*OOOUUUUIIIWWIIIOOOUUUUUIII*

The base's alarm siren blasted throughout the grounds as the emergency generators shut on. There was a red flashing light that activates whenever the alarm is triggered.

Zero and Five looked across at each other as the lights had turned back on and reprieved them of the brief darkness.

"What the hell is going on?!" Five shouted.

"I don't know!" Zero said as he quickly stood up. "Let's head out to the common room!" They had to yell over the siren as it blasted all around them.

They ran out of the steam room and threw on their clothes in record time.

They were cutting through the gym when the loudspeaker finally sounded over the siren: "ALPHA BASE IS NOW ON FULL LOCK DOWN. ALL PERSONNEL ARE TO REPORT TO YOUR COMMANDING OFFICER FOR FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS. I REPEAT, ALPHA BASE IS NOW ON FULL LOCK DOWN."

"Lock down??" Zero said as they frantically burst through the gym doors and into the common area.

The rest of the squad minus their Captain were already present.

"Does anyone know what happened?!" Three yelled out over all the noise.

"No!" Two replied. "But the elevators are down so we can't leave this floor yet! Where's One?!"

The rest of them simply shocked their heads as they had all been in the middle of something prior to the brief power outage followed by the jarring siren alarm.

*BAM*

The door to the stairs slammed open as Haji burst through while dragging along One by his hand. Haji had secretly obtained a new key-card without the Major General knowing, so he had been able to access the stairs when the power went off.

"Captain!" Zero yelled out as the two approached the group. One appeared to be in some sort of pain.

One sat down on one of the couches and held his hands around his ears.

"Listen, guys!" One shouted out. "There's been an incident on one of the lower sub-levels! We're needed!"

Two knelt down next to One. "Captain, are you okay?!"

"Y-yes! I'm just extra sensitive to loud sounds! Sgt. Sadiki will brief you guys!"

They all turned to Haji who stood as serious as ever.

"We're currently working on getting the alarm shut off! In the meantime, we have orders to get down to sub-level 4! The matter is of the utmost urgency and I'm gonna need everyone at the ready!"

Sub-level 4? Zero thought to himself. We only have access up to sub-level 3! Anything below that is only privy to the highest of authorities. What happened down there?..

Three looked to One who barely seemed to be able to keep it together. "Sgt. Sadiki, should one of us stay behind with One?! He can't continue on in this state!"

Haji looked at One and surveyed his condition. Since One had heightened senses, the blaring of the siren was greatly affecting him. Not to mention the vibrations of the sound was interfering with his special sight. The vibrations were bouncing off of everything which was making it near impossible to accurately see anything.

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"Damn it. Yes!...Two, stay here with One! Go ahead and get outfitted with your gear while you watch him! Once the siren is off, I'll radio with further orders!" He looked to the rest. "Zero, Three, Four, and Five - you're on me! Let's move!"

Everyone except One and Two threw on their outfits and followed Haji into the stairwell. Three, Four, and Five seemed surprised at being in the stairwell as they've never been allowed in. Zero tried to feign the same intrigue as if this was his first time as well.

They raced down the stairs deeper into the bowels of Alpha Base.

Zero saw the sign next to a door they passed that read 'Sub-level 3'. This floor was mainly comprised of holding cells for special criminals - this was where Zero did his time in solitary.

*BOOM*

The walls around them shook as what could only be described as an explosion sounded off in the distance. The lights flickered briefly but remained on. Haji looked worried as he continued to push forward.

Finally, they reached a door that read 'Sub-level 4' next to it. And like clockwork, the siren finally turned off while the flashing red lights remained on.

"I can hear myself think again." Five stated as the silence that set in almost felt weird now.

Haji turned to the rest of them while they stood before the exit door to sub-level 4.

"I need all of you to listen to what I'm about to say." He said in a low tone. "Sub-level 4 is a place that none of you should ever set foot in. Even I have to get forward approval in order to come down here. But, circumstances call for a one time overlook of the rules."

"Sir, what exactly is on this floor?"

Haji seemed hesitant to answer the question. "...Well, it's a laboratory."

"A lab? Why is it on a sub-level and not above ground?" Three asked.

"All you guys need to know is that they run trails down here to further our knowledge of Reapers and help us figure out how best to defeat them. Meaning there, at some times, could be live samples contained on this floor."

"You mean they keep Reapers here IN the base? Sir." Zero spoke up as he expressed the shock they all felt.

"Yes, but we don't have any time for this! There's been an accident and some of them have broken free. We have to stop them before they escape from the base. Is this understood?!" Haji knew he couldn't be too open with all that happens down there.

They all nodded in agreement.

This is nuts! Zero thought. They've just been keeping Reapers only 2 floors below where we sleep? Have they lost their minds?!

"Good. Once we go in we'll have to act fast or things will turn ugly. Four, you stand guard in front of the door. Anything tries to get past you, you are to act with full aggression. Five, go check with any of the scientists on the floor to ensure whoever hasn't escaped out of their cell stays there. Once that's done come join back up with the rest of us. Zero and Three, you're with me."

"Sir!" They all said in unison.

"Put your ear pieces in and let's get to work." Haji clicked his ear piece on as did the rest. He then nodded his head and scanned his key-card by the door. It went from red to green, then swung open.

"Someone help me!!"

A fallen scientist screamed out in help as a Reaper stomped down with its mighty foot and completely crushed their skull like a ripe grape.

"Holy hell.." Three whispered softly.

The entire floor was in disarray. There was lab equipment turned over or completely broken in pieces. There were various smoke trails wafting against the ceiling while small fires burned throughout the floor. The overhead lights were flickering every few seconds, but they were able to see well enough that there were Reapers roaming around.

The worst part was the bodies strewn throughout. The floor ran red with blood as some of the bodies were missing limbs or an entire half altogether. The only people who worked on this floor were scientists - people who had no business on a battlefield.

Five put his hands over his mouth as his eyes became glossed over. "This…this is too much. How could something like this have happened?!"

Four meanwhile turned his head to look away from the carnage. Reaper death was something they were used to. But seeing this many humans torn apart in a cesspool of their own blood and bile was almost too hard for them to look upon.

The only two that were completely okay in this hellish battlefield were Haji and Zero.

The Reaper who had crushed the scientist right in front of them turned to face them. For most intended purposes it looked like a normal low level Reaper. However, it was covered in puncture holes and still had a mess of wires wrapped around it. There were tiny little trails of smoke coming out from the punctures.

"Grrrrrrr…."

"Let's be quick with this one and go deal with the others."

Zero stared down the Reaper ready for it to make a move. But…something felt weird to him.

Wait a minute, Zero thought.

Have I seen this Reaper somewhere before?