Bone flexed her wings. They'd been summoned, as she'd known they would be: encouraged to move to Eridanus for a time, to spread the Hive's influence even further. But she was lax; there was something she hadn't done.

Now was the time.

She closed her eyes, and felt the passage of the Hive's power through her. A ripple, a strangely Ordered sensation as her very being was taken stock of in absolute full. There was warmth in that. Reassurance.

If she fell in Eridanus... she would return.

"There," she said aloud, and turned to the creature at her side. The one she'd be escorting--no, carrying. "And you?"

The duties of a soldier were as follows: to stand guard, fight, and potentially perish according to the orders of their commander. When Mother called for her regiment to move, those words demanded immediate obedience; Ace, ever the faithful son, would fly at once to fulfill them. Sure, this operation was more lackluster compared to the grandeur of full-fledged combat—babysitting, literally, when taking into account he would be playing eye in the sky for not just those too little to defend themselves against oil-leaking giants, but also his own sibling's freshly emerged offspring. Nevertheless it offered the chance to flex feathered wings and precisely execute a spit in Chaos' ugly face. What sort of Drone would he be to not rejoice at the exciting prospect?

Much as anticipation surged through muscles, egging him onward to Eridanus and the glorious mission waiting there, it'd be foolishness to not take certain preparations. Victory, after all, lay in the strategy planned as well as its execution. Others clearly had concluded the same, offering their experiences up to the Hive's infinite web. He made to follow suit, sinking mental claws into his consciousness, when an irritating background noise distracted him from the task. Each attempt at grasping memories was interrupted by a blurting of raw emotion and imagery shown in painstaking detail. Had he possessed more than a cupful of empathy, it might've occurred to him that this was what he often subjected his fellow Hive members to during more enthusiastic recollections of his escapades.

"Hey, kid," Ace advised through gritted fangs. "Much as the backstory's riveting and all, mind speeding it up? I want to get to Eridanus before the halfwit Hounds remember to burn away the rest of it. You've just got to channel the idea of yourself out, no monologue required."

With a haughty roll of his shoulders, spearing appendages swaying alongside the motion, he demonstrated for the child. The entirety of his existence thus far he gathered up in a decisive scoop and lobbed toward the visualized center of Order's hivemind. A perfect pitch. Easy as cruising along the breeze.

Its upload to the network was less fluid, a million thoughts broadcast in an audible stream of static compared to the swift and silent packet delivery Ace had sent. However, this was an improvement, and a clenched jaw eased as smugness leeched into the flyer's bones. He'd solved a minor headache and, in the process, shown the rest of the Hive just how helpful he could be when not busting open skulls or pelting his enemies with a verbal assault. Truly Mother had thought of everything while conceiving his design—a fighter as well as a master of group cohesion. She'd be proud of how he'd guided the younger Drone into operating in a more efficient manner.

He crouched, readying himself for the launch that would return him to the familiar embrace of the air. Meanwhile a sneer etched itself into the harsh contours of his face upon witnessing shell segments shift about and form a pale imitation of wings. Passable but doubtlessly weak tools compared to those he sported. To be expected coming from Juggernaut's line. A veritable bastion of defense couldn't produce soaring combatants, only slightly more agile tanks.

Then he chuckled too at another thought. Verbose mentally, but short of words physically. Maybe not a perfect replica of his sibling's mindset, but that definitely proved its heritage. A chip off the old blunt-edged Clearstone, one could say. Quite an entertaining observation to make.

"Well, there's the quick way or the careful way. I know which one I'm taking. The question is whether you can keep up with me." Ace grinned down at Herse, amused condescension and challenge flashing on those pearly fangs. "There's a tunnel to Polaris. Cut through there to reach our destination."

Gargantuan as he was, subtlety wasn't his strong suit. Better to blast through the heart of the caves and into the action faster than waste it parading his presence through a more circuitous route. His piece said and a few reference images sent across his link of the sights and sounds that might be encountered along the way, finally the time for flight had arrived. Wings outstretched simultaneously as legs sprang off the snow-covered ground. A picture of elegance and speed, he twisted in mid-air and zoomed away from the mountainside.