed her Energy Blade she had tossed aside and looked up as she watched Voras run towards her. He was exhausted, his shield spat and sputtered, and his armour was cracked and damaged as he grabbed Maci by the side, a look of fear in his eyes.
Maci did not know why, she wanted to keep fighting as she looked to the small grunt that came cashing after him. Pushing Voras aside Maci charged at the grunt slamming her sword down upon the grunt as she looked around and then back to Voras. He seemed to look at her differently now as she snarled and then looked back around them. The dust around them had thickened again, the body count only growing as Maci realized this was probably the end.
"We need to leave!" Voras said sharply in a soft tone.
"What of Judge?" Maci said as she tried to look for the lone Spartan.
Voras put a hand to her shoulder and took in a long, deep breath. "Maci this is an order, we need to leave now!" His tone was weak but even so, it still held that faint hint of being bitter and stern and that was all he needed to say as Maci took in a deep breath and turned, following him out of that forsaken place.
As they scaled up the side of the rubble and out of what was like a pit now filling with dead bodies, Maci didn't look back as she heard a painful scream come from behind, it was Judge, he was at his end as Maci ran after Voras. It wasn't long before a large explosion went off, the sounds of battle ended there, but their journey did not, as Voras, injured as he may be, continued to run, night was falling upon them as they ran towards the tower. But they were blinded by the darkness.
They were too weak now, as Voras stumbled trying to get to his feet. Maci grabbed him and helped him up, looking him up and down. If they came into contact with more enemies they would be as good as dead as Maci looked behind them. She couldn't see anyone as she took in another long deep breath, preparing the words in her mind before turning back to Voras to say them.
"We need to find shelter. We can't make it to the Towers in time, not like this. We need to rest" Maci's voice was soft in the dark of the night, but they held a sense of authority to them as she looked the injured Male right in the eyes, as Voras merely nodded in agreement.
Together they walked in the darkness, not knowing entirely where they were headed, but far away from the fighting area as Maci supported Voras with his arm over her shoulder. They found shelter in a rundown house that was covered by rubble, all but a small hole, just big enough for the two of them to fit in. It was a tight squeeze, but they managed and soon, they sat down on an old dusty rug and finally eased up.
In the darkness they sat and waited, Voras decided to lean against a wall and eventually had fallen asleep while Maci kept an eye out. The fight had left her emotionless, she didn't want to think about it, nor complain as she looked over herself, her armour was still in good condition, save her helm and her shield was still regenerating after her duel with Rio. But the wound on her eye still throbbed. She undone her helmet's strap and slowly took it off. It hurt even more as a shooting pain shot through her brow, but at least it wouldn't rub of it now. She looked at her helm for a moment, ran one thumb across the blackened mark Rio had left. She wondered if the wound would leave a mark on her face. It didn't matter though, it would heal, they had all night to sleep and regain themselves as Maci realized that they had a far bigger problem.
Rio kept saying He or Him, which meant there was one person in charge of this whole rebellion, go figure as Maci scoffed to herself. Either way Maci knew that they were looking for a male, someone that could holds the status of leader, probably be feared or maybe respected but someone with enough financial support to be able to get this many weapons and this many species to work along side each other. But Why Sanghelios? Why this planet above all others? Was it to start another war again with the Humans and Sangheili?
For hours Maci spent thinking over things, she knew that if she had of let Rio live he would have just been a waste of air. He probably wouldn't have said a single word, but he seemed strange, always speaking in third person which Maci didn't know why but she decided to put it aside for the night as she found a large cement piece of rubble and put it over the hole they had come through. Now in complete darkness with her armour's lights turned off, she leaned back and rested, closing her eyes only to listen and feel. But by the time Voras had awoken to take over the watch for a while, there had been no movement, no sounds, and no vibrations. Their enemies must have gone, but either way Maci knew that if Rio had of said anything to the enemy then they would have known they were going to the Tower to signal for help.
Maybe the enemies went there or by luck maybe they were presumed dead.
A/n: So this is probably a much more bigger sort of battle then anything Maci has really faced and she kind of changes in the process of the fight compared to other times. Its the start of her truly realizing who and what she is and what she can do making her an honourable warrior. The Next chapter will not be really letting you come down from the high, theres still a lot going on but you get to know a bit more about the Mission and the extent of their situation.
