Disclaimer: I do not own Firefly or the cast.
Summary: An Alliance cruiser stumbles upon an abandoned Firefly Transport and tries to piece together the final hours before its end.
Notes: Jaylee and Mal/Inara may become involved at some point. I plan to make this a several chapter story, this being the prologue.
How It All Ends
"Alright Rafferty, tell me you have some intelligent reason for waking me at this hour." He walked in, hair perfect despite his claims of sleep, and took his place next to the young officer in front of the monitor.
"Distress call sir. We found a trace of a beacon and followed it. Its an old Firefly class 03-K64." Rafferty stood with his hands behind his back, staring up at the ranking officer with admiration.
"You said to notify you if we came upon a Firefly transport sir." Another man chimed in. He was shorter and stood in perfect posture. The other officer rolled his eyes at the obvious ass-kissing going on before him.
"That I did." The General put his hand on the young mans shoulder and smiled. "Thank you Tucker." He leaned on the panel with his two hands and stared at the ship, swinging carelessly through the nothing of space. "Any response?"
"Nothing sir." Rafferty stepped in front of Tucker. "We've been trying for approximately quarter to an hour now, since we found the beacon." He paused, looking unsure of his next statement. "Do you figure it was abandoned, sir?"
The general looked up at the young officer and sighed. "Could be. Or could be they're just hiding."
"Or dead sir." Tucker chimed in, as usual. The other two men looked at him, almost as if they'd forgotten he was there.
"Yes Tucker, could be that too." The man moved back from the panel and clapped his hands together once. "Alright then, guess we go in. Prep the air lock for attachment, I'll go suit up." He headed towards the door. "Rafferty, you're coming with me. Tucker, you stay here. Man the ship while I'm out."
"But sir…" Tucker interrupted. "I feel that I could much better serve the alliance by exploring the ship, sir." Rafferty rolled his eyes again. The general frowned, deep in thought.
"Alright then. You boys get suited up. Tell Donaldson he's in charge." Rafferty hooked eyes with Tucker, shaking his head in embarrassment for the boy. He was young and new to the force, didn't know how to suck up without making it blatantly obvious.
"What?" The man asked blindly, leading the way into the storage room where the suits were located.