The Fall of Every Sparrow

[rekindledtitan]

It’s a calm cold morning on the outskirts near the Wilds. The aeronautiloids are hibernating in their nests, the odd small creature chirps in the bushes, and the blue grass is hidden by a shallow layer of snowfall. It’s picturesque, and quiet: most of the Nexus visitors prefer the shelter and hot drinks of the built-up streets this time of year. In fact, someone’s counting on that.

There’s a white flash, a split-second burst of horrendous noise. An armed figure drops out of the air backside first, her plate armor in flames, and hits the ground with a low whumph. She rolls over immediately and pushes herself to her knees, swearing- then looks up, over her shoulder. There’s just a second to register the source of the noise above, and then the blazing, half-melted remains of a hoverbike crash down onto her.

It takes a minute before she pushes herself back up, twisting to shove the smoldering wreck off of her with a grunt. The fire on her own armor has gone out at this point, but it's black with chemical ash. Blaze lurches back a step or two and surveys the damage through the half of her helm that isn’t totally destroyed. The nearby snow has melted and begun pooling around the ex-bike, steaming away from the hot metal. Ghost materializes above her shoulder to scan his smoking Guardian, then the bike. Here’s hoping they didn’t land on anything important.

“Think we can salvage it?” Blaze asks him. The tiny floating robot gives her a Look.

Abashed, the Exo Guardian reaches up to try and detach her crumpled helmet, wincing at the pain when something jostles inside. Anyone getting close to help (or spectate) will get her hand lifted in sheepish greeting and a rueful look, the glow of one optic visible through her cracked faceplate.

“Ever had a great idea that you, uh, kinda regretted instantly?”

Comments

[magnetite_plz]

One minute you're part of a perfectly serviceable patrol raining gunfire down on an enemy encampment and the next everything is on literal actual fire. Nike's still not sure what's happened. Ghost started shouting and things started bursting into flame. Then the pair of them vanished with a whisper of transmat and the demon found herself alone in the inferno and a host of enemies bearing down on her location.

Unluckily for them, Nike is not unarmed. Her hand strays to her belt and to one of the molotov grenades she keeps at the ready. Breathing slows as she pulls the pin and plans the arc of her throw. It's at that moment the calling comes--ripping her across the veil of time and space at her Mistress's urging because she's needed right Now--and the grenade leaves her hand.

Clonks off of Blaze's head and lands in the ground between the three of them. The demon doesn't even have time to gasp before there's a whole lot more fire and everyone's eardrums get a lovely case of being burst from the blast.

[rekindledtitan]

If Ghost wasn't thinking their emergency exit through, Blaze really wasn't thinking it through. Somewhere between 'oh hell where's Nike?' and 'oh hell we've done some damage' and 'OW' is the thought that drags the angel to them.

Which is fine, at least for the second before something clonks off her helmet and she sees what's landed in the mud before her feet.

Oh no, she thinks.

Oh yes, says fate.

She's close enough on the unsteady ground that even the heavy Titan staggers back from the shock, shuttering her optics on instinct. Ghost has his own shielding and the wisdom to duck, but he still goes rolling through the air like a tumbleweed. Blaze is left blinking at the new crater, bits of incendiary material clinging to her blackened armor as they continue to burn. Her audials have overloaded; her already cracked faceplate is half blown in. Her head snaps around, checking Ghost is there okay and Nike is there before she locks her jaw and straightens, already knowing how her lower abdomen is about to grind- oh. She looks down. Well, her armor down there isn't looking great but it feels fine...

Nexus. Right. Thank you.

"NIKE?" A flashbang would have been worse at that range but she still can't see herself. Blaze strides over to the angel, through the phantom sensations she still feels should be happening. "ARE YOU ALL RIGHT?"

[magnetite_plz]

There's no pain at least from the blast. Nothing that wasn't already injured when she was yanked between dimensions to Blaze's side by her summons. Her hair's singed badly on one side and she's trying to put out the fire clinging to her robes. The shockwave has left her reeling as much as it has Blaze--her sense of balance is shot. She staggers on her feet when her singed wings can't hold her steady in the air.

All Nike can smell is burning. Hair, fabrics, chemicals. The twisted remnants of the Sparrow with its half melted metal chassis, definitely melted wires, and fluids that have boiled away into caustic gases still steaming off of the wreck. All she can hear is the ringing in her ears.

Her shaking legs give out and the angel slumps to her knees in the mud while her hands grope to put out the fires on her clothing, smother them beneath her gloves and the cool wet terra beneath herself. She can't hear Blaze calling.

[rekindledtitan]

It's a shock and a blow but this is familiar. If for a moment her mind's eye sees red sands beneath the vaporizing snow it makes no different. Threat's ended. Check for damage. Move.

"Nike!" She's still calling too loud, but she's realized none of them can hear her. She sees Nike kneeling in the mud, though she can't get a proper look at the angel through her busted helm. Reaching up, she yanks it off - there's a grind and dull snap and sharp pain but it's irrelevant. She dumps the helmet aside and strides a couple of steps closer, throws herself to her knees in front of her team-mate. The sight and smell of blackened feathers sticks in her mind, vivid because it's strange.

Her hands close on Nike's shoulders, steadying her. Conscious. Good. Always lose them otherwise. She peers at the angel, trying to check if Nike can focus on her before the Titan pats out a couple of burning spots on her robes. No blood - check for concussion, head trauma- and Ghost is there, scanning before she can try to flag him over. He always has her back.

[magnetite_plz]

Nike's own helm is discarded so she can see the fires she's trying to put out. The line of her hair that was tucked into the helm is easy to see since the rest of it's burned away. Her mouth is moving but there's no sound, 'I'm sorry' those lips say over and over. She's able to focus on Blaze and gloved hands grip tight to the Exo's gauntlets for a moment.

Flit to Ghost to make sure he's alright to before she focuses on Blaze again.

She can't believe that's happened, that she threw a live explosive at her Mistress. Her hands shake ever so slightly in her grip.

[rekindledtitan]

She can't hear Blaze's reassurances, but she can see the Exo's mouth flash. Blaze squeezes Nike's shoulders, then hauls to her feet, pulling the lighter angel with her. Time to help Nike away from the crash and the smoke until she gets a better hold on herself.

"Took a good hit, didn't you? Good thing you're tougher than a human. Steady, now. It's all right." Blaze brushes wisps of crisped hair out of Nike's face. She seems like she's in shock, which is a little surprising. But not, says a part of her, new.

Ghost is saying something she can't hear until a pulse of his Light washes over her. Her audios snap back into action after a moment. "...hear me now? Maybe a drink of water would help."

[magnetite_plz]

"-can't believe I did that. I'm so sorry!"

Nike doesn't even register that anything's changed for a moment but when she does she snaps her head up to study Blaze and Ghost carefully. They both look rough from the blast but after a brief pulse of healing light Nike calms down a little bit. Ghost healed Blaze. She should have done that instead of panicking.

Sigh. This is all one big mess.

"You were gone and I thought I could handle it..."