To be out in the black surrounded by nothing but darkness, which embraces the willing like a mother to a newborn babe, gives the divine sense of freedom. No one understood that freedom more than the crew of Serenity. Serenity was a firefly class ship; not to many left now. In a world of big bad ships steps away from improving to bigger and badder ships Serenity had to scream to get anyone’s attention. She was not what you would have called exquisite but she held her own. To Malcolm Reynolds she was a thing of beauty he adored her like fathers often did their daughters. Serenity stood out to Malcolm because in more ways than one he saw himself mirrored in the ship, it’s why he bought her.

Mal was the captain of Serenity a place in which his presence meant something; the orders given out in this domain where his own and his faithful crew gave little hesitation in executing them. Mal found peace of mind on Serenity he had many things to thank her for; she had on numerous occasions brought him and his crew just barely out of harms reach. Serenity was a safe, vulnerable to any criminals eager to crack her open to steal her prize. The prize inside Serenity was her crew each brought their distinct personalities and the trades in which they excelled in; medicine, mechanics, murder just to name a few, but this is what made them the treasure waiting inside Serenity. Mal had fought in the war on the Independence side. The Independence had lost the war to the Alliance and Mal’s life was a constant reminder of their defeat. But Mal believed and still believes he was on the right side of the battle that despite the war still wages on.

Zoe had fought with Mal in the war and was now his first mate on Serenity. Zoe was a good friend but an even better fighter. Like all veterans the experience of war lingers on in the body and soul leaving behind imprints ready to wake at a moments notice to reclaims it soldier. As many times as Mal had saved Zoe’s life she had saved his, if he was the left side of a brain then she was the right, separate they made no sense but together one dared to heed with caution. Zoe belonged wherever Mal belonged, her devotion as solid as gold. She would have followed him to the edge of hell or to the gates of heaven, which ever would allow them, in their line of work it sometimes seemed she’d seen both places more then she’d like. Her loyalty to Mal was no secret it was a testament to their friendship a token forged in what all they had been through. As strong as their bond was their closeness bugged the hell out of her husband Wash.

Wash was Serenity’s pilot he was good at his job, he was better than good, it seemed as if the man had sprout wings as a badge just to prove he was that damn good. Wash was a laid back, down to ‘Earth’, self-proclaimed funny man. So most people wandered how Wash had ended up with Zoe. They where total opposites night and day. But night cannot exist without day for when will the sun know to rise if the moon never sets; and vice versa. Wash and Zoe provided each other with the abilities the other one lacked; they found common ground on a place called love. And as misunderstood as that love may have been, even amongst Serenity eccentric crew, it gave a humbling sense of virtue and humanity.

Humanity often came into question with what their job sometimes entitled them to do. It probably came into question more so when dealing with Jayne. Jayne was a mercenary a born killing machine. As awkward as it may have seemed there was nothing Jayne knew better than the practice skills of stealth, hand to hand combat, gunfights, and of course blowing stuff up. Some would say Jayne was an incompetent man, but sometimes it is when we lack other abilities our mind knowing or unknowingly devotes itself to one particular field of interest. Jayne’s outward appearance deceived him it showed him to be a hard man devoid of any emotion. And so his greatest flaw, something you could only sometimes see a glimpse of in his dark eyes was his need for survival, a goal he would not hesitate to get at any cause and for that reason alone he was a good asset. Though it might hurt you more to turn your back on him, giving him ample enough time to steady his knife before driving it home.

If it weren’t for Kaylee, Serenity’s engineer, the firefly would probably have been held together by a bandage. Kaylee was thoroughly skilled and surprised many people with her engineering capabilities and knowledge of such vast and complicated machinery. Serenity was in very bad condition, wasn’t even up and flying, probably on its last leg that is if Kaylee hadn’t come along and worked her magic. Kaylee was the picture of innocence, sometimes that innocence was the voice of reason in troubled times. She was what you would have called a soul at peace it showed in the way Serenity flew gracefully at times. Kaylee left her mark on that ship it was after all her girl.

If passion had to be defined in one word it would be Inara. Inara was graceful, delicate; seductive she had to be it was what her job called for. It was why men paid for her services, she was a companion, she did her job well ate and breath every aspect of it. It was only in desperate measures you could really call Inara part of the crew the times when she got involved in the scheming and the plotting; other than that she unlike the rest of the crew paid Mal for her stay on Serenity. Inara’s job allowed easy access to the act of love but it was also the one thing that held her into submission of actually being in love. Even though her parents and the Academy gave her no other option then the life of a companion she held no grudge and went of loving what she did.

Everyone had a job on Serenity I guess you could say Books was to keep the peace and bring sanity to everyone else or so he told himself. Book was a man of the cloth, a Sheperd. He had a past no one was able to figure out and one he was unwilling to speak of. His plight to becoming a Sheperd had been a long and divided one given his hush, hush past, but he had successfully reached his destination and offered the hand of God to anyone who would take it. Book tried hard to make believers out of the crew but they where skeptics the biggest one of all being Mal. Book sometimes wondered why he stayed on ship where he was welcomed but God wasn’t. Mal felt God had abandoned him during the war and so out of spite he decided to abandon Him in return.

If anyone on the ship felt abandoned it was probably the Tams. River and Simon Tam came from a wealthy enriched life one that dissolved around them like sand slipping through fingertips. Simon was a very gifted core doctor what his life had to offer was what some people spent their lives hoping of, coming only close enough to reach the outlandish fantasy in the outskirts of their dreams. River was super-gifted she wished for more intellectual satisfaction and was sent to a special Academy to broaden her horizons. The Academy was a secretly disguised research lab, in which River was ripped apart and built a new. They dug into River’s super-genius brain pulling and tugging until the pieces fit how they wanted them to and not how they where suppose to. Simon soon discovered what had happened to River he rescued her from the Academy and in his daring heroics he made them both fugitives. That’s how they came to Serenity, Mal found Simon useful him being a doctor and all and River slightly odd, but Simon was a packaged deal. So he gave them a home and refuge on his ship. Simon and River’s old lives crumbled into the dust of a faint memory; Serenity forged them new lives, a huge adjustment. It isn’t easy for fugitives with a bounty on their heads to slip through the cracks and into hiding but fortune allowed them enough room in the fissure that was Serenity.

As picturesque as it may all seem it takes but a mighty blow to shatter fine armor made of steel and reveal the weak underbelly of the opponent, a ready target for a sharp and swift blade.

To be continued...