Summary/disclaimer: Time for another chapter of Scoped and Scouted. Enjoy the 3300-word chapter. I do not own Halo and such, 343, and a few others do.

The Spartans took a moment to collect themselves, ammo was found, and most of the guns… Ones they did not have the room to carry? Were left in a warthog, a squad of marines was sent to bring it backward.

Nina hummed, loading another magazine in her weapon, she grabbed a stalker rifle and then nodded. Dovan hummed and grabbed a mangler, put it on his other thigh, and loaded a magnum clip in his weapon.

"Do we have any intel on enemy forces down there? They had a lot of security here; we should know what we are dealing with." Dovan stated, grabbing a pulse carbine.

"We don't," Vettel stated as he loaded his bulldog shotgun. "Let's move, Spartans," Vettel stated before they nodded and he looked to the side.

Vettel grabbed a ravager as they walked inside the hole, the metal under their feet was warm to the touch, clearly burnt. Vettel hummed as he let Chief take the lead.

Something about this all told them, something about it all made them curious.

"My scans show at least 50… Maybe 100 Banished soldiers down here, looking for something." The Weapon stated before Dovan looked down.

"Peachy…" Dovan muttered before he brought up his BR. "We're following your lead, Chief," Dovan stated as they hiked deeper and deeper into the pit.

Something about it all had made them interested… It had made them VERY interested. They had been too interested at it all being doing it all before she paused to try and think of what was being done.

She had been too relaxed at the time. She looked at Dovan and thought of what was growing on her mind, all of it was much harder and harder.

Nina looked to herself as she thought of each step as they walked into the deeper structure.

They were prepared for now as they thought of it. The idea there were more Banished soldiers below than the site had? Not good odds… Dovan brought up an idea that the others had.

"If they know the terrain so well? What are the odds they send in more reinforcements at the end of the path?" Dovan asked as he sighed to himself.

Dovan hummed to himself, thinking of it as they frowned to himself before he clicked his fingers. They smiled to themselves before she looked over at the time as they slid down the slope.

Dovan thought of what was going on as he hummed, thinking of it all before now, Nina took up a position on the side of the wall as he hummed once more.

Nina thought of it all. She and he were too interested in it all, something is done at the time being… She had been too interested in winning this back.

She looked to the side, something about it all had been too much to think of it all now. They had to relax, and for a moment they did not have to.

Something about it all made him interested as of now. They had a LOT more to try and figure out now, something about this did not hit right and they could and would guess it all going out to bat.

"There is a part of the path where more Banished could be coming in…. Still? I am not reading that much Banished." The Weapon said as Nina hummed.

"Mouse? Set up a line to the UNSC forces, and tell them to meet us at the nearest FOB at the end of this path." Nina ordered as Tomas hummed.

"Elfie? Tell me if you pick up any Banished weapons caches." Tomas ordered as Dovan chuckled.

"Funny, all of us have an AI… Ok, next room has hostiles." Dovan stated as he sighed and then thought of the move.

The door opened and the 5 Spartans swept in, both took positions on either side of the doorway, looking down the half-kilometer path ahead which had metal spires surrounding the walkway.

All of them watched the Banished… Jackals and low-ranking grunts. The few elites, all of whom wore cyan armor, stood at the back of the room.

"We have a plan or are we just shooting them all first?" Dovan snarked.

"Pick them off… Slowly." Chief said as Dovan turned to Nina.

"Your specialty," Dovan stated as Nina nodded and gripped her sniper.

"Do we know how many there are?" Tomas asked.

"No," Vettel stated before turning to the others. "Kill who you can quietly…" Vettel ordered as he sighed.

Vettel, Tomas, and Chief all spread out, Chief again taking the lead over the younger Spartans as Dovan looked at her.

"Something else is down here… Way too much security," Dovan said before he snuck away, slipping down the slope toward the others.

Nina hummed and looked through the scope of her SRS99-S5… The model was older than the S7… But she did not care, it was better in her opinion.

"Chief? Tell me when." Nina said, bending her knee and resting her arm under the weapon.

Ahead of her? The others began to take apart the Banished, one grunt found Tomas boot to its skull, a jackal freebooter was killed with a knife to the throat from Vettel… And Dovan snapped the throat of a second jackal, tossing it off the platform for good measure.

Still? There was something about it all, something which had been too interested in it all now, a lot more had gone.

She fired once Chief lowered his hand and the thunder of her rifle was heard across the chamber, one of the elites spinning with a notable hole within their helm.

Nina quickly sighted another and fired, twin thunderbolts crackling as the elite collapsed off the platform, rolling into the dark as he went down the path.

If it was not amusing to her? She would have laughed, but she did not now.

Nina hummed before she looked downwards… The last of the elites, an enforcer growled and began to fire on the Spartans.

Nina hummed and then brought it to the forefront. Nina seemed to be thinking for a moment.

Then she put a bullet through the head of the next warrior, watching them crash into the depths.

The rest of the 10 or so Jackals and grunts retreated, knowing they could not hold this room before 5 Spartans.

That made the next room harder to hold before she looked to the side. The group hummed as they regrouped, all looking at each other.

"Ok… This is confusing me." Dovan said as he grabbed his BR. "We just carved through a small battalion of Banished. Why isn't there a small army down here on high alert? We have been fighting an army." Dovan stated before she looked downwards.

Dovan hummed and then thought of it all. Dovan thought of what was growing on his mind and then thought of it all. Nina thought of it all as she looked over towards him, Dovan hummed and then cracked his knuckles.

He had no idea what the Banished had done as of now, this problem was growing first and first at the time being as she looked to the side.

Dovan hummed and then thought of it all before she looked to the side, Dovan seemed to be thinking of it all. Nina seemed to pausing to herself, resting her rifle on her shoulder.

"Agreed. They have not reinforced security at the time being, where is it?" Nina asked Vettel.

"We deal with more security when they beef up security… For now? We hunt, follow Chief." Vettel stated before he thought of the next step.

Nina hummed and then thought of it all before she looked to the side. Dovan tapped on his wall before he looked to the side, checking his rifle before he loosened his stance.

"We doing something about this or are we fighting?" Dovan asked, gesturing towards the wall, too tired to be doing much now.

They moved towards the doorway, too curious as of the time being… Something bad was coming their way, an idea that had coming to their minds now.

Dovan and Chief both raised their rifles towards the door, the sounds of soldiers behind it all had made them interested in it all.

Dovan hummed, thinking of himself before he relaxed, his muscles relaxing as the two took up positions towards the door. Chief took point as Dovan and Vettel covered their six with Nina and Tomas looking over the rest of the hallway.

Dovan thought of it as he clicked his jaw together. Once more? He had been too interested in it all before now and the rest of the men in the next room as he looked over and into the next room.

There was a lot more Banished in the next room, at least 20 or more alone… But it was not their concern, however.

That was the Spartan propped up against the wall, a broken shell of a body that was dead by the way they looked at her.

Vettel, Tomas, Dovan, and Nina all knew who she was and Dovan curled his fist inwards, every bit of venom from the last few hours seeping back and into his mind.

Dovan looked over at them, curious about what the next move would have been.

"Spartan…." The Weapon started before Elfie spoke up.

"Spartan Vedrana Makovich, leader of fireteam Windfall, commander of UNSC forces 6 months ago, status? Deceased." Elfie pointed out as Tomas and Vettel cursed.

"Ved… They got Ved, I KNEW we should not have split up… Damn it." Vettel muttered as Dovan cursed.

"They're hunting us, Tom. It was not like we did not see this coming at all." Vettel heard before Dovan frowned.

"Good, then we kill them all… We were ordered to stop the Banished, we stop the damn Banished." Dovan stated, his voice a hoarse whisper.

Nina looked at him and could see the inklings of a desire to punch through the wall behind them and slaughter every Banished soldier in his way for the fact of what they did… While she understood it? Nina knew attempting to do so would get them all killed.

Still? Nina knew better than to attempt to fight… Fight on vengeance now.

"Dovan," Nina stated as Chief checked their corpse before he grabbed something from their body, putting a comforting hand on their shoulder.

Dovan hummed to himself and then looked over to the side, he sighed and moved away from the Spartan's body, angry at himself but he was all too interested in fighting them.

"She's the second Spartan we've come across." Nina heard as she tilted her head, curious at the second part.

"Who was the first?" Nina asked before Chief lowered his head.

"Your teammate, Spartan Stone." The Spartan started before Dovan finally turned back towards the door and strode through it.

Nina knew damn well he was going to kill plenty of Banished now… But she could not blame him, someone had killed her teammate, and she wanted to kill them as well.

Nina hummed and looked at the others as she and he slowly started to run down the stairs. Dovan already firing on the next group of Banished soldiers in front.

A pair of grunts fell dead to the ground, the rest of the pack scattering as Dovan walked after them, prepared for every single little moment.

She wanted to say something but nothing came from her mouth, she was tired at the time being.

Nina paused and then opened fire on a group of jackals down the hallway, something about this all had been harder and harder to think about, to bring down now, and for good reason.

If she had any complaints about his fighting? She did not voice them… Not now, not when it could be done.

Nina paused and then shot the jackals through the skull, splattering the platform as they collapsed. She tugged Dovan into cover as plasma pinged off their shields, yellow dancing around their bodies.

Vettel and Tomas followed, both raising their rifles to fire at the Banished. Plasma and bullets flew past each other, making the air look like a light show rather than a gunfight.

Dovan watched Chief slowly descend into the room, calmly dispatching a pair of jackals with bursts to their heads. He formed up with the others as they took cover, plasma, and spikes flying at them.

"You shoot all you want, we ain't going ANYWHERE." Dovan hissed; his lips pursed in a snarling growl under his helmet.

Nina brought up her sniper and fired twice, twin thunderclaps which shattered the air like lightning, there was another vanishing of dots from their radars.

Vettel said nothing, simply firing with slugs ejecting from his shotgun as he paused to think of it… The Spartan was just as ticked off, just not showing it as Chief brought up his ar.

Nina looked at Dovan as the soldier fired his BR, emptying bullet after bullet in their direction as shell casings flew from the rifle. He swapped halfway to the pulse carbine, shooting plasma back as the air sizzled with stinking ozone which their armor filtered out.

He was angry. Nina did not need Mouse or complex tech or training to see the fury in his firing stance, he wanted blood for what the Banished had done to the UNSC… To the Spartans.

She had seen that fury before from comrades, ripping the enemy to pieces with their bare hands… Even when they were dead and their fury was to blame.

Now was not the time to calm Dovan. Yet, she made a mental note to later as of now. Dovan hummed to himself as the rest of the Banished soldiers in the chamber joined the firefight.

"They are splintering…. Their momentum is slowing." Vettel heard as he dropped the drum of bullets and inserted a fresh one, firing his shotgun and scoring a headshot on a grunt mule who tried to flank them.

"We can't push up, we haven't cleared out enough," Nina stated as she felt a plasma bolt wince off her shoulder, causing her to wince as her shields absorbed the blow.

Chief, however? Did so, firing the hook on his arm at the mule as the grunt's weapon flew into his waiting hand… Then there was a roar of fire from the weapon.

A howling shriek came from the weapon as a missile was loosed towards them. It spun before flying straight into a brute warrior attempting to charge them…. Then detonated in a ball of fire as the explosive consumed the brute and a half dozen grunt conscripts.

They blinked before the group used the collapse in firepower to push upwards, Dovan and Tomas fired in their direction, suppressing the Banished as they could while moving upwards.

Chief lifted the launcher again, trying to draw a bead on a brute captain who was trying to charge… And then came the smell of burning fur and meat as they were also consumed by fire.

Chief tossed the empty launcher to the side and into the depths of the ring, curious as to how this plan had been going. it was so odd for him to have a team after months of operating alone.

Still? He endured that as the mission came first. He noticed them check weapons, begin to loot bodies for weapons and pick their way toward him.

All of it? All of it reminded him that he still had people to deal with for now at the time being. he had to deal with it all before it came crashing to the end of the day.

Nina looked over to Dovan who sighed as he paused to try and figure it out now.

Dovan hummed and then thought of it all before he relaxed to himself.

Something about it all had been enough to crack him in half. He had been too interested in it all now.

Nina seemed to be ready to fight, he had something else to deal with… She looked ready to scream and break… Something that she might have done if for nothing else… Something about it all had been too interesting.

They had a lot more to try and figure out… Dovan hummed to himself now at the time being.

Nina hummed to herself before she thought of it all now, they had been too interested in some sort of ideas now.

Nina and the others followed Chief into the next room… And it was clear there were FAR more soldiers at the end of the tunnel.

There were dozens on the other side of the room. Whoever commanded this group of soldiers? They had noticed the Spartans and called for reinforcements now.

"Ok… That is a lot of Banished…. How are we doing this?" Dovan asked before he looked downwards at the ground.

Nina hummed and scanned the room… As did she and them all. They had to think of it as more painful at the time being, she and he were too different people and something about it all was odder and odder at the time.

Nina hummed to herself before she looked to the side, something about this room was throwing her off.

"I'll take a sniper perch… Chief, you want to flank them while we take them from the other side?" Dovan stated before he looked to the side.

Dovan hummed, clicking his fingers against the ground before he thought of the next move… They had a lot more to try and figure out, something about it all had been harder at the time while she looked at him.

They had been too interested in each little moment before it came to try and deal with it all now at the time being…. Something about it all was amusing him at the time being.

She and he had been too interested as he paused to himself for now as he clicked his fingers.

Both were ready, both were fascinated by every single maneuver that could be made. If it was any clearer what was going on? Any at all? There was a LOT more to do.

"And what about reinforcements? I doubt we have not set off alarms… Look at their formations. Their waiting for us…. I count at least twice the number of the ones we just killed." Dovan stated before he hummed to himself.

Dovan slowly started to rest on the soles of his feet, clearly ready for a fight… Chief took a glance at the enemy…

There were far more soldiers than in either room… 50 or so and they appeared to have more slowly prepared for now. Still? They could make sure of them… He made note of the 3 towers along the far walls, all of which held Jackals with snipers.

"Kovan, take the high ground…. I will draw their fire, Dovan? Support Tomas." Chief ordered, pointing at each of them with interest. "Vettel? Take the other side… Go for the elites, I will handle the brutes." Dovan heard in a tone that made him all too curious.

Dovan hummed, thinking of each option, thinking of it all as if they were traveling through a small little countryside, not fighting an entire army.

He decided it was a better plan than he assumed they had to think of now and for good.

Author Notes

Phew. Another chapter is done! I want to point out next chapter will be delayed and will be 900-6500 words. The next chapter will be in 2-10 months and will show more of Nina and the others fighting the Banished. Until then? Lighting Wolf out!