Forgive the lengthy post. 

So, you have many choices here. You can get settled into the crew quarters, check out the areas where you'll be operating as a crew member, and/or skip right to meeting up at the armory (if you want to be apart of the ground team that will rescue the survivors). You don't have to be part of the ground team. You can also elect to be a gunner on one of the turrets (see the Ship map) or I can create a scenario for you to deal with. 

I'd say after a round of posts from everyone, I'll end Chapter 1 and jump right into 2.