The meeting was over, and as of now the mission had begun. Everyone had left to get in position near the factory, however, while they were on their way Ace had exited the abandoned train tunnels and made his way to an old house. The building was the picture of the perfect suburban domicile, with a white picket fence, trimmed front yard, and vibrant green paint job. Ace walked along a smooth stone path up to the front door, and rapped it with his knuckles. The peep hole on the door lit up with a red glow, and a horizontal beam of light scanned him up and down like a barcode on a carton of milk. The door then opened on it's own, and once he stepped through, closed on it's own. The inside of the house was a far cry from the image presented by the outside. At first glance, one may believe they had walked right into the command center of a space program. Monitors and computers lined the entire far wall, and what appeared to be severs of some kind lined another. The floor was carpeted with wires, leaving one to wonder how anyone could manage walking through it without falling over constantly. 

Sitting in a swiveling chair in the back of the room was a teenage girl, she had long green hair and pale skin. "Yo, DJ Acesto, what's up?" The girl greeted Ace with a grin the Cheshire Cat would cringe at. She was busily moving her fingers across a device on her arm, typing upon a holographic keyboard. Regardless of the fact she was typing on electronic images, the clicking of a physical keyboard could be heard mingling with the hum of the machinery. She had likely added the sound herself, if only because she enjoyed the sound.

"Chizuma..." Ace said, looking around the room. "I know I told you to try and make your home inconspicuous, but... you do realize that compared to how run down the other houses are it sticks out like a sore thumb?" He said, kicking a wire off the top of his shoe. Chizuma chuckled, as if he had just said a joke.

"As far as anyone knows this house is owned by a wealthy gummi block salesman, and with the connected proxy account making transactions across the worlds to fit that farce, I'm effectively incognito." She said, typing away. She rolled her chair over to a computer, somehow not falling over the minefield of wires on the ground. "You've come to see if the software is ready, right?" She hit a key on the computer's keyboard, and endless lines of coding filled the screen. "I heard about how Shizuka was attacked by heartless in broad daylight, which I found about as weird as you did. They usually only come out at night,and even then the Empire has them on leash. So Shizuka must have been found by a scouting Heartless of some kind..." Chizuma scratched her head, thinking. "That or she ran into a small tear in space that connected the realm of light to the realm of darkness, but the chances of that are less than 0.000001 percent." 

"I'm pretty sure it's the former, that's why I asked you to find a way to prevent it from happening again." Ace said. "Have you?"
Chizuma's eyes seemed to gleam, and she grinned a toothy grin. 

"Heh, just who the hell do you think I am? Of course I have." She adjusted an imaginary pair of glasses in a condescending manner, and hit the enter key on the computer. "I just upgraded every member of the Unbound Heart's communication badge. From now on, as long as they wear one, Heartless will not be able to find them."

Ace looked down at his badge, then back to Chizuma with a quizzical expression. "Umm, how?" He asked, prompting Chizuma to snicker like a Saturday morning cartoon villain. 

"Well you see, contrary to what many people believe, the Heart isn't simply some magical object, it is grounded in scientific fact just like everything else. A little while ago I found out that the Heartless sense powerful Hearts via a certain wave the heart emits. It was only a matter of finding this wavelength, and creating my own wave signature to-"

"Nevermind, I get the gist of it, thanks, Chizuma." Ace said, cutting her off before she started rambling on for who knows how long. "I'll see you after the mission, take care."

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Under the cover of night, Shizuka and Rika were nearly invisible to the naked eye. The district that housed the Empire's factory was unpopulated, and unlit. The assault team was just behind them, hidden behind large bushes. In front of them, the loading bay of the factory was in view. Just as they suspected, it was unguarded, leaving the entrance wide open. "I'll be honest." Shizuka said to her partner Rika in a hushed tone. "I'm a little nervous, even if we can't be sensed by the Heartless there's no telling what's waiting for us inside there." She said. Ace had informed them of the upgrade Chizuma had applied to their badges, it was pivotal in allowing them to get in and out with as little trouble as possible. Shizuka took a deep breath. "But I'm ready, we've all been waiting for the moment we could finally strike back in a meaningful way. I won't slow you down, I promise. You lead and I'll follow."

It didn't take long for Ace to arrive, once he did they quickly made their way to the loading bay. Ace tried to open the garage, but it was locked. A quick swing of his blade cut the lock, and allowed him to pull it up. After everyone ducked inside, he followed suit and lowered it back down. It was eerily quiet inside the factory, the only sound that could be heard was steam running through pipes, and the distant grinding of gears.The air was stagnant, and smelled as damp as a rain forest. It was also dark, as if there was no need for lights to be on here. "Feels like an over sized metal coffin." Ace mumbled, stepping forward to the edge of a corner. "Rika, Shizuka, go on ahead, we'll cover your way back." Shizuka nodded, and waited to follow after Rika. "Lin, Cori, stick with me. We need to clear this floor first, if we see anyone or anything, we take it out, got it?" 

Ace moved down the hall, making sure to make as little noise as possible. He reached another corner, and peeked around it. "Cerden?..." He saw the middle aged man with an unfamiliar woman, he turned back to Lin and Cori. "I don't know how, but that ex Empire soldier we met made it inside, and he's with some woman. We should avoid them, without one of our badges it's only a matter of time before Heartless find them, and we don't want to be there when that happens."

[center]_____[/center]

"Just lost your cool, huh?" Ryoko rolled her eyes, and leaned down to Gavin's level. She grabbed the hair on his head, and looked him in the eyes. "You're here for a reason, someone like you doesn't just walk around with nothing to do. Now I'm only going to ask this once, why are you here in Hollow Bastion?" Ryoko's eyes looked hungry, she almost wanted Gavin to keep stringing her along, if only so she had an excuse to beat him within an inch of his life. Before Gavin could answer, there was a knock at the door to the room. Ryoko banged Gavin's head against the wall, and stood up. "Who in the hell..." The door opened, and a man in a black body suit walked in. He was carrying a lifeless man in his right hand.

"We found him just outside the factory, He appears to be dead, but-"

"So you dragged garbage down here? For crying out loud, you should be patrolling the factory, not bringing in random stiffs." Ryoko grabbed the still man by the cuff. His face was a mess, he looked as if he had just lost a fight against a truck. "...He isn't dead, he's just been knocked out. Get out, I'll figure out what to do with him." The suited man left the room, and Ryoko tossed the unconscious man to the ground. "Okay... nap times over." Biting the tip of her index finger, she let a drop of blood fall on his bare arm, it quickly drilled into him and entered his blood stream. "The pain should be enough to wake you up... any moment now..."