Eridanus II
Anastasia sat at the kitchen, coloring away with her crayons. She was intently focused on her picture, busying herself while her mother washed the dishes. Anastasia was a bit proud of her picture. She thought it looked a lot like the logo she was copying. Coloring was always the thing her mother fell back on when she needed Anastasia to be busied.
The picture was suddenly pulled out from under her crayon and Anastasia looked up to see her mother. Anastasia let out a cry of distress as her mother started to rip the picture apart. "What are you thinking, Anastasia. If your father saw this..." Her mother shook her head. "Drawing UNSC symbols," she muttered as she moved across the room and threw the scraps away.
Anastasia jumped out of her seat and ran to the trash and tried to get her picture back. Her mother grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the trash. "Stop that, the woman admonished. "You're going to a time out." Anastasia was pulled over to the corner. "Now stand here until I tell you otherwise." Anastasia's shoulders slumped and she turned to face the corner and wait until her mother told her she didn't have to.
Anastasia wasn't sure how long she'd been standing in the corner when the front door opened. She didn't have to look to know that it was her father coming home. The steps were heavier and she could hear his boots. Anastasia tensed and waited to find out if he would notice her. "What did you do?" Her father's voice was deep and angry.
Anastasia didn't look away from the wall. "I drew a bird," she answered honestly. "Mom got upset and I was put in time out."
Anastasia could hear her father leave the room. There was shouting from the other room and Anastasia hoped her father wouldn't get mad at her mother. She couldn't hear anything from her which hopefully wasn't a bad sign. She could hear her father ranting about the UNSC and she knew she'd be standing in the corner for a while. Her father would rant for a long time about the UNSC. She didn't really understand much about it but he apparently cared a lot about it. He would always talk about her brother, who she'd never met. He always said the UNSC had done something to him and that was why he died. She didn't know what to think, just went along to avoid his anger.
A sound grew in the distance and Anastasia turned away from the wall, as though able to turn toward the source. It seemed to come from everywhere around her and bounced off the wall. Anastasia could hear her father talking but it was too muffled for her to understand. The notice grew louder and Anastasia felt a fear, though she didn't know why. Her parents moved into the kitchen and her father moved toward a window.
"I should have known they would do something like this. They probably are planning some sort of attack on us or putting us under military rule. I have to find Tranor. We need to gather and prepare to defend ourselves." Her father moved to the back door and exited the house.
"Stay there, Ana. I'm going to see if Mrs. Smith needs help." Her mother moved out of the house as well to go check on their elderly neighbor. The old woman lived alone and Anastasia's mother often went to go check on her after bad weather or events like it since Mrs. Smith didn't have anyone else. Anastasia didn't mind, it meant she was alone, and could find out what was going on.
Anastasia tried to look out the kitchen window but she wasn't tall enough to see anything. She decided to chance being caught and moved into the living room. She looked out the front window in amazement. In the sky hung great battle ships. They moved a bit out of orbit, facing away from the planet. She didn't understand why her father thought they were attacking. A trio of Pelicans rumbled over her house and she felt it shake the ground under her. He transports sped across the sky toward the main city not far away. Anastasia watched them, fascinated. She'd never seen anything like it and it was impressive to her.
Her wonder was suddenly replaced with terror as a bright light hit the side of one of the frigates in the sky and there were momentary bursts of fire before the vacuum of space shifted it out. A ship so in-human appeared in the sky, making a close pass to the planet. It was purple and sleek, looking so natural but unnatural at the same time, Anastasia could see little dots falling down from the larger ship. They covered the sky like dust particle illuminated by a beam of sunlight. The dots dropped town toward the planet and some were growing larger. There was an odd sound that Anastasia had never heard before and a purple craft, about the same size as a Pelican moved down her street.
The odd craft stopped in the center of the street a few houses down and the sides of it opened up. The figures that dropped out were not human, that was for sure. Some of them were bulky, with large hands and a large alike on their backs while the others were thin and looked like some kind of bird. Anastasia panicked, not sure what to do. She ran back into the kitchen and back to her corner. Her mother would return and she'd know what to do.
Anastasia fought to ignore the primal desire to run away, get away from the strange things she'd seen in the street. The front door opened and Anastasia waited for her mother to come into the room. She didn't want to look disobedient. Instead she heard a deep voice way something in a language she'd never heard. Anastasia knew that something was wrong. She looked around the room and tried to figure out what she should do. She finally turned to the cabinets and moved into one of them. She shut the cabinet door behind her and huddled up as best she could.
There were heavy steps on the tile floor of the kitchen. Anastasia cracked the door open and peeked out. She could see a long muscular leg that seemed to have two knees. There was sleek blue armor on the creature's leg and two large toes. Anastasia looked up the invader's body. It was tall, taller than any human Anastasia had ever seen. Its hand had four fingers and gripped a large blue gun. The creature spoke, its voice deep and its words unintelligible. What caught Anastasia's eyes was the creature's mouth which was split into four parts. There was something creepy about the way the parts of the thing's mouth moved. It gestured and the smaller creatures entered the room. They weren't exactly short, all of the creatures were much taller than Anastasia.
The larger creature moved on but two of the medium sized creature, the one that looked like a bird, stayed in the room. Anastasia could see their backs facing her. They seemed to be talking in high pitched voices and seemed to be distracted. The instinct to get out of the room was so great Anastasia couldn't deny it any longer. She opened the cabinet door slowly and when it was open Anastasia made a run for it. She made it across the room and could hear the screeching shouts of the creatures. She'd made it into the living room before claws grabbed her shoulder and teeth suddenly sank into her shoulder.
The events that followed were a blur to Anastasia. She knew the creature was trying to eat her but the creature's head exploded into blood. Things blurred and someone came to her aid. She didn't remember much about the person, only the bird that she focused on. The eagle that hovered over her, the same one she'd drawn earlier, painted onto the soldier's chest plate.
The next thing she remembered the soldier was holding her. She could feel that they were leaving and she was sitting in the lap of the soldier. She reached out and her hand touched the eagle on the soldier's armor. The marines hand moved over hers gently. "It's going to be fine, kid."
Anastasia looked up and was surprised by the ODST helmet. She looked around them and could see at least five ODST in the pelican. There were a few other survivors and Anastasia could see her mother sitting across from her. The woman was staring at the ground, blind to all things around her. Anastasia turned back to the image of the eagle and shifted in the soldier's arms so her face was against the image.
"You like the eagle?" The ODST asked. "Well the eagle's here to protect you. Wrap its ads around you and keep you safe," he assured her.
"And you're in luck," another ODST spoke up. "We're warmer than other eagles. The pods we come down in warm us up nicely." She felt the second soldier place a hand on her knee soothingly.
The next thing she remembered she was in an infirmary. Her shoulder was bandaged and things were busy around her. She didn't know where her family was, only that they weren't there. She sat in her bed, alone for a long time. Medics came in, checked stats, and then left. The first person to talk to her was the ODST that had saved her.
"So how are you doing, kid?" The soldier asked. Anastasia just shrugged a bit. She didn't really know how she was doing. She didn't know where her family was, her home had been attacked, and she had been hurt. "Well I'm glad to see you made it. I was worried." The man hesitated for a moment and then pulled out a small cloth. "You like the eagle, right?" Anastasia nodded in response. "Well take this. Keep it and remember that the UNSC is protecting you, keeping you safe."
Anastasia took the cloth and looked down at the embroidered UNSC eagle. She ran her fingers over it and looked to the soldier. "Thank you."
The ODST smiled at her. "No problem kid." He reached over and ruffled her hair a bit. "Stay strong." Anastasia nodded again and the ODST left her to get some rest. She curled up on her side and clutched the cloth to her chest as she went to sleep.
It would be some time until her family would visit her. Her father only seemed more upset than ever, muttering about it all being the UNSC trying to turn his daughter against him. Her mother was silent, still distant and not really looking at Anastasia. Their visit wasn't long and she slept for a long time until she was fully recovered at which point she went into cryo with the others for the trip to Reach.
Anastasia stared down at the cloth in her hand. Her finger moved over the embroidered image. "What's that?" Anastasia looked back at Evelyn when she spoke.
Anastasia frowned at the woman and clutched the cloth in her hand. "It's nothing, just an old keepsake. Nothing important."
"Well that's an obvious lie," Evelyn said as she moved over to her own bed. "But I won't pry."
"Good, I'd hate to have to hit you for being nosy." Anastasia lay down on her bed and held the cloth to her chest as she settled in to sleep.
