Note: Sorry in advance for any spelling mistakes that I may have passed on my proofreading. Also, I made up the "TK-19"... So don't hurt me.. Please.

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Serenity: The Last Firefly

Chapter Two: Alliance TK-19

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Mal stared at the sight before him, “Well, that’s something new…” A massive super-structure was passing before their eyes. From the looks of it, from what they could actually pick out of the rubble, it looked like one of the alliance ships that hunted them from three years ago. The way the ship was torn asunder gave belief to the idea that it erupted from the inside. Speared on wires, metal and whatever other sharp object was available was the ship’s crew. Burned and in pieces they hung there in weightless space. Not all of them, but a great deal of them. Sparks flew meaning the generator was still trying to work. It would take a few years before the massive power structure would fully burn out…

“It’s one of the Alliance TK-19s from the look of the generator and the hull. What’s left of it anyway…” Kaylee noted. The TK-19s were Alliance warships, they were commonly used for destroying outposts occupied by groups against the Alliance. The ships became more popular five years previously. But when the Alliance fell to the darkness, the ships disappeared as well. “What happened to it?” Simon wrapped his arm around Kaylee’s shoulders in a protective manner.

Jayne raised an eyebrow as If he had an answer to the hideous situation before them. “Reavers?” In his classic way to comfort himself, Jayne squeezed his fingers around one of his guns.

“No,” Zoe cut in, “They have never done something like this. Not on this scale. We have seen them in action before, but reavers have no sense of strategy, they just do.” She pointed at the outward jutting metal in the hull. “That is all very strategic. It looks like it was all well planned out even to the point of… impaling the bodies.”

The captain squinted; his eyes trying to see perfectly clear. It wasn’t that hard to miss for whatever was left of the white and blue paint job was almost fluorescent against the space-black background. He frowned. “Nothing. There’s nothing left. Reavers wouldn’t total the whole thing from the inside like Zoe said. Even if we docked, it would be impossible, the way it’s blown apart, there’s probably electricity and radiation all over that thing with a leaking generator.”

River felt a chill pass over her shoulders. She drew her knees up to her chest again and pulled her legs as close to her body as she could. She had seen many things; she had lived through many horrors. But this was something different. Usually she could hear screaming, crying and the sounds of death. This situation was like Miranda: it was quiet.

Even though the whole conversation was chilling, it was River who made the comment that made everyone’s blood run cold. “They look… Happy.” The crew of Serenity looked at the massive ship, the bodies were speared and sprayed outward and away from the blast. It looked as if whatever was left of the crew impaled themselves and then held onto their doom as the blast erupted throughout the ship. They looked happy, as if it was a good death.

“Who or what did it then?” Simon asked, his arm still wrapped protectively around Kaylee.

A calm and seductive voice behind Mal spoke, “Something new Simon, something new.” Mal turned to look at Inara, and for once he had to agree with her wholly, something very new.

They weren’t too far out from the massive ship when weird noises sounded across Serenity’s hull. Everyone held their tongue and were silent waiting for any other sound or event. Simon stared out at the mass of darkness when it looked like hail was hitting the front window of the cockpit. The sound became louder and it was coming from everywhere. “It’s frozen blood,” Before Simon could continue what he was saying body parts were bouncing off of the ship.

“Mal,” Inara spoke to break the horrific silence, “I think it’s time we leave.”

Jayne back stepped, “G-Gorram right it’s time to leave!” He turned on his heal and quickly stomped off to his room.

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Kaylee dashed towards the engine room. Mal roared an order to warm up the engines and that was exactly what the young mechanic planned to do. The intercom boomed above her head. “Running is a good thing Kaylee.” She frowned and picked up her already sprinting pace.

“Sprinting Cap’n!” She called

Her fear quickened her step. She was afraid of what was out there; reavers were one thing, but this… This was a whole new ship system that was too dangerous to be explored. With her nimble hands she flipped switches and turned screws. In her mind there was one thing she wanted to do: Leave.

River took up the co-pilots seat and Mal manned the main controls of his boat. Jayne was hiding somewhere and the rest of the crew busied themselves with prepping the ship as fast as possible. Inara made a move that everyone was unaware of; she grabbed her image capture and ran up to the cockpit. She stood quietly and recorded as much of the destruction as she could. Mal looked at her and raised his eyebrows. River just stared at their current trajectory.

“What do you think you’re doing?” He choked.

Inara kept her focus on the moment at hand. She spoke while making sure the capture was still running, “If we don’t know what this is, I know someone who might have a clue.” A beeping sound came to her ears. Captain Mal grabbed the back of Inara’s elegant dress and sat her down.

“Hold still for a second will you!” He ignited the engine and started Serenity up. There was a screaming sound coming from the ship as giant metal fragments ground against the exterior. “Time to leave!” Exclaimed Mal as he flew Serenity off in a random direction away from the disaster. He finally noticed how much trouble they were actually in. With as much piloting knowledge he had he dodged metal and bodies. “This is going to be a little nasty…”

Simon held on to something as the ship shuddered at every rough turn they made. Even though he had known the Captain for close to four years he believed that the man lived to make his passengers want to vomit. The doctor slowly made his way to the engine room where he knew Kaylee would be. He peaked in to see no Kaylee.

“Kaylee?” He yelled past the loud sounds of the engine. A oil-plastered face dashed by him. He heard a voice call out to him.

“Not now Simon!” He heard some crashing sounds and then saw Kaylee dash across his view again. She was fiddling with the engine once again and then ducked down out of sight. Simon was tempted to ask if she needed help, but he knew he was out of his element and preferred to stay in his element. For now he admitted he was useless. With unsteady legs and an ever-shifting ship he dared make his way to the medical bay.

After several tense moments of shuddering and constant rocking of the ship everything came to a standstill. Mal’s voice came over the intercom. “We’re clear everyone. Good thing we didn’t explode!” For some reason Simon felt very little humor come from the man’s voice.

“I flew when it was rough.” A little voice said breaking the vocal bellowing of Captain Mal.

“What!? Don’t say that! You can’t say that!” Mal’s screams were apparent. It seemed River had the most success in the day overall. This time Simon couldn’t help but smile at his little sister’s remark. There was a tap on Simon’s shoulder as he clung to a beam near the med bay. It was Kaylee, face smeared with all sorts of engine grease as usual.

Simon wrapped his arms around the love of his life and kissed her on the top of her head. She buried her face in his chest and held him tight. The doctor knew all their lives weren’t in any sort of immediate danger from flying, but the desecrated space vessel gave Kaylee a scare. All he wanted to do was hold her tight, and that is what he did.

In the cockpit Mal turned to a disheveled Inara who sat pouting on the floor. Mal had a smile on his face. “Well, that wasn’t so bad.” Inara frowned to the happy captain.

Turning her head away from Mal and looking at River, Inara spoke. “Thank you River. Someone needs to pilot this floating, metallic deathbed.” River just smiled and knew Mal had a shocked expression on his face.

“It… It’s not a deathbed!” Mal cried. Inara stood and dusted off her abused dress. She held onto her capture and turned to the exit. “Where are you going?” He asked, his ego still feeling the abuse.

The elegant companion kept walking and didn’t even acknowledge his presence, she did answer though. “To my shuttle, I want to look at these images closer.” Inara was out of sight with a turn of a hallway. Mal glared at the young River.

He had to ask the question. “Why did you have to do that? Go and blow everything! I had it under control.”

River took her gaze off of the dark space, cocked her head and smiled to Mal. “Never guessed.”

Fuming, the Captain trudged out of his cockpit and stomped past the crew’s quarters. Jayne stepped out of his living space to confront Mal. The Captain’s eyes widened at the sight.

“Is it over yet?” Jayne asked. He shifted his weight and Mal couldn’t help but grin. The hulk of a man carried more weapons than Mal could count. Jayne had them everywhere, dangling off of his pants, from the front of his shirt… Mal could almost make out a silhouette of a pistol in Jayne’s pants above his boot, as if in the madness the pistol fell through the man’s pants and down his legging.

Jayne left himself wide open. “No Jayne. We have been boarded and are all about to go boom.” Mal chuckled and pointed at Jayne’s belt, “Looks like Vera is ready to go. Oh, don’t forget the grenades.”

“Oh! Right, almost forgot!” Jayne stepped back as Mal walked off, it took a moment before he felt a dread feeling of being mocked. “Hey! Wait a second!” He called.

****

“And that is why I sport this little artifact.” Spoke the man with the latex blue hands. He tossed the dark screw to the leading speaker. The man caught it and spun it between his fingers.

A smile crossed his face. “A beautiful creation you have devised.” The rest of the parliament nodded in agreement. It was a fine creation indeed… “So when can we expect full functionality?” He handed the screw over to another member of parliament who raised an eyebrow to the metal object.

The man made a squeaking noise with his blue hands. “It’s already up and running. It’s taken me three years to perfect; it is a creation beyond what we have created before.” He stood and placed his hands on the table. “This creation will do anything we want, and it is, for the most part, stable.” He smiled. “We have the winning hand, my brother and sisters. This is only the beginning.”

A clapping sound resounded to one side of the table. “Bravo Mr. Gorden. You have please the whole table with a contraption. I want to talk about matter more close to home.” Mr. Gorden sat, his spotlight put out. “We have been taking care of the deserters correct?”

Mr. Gorden nodded. “Yes, they are being taken care of as we speak. Out of the 40 ships that have disappeared, we have recovered 38 of them. More or less intact.”

“It doesn’t matter whether they are intact ‘more or less.’ As long as we account for them all, then we are ready to proceed.” The elite parliament member had many questions, he knew that there was very little time to ask so much. “Mr. Gorden, back to you, have you set your creation on any missions yet?”

Wringing his hands together in a normal act the scientist spoke. “At the moment, I have one. It’s simple and relentless. The best part is, it doesn’t trace back to us.” All listened to the scientist, every person was curious. “Hopefully we should be hearing details soon.”