Free Cities can provide the ship to take us over, if Thorne mages can help shield it, I suspect we have to make this as subtle as possible. They might try to move them if they see us coming.

We're both scientists, so, yes. I'm not sure that's a good idea, bombs in enclosed spaces like that can be very dangerous.

I'm thinking negotiation and/or espionage are the best moves here. Fighting our way in should be last, it sounds like they're caught in a tight space. We could easily crush our own people if done incorrectly.