The sound of an explosion pulled Aura from her game of X-COM abruptly, and she casually walked outside to see if she could see the source. What she saw, instead, was a host of cloth parachutes raining down, with soldiers attached to them. At first, she thought they might just be an Army unit doing some weird exercise or PR stunt, but on closer inspection saw the figures carrying AKs, and they wore different uniforms. Aura had been brought up by two soldiers, so she more than knew the difference between an M4 and an AK, and she also knew that no American soldier carried an AK, which left only one option. They were being attacked by foreign forces, and heaven only knew how friendly they'd be to civilians.

Her parents were nowhere near home at the moment, but in a way they'd already given her all she needed. They'd brought their rifles with them, and probably a good deal of the rest of the stuff in the house, but Aura knew there was still a pistol in her dad's desk. She ran up stairs and burst through the door, claiming the spare key hidden in an old boot in the corner and unlocked the desk drawer. Inside was a Colt 1911, loaded and safed, and a second clip. She grabbed the gun and clip then ran to her room, looking frantically for what she may need. She hurriedly grabbed a bag and stuffed a pair of running shorts and a camouflage shirt into it, then donned a thin, blue jacket that she shoved the pistol and clip into. She ran downstairs, opened her cabinet and shoved a few cans into it along with a pair of nearby water bottles before running outside and jumping into her truck.

As she started it, she could see the paratroopers nearing the ground, and she pulled out of her drive quickly. She knew her parents had actually been at a militia meeting in the general vicinity of the docks, so she headed there at top speed. Her truck barely dodged several cars, and in one case the car dodged her, before she arrived there just to find chaos. Here, the paratroopers had already touched down and were moving in to secure the city. She pulled the pistol into her hand and stopped her truck in some parking lot, getting out and beginning to move through alleys further down the strip. She already knew her parents were likely out of their workplace and looking for a weapon, so all she could do was wait. However, her hopes were shattered when she saw a group of civilians being gathered into an enemy APC. She could see her parents among them, but there were way too many for her to stop. It hurt her heart, but she hid and slowed her breathing, keeping it quiet and slow. After she heard the APC pull away, she carefully poked out to find herself next to a house.

With her parents, and therefore her objective, gone she had no idea what to do. She glanced at the bag on her back and reminded herself "[i]C'mon Aura, you can do this, you have the supplies and you have a gun. You can handle this, after all, what would mom or dad do in your situation? They'd hide in a building, take stock, probably try to get more stuff, then fight back, so thats what you should do.[i/]" With that done, she carefully opened the door to the house, pistol held out in front of her. However, she almost immediately saw a twenty-something guy watching the news. She held the pistol like her dad had showed her, keeping it ready but not aimed since this guy was clearly American, and asked "Hey...do you know whats going on?"