The upper deck of the Jotunheim was abuzz with panicked movement as Itxaro rolled through. The civilian passengers weren’t clear on what was happening, just that they’d been woken up and told to shelter in place. Some of them may have been some kind of use in a firefight, but the crew hadn’t informed them of the nature of the problem yet, and neither had an audit of their skills been undertaken. Dr Feng was part way through calmly evacuating all non-critical patients from the med bay when Itxaro threw a vest at him. He caught it, deftly flopping it over his head and on. Feng looked at his assistants and told them to take over, then stepped toward Dr Ibarra and took the proffered carbine with one med-gloved hand. He fastened the plate carrier tightly around his body with the other. “Broadly speaking - what’s happening?” Sara the medical assistant hurriedly clipped a white pack with a red cross on it to the back of Feng’s vest. The good doctor then waved her away and motioned for Itxaro to lead him out. [hr] Silbermine watched two large birds lift off from the crashed temple and flap into the sky towards the mountains as the Castigator addressed him again. That is at least one mage out of the picture. His large antlered head eventually returned to look at her, but he didn’t respond. This one evidently needed taking down a notch or two. He listened carefully to J’eon too, before snorting contemptuously at the other Glen and tapping one hoof on the stoney ground. “You’re a Smith, aren’t you? I can hear the hammerscale in your voice! Speak you to a Lord this way? I should have you flayed for your insolence! Come here and tell me of this temple’s properties and I may yet reconsider. There could even be gold in it for you!” Soon after, a thing that the noble had only heard tales about spoke. An Iriad wreathed in flames. This surely meant something, yet he could not figure out what. His beady, intelligent eyes studied them through the slit in his ornate helmet. The painting wasn’t a Glen? He looked again. “Hmmmmm.” After a moment, he unclipped the immaculate visage from the front of his helmet, revealing his scarred and craggy face to these people for the first time. It was a face that had seen many battles and knew its way around a stand off. “I know not how these Sky People look. Only that Glen lose their antlers at winter’s end, and I command a squadron of wall breakers with rams attached their chests.” At that point, the Castigator requested a parley. Silbermine nodded. The Castigator began approaching their position. The Glen behind Silbermine remained motionless, apart from their standards flapping in the wind. The fog behind them was creeping up the hillside toward them, threatening to re-engulf the soldiers. Silbermine trotted forward, followed at a distance of about ten metres by his three knights (the Glen-at-arms and servants remained still). Nellara and Silbermine stopped about five metres from each other. “I pray you bring the Sky People out here so we may talk like civilised folk. I have no quarrel with them - I swear it. There is no need for anyone to die here.” [hr] “Droid 2, do not move or make any noise until I say. Confirm command.” Ezra quietly urged, viewing the robot through his scope. It stood clutching a long, thin shard of metal about thirty feet from the lead elk-thing. “Command confirmed.” came the whispered response in his earpiece. Ezra had opted not to move when this new party arrived, instead crouching down and trying to blend with the charred shrubbery around him. There had been a variety of unintelligible shoutings between these two alien groups. He’d seen some birds fly off, and now one of the alien warriors had embarked down from the ridge the Jotunheim sat on and clanked through the scree towards the elk-things. “Captain, what is the plan here? This looks like a conversation we should be included in.” [hr] With all the aliens now out of the shuttle bay, Zey moved closer to the hole in the hull which was serving as the entranceway. Mr Darnell shouldered his shotgun and came closer as well, helping Vigdis and Eva move boxes into a defensive wall. Peering outside, Zey got a glimpse of the backs of the aliens they were just communicating with, and further down the hill… Ranks of heavily armoured quadrupeds. Great. It was looking like the fever dream mediaeval reenactment out there. “Mallory, what is our armament’s status? Do you have a bead on those horse-things outside?” Ezra chimed in via comms, and it may have been the drugs talking, but he was making some good points. It was clear to Zey now that this world they had landed in was unstable, with multiple competing interests. As newcomers in a strange land, they needed to present strength and courage as well as collaboration. Otherwise, they could be perceived as commodities to be sold to the highest bidder for exploitation. That is what happened all through Human history - they had to assume some parallels could apply here. Zey gulped down her bone-dry throat, and looked around at her crew/passengers. She needed to be brave for them now - if they stood any chance of surviving. Taking one long breath out, she clambered onto the box that Vigdis had just slotted in front of her and jumped down onto the scorched earth beneath the Jotunheim. The rising sun shone brightly through her mask, and for a moment she was blinded by its light. She raised one hand to shield her eyes, and gradually she could see again. “Ezra, I’m external.” She murmured into her comms unit. “Captain, what the fuck are you doing?!” Darnell shouted after her.