Xorthan says:
Jesus, 30 seconds. Battle could be over by then if we just held our breath. Do we really see a battle taking 2 minutes (aka 20 rounds?) Could we start the battle in the smoke and kind of draw the enemy back out into breathable air?
That's one of the things I'm getting at, in addition to the concept of donning the LUBA gear during battle, if needed when it seems necessary. So, we can get a krek on one of our PC's turns, but the process to begin providing oxygenated fluid would take 5 rounds.
Part of the risk and consideration here would be whether or not the fight would be over in time for just holding our breath. Are there only the two NPC's RC described within the haze? Is the King in the Box in the haze area? Or did he take off/withdraw to another area as these two NPC's cover his escape? Will we be doing an extended trip through multiple haze areas? Etc.
Bottom line is we may need kreks at a later time for an even worse scenario. Of course you have to wonder how much of a universal tactic would it be for the enemy to have dope haze in multiple chambers. Worth mentioning in all of this is that the kreks will work 100% once we contact water again. The question is when do we use their reserve fluid for that land encounter.
So yeah, it comes down to a calculated gamble if we hold our breath in there. We might be able to finish the fight and get out of the haze. Or the battle could become protracted with as of yet undetected enemies, or multiple chambers full of the haze. The King in the Box, Gorolach, is supposed to be in this main hall, but it would appear (based on RC's detection) that he might not be in there.
Also, remember we have a few (3, IIRC) spare kreks that RC and Hinka are packing.