No Time To Explain

"A single word is etched onto the inside of the weapon's casing: 'Soon.'"

- Weapon description

No Time To Explain is an exotic upgraded version of the The Stranger's Rifle. It is a slow-firing pulse rifle that looks very similar to the weapon given after completion of the base campaign in Destiny. The signature perk on this gun means that precision shots fired from the weapon return to the magazine, allowing for near-infinite firing if used on an enemy with a large precision hitbox and the recoil can be controlled effectively. It returned in Destiny 2 ' s Beyond Light expansion.

Destiny

 * Play Paradox when it is the Daily Heroic Story and complete the alternate ending:
 * Collect three Dead Ghosts left behind in the Vault of Glass by the fallen Guardian Praedyth. Dying in a Darkness Zone resets progress, returning you to the beginning of the mission.
 * Use the unlocked Vex portal to find and kill the Blighted Descendant.
 * Obtain the "Cult Ghost" from the chest and turn it in to Lakshmi-2.
 * Complete the Quest Not Forged In Light. This quest is given after the next weekly reset following the completion of Paradox.
 * Pledge to the Future War Cult.
 * Obtain 1000 Reputation with the Future War Cult.
 * Destroy a Major or Ultra Taken Minotaur (found on Venus and Mars) to acquire a "Simulation Core".
 * Dismantle the Simulation Core (Found in the quest item bar in the inventory) and return to Lakshmi-2.
 * Defeat Atheon, Time's Conflux in the Vault of Glass Raid (any mode) to acquire Atheon's eye.
 * Dismantle the eye (found in the inventory tab under quest items) and return to Lakshmi-2.
 * Complete a mission that takes you to the Twilight Gap Crucible map:
 * Find a chest before the Darkness blinds you. Walk through Light to temporarily cleanse your vision.
 * Return to Lakshmi-2.
 * Complete a mission that takes you to the Black Garden:
 * Kill Minotaurs until the Anger meter reaches 100% to summon The Groundskeeper. Attack the Groundskeeper until it is destroyed. If Anger falls to 0% before the Groundskeeper is destroyed, refill the Anger meter to summon it again.
 * Return to Lakshmi-2 to receive No Time To Explain. The gun drops at 290 Light.

Destiny 2

 * Those who pre-order the Standard Edition of Beyond Light with the Season of the Hunt pass or the Deluxe Edition will get the No Time To Explain and its exotic catalyst once the expansion launches. Deluxe Edition owners will also be given the No Time To Explain ornament.
 * The weapon will be acquirable solely by purchasing either of the above editions until the end of the Season of the Hunt, at which point it will be acquirable in-game by any owner of Beyond Light.

Destiny
The main perk is Rewind Again: precision shots will return to the magazine. This only counts for individual rounds in a burst that are precision hits, so tight control is needed to maximize this perk. The weapon can also fire in full auto. In another update, the intrinsic perk Headseeker is also added, in which body shots increase precision damage for a short time.

Destiny 2
In its Destiny 2 incarnation, the weapon continues to refund precision shots, but will also refund shots against enemies affected by the new Stasis element. Landing 10 precision/slowed/frozen shots produces a "personal protection portal", which behaves similarly to the Arc Souls that can be created by Stormcaller Warlocks, and can even be used simultaneously with an Arc Soul. In the quest required to obtain No Time To Explain, it is stated that the weapon was initially designed to combat Vex, although it is just as efficient against all enemies. The exotic catalyst increases the rate of fire of the portal.

Lore
A single word etched onto the inside of the weapon's casing: Now.

Novarro's timeline analysis indicates the weapon is the fabled Exo Stranger's Rifle, enhanced at a future point in this continuity and then sent back to this present…

…on Europa. Late Golden Age. Deep inside a secret lab.

"Which window?"

"3025, Dr. Bray."

"I thought we'd run out of possibilities there?"

"We had… and then a new one popped up."

"Austen-1, how is that possible?"

"We don't know. We still don't understand how any of this works. It's highly volatile and uncontro—"

"Have we pinpointed the weapon's exact location?"

"…More or less. Elsie-1 is supposed to attempt retrieval tonight."

"We can't risk the window closing before then. I'll be going this time."

"But last time, those things in the sky almost killed you."

"And now I know how they work. That's half the battle."

The old man gears up and enters a strange metallic pod made from Vex parts. Austen-1 stands at a distance from the pod, typing "April 10, 3025" into a console.

"All right, Dr. Bray. You're a go in 3… 2… 1…"

A burst of light.

An icy wasteland. What stood pristine moments prior is now dark, old, and falling apart, as if centuries have passed.

Clovis wades through the wreckage and comes to a frozen, deserted battlefield littered with human, Exo, Vex, and alien bodies. He reaches down and brushes snow from one of the alien bodies, lifting one of its many arms.

"Fascinating…"

A piercing whir emanates from somewhere in the distance—Clovis looks up and sees a black and red ship floating in the air. It stops above the battlefield and emits a bright red light, scanning the area as if searching for something.

Clovis slowly pulls a device from his pocket. He presses a green button, and the screen lights up, showing a blinking dot a few yards away. Very close to where the ship itself now searches.

He grabs a dead Exo and opens a panel on its arm, tinkering before closing it with care. He quickly sneaks away, and in seconds, the Exo explodes, drawing the attention of the ship. He sprints across the battlefield towards where it was searching only moments ago.

Using his device again, Clovis scans the ground until the blinking light goes solid. He digs into the snow until he hits something. He pulls it up halfway—a rifle, shining like new, etched only with one word: Now.

Clovis attempts to fully free the weapon. But it's stuck; attached to something. He pulls harder, revealing an entire dead Exo, hand wrapped tightly around the grip. He takes a good look at its face and gasps.

"Elisabeth…?"

The whirring sound reaches Clovis's ears again, pulling him out of his stupor. The ship heads right towards him. Clovis pries the gun from Elsie's rigid hand and sprints back the way he came, diving into his pod and activating it just as the ship fires on him.

A burst of light.

"You could have been killed," says a familiar voice.

"Instead, I got you a gift, Elisabeth," Clovis responds, catching his breath and dusting himself off.

"One down, an infinite number left to go. It better have been worth it."He looks into her eyes and musters a half-hearted smile.

"We'll make it so."

Trivia

 * This gun references the Exo Stranger's dialogue towards The Guardian in their first interaction with her where she says, "I don't have time to explain why I don't have time to explain.", which quickly became memetic within the community.

List of appearances

 * Destiny
 * The Taken King
 * Destiny 2
 * Beyond Light