The captain of the Firefly, Mnemosyne, assembled his crew for take-off. He lightly touched the controls and revelled in the feel of them his hands. Sighing, he closed his eyes as he felt the ship lift off.
"Beautiful," he whispered to himself. He felt the ship bask in his compliment and he smiled to himself. She was his muse, as much as he was Hers. She flew true for him, and at times, She felt more real than any crew member he'd ever hired. They came and went, but his ship stayed by his side, constantly. She believed in his mission as much as She believed in him.
She had been his for five years now. They had seen much together, had flown all over the galaxy. Somehow, they managed to stay out of the Unification War by running cargo for both sides. He didn't care who hired him, as long as he was paid on time and in full. He kept his records hidden and his name a secret. If anyone, Alliance or Independent, wanted to find him they would discover he did not exist. During this time, he built up contacts on both sides and gathered information on the Company, now called Blue Sun Corporation. But for all he had accomplished in these five years, he was no closer to bringing it down. He clenched his fists in frustration. He had lost many crew members in his quest and the strain of his mission was weighing down on him.
"Captain," his first mate, a man named Matt, called out as he climbed into the cockpit. "We've got a problem."
"What is it," he replied, annoyed at the interruption. The first mate sat in the co-pilots chair and pulled up a newsfeed on the cortex.
"This just came in today, Cap. Take a look." The captain leaned over to get a look at what his first mate was so worried about. The headline read "Blue Sun Corporation to sponsor the construction of Alliance Academy." He let out a string of curses.
"Qing wa cao di liu mang! Just what we need. A company sponsored 'academy'." The captain looked over at his first mate, who was glancing nervously at the cortex screen. "We'll need to gather some intel on this new operation before we make any decisions. I want you to talk to our contacts and figure out where this 'academy' is being built." The first mate just looked at him. "That gonna be a problem Matt?" he asked.
"Captain, I've been with you since the beginning," Matt replied. "You know I'm not an Alliance loyalist. And you know I'm not a Browncoat, neither. But this seems like suicide. Sir, I get that you want more than anything to take em down. But it seems pointless. Blue Sun is a huge corporation. How many crew members do you have to lose before you give up your personal vendetta?" The captain looked upsharply at his second in command. In one swift move, Matt was pinned against the wall as the captain's hand crushed his windpipe.
"Let me get one thing straight, Matt," he said, his voice venemous. "This isn't about a personal vendetta. You want to have your own personal opinion, fine! But don't take issue with my decisions as a captain. We're doing this. If you don't like it, then you can get off my ship." With that, he released him. Matt rubbed at his throat and looked at the captain he thought he knew and realized he didn't know at all.
"Fine. I'll be leaving when we reach Persephone," he stated, and walked off the bridge.
The captain banged his fists against the bulkhead and leaned his forehead against the cool metal.
"This isn't a personal vendetta," he whispered quietly to himself. "This is revenge."
The next port stop saw not only the first mate leave, but also the mechanic and mercenary. They both said he was too volatile to work with and they didn't believe in his mission anyway. After all, Blue Sun Corp supplied all their protein packs. Destroy Blue Sun and you destroy their supply source.
So there he was, sitting alone in the pilot's seat. A captain with a ship and no crew. The war was over. The Alliance had won. Blue Sun Corp was still in existence and he was no closer to bringing it down then he had been 500 years ago.
"My beautiful ship," he whispered. "I've failed, haven't I?"
No, She whispered back. You haven't failed. Not even close.
"I don't have a crew. I don't have any money. All I have is information about the Company that no one believes."
Information is power.
"What good is power if there's no one worthy enough to wield it?"
There is One.
Then the ship showed her Captain a glimpse. A brief flash of the girl. That girl. The one with the dark hair and haunting eyes.
"Is that her? The one who can use this information?"
Even as he asked the question, he knew the answer.
"How do I find her?"
She'll find you.
The next day, the young captain of the Mnemosyne put her up for sale. He knew had to stay on this planet. She had to fly. She was meant to fly. He eventually heard that a young captain named Malcolm Reynolds had bought her and renamed her Serenity. He heard that this man was a browncoat. He also heard that this man had lost his faith sometime after the battle of Serenity Valley. When he heard all this, the young man knew that he would one day run into Captain Reynolds. Their fates were intertwined like a flowing river.
Qing wa cao di liu mang - frog-humping sonofabi!
