It was a good thirty minutes past twelve o'clock, the sky had lost it's blue hue, and was now black with dotted white stars. Usually, the sky was clouded over, blocking the sight of the night sky, but tonight, it was clear. "You can rarely see the stars this well in Hollow Bastion, it's beautiful, isn't it?" The soft voice of Shizuka drifted, as her eyes counted stars. She was sitting atop a twenty story building, her legs dangling off the edge of the roof. The view from here was impressive, there weren't many tall buildings in Hollow Bastion, so she could see for miles around, not that she was looking at the city below at the moment, for it could hardly be called breathtaking. The city had become one giant ghetto, the streets were dirty with trash and grime, many buildings looked like they could fall over if you leaned on them wrong. Shizuka wished she could enjoy the view of the city from here, but all it did was upset her and make her think of a better time.

"We're on a mission right now, you can look at the stars later, they aren't going anywhere." A male's voice sounded in her head, brought to her via a small device in her left ear. Shizuka scrunched up her nose, begrudgingly looking back down at the city. "Do you see anything?" He asked. There was a large and wide building below her, a military storehouse. 

"Not right now, just the ordinary patrols. Two at the front gate, and another three walking around in the compound. Oh, and the tank. Hey Ace, how do you think they got that thing in there? It's too big to fit through the gate." She looked at the tank in question, it might have been more accurate to call it a moving fortress, she imagined it was what happened when a tank mated with an armory.

"Beats me, maybe it was air lifted in.... Hold on." Shizuka swung her legs as she waited, she was supposed to be getting a signal when things should start. She stood on the edge of the roof, and her eyes widened as the front gates of the compound blew apart in a fiery explosion. That was as good a signal as any. She grabbed hold of a pair of chimney pipes, and began to back up. Her arms took on the texture of rubber, and stretched. Once her arms were taut, she let go of the pipes, and rocketed forwards. Her hair blew wildly as she soared through the air, though in an instant her hair was frozen in place, as her entire body took on a metallic sheen. Balling up a fist, she reached out forwards as she fell down towards her target. She slammed into the side of the tank, which had just started up after the gate was destroyed. Shizuka exited cleanly out the other side of the tank, which was now broken beyond repair.

Meanwhile, Ace and a group of other members of the Unbound Hearts stormed the compound. Gunfire erupted as the remaining three guards opened fire. Stepping out in front, Ace drew his katana. With dexterous flicks of his wrist he deflected the machine gun fire, and easily cleaved through the guards as he closed the distance. "The garrison isn't too far from here, reinforcements will be here soon, let's hurry." Ace said, sheathing his blade. Shizuka nodded, and they both rushed into the storehouse. Their goals were simple, steal the Empire's cache of food and weapons, and leave them crippled in Hollow Bastion. They greatly out numbed them, so subterfuge was their only option to gain an upper hand.