ABS FIESTA REDUX

[Gojira]

I figure it would be a good idea to go look through the survivors to see if I can find any familiar faces.

[Ad Bot]

[Qwepir]

You find a few. Mostly just technicians and crew you passed on the ship, and some of the ground crew that accompanied you on the carrier. Nobody looks very happy.

[Gojira]

I look through the crowd and spot someone familiar. Looks like that Kinth technician made it through, but I think a bit more than her nose is broken this time.

[Qwepir]

like her SPIRITS

[Gojira]

I figure, "forget it," and decide to go talk to her.
"Hey. I saw that crash, you're one of the lucky ones."

[Qwepir]

: ...Yeah. You could say that.

[Gojira]

"You look really upset. What happened?"

[Mr. Hurricane]

I snap out of shock to see survivors walking off of a cargo plane. There have been medical helicopters and tilt-rotors coming back and forth handeling the critically wounded. This group has the less critically wounded, the immobile, and the shocked survivors. I walk towards the aircraft. Survivors shuffle out of the cargo hatch in dispare, limping, bleeding, and bandaged. I move closer.

We couldn't do it.

There are a few crew members crying. I look around and find Steele conversing with someone. He is hanging his head, and so are they.

Dozens of people are dead because we couldn't do it.

I walk over towards Steele.

[Juncoph]

As I inspect the crash site, I notice Steele and the Kintharian I decked conversing. She looks... unusually defeated.

"That may have been a landmine you just picked up," I mutter, as I walk up to Talisman.

Seeing the tech's facial expression, I assume the worst and greet her modestly.

"I guess now is a bad time, but, uh, I'm sorry about the nose. I was in... a dark place, when you made those remarks."

"Hey, I don't think I ever learned your name..."

[Qwepir]

"You look really upset. What happened?"

: What happened? You had to have seen what happened. We got stuff on is what happened. A drone shot the ammo stores in the lower flight deck. Killed three of my crew in the blast. Another of them got sucked out a hull breach when our section of the airship was sheared open by shrapnel from the final hit. I saw it happen too, I was right there, and I couldn't do anything. One moment she was there, the next, the wall behind her wasn't. And then she was gone. She must have fallen over twenty thousand feet. Do you know how long that would've taken to fall?

[Gojira]

"...oh. Oh my gods. I- I have no words. I'm so sorry."
I can't believe it. So many dead. The constant droning of helicopters bringing in the wounded doesn't help, nor does the sight of the critically wounded, not to mention everyone else.

[Mr. Hurricane]

I stop dead after hearing the tech's description of what happened. My knees feel weak. I lose my posture. My eyes start tearing up. We couldn't save all these people.

A NAUC helicopter lands with body bags. That's real loving appropriate right here and now. Two men begin moving them off of the helicopter and into a waiting vehicle. There's maybe, half a dozen, a dozen?

We couldn't save them, and Turtle and Gladiator didn't do stuff!

I break. The waterworks flow silently.

[Qwepir]

: It's fine. Words can't bring back the dead, anyway. Unless you're doing some sort of occult ritual. Two minutes, by the way. That's how long it would've taken. By my math anyway.

"Hey, I don't think I ever learned your name..."

She just sort of mumbles it.
: Technical Sergeant Takamichi.

[Mr. Hurricane]

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," I whimper quietly.

[Gojira]

I just about break down when they start unloading the body bags. This is what I've done. I let down the whole god damn crew. All of them. God, I can't even imagine what it would feel like to fall for two minutes. Hell, ejecting from my plane was hard, but damn, two minutes, with no parachute? I can barely speak anymore.
"I'm so sorry. I'm so god damn sorry. I let you all down and so many of you are dead. It's my god damn fault, too..." I sob quietly, not necessarily talking to Takamichi.

by my math it was about 117 seconds so you were spot on
12 seconds to reach terminal velocity
105 seconds to freefall