Bauer looked at the base commander with a disproving look.
Well, I think you are right that the grappler might be too complex, what about a simple metal net? The planet is not entirely made of flowing soil. When we reach the lower levels we will expand horizontally, building a long network of tunels, then use driller drones to perforate to the lower solid levels, attached to a reinforced cable that will make up the net that will eventually catch the ship, allowing our crews to go down and operate. The system was used a few centuries ago to perforate large asteroids to pull them to safer extraction places. That procedure is obsolete of course, but for this task it could prove useful. Much cheaper, and less prone to failure, I believe we only have one chance, we need to be on the safe side.
If you have any better solution, we are glad to hear about it
Bauer smiled at Katherine, then looked down at his datapad.