Disclaimer: I do not own, or claim to own any part of the Halo franchise. All characters and events in this story, though, are my creation.

Continued from The lost Platoon: A Family's Beginnings

…

Once More Unto The Breach

The UNSC frigate Crimson Sun glided through empty space, heading away from the planet Reach and it's star, Epsilon Eridani, strait for the edge of the system. And fast too. The Captain had ordered the reactor pushed to 100% once they were out of Reach's gravity well and they were already spinning up the Shaw-Fujikawa drive in order to jump into slipspace. Crammed into the bowels of the ship was a company of marine infantry and one platoon of newly formed"Shock Infantry".

But that platoon already had a history together. Each and every one of it's twenty-three members were all survivors of a desperate holding action on the planet Brakenor. Their battalion, nearly three-hundred marines in total, had been caught with their pants down by a Covenant destroyer. They would have all been glassed along with the planet's surface if the only UNSC ship left in the system went down in order to get in a lucky shot that crippled the destroyer's engines. After that the marines spent hours scrambling through the capital city, doing their best to protect civilians and hold onto the spaceport. In the end the destroyer was repaired and less than thirty marines made it off planet. After making it back to Reach, and surviving a debriefing, the ones with the least psychological damage became a single shock infantry platoon, not that any of them knew what that entitled.

Lieutenant Eva Mixer, the platoon's leader, had called the platoon together in the ship's secondary mess hall since the other company was cramming into the actual ready room. Now she was walking down the hall to the mess, rereading her order on her tacpad for the hundredth time. There was a slight shift in the ship's gravity that caused her to brace her shoulder against the wall, the bulkheads shuddered and her stomach flip flopped, they had made the jump. She straightened herself and continued on, down the hall and through the door.

She looked around the room as she entered, all twenty-two of her marines were already there waiting for her. While no one announced her presence they all cut off their conversations and stood at attention, a few like her platoon sergeant gave her a little nod. She waved them down and smiled as they returned to their strange comfort zones. Most sat back down on the benches, some on the tables them selves, a few even laying on the floor while still others remained standing. Something deep inside her loved the fact that all of them were different, came from different backgrounds, and they stuck together like a family.

"We felt the jump Lieutenant, mind telling us where we're going in such a hurry?" The person who spoke was Gunnery Sergeant Eric Donnelly, her platoon sergeant. The red haired marine had inherited a platoon and had worked closely with Mixer throughout almost the entire length of the battle on Brakenor. He was a good leader, an great soldier, and an amazing NCO, not to mention becoming quite a good friend.

"Kepler 47, more specifically a moon orbiting the second planet called Gamma Iocale. I know that we were given a month to rest but something came up. About two weeks ago we received word that Gamma Iocale had been found and attacked by the Covenant."

"What's the situation look like?" Staff Sergeant Kostoff asked. Short and bald, Matt Kostoff was a veteran of more battles than anyone else in the room. He's kind in his own way but seemed rather cold if you didn't know him, and that hollow look in his eyes still got to Mixer.

"The first few Covenant ships were forced to retreat by the navy boys that were in system. When they came back a week later they came with a whole fleet, but by then enough of the nearby UNSC forces had been mustered to force the bastards to drop their infantry and concentrate on the navy. Now some of the population is still evacuating, everything is about as clear as mud. All I know is that we'll be in the system in twelve hours and once we're on the ground we're to report to Major General Atradies."She smiled "On the bright side, we wont be alone this time. We'll have almost a whole division with us, that's twenty thousand marines."

"Well that's good." Kostoff said "But do we know their strength? Or even where we will be landing?"

"Nothing's clear about force size or composition, we'll just have to find out when we get there. As for our drop zone, again nothing is clear. But we do know that a large portion of the area the fighting has been in is woodland."

"The woods? As in trees for snipers to hide in? The place people get lost in all the time? The place with all those horrible stinging insects?" A marine near the back of the group whined, generating a few laughs.

"Stow it marine." Mixer's last senior NCO, Ryan, chimed in. "we're going to war, not on vacation."

"That being said we have full access to the armory. I want all of you to start packing and prepping two pelicans from the main bay. And if you move fast you might just beat the other company there."

…

"Let the raiding begin."

Private First Class Ariel Vik was near the middle of the swarm of marines and she had to shoulder her way through the door to the armory. The room was big, easily able to hold all twenty three of them, but the door was just too damn small. But on the other side of the crowded doorway, and all the shoving and innocent grab ass it entailed, were row upon row of weapons gleaming in the light from the overheads. The middle was open with a single large tabletop with racks of guns on either side. There were more racks to the right and the back wall was covered with heavier ordinance such as SPNKr rockets, grenade launchers and the like. To the left Vik could see pieces of armor on the tables as well as several crates marked M52B.

She walked to one of the racks and ran her hand over the row of weapons. Almost everything the UNSC had to offer was under her fingertips. MA5C assault rifles, M7/caseless sub-machine guns, M90 shotguns, S2 sniper rifles and... Vik paused as her hand brushed over the case of a BR55 battle rifle. She had only used one once before, when she was alone in the middle of Brakenor's night. It was as easy to fire as an MA5 and she had fallen in love with it's stopping power and accuracy quickly. It felt amazing to have one in her hands again.

"If I remember correctly you're pretty good with that thing." The marine next to her remarked. Private First Class Roman Kray and his squad had been pinned down by a Covenant ambush. Nearly out of ammo and down to three men they had written themselves off as dead. But Vik had heard the firing and with a few well placed grenades and using up all of her battle rifle ammo she managed to save them. She had stuck with them ever since.

"I love this gun, It's my baby." She said cradling the rifle and smiling broadly. "Let me guess, you're going to to take-"

"A shotgun." They chorused, and he nodded. "That and an M7, great combo. And before you ask what I'm going to do if we are in a ranged fight, well that's why I'm sticking close to you."

She laughed a little at that. "I have to admit that you aren't a complete idiot. Are you sure you can carry that much?"

He stopped stuffing M7 magazines into his pack and looked at her, one eyebrow raised. "I'm going to ignore the gaping hole you left in my ego and point out that the M7 is as light as a feather and I can carry twice as much ammo than with an MA5."

"And the shotgun?"

"Takes up a portion of the weight the extra ammo would." He said grabbing a few more magazines.

"So I can't convince you to even consider something with longer range?" Vik asked with a sigh.

"Nope. But the SMG can be pretty accurate. And if worse comes to worse I'll pick up what I can. By the time I need to, there will be plenty of gun lying around."

Vik shook her head and started packing magazines for her battle rifle in silence. Another marine reached between them and pulled an S2 off the rack. The platoon's only trained sniper put the rifle to his shoulder and checked the sights. After inspecting the rest of the weapon he placed it on the table behind him and also started packing ammunition. Kray watched the sniper with a smile on his face.

"See, I'm not the only one sticking with what I know."

"The difference is," Nelms said while reaching for an M7 "I'm balancing my rile with this. If you stick purely to close quarters karma is going bite you in the ass."

"Hey, I've proven I can shoot just as good as anyone else." Kray pointed out, raising his voice.

"Sure you can." A marine across the table said, sarcasm thick in his voice.

"You were there, you all saw it!"

"All I know," Vik said, closing her pack and heading off to get her armor "is that neither of you won me any money."

…

The Crimson Sun came out of slipspace outside of the orbit of the the second planet and a few degrees above the plane of the ecliptic. The navigator had the ship turning towards the gas giant Gamma mere seconds after entering the system, and long before the sensor sweep of the area was done. Before they started the first leg of their journey reports had the Covenant fleet being held in the inner portion of they system, on the far side of the twin suns from Gamma. But that report was two days old and the alien ships could be anywhere in the system.

On the other hand there were UNSC ships holding station around Gamma that flagged the Sun's arrival and immediately opened a channel. So twelve minutes after completing their jump the bridge crew of the Crimson Sun received an up to date report on the action within the system. Both the Captain and the tactical officer were quickly reading through the report when the ship noticeably lurched from a change in momentum. Donnelley, who had been on his way to the main hangar after pulling himself into armor, was nearly knocked off his feet. After righting himself and reasonably sure that the ship wasn't breaking apart he ran the rest of the way to the hangar.

"All hands all hands," rang from the pac as the gunny ran "be advised, there are covenant on our approach vector to Gamma Iocale. All hands to battle stations, marines prepare to drop. Brace for maneuvers."

Donnelley still had one foot in the air when he heard that last part, and the jolt that followed happened only a fraction of a second later. He was thrown off of his one grounded foot and slammed into one of the bulkheads. After picking himself up he continued at a much more cautious pace, but the bridge crew didn't put the ship into any more serious maneuvers. He ducked through one more door and found himself on the main level of the frigate's main hangar bay. Maintenance techs and marines were running everywhere, each trying to get somewhere different. Working his way through the crowd he spotted Mixer near their appointed dropships.

"Good, Donnelley, you made it. We're still dropping in two pelicans. I'll be with first section on this bird," she said patting the hull of the ship beside her "and I want you and second on the other one."

"Got it ma'am, best of luck."

"You too Gunny."

He crossed the rather narrow walkway between the open tail sections of each of the craft and stepped onto the ramp of his own ride. He watched the swirling mass of faces and every time he saw one of his marines he would pluck them right out of the crowd and pull them up the ramp. Suddenly the the mass of UNSC personnel turned into a panicked mob of people of all ages, the metal walls became a red sky and the woman who's hand he was holding was clutching onto her child for dear life. His heart sunk when he remembered that most of these people wouldn't make it.

"Are you alright Gunny?" the woman asked. Her face turned from that of a scared mother into a marine's he recognized, and the child in her arms blurred and came back into focus as an assault rifle. He was holding onto Corporal Samantha Bradley's wrist, still aboard the Crimson Sun.

"Ya, I'm fine. You have everything packed?"

"Yes." She replied, the question still in her eyes.

"Good, get it stowed then get the second section on the bird, I still need to secure my gear."

He stayed on the ramp apparently watching the crowd, but in reality he was trying his best to calm himself down. Once the Corporal was back on the ramp he turned back to the troop bay, picked up his pack and strapped it down at the base of a nearby seat. Then he waited. It wasn't long until all eleven of the marines in second section were on board, and he radioed Mixer that they were ready.

"Hold tight." She told him over the radio "Word is the Sun will be moving fast over Iocale as we are dropped. Say ten minutes."

After relaying the news to the rest of the section there was noting to do but, well, hold tight. It was quiet in the ship and there were the occasional sounds from the hanger or techs conversing or someone dropping something, but overall it was quiet. And Donnelley was far too anxious to sit in silence. Looking around the troop bay he watched everyone one as they all prepared to hit the line once again. All of them were veterans, not just of Brakenor, and they all knew what conditions on the ground would be like. But still the eleven marines, most of which he hadn't know until a month ago, were all keeping their calm much better than he was. For some reason that made him smile, so he sat back concentrating on that positive feeling.

The ten minutes passed much more quickly than he had thought, the pilot brought up the ramp and sealed the compartment. A few seconds of nothing passed and then he felt the Pelican's engine's fire up and they were moving. The atmosphere had to have been evacuated from the hangar and the doors already open because as soon as the engines were online he could tell they were moving quickly, not slowing or stopping for the doors to open. There were a few minutes of slight acceleration and an overall smooth ride before the Pelican bucked and shook, they had entered that atmosphere.

Other than the expected turbulence their decent went smoothly, ending with a soft touchdown. Donnelley breathed a sigh of relief, but he still felt that the whole thing had been anticlimactic. He stood and had his pack slung on his shoulder and his MA5 ready before the ramp had even opened a crack. When the ramp did open the light was almost pure white and it caused the Gunny to shield his eyes. Once the ramp was down, and he could open his eyes, he could see that they had landed in a large clearing in a thickly grown forest. Stepping out of the bird he could see the rolling blue clouds of Gamma hanging overhead in a blue sky tinted violet.

Mixer and her section were already unloading and moving away from the landing area. Donnelley caught up to the Lieutenant and followed her past the Pelicans, past the field tents containing any number of things, and right into and open air tent with dozens of officers and staff under it. A Staff Sergeant noticed their approach and waved them over. "What do you need Lieutenant?"

"I was told to report to Major General Atradies."

The Staff Sergeant bit his lower lip and nodded. "Strange, I'll see who I can get to see you." He disappeared into the tent. A minute or so later a Colonel stepped up to the pair.

"Lieutenant Mixer I presume?"

"Yes sir."

"I am Colonel Van Dam. General Atradies was made aware by UNICOM that your platoon was being sent here and has assigned you to me."

"Ok Colonel, where do you want us and what are we up against?"

"That's just the thing Lieutenant, you're a platoon with no other attachments. All I was told was that you were 'Shock Infantry', I'm not exactly sure what to do with you." He picked up a tacpad from a table nearby and switched it over to a satellite view the surface of Iocale. Holding it so Mixer could see he zoomed in on a portion just outside a city that was heavily wooded. Running out from the city was a small road that crossed a river over what looked like a damn and disappeared off screen. "We're in this clearing here." He said pointing out a spot not too far from the city. "Most of my regiment is hold up in the city and it's outskirts. The company I have to spare I've been sending on patrols near the highway looking for a Covenant force somewhere between here and the river."

"So now we're going to scout it out?" Donnelley asked eying the map. The Colonel had said that the small road was a highway, that put things in perspective. There was a lot of ground to cover between the city and the river. "How do you know there are Covies out there?"

"They were pushing into the city from the highway and we pushed them back. And we know they didn't go north because there was an armored regiment not that far from that side of the road. And yes, you're my scouts, just call in if you see anything big. Also we had some ODSTs drop about six hours ago, a number of their pods were off course and landed in that area, so be cautious of friendlies."

"Any other information Colonel?" Mixer asked.

"Yes, this fleet is headed by brutes."

…

Roman Kray gently moved the branch out of his way with his left hand. He slowly moved under it and kept his hand in place until Lazlo pushed up on it as well. So far they had been practically crawling through the woods for nearly five hours and it was hot, humid and hot. That was something he had learned about binary star systems, the days lasted a strange amount of time and on moons the heat comes from both the stars and the energy reflected off of the gas giant they were orbiting. Add that to Iocale's high moisture content and you had heat and humidity on a scale no one could imagine, or at least not Kray anyway.

And heat makes you sweat. Brutes can already smell you a mile away, no need to help them out he thought. Mixer had passed down the word on who they were facing and a good number in the platoon were scared. And we have a right to be. I mean we're walking through the woods, a monkey's natural habitat, hunting these things down. Us hunting nine foot tall, meat eating monkeys that don't have enough sense to die when you shoot them. He shuddered as he remembered the vids he had seen of the aliens. Marines had put numerous rounds into them but instead of retreating or even firing back they charged right at the humans and tore them to shreds with their powerful paws.

The whole platoon was stretched out over a nearly one hundred meter wide line keeping an eye out for any movement, which there was a lot of in the woods. Multiple times they had been told to freeze because someone saw something that looked like animal movement, mostly it was someone seeing one of Iocale's large rodents scurrying about. No one had yet to see anything more dangerous than a mosquito, a species that seemed to somehow travel to and survive on every planet.

Kray slipped and had to hold onto a tree trunk to keep from falling. Looking down to see what was so slick it was actually something in the mud that had caught his attention. There was a depression on the mud, a hoof print the size of his fist, if not a little bigger. It wasn't the only one, the prints carried on put of sight in about the same direction the platoon was moving. Just ahead he saw that a second set of tracks hooked up with the first. Looking to his left he waved to get sergeant Ryan's attention.

"What do you have?" He whispered once he was closer.

"Tracks." Kray whispered back "I think they're jackal's."

"How fresh are they?"

"How the hell should I know? The corps didn't teach me how to read tracks."

"They had to have been made pretty recently, sarge." Lazlo whispered from beside Kray. "They left a deep impression, meaning the ground was pretty wet but not muddy. It still has a lot of give." The marine raised a booted foot to show that he had left a track only slightly shallower than the alien's.

Ryan bit his lower lip as he studied the ground. "I think you're right. You and Lazlo follow these, but stay in sight. If the tracks veer off away from our path tell me but do not follow them." He moved his head from side to side making sure they understood him. Then without another word he cut back across the platoon's line of advance to tell Mixer what they had found.

The two marines looked at each other for a second before Kray shrugged and turned his attention back to the words. They followed the jackals' trail, staying close to their original direction and keeping the same crawling pace as they had before. But now Kray was paying much more attention to where he stepped and tried his best not to make a single noise. Needless to say he sounded nothing like a trainwreck but every little crackle made his heart stop momentarily. After five minutes of near dead silence he couldn't help but open his mouth.

"Where did you learn that" He asked, keeping his voice so low he doubted that Lazlo had even heard him.

"My father and I would always go hunting in the Ural mountains." The other marine replied. Kray felt a little of the tension in his shoulders leave him when he heard the calm in his friend's voice. "Regardless of what the colonies might think not everyone on Earth lives like a king, we needed the food. Jackal's are just another animal in the woods."

"Just big flightless birds."

The tracks continued in roughly the same direction, occasionally jinking to the left or right to pass some of the thicker brush. The duo found themselves at the base of a steep rise, with the tracks going straight up the slope. After checking to make sure he could still see Lance Corporal Banigan off to their left Kray nodded to Lazlo and started up rise. It was steeper than it looked and the marines found themselves mostly pulling themselves up by their off-hands while pushing with their legs. The hard part wasn't the climb so much as keeping the noise to a minimum.

Once at the top they paused . Lazlo scanned the area at the top of the hill while Kray checked the slope and made sure he could still see a few members of the platoon through the trees. They pressed on and soon found out that the hill itself wasn't all that big and they could see the reverse slope through a few more branches. The hill overlooked a low area where the trees thinned to the point that only a few tall shrubs dotted an area roughly fifty meters in diameter. Lazlo tapped him on the shoulder and pointed to the ground under their feet. The jackal tracks were close together and ran right up to the tree where one veered to the right and the other just disappeared. Kray opened his mouth but Lazlo put a finger to his lips and pointed up with the other hand. Looking up he saw a jackal sitting on a branch the size of his arm two meters above his head.

Kray lifted his M7 for a shot but Lazlo pushed it down and pointed to Kray's combat knife. He cocked an eyebrow, wondering why he had to climb up the tree when he remembered that Lazlo's was in his pack, big oversight. Shaking his head and holding back a sigh he silently placed the M7 on the ground, unsheathed his knife and pulled himself up to the lowest branch. He move slowly and carefully, any sound or movement would tip off the jackal just out of arm's reach.

Luckily for him it was intent on watching the lowlands with it's needle rifle propped on top of a branch. The jackal was now within Kray's reach and he was about to grab it's harness and pull it down when it fired. A single needle left the rifle and disappeared int the lowland brush while the crack of the shot spurred Kray into action. He grabbed the neck of it's harness, pulled it off the branch shrieking, and sunk his knife all the way to the hilt into it's neck. As it gurgled and died in his arms there was the sound of a plasma pistol firing not to far away, and it was answered in kind by a burst of automatic fire.

"Contact report!" The lieutenant called over the radio.

"Vostok, we we're tracking down a pair of jackals. One's dead on the hill, no eyes on the second."

"You don't have to worry about the second one." The voice was unfamiliar to Kray, it definitely didn't belong to anyone in the platoon. Looking up from the still twitching alien he noticed a dark figure moving through the brush in the lowland, a figure in ODST armor. "But that bastard in the tree nearly hit me."

"And just who am I talking to?"

"Gunnery Sergeant Geoffrey Dees, Tenth Shock Troop Battalion."

…

Thank you for reading
The Platoon is back and already they run into an old friend. I can guarantee that there will be a lot of action coming up.

Note: Kepler 47 is a real curcumbinary start system recently discovered by the Kepler Space Telescope and it's Neptune sized gasgiant is indeed in the zone where liquid water could be found. The name of the planet as well as the moon itself are purely from my imagination.