Mission: Reconnaissance

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Hueco scanned the area, standing a top a large building, overlooking the Virus Stronghold. To think such a large place was comparatively small to some of the other servers within Lifeline... And to think that its sole purpose was to churn out more and more of the Virus kind. His drones had gotten to mapping out the building he was one, a odd, hollow skyscraper like structure, surprisingly void of Viruses.

A strange cold place, nothing like the warm environment of the library he spent decades of his life in. Cataloging, archiving, and searching information.

"Hive, analysis on the current area." Hueco said, speaking to his drone
Area has a number of Spacefiller Type Viruses at ground level. Suggested response: Consolidate with your allies at Point A, marked on your map.

Hueco nodded, opening up the map of the area, at least what they had so far. A small building not far from where he was. He only hoped that the rest of his allies were there before him, he didn't want to be out numbered by too much. With that, he began to head off, leaping from the tower to the ground below, making his way towards the recon point.

@Patches
VAC had made sure he was the first one to the meeting location, and was camped out in a corner with his holographic display up. The small group of Spacefillers that had been milling about in the building had been easy enough to hack, and were now all laying on the ground, motionless. He hadn't killed them, per se, he had just revoked their permission to move, see, hear, speak or communicate in any way. He looks over the portfolios of the other Aegis members assigned to this mission, the data Aegis has on this virus stronghold, and the details he was able to gleam from a Spacefiller type he had stealthily PINGed on his way here, in addition to those he had taken care of in the building.

While looking over his data, he chews on a piece of bubblegum that he had created, blowing bubbles with it occasionally. "Oh sweet, we got a Coder in the group. And that Hive of his looks quite useful, too." VAC muses, scrolling through Hueco's Aegis profile. "Gonna have to ask him if he'll let me play with it a bit."

He glances up at the entrance to the building, the invisible barrier restricting access to viruses still in the doorway, then glances at a clock in the bottom-right of his holo-screen. "Well, the others should be arriving soon, unless they get held up." V mutters to himself, bringing the virus interface back up to check on the Spacefiller he had PINGed, waiting for the others to arrive.

Another day on the job. Nazir was assigned to a new group this time. He wasn't sure who they were but he supposed he really shouldn't be too worried about them. As he traveled to the meeting area, he first climbed up to one of the buildings to scope out the stronghold. He knelt down and took out his sniper rifle. He peeked through the scope and saw that the Viruses around the area - which he saw were some Spacefillers - were motionless. If they were dead, he wouldn't have been able to see them anymore. He'll just have to end their pitiful... "lives" later on.

Nazir rubbed the back of his head as he backed away from the scope. Whatever was responsible was that was definitely part of the Aegis. He heard that there was a Hacker in the group. He placed the rifle back on its place and then departed the rooftop of the building. As he walked along the path, he took out the files of his fellow Aegis team mates. Ah, here we go. VAC, that was the Hacker in their team. He assumed that it was because of him that the Viruses were in such a state. He should probably ask more about that when they get some time together. There was also a Coder with them. Hueco huh? Well that was useful. Also a Protector, Boreas. A complete package huh? He then arrived at the meeting place. He checked the time and the map - yup, this was the right one.

He saw another person there. Oh, this was... VAC, he assumed? "Heya man. I'm Nazir." He figured introducing himself would be the best course of action for now even though he would have already seen him at some point if they ever reviewed the files. He then leaned on a wall and placed his hands in his pockets. "I'm guessing the others are already on the way?" He asked while looking around to see if anyone else just came after him.

@Yomojo

Determined to arrive in time, Boreas trudged forward through the server. "Damn office-junkies. Can't be bothered to come out here themselves, but they won't send a vehicle either. I know I rushed in a bit often, but they could've at least let me keep some form of transport." He kept muttering to himself for a little while, before eventually deciding he'd just have to show off here and request a new vehicle afterwards. In the meantime, lost in though as he was, he had wandered into the wrong part of town--as he quickly found out when he checked his map.

"You have got to be kidding me..." Putting in no effort to hide his frustration, Boreas simply turned on his heel and continued marching. It seemed however, that a lone virus was now in his way, nothing major, but it could still be a pain if left unchecked. As the virus glitched over to him, Boreas swung Eternal Punishment a few times, creating a whirling pair of barbed-wire death-whips. Of course, being a mere spacefiller virus, it was quickly torn to pieces.

"Ugh, pests. I should focus... Now where should I go again?" He opened his holoscreen and checked the map, finding out he was surprisingly close. He slid aside the screen and started moving again. Normally he'd have checked the screen and followed it, but he didn't need to as his new team came in sight after little more than a minute of walking.

Upon his arrival, he slid the screen back in front of him and tapped a few controls, causing the map to change into a party overview. He looked up and saw that two of the other team members were at the meeting point already. Glancing down, he saw their names and Aegis roles. It was then, that he looked up and introduced himself. "Boreas." ... Not much of an introduction, but he'd become a tad infamous in the Aegis ranks after rushing out and dodging actual disciplinary action for the so-manieth time. Regardless, he figured a proper introduction couldn't hurt, so after the brief pause in which he'd decided this, he continued. "My role is protector. If you're frail, or function better at longer ranges, stick behind me."

While the others were trying their best to make it to the rendezvous point on time, the final member was finding herself a bit behind schedule. Oleander, a young-looking girl, meandered through the obelisks and towers of the Virus Force, getting lost multiple times but always quickly finding herself back on course. Finally arriving at the building. However, she stopped a few dozen yards away, unsure of herself - and her squadmates.

"Gosh, what's takin' ya so long? Your team mates are waitin' on ya." She spoke with a low, goofy voice as she held a crude, green sock puppet up next to her head, using it to speak to herself. "Remember last time ya were scared? Nothin' good came outta that! Quit bein' so sh- Mmph!"

Sighing, Oleander used her free hand to grab hold of her sock-puppet, as if forcing it to stay quiet. Shaking her head, she squeezed her eyes closed and took a deep breath. She was shy and nervous, but decided to force herself. Taking a step forward, she finally approached the building, entering shyly.

"H... Hello."

Hueco, standing on the roof of a building across from the meeting zone, flipped through the profiles of the AIs on his holoscreen, taking note of their class and a bit on their bio.

@Yomojo@hefewy
A pair of hackers. Personally their abilities scared him, like a more dangerous version of his own powers. But he had to get along with them in order to achieve victory.
@Ryougu
A protector? He'd be useful for him. Hueco would have to hide behind his shield if he wanted to stay alive.
@Polaris North
Lastly an attacker. Their main source of damage. Hueco didn't know how people did it. Going out on the front line in the middle of danger.

Leaping down, Hueco made his way to the group. Hey hey! Hueco waved to them, trying to make good first impressions, being the only Coder in the group. Seems I'm... A bit late to the party. Hueco said, looking at the viruses on the ground. They usually disappeared when they died didn't they? Looked like one of the Hacker's must've been keeping them dormant. Several of Hueco's pseudo-drones began to scan the dormant viruses, the main one pulling up a analysis on them.



Is there more coming? You all got the mission brief, right? Hueco said, pulling up his map. From the looks of it, they were the only non-Virus AIs in the area. Where as the squad leader? Did they not need one on this simple recon mission. I've mapped out a lot of the eastern area, my Hive specializes in this sort of thing, keeping my hands free, but the center is a bit more difficult... Too many Viruses.

@Patches @hefewy @Ryougu @Polaris North
"Let's see here, we got the reckless do-gooder," he motions to Azir, "the infamous daredevil turned straight-man, he directs at Boreas, "the creepy young child," referring to Oleander, "and finally, the timid, bookish coder" he finishes, looking to Hueco. "Not to mention the over-eager, under-experienced, self-centered hacker." he adds, standing up and bowing to the rest of the party. "Yup, that's everyone alright. Guess Aegis wanted to get rid of a bunch of misfits by throwing them at a low-danger problem. No way that'll go wrong." VAC continues, half-jokingly.

"But, onto serious business. Don't worry about the Spacefillers here, they can't really do anything at this point. If anyone sees a reason to keep them around, speak up. Otherwise, feel free to blast 'em. I'm also going to ask, out of courtesy, if anyone objects to a little PINGing." he says as he pulls out his small sidearm with a twirling flourish. "Completely harmless, it'll just add a small little data packet to each of you that will make my job a lot easier, and your lives most likely a lot safer. A special request to you, Hueco." he looks to the coder as he adresses him "Your permission to give me some limited access to your hive? Just so I can access its sensory data, and maybe allow it to deliver PINGs for me as well. I promise all this stuff is very easily removed after the mission is over."

Not the best first impression, but VAC hasn't really gotten the hang of those yet. He wondered if this was some sort of test from Aegis, to see if any of the lessons they'd taught him in humility and self-restraint had sunken in. It was going to be an interesting mission at least, that he could count on.

He gave a wave when Boreas, Hueco, and Oleander came up. Boreas was familiar to him. The guy was attacker before, one of the more aggressive type of the class. It was some big news among his peers when Boreas switched to becoming a Protector, but Nazir lost track of Boreas's progress after that. Aside from him, everyone else was a mystery aside from their Aegis profiles. Though Oleander was definitely an interesting one, with that puppet and everything, so he was sure this wouldn't be a terribly boring group. He looked at Hueco and nodded. "Read and memorized."

He couldn't help but let out a chuckle at VAC's description of him. "Can't deny that. But if they're thinking this would put us down... well..." He said with a shrug. Considering the skill he has seen this Hacker do, Boreas's reputation and the relatively weak types of Viruses involved, this hypothetically isn't enough to stop them. He crossed his arms as he continued to listen to the male Hacker. So he was the one responsible for the Viruses outside. Impressive, really. "Alright, I'll take care of 'em once we're done here." He looked towards the said Viruses. He then turned his attention back at VAC as he requested for some sort of permission. His eyes narrowed at the sight of the side arm. Was this some sort of trust exercise? "Most likely?" He asked in a joking manner before nodding. "As long as that doesn't completely erase me from the Lifeline, then I'm good."

He then looked back at Hueco. "Considering the fact that we're not supposed to engage with the Ransom Level Virus so we don't really need to worry about it... unless we somehow tip ourselves off. But you know, up to you guys how we tackle this mission, I'll follow you guys' lead." Nazir wasn't the type to lead. He was good at following. He wondered if the people here loved to strategize for missions.

@Yomojo @Patches @hefewy @Ryougu

As the group had gathered, Boreas noticed their line-up was fairly balanced, that was a relief, at least. Boreas felt a little uncertain about the way VAC had introduced him, even more so as he suggested pinging. Was that really necessary against these weak viruses? It felt a little like VAC didn't trust the group, but if he was truly under-experienced like he claimed to be, it might be for the best. With a sigh Boreas agreed and returned his attention to the conversation beside him. He considered things a little, and spoke up soon after Nazir finished.

"I know it's an odd suggestion, but hear me out for a moment; I think we should engage the ransom-level. Now don't get all surprised just yet, it's not like I'm sugessting we storm in there and fire away. Instead, why don't we finish our job like we were supposed to, eliminate all the spacefillers, and then we engage the ransom-level? Fat chance it'll come at us while we're engaging spacefillers near its territory, anyway."

Boreas, of course, was very aware his teammates might consider it risky, but he was the one tanking most hits wasn't he? And what use was there in leaving so long as there are still viruses around? Especially if the ransom-level indeed had someone or something worth holding for ransom.

@Polaris North@Yomojo@Patches@hefewy

@Patches@Yomojo@Polaris North@Ryougu

Oleander waved timidly towards Hueco as he introduced himself, gripping the bottom of her shirt with her puppet-hand. She didn't want to speak up just yet, her shyness taking away the motivation to do so. However, it was at VAC's rude comment about her that she seemed to snap, as she turned to him and scowled.

"Who are you callin' a child?" She angrily interjected, clenching her fists. She already didn't like this guy - his lack of humility really annoyed her. And to top things off, he wanted to PING them, whatever that meant. "... And I don't think so. I don't want you... pokin' your head around in my data. I'm 'creepy', after all."

"Yeah, why don't you just buzz off with that? Real creepy, man!" Her puppet added in as Oleander turned her head away from him.

Meanwhile, she glanced over to Nazir, who didn't seem to be at all as offensive as VAC. In fact, she thought he looked pretty interesting, especially with that headwrap concealing his features. "Mysterious..." She thought to herself, catching herself staring at him with wide-eyed fascination for an instant.

Lastly, Boreas voiced his plan... One that Oleander wasn't very keen on. "But... That wasn't part of the briefing, Boreas. We can't engage it unless otherwise instructed." She says matter-of-factly, shrugging. "Sorry, but I'm gonna have to vote against it.". As she finishes her reply, her puppet 'nods' its head in agreement.

@Yomojo
Timid? Bookish? While that was totally true, didn't make it any less rude. Maybe it's some sort of test? Hueco said, looking out on the horizon, checking everything out. Looked awfully sparse for a Virus Stronghold. I know that some Virus servers have less traffic than others. I think that some of them are just here to take up space on Lifeline so we can't set up servers of our own.

At the request though, before Hueco could speak, the HIVE spoke up first. Speaking in an effeminate voice, Access Denied: We are bonded to AI hu.eco and only through his words may another AI have access to us, no matter their intentions. To which, Hueco added his own input, M-maybe after the mission alright?

@Polaris North
They weren't suppose to engage with the Ransom Level, but still... From what I know, most Ransom levels are immobile or can't leave a certain vicinity. The real problem is that we don't know exactly where the Ransom level is... So as soon as we find it we got to get out of there as soon as we can.

@Ryougu
Hueco let out a startled sound at the suggestion, his hairs standing on end. He had never confronted a Ransom level before but knew how powerful some of them could be Wouldn't that be a breach of orders? We'll be risking life and limb for a mission for another group.

This really was how most of his missions went lately. Being a coder and the weakest physically of the bunch, he'd be forced to comply with the strongest of the group. Ugh! If you get hurt don't cry when I can't heal you because a Ransom is on me.

Suggestion: the HIVE said, The squad should only confront the Ransom if it attacks. Breach of orders or not, the squad will have self defense on their side.

Hive...

@hefewy
This one was creeping him out... What was with that puppet anyways? Maybe she wanted to be a Coder but never got the opportunity to, now she had to substitute a puppet for a Drone.

But at least she was agreeing with him. So maybe she seemed sensible. In any case, we should start going before more dangerous viruses come after us. There aren't just spacefillers here after all.

Warning: the HIVE spoke, Several spacefiller viruses are headed towards this position from the north, south, and west sides of the building. Suggestion: Stay away from the windows, move towards the east. The drone's insects began to swarm around Hueco as some sort of protective barrier. From outside, the sound of running was heard.

We need to get moving.

@Patches @hefewy @Ryougu @Polaris North
V pops off a shot at each of Hueco, Nazir and Boreas. There is no sign of physical impact, the mostly transparent blue ball that comes out of the sidearm just disappearing into their bodies. There was a slight tingle, but other than that it was almost unnoticeable. "Suit yourself, girlie, just know I won't be able to do much to protect you." he says to Oleander, her puppet thingy only cementing his opinion of her. He then turns his attention to Boreas "As much as the old me would love to, HQ would rip me a new one if they found out I consented to a plan like that. HIVE's idea is probably best, continue with our mission as written, mapping the area and wiping out Spacefillers, and if it comes to self-defense then it comes to self-defense." Despite not being the team leader, the way he spoke made it sound like the decision had been made.

His gaze turns outwards, beyond the building they're in, at the sound of approaching hostiles. "Speaking of spacefillers... let's wipe these ones out to make sure they don't blab on us, then keep moving. Being mobile will probably be our best bet in a place like this." V pulls his holo-display back up, pulling up the PINGs on his three team-mates, and nods his head over towards Boreas. "Well Mr. Protector, lead the way."

Nazir felt something when the ball that came from VAC's sidearm made contact with him, but there seemed to be no bad side effects. He then looked at the others and nodded at Hueco. "I suppose you're right. But if we see it, then let's just bolt the other way yeah?" He said with a shrug. It would seem that this lot of people were more serious than the others. No joking around here, he guessed. Not while on the mission at least.

He listened to Boreas and nodded, "While I'm fine with engaging the Ransom Level Virus, it's not in our objectives so I gotta agree with the others on this one." It wouldn't be his first time attacking a Ransom Virus, but all that was within the objective. He was part of the raids. He was afraid that the higher ups of the Aegis would punish them because of it. It would seem that he shares this fear with everyone besides Boreas.

He looked at the odd girl, Oleander. She refused to have herself PINGed, even if everyone already agreed to it. It would seem that it was because she has some personal qualms with VAC. VAC was a tad bit too rude when describing them. "I do think it is a good idea to at least let yourself be PINGed, Oleander. Since I'm not dead yet after he did that, it's probably safe." He then turned his gaze to the puppet which she oddly uses. He wondered what her backstory for that is but that was a question to be asked for another time. "Though it is entirely up to you."

Nazir looked at the disabled Spacefillers and then took out his two pistols. He began shooting at them one by one until there were none left. He looked at the side of the pistol and let it cool off. He looked at Hueco, a bit alarmed that Spacefillers were surrounding their location. Ah but he did hear that Boreas was a pretty good Attacker so assuming he never lost that really good fighting ability, they should be fine no? His grip on his pistols tightened as he placed himself at the end of the group. "I'll be sure to cover the rear. I can attack the front from here anyway, so I think it should be fine."

@Yomojo @Patches @hefewy @Ryougu

"What are you waiting for?" Boreas asked, already building distance between himself the rest of the group. "You heard the drone didn't you? A f***swarm of viruses is headed this way, what are you loitering around for?" To reinforce his words, Boreas made a powerful gesture, like a parent sending a kid to his room. It would have been nice if only this place was as homely as that, but that was not the case, so Boreas was alert, perhaps even a little jumpy. It was nothing new, though, it was just the anticipation before a battle.

Boreas briefly interrupted his path eastward, and turned to the team. "I get that we're not going in to fight the ransom-level, but how are we going to deal with this horde at our backs? We can keep heading east, but we'll just find ourselves surrounded, so why don't we deal with these guys first? We'll have to exterminate them at some point, anyway." Turning to Nazir, he ordered, albeit without authority, "Guns, cover me, but stay back. The rest, show me what you can do..."

He sure was acting in-charge for someone with a reputation as poor as his own, but he was already focused on the fight, already neglecting any potential rank in the group.

@Yomojo @Patches @hefewy @Polaris North

Oleander still wasn't convinced by VAC or Nazir, simply giving the prior the cold shoulder, turning her chin up at him before looking away. she clearly wanted nothing to do with him at the moment, to the point of it almost looking forced. Regardless, HIVE's statement did end up shaking her out of her immature mindset, the mention of a swarm of Spacefillers surrounding the building.

As Boreas took the reigns of the party, Oleander followed him, sticking to his six. At his command to 'show him' what she could do, her eyes opened wide and she smiled. Nodding excitedly, her puppet 'calls out' to him.

"Don't'cha worry about us! This ain't any match for us!" It shouted, before going silent again. Oleander, meanwhile, readied herself for anything that was coming their way, excited to get to show off.

@Yomojo@Patches@Polaris North@Ryougu

@Yomojo
What was that? Hueco questioned VAC, Don't scare me like that, alright? Firing a weapon on me. But, despite all this, he had to trust her. Perhaps it was just a joke on her part. Protect me and I'll make sure that you guys can stay in the fight. He said, his hand glowing. Being the only one capable of repairing damaged code without any items, he had his work cut out for him.

@Polaris North
@Ryougu
@hefewy
The drone began to count down. With its insects out and scanning the area, it had a good map of the general area, as did Hueco, Virus' approaching. Time til Viruses converge on the building: 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Then, as it hit one, numerous viruses burst in. The same "stick figure" type from before.

QUickly, Hueco stayed behind Boreas' shield, a sword of his drone's bugs swarming over him. Rather gross looking, but they were his means of defense.

@Patches @hefewy @Ryougu @Polaris North
VAC cracks his knuckles, a grin coming across his face ~Well, if Boreas wants me to show him what I got, might as well give him a show~ he thinks as he pulls his holoscreen back up, minimizing his allies' data to one corner. He sweeps the screen around, tapping on each of the spacefillers as they come across it. Taking a look over the data quickly flashing by on his screen, V's grin grows even wider. ~Looks like all that prep work paid off, these ones are almost exactly the same as the others I hacked. This should be easy.~

Dialogue boxes and strings of code flying across his screen, the first thing he worked on was the Spacefiller's access to graphical data. Because of her stubbornness, he couldn't modify their permissions to see Coleander's graphics, and he left Boreas' alone, since focusing the viruses' attentions on the protector was kind of the point. For himself, Hueco and Nazir, however, the viruses would quickly start losing visual on them. It would start with glitchy-looking effects, parts of them phasing in and out, until eventually the three of them would become more or less invisible to the spacefillers.

"Hueco, Nazir, you guys are invisible to these bottomfeeders now. They can still hear you, so either keep silent or keep moving." VAC shouted to the other two, taking his own advice and preparing to re-position after calling out to them. Suddenly, V's eyes widen as he comes to a realisation. "Shit..." he mutters under his breath before calling out to Hueco: "Coder boy, they can still see your drone! Tell it to bugger off of you!" After warning his team-member, he re-positions a couple meters to the side, so any viruses coming after his voice would find only empty air. He then turns his focus back to his data, continuing to fiddle with the horde's code in silence and trusting his team-mates to take care of the rest.

Nazir looked at Boreas and then saluted, "Roger that!" He then spun his pistols around, eyes now travelling around them. The only thing that he was hearing now was the countdown until the Viruses came upon them. They wouldn't see it, but there was a sort of grin on his face. Just because he started this out because he wanted to help people didn't exactly mean that he wasn't enjoying the battles.

Then the Spacefillers came in from all around them. He aimed his pistols at different viruses and began to gun them down. Then he heard VAC telling them that they were practically invisible now. Oh? He could do that. Well that was certainly useful. But since they could still hear, he guessed that was pretty bad since guns tend to make some noise. However, he could use that just in case he had to cool off his pistols. His eyes flickered to where VAC had repositioned himself and then towards Boreas. He clicked his tongue and then aimed at one that had gone past before shooting it down.

He sidestepped as a Virus came upon his previous position but then looked around as if it couldn't see. Nazir grinned before shooting it until it just became bits of harmless code and then he switched back to shooting at the others but still kept his eyes and ears open for anyone who needed help from his teammates. At least Hueco was right behind Boreas. He was the person they really needed to protect right now.

@Yomojo @Patches @hefewy @Ryougu

As the others, much to Boreas' relief, didn't simply bumrush forward, his face took on an obvious frown. To Boreas, busting viruses wasn't a sport to him, in fact; he hated it. Regardless, he wasn't planning to leave the Aegis anytime soon, even if he hated it, he also considered it a necessity, thus he'd fight with all he's got. After double-checking his front and sides were clear of allies, he place Eternal Crime in front of him, raised his other arm and started extending his Eternal Punishment's wire to full length while swinging it in large, diagonal circles.

During the first few swings, the barbed wired had been too short to really hit anything, and one virus rushed past his side. Luckily, it had swiftly been dealt with by Nazir. Before other viruses could rush past, the wire had reached it's full length, creating a circle of death with a 3 meter radius around Boreas. Due to the diagonal swinging, it simply swung over the allies behind him, but he could only hope none of them got the bright idea to jump for whatever reason.

As more viruses came into range, the barbed wire tore through or electrocuted them before they could do any notable harm. A few got through and charged Boreas while the wire was at the rear-half of the swing. As they were slammed and electrocuted by Eternal Crime, they too, soon burst to pieces. Glancing backwards to see if Hueco (or his drones for that matter) wasn't being swarmed from behind, Boreas quickly decided he'd like the coder to keep track of certain things. "Eco, can you keep track of the concentration of enemies and where it's the highest? Of course, I'd appreciate this knowledge, also whatever you do, even if I adjust my position or direction, stay behind me."

@Yomojo @Patches @hefewy @Polaris North

The viruses didn't seem to be armed, instead rushing the group with their club like arms. Not very damaging, but likely dangerous if one was swarmed and unarmed. They weren't called spacefillers for nothing either.

@Yomojo
A Hacker with such a supportive role? That was certainly helpful, My thanks, VAC. Nazir, try to cover my Drone as it leaves. He said to the gunner. Listening to VAC, Hueco nodded and gave orders to the Drone through his holoscreen. Drone, go up to the roof. Provide support. Cut off any entrances to filter the viruses through specific points.

Understood. Confirming orders. Will await further orders once destination is reached the Drone flew off, dodging through the crowd of Viruses as best as it could, taking a single hit from a lone Spacefiller while it was at it; the drone didn't even take minor damage from the attack.

@Polaris North
The Viruses would shatter and disappear as they would fall to his pistols, being either deleted from the server or falling apart into harmless bits of code.

The gunner would however have to start firing more quicker. As the viruses were pouring in like a swarm of human shaped insects. A large crowd, descending upon the building, almost acting as they were one unit.

@Ryougu
Looks like the Protector was giving the group plenty of breathing room, doing plenty of work to both thin the horde to a degree as well as keep the others safe. Feeling a bit safer behind a large shield, Hueco spoke up, despite the drones being able to hear him; although he had doubts they'd hear him over the gun fire. Drone is on the roof now. Hive, scan the area for the most ideal path.

Understood: The east side is thinnest in number, West side is most crowded, North and South of moderate concentration. Viruses likely approached from the West and took on a pincer formation. Suggested approach: Cut off North and South Entrances and head East.

Thank you, HIVE Hueco said, before looking to the others. With one more quick order to the drone, a number of the windows North and South of the building became swarmed with several insects. Anything passing through the swarm would be torn asunder. While not stopping the flow completely, many still getting through, it did help a number out. Head East! They aren't coming in from there. Don't go West, that's where they came from. Hueco said, pointing to the East. Despite his earlier nervousness and still speaking with a bit of a stutter, he tried his best to keep a degree of confidence.