Destiny 2 - Records from Exo Titan "Maria-12"

Avarice Splinter

"Ready?"

"As ever."

Maria-12 pulled her body close to her Sparrow bike; though she knew it would make no real difference, it made her feel faster, and speed was key in this situation. She nodded again at Arachno, who then pulled a lever. The door ahead creaked and slowly began to slide open.

"Go!" Arachno shouted and Maria took off full speed. Arachno sent a lightning speed transmat request for her own Sparrow, and her Ghost obliged. The instant it was real enough she mounted and took off, no more than a second behind Maria. The splinter mine loomed ahead, and the number on Arachno's HUD proved that it was ready to detonate in a mere 15 seconds.

"I'll head right!" Arachno heard through her Ghost's communication system. She glanced to her right and saw Maria split off to to the right, weaving through enemy bullets in an attempt to reach a button that would extend the ticking time bomb's fuse.

"I guess I'll head left then, though it seems to consistently get my Sparrow destroyed." Arachno steered left, dodging some dreg gunfire, but tanking most of them. Her Sparrow was already struggling, though it still drove at full speed and it still flew about a foot above the ground.

"You've got this," Maria said through the Ghost. Maria tanked the gunfire herself as she sped towards the giant red button. Her Sparrow started smoking, and Maria cursed to herself. She leapt off just as she reached the button, and immediately sent a transmat request for a fresh Sparrow while she ran the last few feet. *Click.* The button's glow turned white and Maria saw on her HUD that the time on the splinter mine had increased by 5 seconds. Her sparrow had transmatted to her already, and she jumped back on and took off at full speed before the dregs noticed she had stopped moving.

"You saved my ass just there," Arachno's voice filtered through Maria's Ghost.

"Mine too," Maria laughed back. She throttled her Sparrow to the maximum speed and sailed down the hill towards the splinter mine. Arachno just reached it. The timer disappeared and a new one blipped onto the HUD, farther down the hill. Only 10 seconds.

"You've got to be kidding me," Maria groaned. Still she raced on. "I see the button to the left, I don't know if there's another. I'll get it, and you go on." Arachno agreed, and they raced down the hill together, dodging left and right to avoid the alien bullets. An Exodus ship lay ahead, or the ruins at least. The two Guardians sped through the wreckage of the massive spacecraft, and Maria drifted toward the left with the red button in her sights. Arachno peeled right. Maria's Sparrow threatened to explode, so she pulled the same stunt as before. Just as the button turned white and she mounted her Sparrow again, a string of curses flowed through the Ghost com.

"My Sparrow is down, I can't send a new transmat yet!" Maria heard the panic in Arachno's voice, and her mechanical heart started pounding. The button added time to the countdown, but it was already at only 8 seconds. Maria brought her Sparrow up to full speed again. The splinter mine was in view. But not close enough. Far to her right, Maria could see Arachno sprinting toward the mine in a last ditch effort to make it in time. 3... So close. 2... Yet so far. 1... Maybe next time. The mine exploded, sending razor shrapnel everywhere. It pierced Maria in seven different places, and Arachno in nine, and they were both killed instantly, their life light slowly trickling upward into the sky.