"We may as well," Jeren agrees with a nod. "Besides, it is best not to tarry. A disappearance may very well be a kidnapping in disguise. And this is a retired senator we are talking about. If he was a successful one in the least, he is bound to have made some enemies."

"I'm pleased to meet you, Master Vrixxi. Your help will be gladly appreciated. Master Jeren, Captain Kozik, I think I have to agree with you both. A disappearance in hyperspace is quite unusual, we should better go and try to locate Senator Blaselock. I must add that his Excellency’s behaviour appeared quite strange and erratic when we meet yesterday. He left us with a cryptic warning about the High Lady Nash of Kuat. It is possible that he simply lost his way in the engineering section but I fear that we can't exclude any more sinister reasons for his vanishing at this moment."

"In that case you'd best go. I wish you luck gentlemen," Kozik salutes, and after you reciprocate the gesture you leave the bridge and enter the tram. The high-speed maglev shunts you along the spine of the hammerhead-style ship to a point roughly amidships where you disembark and head through the hatch that only yesterday Blaselock passed through having left your company in rather sharp fashion. The door opens into a room that stretches down over multiple decks, thick with pipes and tubing that limit visibility and confuse your path through the mess, all lit by a dingy red light that only exacerbates the feeling of crampedness and tension.

I'd like a Hard (DDD) Perception check from someone please.

Perception check (2 upgrades thanks to DP and Korro Zal): 1eA+2eP+3eD 2 successes, 1 threat

Edit:

"Yes, you are right indeed. I think I can see someone lurking in that direction."

Perceiving something, Perceptively...: 1eP+1eA+3eB+3eD 0 successes, 1 advantage

Iquizzil tries to follow the others assessment of likely places to explore.

Fumbling around with his binoculars.: 1eA+3eD 0 successes, 1 threat

"Oh yes I see! No.... No, sorry, that's a fire extin..." He trails off a little embarrassed and returns his attention to Rion and Marcelus, putting the binoculars back on his belt.

Marcelus sees something in the darkness. A body slumped under a set of pipes, one that appears to be wearing a set of weathered diplomatic robes. The dim light, coupled with the fact that the body appears to be facing away from you, makes identification impossible. But more disconcerting is the fact that a figure is crouching over the body; hood up, robe wrapped around it, facing away from you.

"I've got a bad feeling about this pipe," Rast whispered to the others.

"May I suggest we perhaps detain that... err... person...?" Seeing as how not much is seen regarding the hooded and crouching figure, there is a certain uncertainty behind Jeren's words, not so much pertaining to the course of action as to how to actually call the figure.

"I'm on it," Rion says, and advances stealthily.

Iquizzil slips silently behind Rion, and whispers,

"Can I offer my assistance?"

"So you're stealthy as well? You have an interesting skill set. Let's go."

"Creeping around in the shadows? Yeah, us bugs are all into that,"

Iquizil grins at Rion, then follows the Mirialan, giving a few yards between them.

As quietly as possible, TeeNine tries to communicate with the party, "TeeNine is equipped with a powerful sedative / / 10 x: Synthetic Standard Neuroparalytic."

Creepy crawly: 2eP+2eA+2eD+1eC 0 successes, 1 advantage, 1 Triumph

Iquizzil slips behind some heavy pipes and stays in the shadows as he negotiates the cluttered space to a point on the far side of the hooded man. Everything seems to be going to plan, he is about to signal to the others that he is in position when a searing jolt shoots down his antenna as it brushes against an exposed electric wire. Involuntarily he yelps, giving away his presence to the suspicious character.

Adrenaline spikes his system as he waits for the beings response...

OOC: Can I use the triumph to have got into position before giving myself away? If not will edit the text above!

The figure's head jolts up, hood falling from his head as he gives Iquizzil a look of shock at his sudden appearance ahead of him. A glance over his shoulder confirms what he already suspects - he is surrounded. Cautiously, he stands.

"I don't suppose trying to deny that I'm guilty will be very productive will it?" Jago Callom asks.

Iquizzil also stands, in grim determination he resists the urge to clutch the now throbbing antenna. His hand hovers near the blaster at his hip, but does not draw unless Jago reaches for, well, anything!

He looks to Rion for social support, and settles on the simple demand...

"Keep your hands where we can see them, please. I don't want to kill you, but you will be answering our questions,"

Finally a glance to Rast keeping a crosshairs locked, mainly to reassure himself, it has after all been an embarrassing series of events for the Verpine.

"Fair enough," Callom raises his arms, causing his cloak to fall open and reveal a blaster pistol in a shoulder holster. "What do you want to know?"

"Let's start with what you're doing down here," Rast says, his own hands weaponless.

Rion appears behind Callom. "And, after that, you can tell us what happened to this poor fellow, here."

Rion checks the body to confirm that it is the Senator, and looks for anything suspicious or interesting on the corpse.

Rast doesn't take his eyes off of Callom.

"Well I imagine I'm down here for the same reason you are," Callom responds. "That's definitely Blaselock down there, no doubt about it. As for how he got there, that's what I'm trying to work out."

"So you are saying you didn't do this? Well, what did you find, cause of death?"

"Of course I didn't do this. I appreciate the circumstances are hardly ideal for my case but when I got here he was already...hmm...fourteen hours dead? Or sixteen, I'm not certain. Cause of death was probably the broken neck; I would say I'm not an expert but I probably am," he indicates a grotesquely twisted joint in the dead man's neck.