Mal, River, Jayne and Zoe, were searching the ship. They searched the passenger dorms, the crew quarters, the infirmary, everywhere, locking doors behind them, making sure Jack had nowhere to go. When they finished searching the hold, they checked Inara's shuttle before telling her to go inside and lock it. Once it was locked, Mal was deeply puzzled. Where was he? He hadn't been anywhere they'd looked. Mal concentrated his thought process: If I was a schizophrenic psychopath, where would I hi-
The music stopped. The screaming began.
After the meeting, Kaylee and Simon ran to the bridge and locked it tight. Simon watched Kaylee. Poor thing, he thought as she sat down, she's probably scared out of her wits. He went over and saw that she was crying.
'Are you going to be able to do this, bao bei?' Simon asked, placing his hands on her shoulders.' Kaylee blinked away the tears.
'Yeah, might be able to.' She said, sniffling. 'Just so afraid, is all.' Simon massaged her neck.
'Shh. It's going to be alright.' He said, calming her down. 'Just get this ship on the ground.' There was a knocking on the door. They looked at each other, the same thought passing through their heads.
Is it him?
'Mal?' Simon asked. More knocking. 'Mal, is that you?' Silence. Without warning, a loud, engine-like sound built up.
Jack walked into River's room, moving silently. He picked up his black bag, just lying there. Opening it quietly, he pulled out the item he'd taken so many months to get right.
Sparks flew from the door, there was a loud, grating noise and the door flew open. Jack was standing there, emotionless, holding what looked like a modified chainsaw. Simon grabbed Kaylee as Jack stepped forward, cutting through the pilot's terminal.
The music stopped. The screaming began.
Mal ran for the bridge, River, Jayne and Zoe following behind. Up the stairs, round the corner. God oh God oh God don't let me bet too late Mal thought. Mal felt the ship change somehow. Then he realised. They were plummeting. They reached the bridge, and stared in horror.
Simon tried to protect Kaylee, he really did, but he was just swatted out of the way. Jack walked up to Kaylee and held her up by the throat. Thoughts pulsed through his brain, but then he had an idea. Kaylee choked, trying to scream, but she had no air left in her lungs.
Mal walked in, and gazed at what he saw. Jack had disappeared, whatever damage he wanted to do, it was done, the pilot terminals ripped into shreds. Simon was unconscious against the wall, blood leaking out his mouth, but Kaylee…he was horrified. Kaylee was hanging there, a pipe through her shoulder. Mal took Kaylee down, Jayne picked up Simon, and Jack swung down from the ceiling.
Mal and Jack stared at each other for what seemed like a lifetime. Eventually, Jack approached him, chainsaw starting. Then there was a bang. The windows shattered, Jack flew out but hung on to the frame. Mal and the others barely withstood the wind. They made their way to the shuttles as quickly as possible.
The engine moved faster and faster. It was being made to go much quicker than it was ever meant for, to stop the plummeting to no avail. The object impaled in it, absorbed all the energy it gave out, until-
There was a click. A green light flashed, and began transmitting.
Mal ran for his life, holding the unconscious and bleeding Kaylee in his arms. Zoe went off to collect Simon's emergency med kit, and River collected what she needed from the infirmary. Mal shouted through the com to Inara, getting Zoe, Jayne and River inside one shuttle. Mal, Simon and Kaylee took Inara's, Inara helping Simon in. Before they parted Zoe and River gave them the supplies they'd collected. Without hesitation, Inara sat down in the pilot's seat and took off for safety, as Serenity plummeted ground-ward.
Jack held on for his life. He hadn't failed. He just needed to hold on for a bit longer…
Metal eyes watched Serenity plummet to its demise. It was calling it, calling for help. The eyes widened…and fired.
Mal watched Serenity as it fell like a stone. His ship had been through so much, and had been taken down by one man. He couldn't believe it. Should've trusted Zoe, he thought. Should've trusted River, should've trusted me. He watched the ship that had been his home for so long, fall, falling, never slowing down. He looked at his instruments. They were acting up, displaying gigantic energy signatures. Mal looked up as a bright white column of light erupted from the sky, engulfing Serenity. There was a flash, brighter than the sun, and Serenity was gone. He picked up his radio. Inara stared at the sky.
'What the Hell was that?' She asked in disbelief.
'I really, really don't know.' Mal said, amazed.
Jack looked around. He was in a lake, trying to get to land. Behind him, Serenity slowly sunk into the water. He watched the Firefly sink down, a home to people lost. That didn't matter to Jack, he was where he needed to be. A building, a small cottage was sitting at the lakeside. As he walked up the path, he noticed the lake shimmer, the sun's last rays, the sunset, shining down on this obscure little world. He reached the cottage, slammed open the door, shot the three men at the table dead and threw a grenade in the bedroom. There was screaming, an explosion, then nothing. He took a handkerchief from one of the corpses and wiped the sweat off his face. He took the weirdly shaped gun off the man sitting next to it, checking it for ammunition. Content with his load, he made his way to the wall, and pressed some bricks in what appeared to be totally random order. The wall opened, revealing a massive computer. He slid a data disk into a slot, and waited while the loading bar onscreen filled up. Eventually, three words appeared onscreen.
He sighed, placed the charges and left in the spaceship parked at the back door. As he left the atmosphere, he watched the flames destroy any remnants of the computer and its guards. He looked at the data disk in his palm, and at the three words flashing on the front.
ATLAS FIRING CODES
