Chapter One: Firefly

Everything was going grand, got a few jobs, clean ones too.

Then the Reapers hit.

Any available ship, anything that could fly, were being piled up with civilians trying to flee their burning world. People fled with only the clothes on their backs and tears in their eyes.

It was nothing Mal had ever seen.

It wasn't hard to decide to help. Even Jayne wasn't hard to dissuade, especially once payment was promised.

They were just a transport ship but that meant they could take cargo. Sure he'd make them pay, it was business, but at a lower rate. Money didn't mean much anymore so folk paid the only way they could. Food. Thermal clips. A song or two.

Anything else and he'd feel more like a crook than he already was.

"So...tell me what the hell are we doing over lizard territory?" Jayne, uncouth as always, growled deep in his throat.

He glanced down at the turian. "No offense meant."

"None taken." Second in command Zoe Washburne gripped the edge of the pilot's seat watching her husband fly.

"It's being fucked in the face."

"Well..." Wash ducked around the turian fleet as they fought a desperate battle to keep the reapers stalled long enough for an evacuation.

"We're over Palaven, my darling wife's home, to pick up a few people." The human pilot's fingers made the Serenity dance, fluttering like a leaf in the wind, soaring faster than any other ship in the skies above a burning world.

Serenity hovered a few feet away from the half destroyed building as a human male, turian female and a large krogan jumped off the landing ramp.

"Come back for us!"

"I'll come back for my wife, you not so much."

"Hey!" The man raised his hand.

"Don't worry sir."

"I'm not worried." Zoe gave him a look. "Seriously. Besides I hid all his toy dinosaurs."

"Can you two stop your yapping and get to shooting? We got company." Jayne lifted his shotgun. "Your human Christmas came early."

And then he charged into the group of husks hollering as he did so.

"Sir, tell me why we have Jayne with us?"

"Distraction my dear Zoey, distraction. While he's tearing up everything we're going to get your parents and get out."

The human and turian team started running to the opposite side of the platform. Then they jumped off, landing a few feet away continuing their run. The platforms were littered with the dead, debris and all manner of ugly things.

A loud explosion rocked from where Jayne was.

"Grenades? Sir? Really?"

Mal just grinned at her. "Grenade launchers. Hopefully he won't use all of it."