"Hmmm," says Nekshi thoughtfully. "This deflector grid is not powered and seems to be unlocked." She starts quickly examining it and its arch.
"Wait a minute," says Mey'Luskar, starting forward.
Nekshi flips open a small, covered wall panel, eyes it for about 0.987 seconds, and then taps something on it.
"Um," says Mey'Luskar, quickening her pace.
There is a hiss, and the grate shoots upward into its socket, its final bang echoing dully in the gloomy chamber. The narrow tunnel beyond is dark and forbidding.
"Wait!" cries Mey'Luskar, breaking into a run. "Don't go in!" She hustles up next to Nekshi (who dodges out of the way just in time) and looks intently at the wall panel. "Off!" she says. "It's all turned off!"
As Nekshi starts to lecture her about the redundancy of her statement, Mey'Luskar quickly digs in her bag, pulls out a piece of candy, and tosses it into the tunnel. It bounces with a dry popping sound.
"This isn't right," she says darkly. "They would never turn everything off!"
Pru comes up behind her. "So Dusker did his job, just like he said!" She glances around at the others. "This is it! Are we going in?"
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Granite snarls "It's off isn't it? Let's go before someone figures that out and switches it back on." Looking over at Nekshi standing in front of the panel she adds, "Any way you access the security system from there, or is that just for the door?"
Nekshi waits another .987 seconds and answers, "Let's find out."
She plugs a lead from her wrist comp into the wall panel.
"Please do not waste anymore candy in your experiments. This is much easier."
Staring intently at the comp's readout, Nekshi frowns in concentration. After 2.34 minutes, she shakes her head in disbelief. "I don't understand it, but the entire security system for this facility has been deactivated."
Granite motions to the group: "Unless there are further objections, let's get going!" She draws her pistol, and heads into the tunnel.
Realizing the party is ready to go, Zeton pockets the items and ammo he was in the process of collecting and then does his best to spike the remaining weapons.
If one of the grenades is an incendiary grenade, (that would melt the weapons,) Zeton uses that. If they are fragmentation grenades, Zeton instead tries to remove firing pins or damage the weapons' sites. (Whatever he can do quickly.)
Once complete, he'll join the party.
Granite will definitely wait inside the tunnel for the rest of the party, giving Zeton all the time he needs to do what he's doing. [Didn't mean to rush you Info Geek! Just anxious to get out of the underground tunnels!]
Zeton isn't quite sure what kind of grenades the humanoid merc has. The big grenades carried by the Farbett merc (which Widjgleeby has already lifted) are also of an uncertain type. Neither is a frag type, however.
I would refrain from using any grenades you can't identify. They might be something really nasty, like nerve gas or bees.
With all the military types in the party, someone should have a fair shot at recognizing them.
Granite snaps her beak. "Bees? Now you're just making me hungry!"
"Damn! Why can't they label grenades like the good old days? Well, we'd better be safe than sorry and do this the old fashioned say."
Zeton picks up the axe and uses it to hack apart the weapons the crew doesn't take. Zeton will then cart the axe with him for a wee bit looking for a nice hiding place to stash it when the opportunity presents itself.
Is Zeton going to turn on the axe when he uses it? (It's powered.)
(The problem is that there are so many different militaries with often very different technology pools at their disposal...not to mention their own symbols and writing systems...)
Ham gestures toward the grenades on the humanoid merc. "Those look like hot smokers," he says. "Pop them, and they blow burning metal and leave lots of smoke. They get rid of enemies and cover your trail. As for those..." Nods toward the big grenades Widjgleebie is putting in her bag.
"Standard Farbett issue," says Lirassa with a shrug. "Regular high-explosive without the frag sleeve."
Zeton eyes the axe for a moment, trying to understand the different settings and possible power levels. "This will probably go faster if I turn the axe on, eh?"
After turning the axe on and waiting for a brief bit to get the feel for the weapon before going to work, Zeton comments, "I certainly hope I don't slice my foot off using this axe..."
When the job is done, Zeton will turn the axe off.
Just before Zeton swings, he stops and decides to check the weapons for ammunition in them before hacking them to pieces. If there are any rounds chambered and ready to be used, he removes them so the weapons are empty *before* he chops them up.
With a smile, Zeton states, "No sense if accidentally setting off a bazooka round with this silly axe..."
The axe is a SAPA weapon, i.e. the business ends of the blade are surrounded by a field that literally disassembles atomic particles. It can basically cut through anything.
The only ranged weapons that no one has lifted are the bazooka and the 80mm grenade launcher. The bazooka is a pulse laser. The only ammo is its power cell. As for the grenade launcher, it has a loaded magazine attached but is uncocked.
Zeton takes careful aim to slice off the barrel of the bazooka and the grenade launcher, so as to avoid hitting the power cell or the loaded magazine.
"OK, let's go."
Zeton turns off the axe, but carries it with him for the time being.
Nekshi looks at the axe and grimaces. "I hope I never become unnecessary to your plans Zeton."
"Could be trap. Let's find out." Widjgleebe says and heads for the portal.
"Now that's the type of logic I'm used to!"
Nekshi follows her.
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