Clusterfrag

Max calls up the ladder,

"Hey Tyros! Maybe you should levitate Val and me up there so we don't plummet to our deaths!"

The elf is only half kidding.

Try as he might, Tyros can't seem to pull the hatch open.

(( Going to need to find another way to get it open. ))

Max reaches as close to the hatch as he can given the queue of chummers ahead of him and gives the hatch a hard look, trying to deduce any structural compromises or electrical components which could be bypassed so as to gain the team entry.

Clinging to the ladder for dear life, Val performs a quick wireless AR scan now that he's closer to the surface. He looks for any node beyond the hatch that may control any automated systems which control it. He's glad he's able to perform the task with his eyes closed.

Much to the team's chagrin, the hatch seems to be about as low-tech as it can get. Whether it's welded in place or sealed shut by years of corrosion, it's difficult to say.

Max continues looking around-- paying special attention to the cabling and particularly the ducting at play in the shaft.

Adams leans back from the ladder to rest his arms.

"Anyone have any idea how far down we are? I don't think we're getting it open without blasting it open, but I'd also rather not get through that hatch with a all the alarms in the arcology going off."

Val furrows his brow in thought and looks intently at the hatch.

"Open Sesame?"

"Frag it," Adams mutters.

Using one arm to hold himself to the ladder, he takes a can of explosive foam out of his pack. He starts to shake the can, before furrowing his brow at his hand, thinking better of it.

With an outreached arm, he sprays a thin line of the foam in a circle around the rim of the hatch, adding an extra dollop on the hinges and bolt.

Sticking a radio detonator in foam, he calls down, "everybody back down the ladder a few meters! I'm not using much, but it'll still go boom."

Dropping down the ladder a few dozen rungs, Adams makes a final head count, before thumbing the detonator.

There's a muffled phfoft and a brief illumination of flames as the foam ignites. The runners on the ladder tuck in as the hatch goes sailing past and crashes on the ground below.

Max makes his way with the team up the ladder and through the now blown hatch opening, taking a moment to allow his eyes to adjust to the atmosphere and size of the new chamber.

Max places his elbows akimbo on the precipice of the hole where the hatch used to be. With a grunt, he pulls himself up and gazes around warily. At once the purpose of the dish becomes obvious--it acts as a conductor, all the way to the ladder and down. The whole thing serves as an electrical grounding point. The elf stalks across the room to the only exit: a narrow catwalk that curls upwards around the center of the arcology's bottom most point.

Adams follows Max on the catwalk, gun drawn.

The catwalk twists around the cylindrical base of the arcology at least a dozen times. At the terminus of the walkway is a security door, protected by a retinal scanner.

Max puts his thumbs in his beltloops and lets out an appreciative whistle. Taking in the structure, Max thinks and finally says,

"You know, if this basin serves as the arcology's grounding point, we might be able to disrupt the primary power systems by taking out the ladder."

Max pantomimes an explosion with his hands, puffing out his cheeks and making a rumbling sound high in his throat against his soft pallette.

Doc nods,

"Good idea. A structure this large, with this much equipment running in it suddenly losing its ground connection could be... interesting." He chuckles.

He steps back to the ladder, and uses the remaining foam in the can to form two large dollops on top of the bolts holding the top of the ladder. He then makes two more, one on each rail of the ladder below the first rung, so that the topmost portion will separate completely. The final touch is a thin line connecting the small mounds of foam, followed by a detonator.

Ensuring everyone is safely away, he hits the detonator again.

"Might also take out our only escape route at the same time though. Provided I'm around and capable of flying everyone down, that's ok, but otherwise we might have to use the front door, which is probably not going to work."

A puff of smoke rises from the open hatchway. The ladder falls forward into space, clanging loudly on the rocky floor below.

The biometric panel goes dark as power to the door fails.

Adams approaches the door.

"Okay, there's likely a manual override of some sort that can be used in the event of power failure, so the employees and residents don't get trapped. At least if Mistuhama built this place to code.

If their backup system has its own ground connection, we might not have much time before it kicks in."

Just as soon as Doc finishes his sentence, his face is bathed in blue light from the console. An amber fault light begins blinking just beneath the control pad.

Max looks at the retinal scanner and motions for Val to take care of it. With some urgency in his voice, Max says,

"Frag! I had it in mind to try to blow the thing once we were no longer next to it! If we get made, we're fragged!"

Doc places a hand on Max's shoulder,

"Relax, we saw by the state of that hatch that no one has come down here for years. They'll eventually figure it out, but I imagine they'll be too busy trying to look for more likely faults in their system before they think to check this place."

There's a hiss and a swirl of fresh air as the door to the arcology slides open. A slightly overweight Japanese ork in a utility jumpsuit steps out on to the catwalk, nearly colliding with Max. His gaze is locked firmly on the small holographic clipboard in his hands. He sighs and looks up, trying to blink away the dark spots in his vision caused by the bright light. Gradually, his expression changes from one of vague irritation to immense concern. He takes one long, slow step backward into the doorway, his eyes now locked with Max's--whom he presumably just noticed.

"たわごと."

Tyros reaches out with an invisible hand (centering) and takes the ork's mind (control thoughts, f4).

"Don't shoot him, he's mine."

Adams steps back and blinks a couple times,

"Huh, that was fast."

Not wanting to risk it, Max swoops forward and grabs the man in a headlock.

Tyros seizes the technician's mind, but the troll feels a dull throb against his senses and an overwhelming sense of confusion. He doesn't understand the thoughts swirling around in man's head and likewise, the man's head doesn't understand his!

Max successfully locks the ork in an awkward full nelson and drags him backwards into the room. The ork gasps and slaps ineffectually at Max's sinewy forearm, his boots squeaking as his legs bicycle against the floor.

Max whips out one of his feet and brings it sweeping back, knocking the ork's out from under him. Max tightens his grip on the overweight Japanese metahuman's neck as he pins him to the ground.

Doc pulls out the leather wallet of syringes from his medical goody bag. Looking down the row of needles, he selects a syringe of Laés, and readies it.

"Tyros, he doesn't look too tame to me. Max, hold him steady."

Max has no real desire to kill this man-- he's just a grunt technician, after all-- so the elf applies a steady pressure to the ork's jugular so as to cut off the blood flow to his brain and knock him out.

Adams, slips the tip of the needle into the man's neck, and presses the plunger.

"Sleep tight."

((I'd make the argument that thoughts are not in any specific language, so we should be able to understand each other regardless. Same goes for the mind probe I'm about to do - I should get memories and concepts, not a narration.))

Tyros growls furiously, "When I say he is mine, leave him alone! Subdue him if you are paranoid but putting him under defeats the entire point of my magic!"

Before the Ork slips into unconsciousness, Tyros once more wiggles his fingers (centering) and delves into the fading engineer's most recent memories (mind probe, f3; looking for routes into the robotics compound, security procedures, and defense systems/guards)

Max responds to the irritated troll,

"All I saw told me that you weren't in control like normal, and I had to act before any alarms were raised or guns were fired."