A roiling fog had rolled across the marshy plains south of Lake Núr overnight. The first pale rays of dawn crept over the horizon and danced across the Jotunheim’s battered hull. Ezra turned off his night vision and surveyed the crash site again as first contact went ahead. 

The Jotunheim was in an awkward, difficult to defend position, perched on the side of this hill. The firestorm immediately following the crash had burned away everything within fifty yards of the ship, leaving a charred circle. Ezra was no expert, but it seemed odd to him that the fires didn’t extend further out considering the oxygen-rich atmosphere. There were still a fair amount of trees and bushes surrounding the crash, even if some were still charred and smoking. This meant line of sight was choppy - no easy way to cover all approaches without more people. Ezra understood the Captain’s resistance to committing either her crew or frightened passengers to an external role right now. In fact this suited him - it meant he was indispensable while he figured out his next move.

The mercenary eventually opted to position himself up the hill from the ship, towards the cockpit end. There was a cluster of bushes that he could lie under which provided him a good vantage point to look out over the crash site and the marshes beyond. The other two androids controlled by Wodan (but accessible by any authorised personnel) completed a triangle around the ship. One was above and towards the engine end, with an OK view of the crest of their hill. The other droid blended in with the tangle of metal and broken trees that littered the Jotunheim’s path.

As the alien creatures arrived and investigated the ship, Ezra and his droids remained hidden. Their rifles were trained on the groups at all times. Once these initial guests filtered through to the shuttle bay on the marsh-side of the ship, they carefully tightened the triangle around them. Ezra changed position slightly to give him LOS on the jagged gash towards the fore corner of the shuttle bay. Peering through his scope, he saw multiple creatures in metal plate armour standing guard at the entrance. 

“I have eyes on the shuttle bay opening. Two tangos are external.” Ezra sounded off over comms for the crew to hear. They looked like birds in armour through his scope.

“What is your status?”