DISCLAIMER: I forgot this in the last chapter, but this story is set in a universe created by the talented Joss Whedon, not myself, so please don't sue me (I don't have anything anyway, unless you want my spiffy new shoes.). The characters, Colony 10, and Planet Hephaestus, however, are creations of my own, and any resemblance of them to any character, living or dead, fictional or real, is purely coincidental. Again, don't sue me, I'm very protective of my spiffy new shoes.
Cord rolled over in bed, the sunlight filtering in through thin sheets. He rose from the bed and began to prepare for his day: working in the factories until the Boss said "stop". The Alliance didn't care about planets such as Hephaestus, didn't care to enforce labor laws, and so Cord usually found himself working eighteen to twenty-hour shifts. He was only home last night due to his lie about a meeting with a Companion for which he'd been saving up. In reality, Cord needed a day of rest, lest the job kill him.
With his leisure day behind him, Cord put on his uniform and stepped outside, into the blinding rays of the sun. He could already tell that today would be a hot one, another in a long line thanks to the heat wave, which may or may not have been caused by global warming. Factories like the ones Cord worked at existed in force all over the surface of Hephaestus, each keeping their own hours of operation; Cord even heard tell of one factory that went so far as to just have their workers live on site, working days at a time. Cord grit his teeth at the thought.
Before reporting at the factory, Cord visited Mrs. Plum, his elderly neighbor. It wasn't rare to see many people over the age of fifty this side of the Verse, and she was the only one with whom Cord could reminisce about the military. Both had served in the Unification War – on opposite sides.
"Unification Day approaches, Elwood. Getting your knickers all in a bunch this year?" she asked with a snide smile. Her old British accent added a sharpness to the words that Cord could not help but love.
"No, ma'am, in fact I hadn't even been aware." Cord replied, "Must be the damn fumes getting to me. Harder to breathe in those damn factories than it was in the trenches, you wouldn't believe it."
A glint of fire in Mrs. Plum's eyes told Cord that he had stepped too far. "War's over, Plum. Don't know how many times I gotta tell you that, but you don't have to be such a mugou about it." The wind blew even more dust into his face as he turned away from Mrs. Plum. She shouted something in Chinese as he walked away, and both parties smiled. All in good fun.
Cord walked to the factory, as most other men in Colony 10 did every day. He assumed his station, his monotonous job on the assembly line, and mentally tuned out, to allow his body to do all the work.
It had only been two and a half hours before the Boss came out, white as a sheet, and told everyone to go home. There was an understandable air of confusion about the place; the Boss would never call an early work day, hell, the shortest day Cord had ever had was ten hours.
"Why is it that we're going so early, Boss?" a man near Cord, named Osiris, asked as others began to pack up.
"It has been reported that..." the Boss began, his pudgy face dripping with sweat, "That Reavers have been spotted heading for Hephaestus."
A hush fell over the factory floor. People looked to one another, exchanging glances of shock, panic, and terror. The Boss kept talking, explaining the situation, but Cord did not listen. Cord could not listen. He could only see his wife's face, pulled away from him after a final "I love you". He could only hear his daughter's screams as the Reavers... No, Cord would not stand here and be lectured about the Reavers. He would not run home out of fear, he would not hide. The last time he hid, his family and his home were wiped out.
Cord did not go straight home for the factory. Sirens wailed all over the colony, but Cord did not care about them.
He walked up to Mrs. Plum's door and began banging upon it.
"Open up, you fengkuang de nuwu! It's Cord Elwood!" he yelled at the screen door.
A distant voice from inside replied, "Are you armed?"
"No, I'm not armed! I-" Cord began. As though from thin air, Mrs. Plum appeared at the door, a repeater in one hand and a mug of tea in the other.
"Well, why the hell not, Alliance boy?" she replied with a devilish smile. Cord smirked as he walked into the house. There was much to be done.