Residential District 4, London, 2030, 25 of February.
Rain beat down onto the cold metal of the cafe's roof. Dan could hear it from inside as he sipped a warm cup of coffee and read off his data tablet. He was 26, dark black hair and brown eyes, Caucasian. He wore a grey hoody and black trousers and white trainers. He was reading a news story, which stated 3 terrorists had been killed in Moscow. There was a link to a video, which he opened after plugging in ear phones. Dan turned the tablet to a landscape position and turned up the volume. The video played.
It was clearly shot from a news camera, and the reporter was stood to the left of the shot. She had a microphone in one hand, gesturing at the large building 20 metres behind her, down a street of similar buildings.
"This is the building the terrorists have fortified. As you can see, there have been attempts to storm it already." The camera zoomed in, looking at the entrance where several ADVENT troops were sprawled, dead on the steps. Suddenly there was a burst of movement, and the camera zoomed back out and showed 6 or 7 ADVENT troops sprinting down the road, straight at the door. Gunfire erupted from the ground floor, filling the street with bullets. 2 of the soldiers went down 5 metres from the building, clutching their wounds and groaning. The remaining soldiers returned fire, and one of the terrorists tumbled out of a first story window as the magnetic guns blew the wall apart. A single shot rang out, and another trooper died from a sniper, getting a shot directly to his head. His helmet flew off, but his head was pixelated out. The troops returned fire, killing the sniper quickly. The third was dispatched when a sectoid shot him from an adjacent rooftop, blowing a hole through the woman's chest.
"As you can see, our brave troops sacrificing their lives to save innocent civilians from these... brutal monsters." The video ended, with the reporter looking on as civilians exited the building.
Dan unplugged his headphones, frowning slightly. Weird they'd blocked the soldiers head, when they'd shown all the other bodies. He drank the last of the coffee and stood up. The rain had stopped. A series of loud bangs erupted from outside, followed by shouts and booted feet. Dan looked out the window, trying to see anything through the failing light. He could see the plaza outside, but it was poorly lit and slightly foggy. He looked over at the cafe owner, who looked as concerned as he was. An ADVENT trooper stumbled through the door, shouting something in an unknown language, clutching his rifle in one hand. Three bullets pierced him, spraying yellow blood all over the cafe and causing the trooper to slump down and collapse. A woman burst in, pointing her assault rifle across the room, where there was only Dan and the owner.
"Freeze! Don't move or I'll shoot!" She demanded, and Dan immediately put his hands up. The owner had a different idea, and tried to run from the counter to the back. Another man burst in, and shot him in the back with his handgun, spraying blood all over the empty kitchen door.
Sirens could be heard in the distance, causing the man and woman to curse. She wore armour of some description, some of it looked very similar to ADVENT armour, as did the male. They both wore long hoods and bandanas over their faces. He held a sniper rifle, the deadly pistol holstered on his leg. She had her assault rifle which was aimed at Dan, along with what looked like a sword strapped to her back.
"We haven't got much time. What do we do with him?" The man asked, looking through the windows.
"We should-" she was cut short as a trooper burst in through the kitchen door entrance, and another through the window Dan was next to, with a third coming straight through the door. The woman instinctively sliced at the soldier at the front door, cutting his wrists off and rendering him immobile. The man shot the kitchen door trooper with his rifle, the shot glancing off its helmet which bounced off the door. The now exposed alien beat the male with his rifle, knocking him down, as the woman was subdued by the other. Dan watched, as the troopers readied to shoot the two terrorists. He could now see the troopers head, it was more alien than human... he was disgusted. The woman's rifle was at his feet, knocked there by the troopers clumsy attempt at an attack. They had their backs to him, and the man and woman were staring at the ground. He picked the rifle up and aimed for the exposed one, blowing its skull half open and showering the man with blood. The second trooper turned around, screaming in alien at him, but not quickly enough, receiving a burst in the chest, followed by a burst into the head.