This is the first chapter of what I hope to develop into a real story. I'm very much an amature at this, as it's my first Fanfic and actually my first work of fiction since High School (hint: Milli Vanilli were topping the charts). I hope it's enjoyed enough to continue it.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BANG! Mal is shaken awake by the sound of bad things happening to his ship. Snapping as fast as he can he hits the comm. “Wash, what the hell.. I mean River, what the hell is going on?” “Rocks in space.. not supposed to be here, but here they are. Sorry, I’ll miss the rest of them.” On the bridge. “River, what’s going on, why are we in the middle of an asteroid field, and why are you in my seat?” “The asteroids are in my way, and it’s not your seat anymore” “River, honey, stop playing and let me fly the ship” Wash passes an incorporeal hand through River’s shoulder. “Whoa, that’s not right. Why did that happen, what’s going on?” “You’re dead. Remember? Big pointy thing, right through your chest?” “I seem to remember something like that, it’s a bit fuzzy. You’re swinging too wide, you’ve gotta tighten your control.” Wash stabs at the console in vain and eventually offers “flip this switch and turn this dial ¼ to the left”. River complies. “That any better?” “Much, thank you” Mal enters the bridge putting the finishing touches on his suspenders. “Report!” “Well, this looks like an uncharted asteroid field, I don’t remember…” River mumbles almost silently “He can’t hear you.” Then louder to Mal, “It looks like an uncharted asteroid field.” River shoots a sly look to Wash. “Fine. I’ll just stand over here out of your way, being dead a while” “River, how far are we from the rendezvous point?” “Not far, too close for this to be here” Off in the distance is sighted the shattered remains of a planet. “Well, at least we know where all the asteroids came from” Zoe enters the bridge. “What’s going on?” Wash pouts. River makes a sad face at him. “Asteroids approaching The Rat’s Nest. Looks like Exxed is blown apart.”

A little history on the Planet Exxed. There was a plant on the outer edge that was rich in metal deposits and minerals. The planet was so rich that Terraforming failed in its very early stages and was “X’ed” off the Alliance’s list of habitable worlds. However, the planet’s resources were so valuable that it was considered a prospector’s paradise, and a shantytown station comprised of hundreds of ships all connected around a near derelict station left from the Terraforming attempt came to life supporting individuals and families looking for the big strike. The hostile environment was deemed to be too costly to mine commercially for the Alliance, since they already have much more efficient mines setup on inner moons. So this left the Plant Exxed, as it was named by the first prospectors, a goldmine for independent miners and the shantytown, dubbed by most as “The Rat’s Nest” a very important waypoint for off the record transactions.

Jayne makes his appearance on the bridge. “It’s hard enough to keep the food on ship down without crazy missy tossin’ us about. What’s up?” Zoe calmly states, “Exxed is gone” “The Nest?” “Gone.” “The job?” “Gone.” “The money?” “Gone.” “Hell!” “Now, don’t get too riled up about the 20,000 or so souls that just happen to be gone as well.” Mal chides. “Or the one that ISN’T gone. Sorry, going back to being dead now” River laughs. “Hell, I’m just mad, she thinks it’s funny” “That’s not what I was laughing at” “What were you laughing at then?” River shoots Jayne an icy glare. “Do you really want to know?” “Bah! Still crazy.” Wash gets an anxious tone in his ghostly voice. “River, Alliance!! Big ship, bad men” River states. “I see them!” Mal says, “See who?” Jayne says, “Still crazy.” “Alliance.” She points to the black ship surveying the destruction. “They spot us?” Mal says. “Not yet. They’re running some heavy scans on the planet.” The Doctor, Kaylee and Inara show up. Before they can get a word in, Jayne says, “Planet’s gone, job’s gone, money’s gone.” Then grumbles, “Not much more reason for us to be hanging around either, if you ask me.” Zoe studies the black ship as best as she can, all the while hanging over the ghost of her dead husband, completely unaware. “Mal, you ever see a ship like that?” “Well, except for that weird cannon looking thing under it, it looks like a…” “They know we’re here.” River says. “Flash, burn… TURN HARD!!” The ship responds to her guidance and nimbly dances out of the way of cutting blast of light from the Alliance ship. “Damn, you are good.” The ghostly Wash offers. “What the gorram Hell what that?” Panicked Jayne. “I think the Alliance has themselves a new toy.” Mal said. The comm. Speakers crackled and came to life. “Attention! Firefly class vessel, you are ordered to surrender and prepare for boarding.” A smile crossed River’s face. “They don’t want you to know….” An impatient Mal demanded, “Know what?” River whispers, “The white fire, takes from them. When they shoot it out, it takes them a while to get ready again. They’re laying helpless…” Kaylee glances toward the Doc, “Just like a man.” Jayne says, “I can’t be be knowing this.” Mal replies, “I could stand to hear a bit more. River, can you get us in for a closer look before they’re ready to shoot again?” Without replying River glides the Serenity toward their temporarily dormant foe. More comes across the comm., “Firefly, STAND DOWN or be destroyed” “No Alliance marking on the hull. Zoe, what do make of it?” Mal asked. “Prototype? Something they want kept quiet?” Jayne chimes in, “Blowin’ up a whole planet. I guess that’s subtle by Alliance standards.” Mal said, “The thing is, Exxed wasn’t exactly a stable planet to begin with. With all the unauthorized mining the Alliance could have just looked on and said “I told you so” and that would be it” Jayne responds, “Of course with us here bearin witness to these events, that puts us in a not so comfortable position.” “Waking up now…” Warns River. “Full burn, fast and far. Girl, make us as a ghost.” Ordered Mal. Wash grumbles. River smiles as she brings the Serenity to full burn lighting up the black. “Where to?” “Can’t you read my mind?” Mal asked. “A Captain should still give the order” Mal gave a small smile and a single nod. “Head for Haven” and walks out of the bridge with all but Simon and Kaylee. “River, you ok?” Her brother asked. “Shiny.” She said with a smile. Kaylee said, “ I better check the engines, that was quite a bit of tussle back there. Good flying.” “I’ll go with you, if you’re ok alone River” “Who said I was alone?” Simon and Kaylee look at one another with a slightly uncomfortable smile and walk out. Wash groans. “So is this what eternity is going to be like? You did real good back there. I don’t think I could have avoided that blast, even if I had seen it coming.” “She’s helping me a lot.” “Who?” River glances toward Wash with a deep look in her eyes, “Serenity”