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

[runningscams]

She was gonna say you. He just knew it. It wasn’t the first time around here that someone had slipped up like that around him.

It made him wonder about the other guy for a moment. Where he had gone? How he was different and how he was the same as the other? If nothing else, people had seemed to have liked the last one, which meant that there was at least some kind of void he was walking into.

“More smooth than running over it on something with wheels by a lot, the tech is distorting gravity around you, so you only really notice any difference in the ride at all by the sounds and feelings coming from the engine.”

[rekindledtitan]

Blaze knows better. She ought to, more than most people. It's just a hard thing to avoid consistently, and she won't blame that on the tricks her memory's been pulling lately. He's not the same guy. He deserves better than for her to forget it.

"You're at least on par with a Sparrow, by the sound of it. Hmm." No easy advantage there, but it figures. Depending on a speeder's typical clearance it might even have an easier time with a rugged course. "Not as much fun if it's just rocky, though. I like dunes or little hills and ruins you can play around on. Most of the spots I know around here are more twisty and sharp- but that's a different kind of thrill."

[runningscams]

He wouldn’t hold it against her. It’s an odd feeling to know that there was someone there before him with the same name and a close enough persona that everyone is reminded of him. It has to be odd for them too. He’s just trying to navigate through all of it.

“Any of the hills around big enough to get you some air?”

There is a devious little smile spreading over his lips and the memories of being chased through the business districts of his homeworld flood over him. Running from people in a speeder was one thing, but getting away on a bike was a lot more fun — and for him, it was because of the level changes you can do on a much smaller vehicle.