Note: I thought of this when I was running one morning. I decided to write it because it could be fun. (I finally said "To hell with waiting to release this chapter!" and released it anyway.) :D

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Serenity: The last Firefly

Chapter Three: Shepherd Nyle

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Serenity was landed in a larger city on the outer rim. Mal ordered a series of mechanical repairs on the ship over the course of time the crew was landed on that planet. Kaylee, Simon and River wandered off to buy perishables and anything else they would need as food and water. Zoe, Jayne and Mal, on the other hand, wandered off to the local bad-guy hot spot for a new deal with a new smuggler. The job was going to be easy from Mal’s point of view. Crash in on a small settlement, play the bad guys, steal the old Alliance’s gear from the impoverished people, and sail off into the starry sky.

Jayne kept one of his ‘girls’ tucked away nicely under his leather jacket which he stole from the last bar the crew went to. Mal sauntered into the bar before the rest of his ragtag half of the crew. Sitting silently in the corner of a bar was a skinny man dressed in a black, pressed suit and tie. He tapped his fingers on the table in an anxious manner. The two large guards in full black with sunglasses stood at his sides.

Mal stepped up to the skittish man. “Panties up in a bunch, Tux?” He put his weight on one foot and set his thumbs in the corners of his pockets to let his fingers dangle. Zoe and Jayne took either one of his sides and kept their cool as Mal did all the talking.

“You’re 20 minutes late. Trying to do business with those who can’t be on time is rough on the senses. You made me think you all got cold feet or somethin’.” He pointed to a seat across from him for Mal to sit. Zoe and Jayne stood as Mal took his place across from the jittery old man.

“Well, we ran into some… Nasty turbulence on the way here and had to make some odd turns. Now, let’s get to the chase here, what do you want us to do, and I want to see the money first.” The man, Tux, kicked a bag at Mal’s shins. The browncoat reached down and put a hand in the bag while keeping his eyes on his business partner across from him. “Okay then. I take it this is half?”

The tapping started up again. “Of course not you barbarian, that’s 25% of what the full amount is. When you finish your job you will get the other 75%.”

Mal chuckled. “Only 25%? Now, now Tux, old boy, we were promised 50%. Don’t be going back on your word now.” Jayne reached inside the pocket of his new jacket and fingered the trigger of his weapon. One of the bodyguards patted his upper left pocket near his chest indicating to Jayne that they weren’t going to play nice either if it got messy.

“You see, Mal, I place 25% because of what has been going down lately. I don’t expect you all to make it back after this mission. So I find it to be more beneficial to place a smaller amount of money down so that my panties don’t get caught up in a bunch. If you die, losing 25% sounds better than losing half.” He shrugged and tapped his foot up and down making the table shake slightly. “You children do know what has been happening, right?”

Jayne looked at Zoe with an uncomfortable expression. Mal shifted in his seat. “What is going on? I don’t take lightly to secrets that could endanger my crew.” He stared down the ADD man.

“Lately there’ve been attacks on small rebel bases on the poorer outer rim planets.” He cracked his neck before continuing, “Rumor has it the towns are destroyed completely, no one left alive. No woman, no child, no dog, no cat. Not even a bird is left flying in the air.” He waved his hands around trying to spook the hardened smugglers. Jayne shifted his weight and glanced around.

“Well it can’t be Alliance, we all know that.” Jayne cut in.

“Rumor is that it’s a new breed of bad guy.” He shrugged and leaned back in his chair. “So, what I was saying. Since these whole places are being demolished like a fly under your thumb, do you really expect to just fly in and steal the goods?” Tux made another swooping motion with his hand, this time he even had sound effects. “Since, from the last I was informed, the settlement is still kickin’, I suspect those locals are going to be armed to the T. That is why I don’t expect you to make it back. However, I made the deal with you folks before this whole issue. Although I give you credit that you might have a chance since the smuggler Captain Malcolm Reynolds has a reputation that precedes him.”

Mal sat forward, laced his finger and leaned on the table. “We’ve been in a pickle before. I don’t see this as being too much of an issue.”

“Captain, please take our situation into consideration.” Zoe said calmly for reinforcement.

“We can handle it.” Mal reached down and pulled the bag from under the table towards him. “Where do you want to meet to drop off the goods?”

Tux rapidly drummed on the table with his fingers, “Good! I’m glad to see you’re a man with a sense of adventure and business!” The old man spoke of the final destination before leaving Mal, Jayne and Zoe to their duties.

River, Simon and Kaylee were already back on this ship loading up the final crates of supplies when the other three stepped on board.

Zoe took her Capitan to the side to speak with him. “Mal, are you sure about this?” She asked surly.

“Of course I am. I don’t see what the problem is. It’s not like we haven’t been through settlements where they try to kill us before.” He smiled and tucked his hands into his pockets. “Besides, we need the business; we’ve been running off of hot air for the past month.” Mal’s proud smile gave away his slight sense of worry for the mission. The crew had every right to worry.

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It was a quiet day in a small outskirt town on one of the outer rim planets. The settlement consisted of a variety of people. Most were the rebels and the prosecuted peoples from the Alliance. Here they found a home. It wasn’t much; most of the homes were made from scrap metal retrieved from their ships after landing. No one complained since there was no need to. Happiness is what everyone wanted. They all strived for the same thing, which was what made the community great.

Lately there were worries and whispers about severe attacks on the outer settlements. The perpetrators took the towns by surprise and destroyed everything. The men of the town were jittery and slept with rifles next to their pillows. The shepherd tried to cool their fears with calm words of the fact their town was so remote, that levitated the anxiety a little but it didn’t stop the subconscious thoughts of terror.

Children were busy in their daily studies with the local Shepherd Preacher. The school was outside with only a roof for a cover and dirt flooring. The desks were shabby for the kids to be in, but they worked well enough. He smiled at his variety of young students who were intent on today’s lesson of the Alliance’s reign three years ago. It was a history lesson of some sort. Once that lesson was over he set down his book and retrieved a piece of chalk. The students giggled as the Shepherd scrambled for a writing utensil. Once it was found the man sighed and started writing.

The Shepherd finished writing his details on his old, cracked chalk board. The settlement was too poor to afford anything more elaborate, no one complained. He set down his chalk and picked up his hand written text book. Since the history lesson was over, it was time to move to the religion section of the day. Before he could speak an explosion erupted from the center of the town.

Children screamed and ducked under their desks in a panic. The Shepherd could hear his name being called out in screams. A tall man was running towards him with terror written across his face. “Shepherd! Shepherd Nyle!!” As the sprinting man approached the schoolhouse blood sprayed across his face. A large hole was torn through his chest. As he fell to the ground a single dark figure appeared behind him, lowering a pistol.

A wind tore through the settlement from a cruiser hovering dangerously close to the ground. Several of the town guards rushed the single cloaked figure. In a roar of engines and dust they all disappeared.

The cruiser above them roared off into higher altitudes. When the dust settled, they could see what had just happened. Bodies littler the ground, dirt stained with blood. The hood of the cloaked figure had fallen and was draped across its shoulders. Dark, dark red hair was pulled back into a pony-tail at the back of its head. Shepherd Nyle felt his heart chill, it was a woman.

“Children, run!” He cried. Most of the school kids jumped out from behind their desks and took off running from the massacre; a few were too scared to do anything.

Shepherd Nyle held his ground and stepped in front of the children who didn’t run off. The woman got closer and her gaze was piercing. Eyes like nothing he ever saw before, red with an odd transition to blue near her pupils. She glanced around taking a good look at who was where.

“Why are you doing this? We are a peaceful settlement of hard working people.” Shepherd Nyle said clearly. The murderess stepped around the desks and ran her fingers over what the children were writing. She turned her back to the preacher and the children gathering about his legs. With one swift move she reached behind a desk and pulled out a young boy no older than 8 years of age. She set him down and put a hand on his head.

The woman squatted down to whisper in the child’s ear, “Move, and I will break off your fingers one by one.” The boy held still, his body unable to move. Tears streamed down his eyes in terror. She wrapped a hand around the boy’s neck and locked eyes with Nyle. “How much do you love these children?”

“They are children, gifts from God. I love them all with my whole heart.” The Shepherd said. He told the truth and was worried for his young student. His eyes were looking at the hand around the boy’s throat. Her knuckles looked odd behind the taped up exterior. Nyle had studied many things, including anatomy. Knuckles never looked spiny like that…

“Good, at least you’re straight to the point. I have been looking for you for a while. I got wind that you had become a Shepherd and taken on a name in some remote town. I didn’t know how hard it would be to track your illusive carcass down!” She had a smile on her face. Nyle couldn’t help but feel a seductive tone to her voice. It was frightening. “You have become loving as I have been told. Your years of hardening and training your mind to be a killer have worn off.” She caught the shepherd’s gaze. “You know why I am here. Did you really think that failing your mission you’d be let free from the Parliament? No, no. Remember, they are unforgiving.” She kissed the little boy’s cheek and tapped on his throat. He squealed in complete terror.

Shepherd Nyle hardened his gaze at the murderess. “Leave the children be, your quarrel is with me.”

“Oh how noble!” She stood and kept a hand on the boy’s head making sure he didn’t move. “Do you know the definition of a hero, Shepherd?” A want for blood flashed across her gaze, “It’s someone who gets others killed.”

In a split second the woman reached across her cloak, and drew a long blade. She slit the young boy’s throat. The child didn’t even have time to scream. His head wobbled on whatever flesh was left for his head to cling to. As fast at the weapon was drawn, it disappeared behind the killer’s cloak. The child’s life poured out before the Shepherd who felt horror and terror: two feelings unknown to him.

The woman picked the dying boy up under the arms and threw his limp body at Nyle. The Shepherd made a dash to catch the boy in the air leaving the other children exposed. As he caught the child in his arms a hard fist was there to meet his gaze.

Shepherd Nyle felt his neck snap back from the blow of the attack. Before hit body hit the ground another blow came to his gut. As his body seemed to float to the ground, he heard gunshots at the side of his head.

No! His thoughts screamed.