"Tzao Gao!' The core-world "gentleman" gulped as he gazed intently at the gun pointed at his head. But the man's fear quickly gave way to anger. "Feh feh pi goh! Don't be Chwen! You are all dead anyway! Do you understand? Do you even know the damage you have all done?! There is no way that the Alliance is going to let you live after that, so why don't you do what sha gwa do, and die!"
Zoe cocked her gun, causing Atherton to flinch, then close his eyes.. "Can I kill him now, sir? I don't think I can take five more minutes of this gorram grumbling."
Mal grinned despite himself. "Not just yet, Zoe. Let's give little lord fancy-pants a chance to call off his men and run away first."
The captain turned to Atherton with a cold look in his eyes. "Nobody else has to die today if you and yours lay down arms. Otherwise, we may die, but I promise you that we will take down you, and as many of your men as we can, down with us.. Dohn ma?
Simon, Kaylee, and the elder Tams all glared at the captain simultaneously as he continued. "So you surrendering is the only way we're all going to get out of this alive. Live or die. It's your choice.
Atherton ground his teeth together while opening his eyes. "You'd let me go, just like that?"
Mal nodded, again ignoring the glares coming his way. "Just like that."
Atherton sighed . "Well, that's a relief. And here I thought you people didn't know how to be reasona...'
"'Course." Malcolm quickly added. "If we find out that River truly is dead, then you won't be safe for long. I took that crazy girl and her brother in, made them crew. Offered them my protection. So if you walk away today, and I found out your men harmed a hair on that little girl's head, you best start sleeping with one eye open. Because if that's the cause, me and mine will hunt you down to the end of the 'Verse. No matter where you hide, or how many guards you hire, we will look for you. We will find you. And we will gorram kill you."
Atherton glared at the captain, but the intimidating gesture was somewhat undercut by the sweat on Atherton's forehead. "I'm afraid I will have to turn down your most generous offer, Captain Reynolds." The core-worlder's words were dripping with sarcasm as he added. "If I going to die either way. I'd rather...what was that primitive expression you used? Oh yes, 'take you down with me.' Besides..."
Atherton's face fixed itself into a scowl. "You people have ruined everything for me! Do you even know what your gorram transmissions have done to the 'Verse?! War has broken out again on the Border and Rim, there is civil unrest, and calls for mass impeachments of many Parliament officials in the Central planets, and there have even been riots concerning the Academy on many worlds once considered to be loyal to the Alliance. Osiris is practically a war zone with all the violent protests on that world..."
Gabriel and Reagan Tam spared a moment to look at each other. A sort of pride filled both of the elder Tams as they thought that their efforts to organize protests on their home world concerning the Academy had obviously gained traction...Albeit in a more violent fashion than the parents would have liked.
Atherton's eyes were wide and crazy as his rant continued. "And worst of all, the Alliance government and the stock market are both in chaos. Me and my family have lost nearly everything because of you people! It took me every last credit I still owned just to put this wet-work team together and hunt you all down! Even if I die, I will still consider it a win if my mercenaries do just that! And then I hope you and your entire gorram crew burn in all the hells there ever..."
BAM!
The hit came out of nowhere, from one of Serenity's crew members that was least prone to violence, taking everyone by surprise, Simon Tam glared at Atherton Wing, who was currently lying on the ground with a hand on his busted lip, having just been knocked flat on his ass. The core-worlder's blood was still dripping off his knuckles when the young doctor shook his sore hand and said. "Do you ever shut up, you hwen dan?!"
Atherton glared at the young doctor as he rose from the ground, still trying to stop his lips from bleeding. "No. But you and your friends are about to."
The core-world gentleman turned to his mercenaries. "Well, what are you all standing around for?! This chwen hit me! Shoot him!"
As the mercenaries turned their guns at Simon Tam, Kaylee's eyes widened, and the elder Tams both gasped, while Malcolm, Zoe, and Vulture just looked worried, as they tried to think of a way to save the doctor. Only Simon himself seemed completely stoic in the face of his inevitable demise as he quickly stammered out. "Am I take that to mean that you don't accept my challenge?"
Atherton raised his hand, motioning his mercenaries to lower their weapons just a fraction of a second before they could fire on Simon. Atherton turned his cold eyes to the young doctor. "I'm sorry. What challenge?"
Simon stared right back at Atherton without flinching. "I struck you on the face with a closed fist, didn't I? Now, I know my sister and I have been away from 'civilization' for a long time, but last time I checked, that still counts as a challenge for a duel. Is that not still the case?"
Mal chuckled, finally seeing what his ship's doc was up to. "It was the last time I hit this sha gwa do at some fancy shin dig on Persephone. He challenged me to a fight to the death over that little tap. Didn't you, Athy?"
Atherton glared at Serenity's captain. "My name...is Atherton Wing! Not Athy! I don't credit your lot with an abundance of brains, but I trust you and your friends can remember at least that much for the rest of your short, rutting little lives! And that situation was completely different! When you hit me, Malcolm Reynolds, it was in the presence of people like me! People of fine breeding that actually mattered! My honor demanded that I shed your life's blood on my blade for that insult!"
"But you people..." Atherton sneered at [most of] the crew of Serenity and the elder Tams. "Your names are all go se since you all have started making such a mess of the 'Verse! You are all nothing! Less than nothing! And I couldn't care less what you all think of me in the few short moments before you all die!"
Inara raised her right eyebrow. "What about your men?"
Atherton shook his head. "What about them? I pay them well, and they do what I tell them to."
Mal shook his head. "So you don't care if your men respect you or not? If they see you let a challenge go unanswered?"
Atherton's eyes widened as his mercenaries looked at him, as if waiting for an answer to Mal's question. "Well I...um."
Inara smirked. "You see, Atherton. Things work differently out here that they do in the Core. Your men may kill us for the bounties, but if they don't respect you, there's not guarantee they won't kill you right afterwards in order to take more money for themselves."
Atherton's eyes darted between Simon and his black-armored mercenaries for several seconds, before Simon finally cleared his throat. "So, Mr. Wing. Do you accept my challenge or not?"
"Argh!" Atherton's frustrated yell was punctuated by the man ramming his fist into the open palm of his other hand. "Fine! I accept your challenge! You..."
Atherton pointed to one of his mercs. "Fetch me my dueling blades from my cabin on the ship! And make sure to hand me the one marked "A" on the handle. That's my favorite blade."
As the mercenary ran to do as his employer's bidding, Atherton turned back to Simon and his friends and smirked. "I know you are just trying to buy time, Dr. Tam, but it won't work! This moon is two days away from any sizable fighting force, military or otherwise! No one is coming to your rescue! But I'm going to enjoy running you through!"
Simon smirked right back. "We'll see about that."
Atherton laughed. "Yes, yes you will! But I warn you, I have never once lost a duel."
The core-world gentleman glared at Mal and Inara. "Not a fair one, anyway."
Seeing that Simon was still smirking, and that neither of the elder Tams seemed particularly concerned at the prospect of their son engaging in a sword duel to the death, Malcolm turned to the elder Tams and whispered. "Not that you and your boy's confidence ain't all kinds of inspiring and all, but aren't you the least bit concerned that your son might die? This core-world hwen dan may not look like much, but I've fought him before. Trust me, he's not one to be trifled with."
Inara nodded and added in a whisper. "Mal's right. Atherton's killed many men with his blade. Mal only beat him once due to blind luck and a little interference on my part. But when Mal let him live, I thought it was a noble gesture at the time."
Mal sighed. "In my experience, stupid and noble often go hand in hand. I should have killed that piece of go se when I had the chance!"
Gabriel Tam grunted. "No argument here. But don't worry, my son is going to be just fine. He was captain of every fencing team he's been on, from high school, all the way through medical school. My son knows how to wield a blade."
Reagan Tam nodded."Yes. Simon should be able to kill this man."
The older woman frowned. "As long as he can break through his doctoral training and conditioning."
The Tam patriarch turned to his son, who had been stretching some of his muscles, and put his hand on the younger man's shoulder. "Simon. Just for today, I need you to forget everything they taught you in medical school about not taking a life. I'm a doctor too, and I know that's not an easy thing to ask of you. But for all of our sakes, and for River's, if she's still alive, you need to kill this man..."
Simon just nodded at his father's words just before Atherton's mercenary came back with his two swords and tossed one to the doctor with a sneer. "Let's get this over with, shall we?"
Simon's face was stoic and his eyes were unreadable as he effortlessly caught his sword in the air. The young doctor then replied. "Stakes?"
Atherton shook his head and chuckled. "I would have thought that would be obvious. I win, you, and all your friends, die."
Simon nodded, ignoring Kaylee whispered plea. "Simon! Don't do this! We can find another way!"
The doctor looked back at Atherton. "And if I win?"
Atherton's eyes danced with a particular, dangerous gleam that only dwelt in the eyes of a person who enjoyed killing."That won't happen. But...on the off chance you get lucky and beat me...My men will let you all go. Even your sister and the thug that was guarding her, as well as the large one's brother. If they're still alive, that is."
One of the black-armored mercenaries turned to Atherton and whispered angrily. "That wasn't part of the deal! These folk are worth a lot of money to the Alliance! We're not going to let them go just because you lose a sword fight."
As the core-world gentleman whispered something to his men that calmed them down, Mal put his hand on Simon's right shoulder and said. " You've toughened up a lot over the past year or so, and if what your parents say about your skill with a blade is true, I know you can beat this man. "
As Serenity's captain withdrew his hand, Simon nodded. "Thanks for the vote of confidence."
"That said... You wouldn't mind ever too terribly if the rest of us keep our hands close to our guns to defend ourselves, would you? You know, just in case." Inara rolled her eyes and whispered "Mal...", even as the captain, Vulture, and even Zoe (who had moved away from Atherton and was now standing next to her allies) all moved their hands close to their guns.
Simon chuckled quietly "I would think you were all gorram fools if you didn't."
The young doctor started walking towards the man who sought to collect the bounties on him and his friends. But he stopped for just a moment when Kaylee put herself between Simon and Atherton Simon sighed. "Kaylee, I have to..."
But the young doctor's words were stopped by the presence of the mechanic's lips on his own. After his mouth opened of it's own accord, Simon savored the familiar mixture of flavors on his tongue. Engine fermented whiskey, strawberries, and another, pleasant taste that Simon didn't know how to describe, that was simply, uniquely, Kaylee. All too soon, the moment ended, as the mechanic reluctantly pulled away from the young doctor and forced herself to smile. "I know. Kick his pi gu!
"Ahem." Atherton cleared his throat as he walked towards Simon. "I hate to interrupt this touching moment, but we don't have all day, and..."
Simon quickly pulled away from Kaylee and walked up to Atherton, sword in hand. "You're right. No more talking."
Atherton grinned. "It's about time."
And without another word being spoken, the young doctor and the core-world gentleman lunged at each other with their blades...
A block away, a very different kind of battle was being fought. A contest, not of blade and muscle, but of mind and will. Jubal Early and River Tam starred each other down.
The bounty hunter kept his gun pointed at Jayne Cobb's head. "I'll count to ten. I'm going to blow Mr. Cobb's head clean off his shoulders unless you drop your weapon and surrender yourself to me like a good girl."
The reader kept her own weapon aimed at Jubal Early's head. "He will not pull the trigger if he wants to live. If he persists in threatening the man they call Jayne, fire and destruction will rain down on his head. The Albatross will never fly with the buzzard."
Jubal laughed. "Five. Six. Your friend doesn't have long to live if you don't put your gun away."
River glared at the madman. "No. He doesn't have long to live now."
A sane man might have felt a shiver go done his spine due to River's words. But Jubal only felt somewhat unsettled, as the bounty hunter knew, in the back of his mind, that River wasn't talking about Jayne Cobb. But the madman ignored the feeling in favor of counting. "Eight. Nine..."
Jayne, who had been silent up until this point, out of fear that saying anything would goad Jubal into shooting him, choose that moment to speak. "Rutting hell! You're just going to let me die!?"
River gave Jayne the annoyed look the reader always gave someone when she thought they were being stupid, then turned to Jubal, who cocked his gun for dramatic effect. "Nine and a half. Nine and three quarters. Okay...I'm out of patience. Your little boyfriend is going to die now..."
Jayne closed his eyes and waited for the end. But before Jubal could fire, the mercenary heard River shout. "Wait!"
Jubal drew his gun slightly away from Jayne, who had just opened his eyes enough to see River hold her gun towards the sky, away from the bounty hunter. Jubal Early laughed. "Yes, that's a good girl. Now, throw down your weapon and let me put these on you..." Jayne felt a sick feeling in his stomach when the bounty hunter pulled a pair of handcuffs out of one of his outfits pockets, using the hand that wasn't holding a gun to the "Hero of Canton's" head."
Suddenly, the mercenary remembered that Kaylee had once confided in him that Jubal had threatened to rape the mechanic if Simon did not help the bounty hunter find his sister, during Jubal's one and only intrusion on Serenity. That unpleasant memory, combined with the manic grin on Jubal's face when he showed River the handcuffs he wanted to bind her with, gave rise to a strong feeling, no, a certainty, in Jayne Cobb's gut. The merc just knew Early would hurt and violate River in all kinds of ways if she turned herself over to the bounty hunter.
With that unsettling thought in his head, Jayne grunted threw his pain enough to shout. "On second thought, just let me die, River. Don't turn yourself over to this piece of go se! I'm not worth it!"
River smiled at Jayne then, reading his concerned thoughts for her well being as easily as she would a newspaper. The reader then turned her gaze back to Jubal and frowned. "She said she will not be going with the buzzard. She only told him to wait."
Jubal glared at River, put his gun up against Jayne's head, then shouted. "And I said I'm out of patience, and Jayne Cobb is out of time! What did you want me to wait for, hmm? Wait for me to change my mind? Wait for Mr. Cobb to draw just a few more breaths because you are to weak to say goodbye to him? What..."
But the rest of Jubal's words were cut off as a the madman felt a sharp pain in his chest, followed by the feeling of wet, sticky substance staining the front of his red suit. The bounty hunter was only barely able to register a felling of surprise when he looked down to find a blade sticking out of his chest, and lots of blood coming out of the wound. But the madman didn't register another hand, dark like his own, grabbing the gun out of his hand and throwing it on the ground, far from Jayne Cobb. The bounty hunter was able to muster up just enough energy and the presence of mind to chuckle and say. "So this is what death feels like."
Then the sword was withdrawn from Jubal Early's chest, and the sadistic bounty hunter collapsed to the ground, and knew no more.
River gave the other black man, who was still holding his bloody sword, an unreadable look. But the reader soon turned her attention away from the former Alliance Operative, and looked at the dead body of Jubal Early, then tossed her empty gun to the ground. "Wait for him to stab you."
Jayne, somewhat woozy from blood loss, turned his head up and backward towards his rescuer "You, But you're that crazy gorram operative that was trying to kill us a little while back! Why would you..."
The man-with-no-name smiled. "As I told Malcolm Reynolds before, I was an operative of the Alliance government, but I lost faith in their regime, and I have been working against them instead. Ever since I heard about Miranda."
River shook her head. "No time for introductions or explanations. Man called Jayne needs medical attention, and he is too heavy for her to lift. Can you get him to the infirmary, then wake up his brother, while she...while I...help my friends?"
The ex-operative smiled and nodded. "I will. But you will need a loaded weapon. Here..."
The man handed River his pistol, along with several clips of ammo, when the reader approached him. "My standard issue side-arm from my time with the Alliance. I have committed many atrocities with this weapon, and I do not wish to carry it any longer. Use it better than I did."
River just nodded as she took the offered weapon, and said nothing when the former operative replaced his old pistol by looting one of Jubal Early's guns from the bounty hunter's corpse. The former operative then bent down to pick Jayne up, but the mercenary was resistant to the dark-skinned man's help. "Get your gorram hands off of me! I don't want the help of no purple-belly hwen dan who killed two of my friends!"
Jayne continued to resist the former operative's attempts to pick him up until River spoke. "Man called Jayne needs medical help, and he must go with the enemy turned ally if he wishes to continue living."
Jayne stopped struggling and turned his eyes to River. "Are you sure? How do you know we can trust him? You said yourself that your reader abilities haven't been up to snuff lately."
River rolled her eyes. "Not that recent a development. Man-with-no-name hasn't been purple-belly since Mr. Universe's. Man called Jayne must trust her."
The mercenary sighed, and wordlessly nodded to the ex-operative, who quickly picked the big man up with a grunt, then put Jayne's body in a position where it could lean against his own. Jayne then glared at the former servant of Parliament. "But you and I will have words after I'm patched up, concerning you killing Shepard and Wash. Dohn ma?"
The former operative nodded, and began leading the larger man to the infirmary. But Jayne had one last thing to say before he's allow the Operative to lead him away. "River? We got a talk we ain't finished. Don't you go rutting dying on me before we do."
River allowed herself a half-smile as she nodded. "She will do her best. He and she have a lot of rutting to do, and she does not wish to miss that."
Jayne just nodded while holding his face away from River, so the reader couldn't see his cheeks turning bright red at her words. The ex-operative saw this, but refrained from commenting on Jayne's embarrassment, although there was a small smirk on his face as he led the mercenary towards the infirmary. Satisfied that her future mate was safe, River turned around and walked in the direction she sensed her endangered family and crew-mates were.
CLANG! Two steel swords collided as Atherton's lunging strike was quickly parried by Simon Tam's own blade. The core-world gentleman glared at the young doctor. "Is that all you can do, defend? Attack, you stupid, gorram chwen!
Simon just smiled in reply. This small gesture only infuriated Atherton more, and the gentleman lunged at Simon repeatedly with his blade. But each attack was effortlessly dodged or parried by the young doctor.
Mal slowed leaned towards Inara's ear and whispered. "I'm no expert or anything, but I'm a mite concerned about Simon's tactics. The doc's just been defending for the past five minutes. Isn't it generally a good idea to, you know, fight back?"
Inara shook her head. "Not if you're trying to wear your opponent out first, or make them angry."
Atherton's attacks became increasingly erratic, as the man's steely eyes filled with hate. In the meantime, Simon's demeanor was the very image of stoic, as he parried the other man chaotic attacks with ever greater ease. The young doctor only broke out of his calm appearance to shoot Atherton a smirk or a grin every now in then, enraging the gentleman further, even as sweat started to pour down Mr. Wing's brow.
Mal smirked. "In that case, I'd say Simon's strategy is succeeding admirably."
But when Mal looked at the elder Tams, and noticed their worried looks (Mal was mentally screening out Kaylee's reactions, as the mechanic would gasp or cover her mouth every time Atherton attempted to attack her boyfriend, and smile and silently cheer when Simon parried his opponent's attacks), the captain's look become more somber. "What's wrong? Do you think Simon's strategy ain't so shiny?"
Reagan just shrugged, but her husband elaborated on his wife's non-verbal answer. "Not necessarily It's just that it takes a master swordsman to pull off his defense-centered strategy, and I don't know how much practice my son has gotten with a blade while he's been a member of your crew. When executed correctly, my son's strategy should wear out an opponent until they're easily defeated. But one misstep, one mistake, could be fatal."
Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say, because when Atherton's next attack came dangerously close to hitting Simon, cutting close enough to the doctor's skin to make a large rip in his right shirt sleeve, Kaylee quietly yelped, then covered her mouth in embarrassment. Reagan Tam glared slightly at her husband then lightly put her arm on Kaylee's shoulder and said. "Pay no attention to my husband, dear. Simon's always been a natural with a blade. He even considered becoming a professional duelist at one point, before his father and I convinced him that being a doctor would be much more practical. I'm sure my son will be just fine."
Kaylee managed a small half-smile towards Reagan Tam before she turned back to watch the battle. Sure enough, Atherton was breathing heavily at this point, and his attacks were losing intensity with each slash or lunging attack. This trend continued for another minute or so, until finally, Simon countered a particularly overreaching lunge attack on his opponent's part by simply side-stepping the attack, then quickly slashing Atherton's sword arm.
"AAAGH!" Atherton half-yelled, half screamed as he dropped his heavy blade, which his injured arm could no longer bear the weight of. "You stupid hwen dan! You'll pay for this!"
But Simon ignored both Atherton's threats and Kaylee's cheer of "Shiny!" as the young doctor pointed his blade right at his opponent's head and said. "Yield."
Atherton opened and closed his mouth several times, like a fish out of water. "What?"
Simon glared at Atherton. "I said, yield, and I'll spare your life. Even though you've tried to kill me and my friends, even though you may have already killed my sister, if you yield, right now, take your men and weapons, minus the swords, and leave in peace, I will still let you live. It's the best offer you're going to get, and it's better than a gorram coward like you deserves, so I suggest that you take it."
Atherton sighed, then, after looking at his men, nodded. "Fine. I yield. But can I at least take one of my swords back home with me? These blades are family heirlooms. They've been with the Wings for generations. It would stain the honor of my household if I failed to bring even one of them back to my family's estate on Persephone."
Simon nodded. "Take the sword on the ground and go."
Atherton nodded, then turned around to pick up the fallen sword. As the core-world gentleman bent to pick up his blade, one of his men protested. "Are you seriously just gonna let these folks go?! You said, if you lost, we oughta..."
But when Atherton looked at his underling, something in his gaze silenced the dark-armored mercenary. The cold-eyed man then turned towards Simon Tam with a smile ...right before he swung his blade at Simon's face using his non-dominant hand!
CLANG!
Atherton's blade very nearly caught the young doctor by surprise, but Simon just managed to block the attack before the blade reached his face. However, Atherton's vengeance was not denied so easily, and Simon's opponent grunted and strained with both arms to bring his blade close enough to Simon to cut the young doctor's face.
As the two combatants struggled to gain dominance, everything else seemed to fade away. The two men barely noticed Kaylee's gasp of terror, or that both Simon's friends and the black-armored mercenaries had their hands on their guns, ready to start shooting if the battle turned against their ally's favor. All that mattered in that moment, to both Atherton and Simon, was their struggle against one another. A struggle that both now knew could only end in one way: with the death of one of them.
This obvious conclusion was only reaffirmed by a strange, sickly sweet scent that Simon smelled coming off Atherton's blade. One that was so faint that Simon's nose had been unable to pick it up until his opponent's sword was inches from his own face. Nonetheless, it was easy for the the young doctor to guess what it was he was now smelling. Simon glared at Atherton as he continued pushing against his opponent's sword. "You dishonorable son of a whore! You poisoned your blade!"
Atherton smirked. "Of course I did! That particular venom is a favorite of my mine. I brewed myself. Upon contact with your skin, it will kill you within moments. There's no point in fighting fair when you're life is on the line, is there? I made the mistake of underestimating one of your friends back on Persephone, and he and his whore brought dishonor on me when I lost in a duel then. But Malcolm Reynolds' was foolish enough to let me live afterwards. I will not make the same mistake with you!"
With that, Atherton made one last, mighty effort to cut Simon with his blade, causing Atherton's poisoned sword to come withing millimeters of nicking the young doctor's face. But the core-world gentleman's efforts were in vain, as exhaustion, and the strain on his already injured arm, finally overtook him, allowing Simon Tam to push back against Atherton's blade, forcing Mr. Wing to cut himself with his own sword!
"Aaaah!" Atherton let out a loud cry of anguish as he dropped his own blade to the ground, then put his hand to his face, which was becoming paler by the second, as a mixture of blood, and another, sickly yellow substance leaked out his wound. The core-world gentleman looked at Simon in disbelief. "You killed me, you Pi gu. Killed me with my...sword."
Atherton said no more as he collapsed to the ground, where he convulsed for several seconds before becoming completely still. Simon and Gabriel Tam looked shared a knowing look. The doctors Tam didn't need to check Atherton's pulse to tell that Mr. Wing was now dead.
Unfortunately, however, Atherton's demise did not escape his mercenaries' notice either. As they had been instructed beforehand, every single one of the black-armored mercenaries reached for their guns after Mr. Wing had died. But three of the mercenaries' hands never made it to their guns.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Three shots rang out from an Alliance issued pistol, and three bodies fell to ground immediately thereafter Simon, Kaylee, and the elder Tams all let out gasps of surprise, or shouts of joy, when they saw the person who had fired those three bullets. Mal, Zoe, and Vulture, however, only allowed themselves a quick glance at the brunette with the smoking gun, who had likely just saved their lives, before the bodyguard and two of his charges all drew their weapons at the black-armored mercenaries.
River Tam herself was far too busy to greet family members or crew, as the reader was forced to duck inside a nearby building as multiple mercenaries tried to shoot her. However, due to River's natural athleticism, and the "training" the Alliance had given her at the Academy, the hazel-eyed young woman was, just barely, able to dodge the bullets that came her way. A split second later, Mal, Zoe, and Vulture, all opened fire on the mercenaries.
BANG! BANG! BANG!BANG! BANG!
The fact that all of said mercenaries had been distracted by River certainly benefited their opponents, as the captain, his first mate, and the hired gun who had been charged with protecting them, where able to down five black-armored mercs during this time.
By the time the black-armored mercenaries were able to return fire on Mal and his allies, the hit squad's ranks were greatly diminished. Sensing how many of her opponent's had perished, and that their was only one merc currently covering her position, the reader took a calculated risk, sticking her head and body outside of a window just enough to gun down her only remaining attacker.
BANG! BANG!
The reader's risk paid off, as the young woman was able to gun down her attacker, as well as one of the mercenaries attacking her friends, before she was forced to duck back into the building to avoid being fired upon herself. By this point, however, the battle had firmly turned against the sad remnant's of Atherton Wing's mercenary gang, as Mal, Zoe, Vulture, and River continuously ran between buildings, ducking for cover, and firing from multiple fronts, over the next several minutes. In the meantime, Inara, Simon, Kaylee, and the elder Tams all ducked for cover in a nearby building, while hoping that their friends would come out of the battle alive and (mostly) shiny.
However, one of the black-armored mercenaries saw the building that the former Companion, mechanic, and most of the Tam family, had fled to. This mercenary, seeing that battle had turned against his squad, quickly darted inside said building in the hopes of securing a hostage to get off of Niska's moon alive. But the mercenary was not able to secure access to the non-combatants hiding place without attracting unwanted attention.
"Jao Gao!" Vulture quietly cursed as he saw one of last remaining black-armored mercs ducking into the "safe zone." The body guard acted as quickly as his tired, dying body would let him, and he quietly sneaked inside Inara, Kaylee and the elder Tam's place of refuge while Mal, Zoe, and River were busy gunning down the remaining members of Atherton's kill squad outside.
The bodyguard ignored the several BANG! Sounds and screams coming from outside, as well as Mal's cry of "I reckon we got them all!" as he attempted to sneak up on the last black-armored mercenary. But Vulture's attempts to surprise the last hostile failed, as the last of Atherton's hit-men quickly ran toward the non-combatants hiding spot, placed Simon between himself and Vulture, and aimed his assault rifle right at the young doctor. "Make another move, scar-face, and this chwen gets it!"
Vulture, who was now huffing, puffing and coughing up blood, nodded in acknowledgment of the other mercenary's words, but his hand never moved from his gun hand, which was now shaking as a side-effect of going into shock from blood loss. The last hit-man ignored Vulture, however, in favor of glaring at Simon Tam. "This is all your gorram fault! We had all of your bounties in the bag, and we were going to kill little lord fancy-pants to get his cut after we killed or captured all of you hwen dan. Then your stupid stunt with that gorram sword fight ruined everything! Well, I'm not gonna die on this gorram moon, and I did not lose all of my friends just to walk away with nothing! You're my ticket out of this place, Dr. Tam, and to a better life at the Bellerophon estat..."
"No!" Kaylee interrupted with a loud scream as the short, curvy mechanic quickly pushed Simon Tam away from the hit-man's line of sight...only to end up in the hit-man's cross-hairs instead. The mercenary growled. "You stupid little bitch!" And prepared to fire at Kaylee, who had placed herself firmly between the black-armored mercenary and Simon, the latter of which was too tired from his sword fight with Atherton to push the mechanic out of harms way.
BANG! BANG!
Two shots rang out almost simultaneously, and Inara and the elder Tams gasped while Simon and Kaylee both closed their eyes, bracing themselves for a painful death. But when, after several seconds, neither Kaylee nor Simon were feeling any pain, the doctor and the mechanic both opened their eyes and looked around. It didn't take the gifted mechanic and her boyfriend long to figure out what had happened after they spotted both Vulture and the last of Atherton's mercenaries, both lying on the floor in a pool of blood.
Vulture, opened his eyes, surprising everyone who was now in the room, including Mal, Zoe and River, who had rushed into the building just a moment too late to stop the last hit-man themselves, as the bodyguard coughed up blood, then spoke in a weakening voice that made it clear he was not long for the 'Verse. "Stupid...hwen dan...shot me...in the...chest. I...shot him...in the...head. Even dying...and slow...I was still...better than...him."
Zoe took off her newly acquired black helmet and knelled next to Vulture. "You did good. We'll tell Niska that you did a shiny job protecting us, and we'll make sure your family gets something for your troubles. Even in death, if you do the job, you get paid."
Zoe turned around to look at Mal. "Isn't that right, sir?"
Mal nodded. "That's right. And we'll make sure your sister gets your body so you can have a proper burial."
Vulture smiled, showing bloody teeth again. "Thank...you."
Zoe smiled back at the bodyguard and said. "One last thing, I heard what you said back there. Just so you know, you're not half-bad looking, even with your scar, and if we'd had more time to get to know each other, after I'd had time to mourn my husband...who knows? Maybe there could have been something between us."
Vulture's grin widened. "Thank you. That's just...shiny."
After the bodyguard had breathed his last, and the doctors Tam had verified his demise, Simon slowly closed Vulture's eyes, which had been staring blankly into nothingness, and closed the bodyguard's mouth. Zoe watched this moment closely from a distance, even as everyone else was to busy checking up on each other to insure everyone who was still alive was shiny. Mal walked up beside his first mate and said. "So...you thought Vulture was..."
Zoe wouldn't even let her captain finish his sentence, but Mal couldn't help but notice his right-hand woman wouldn't look him in the eye as she said. "Man was dying, sir. Didn't think there was any harm in telling a good warrior taking his last breaths what he wanted to hear. Especially one that died defending one of our own."
Mal nodded. "I figure that's so."
Zoe's eyes still wouldn't meet the captain's as she added. "I'm going to take a look around the Villa. See if there are any more hostiles about."
River, who had walked around, then behind, Mal and Zoe so quietly that she took both soldiers completely by surprise, spoke. "The shark with the false smile and his piranha are all dead. The albatross would hear their thoughts if there were any still skulking about. We should all be heading to the infirmary. Especially her..." River looked pointedly at Zoe. "She is wounded."
Mal looked at the bloody wound were Saffron's bullet had grazed River. "You don't look so shiny yourself."
River nodded gravely. "The albatro...I only have a flesh wound. And her...my attackers are all dead. But not before one of them hurt her...my mate. We must go to the infirmary to treat our wounds and check on my man called Jayne who is there. He requires urgent assistance. Jayne's brother is also still there, waiting for us."
Mal sighed. "I sense you, me, and Jayne are going to have a long talk before all this is over. But you're not wrong. We all need to get to the medical center."
Zoe nodded. "The rest of you should do that, but I'm still going to take one last look around before I do. Just to see for myself that we're safe."
Mal opened his mouth to object, while pointing at his first mate's finger, but Zoe quickly added. "I'll make it quick, sir. But I still have feeling in my finger, and I need to make sure we're all in the clear."
Mal just nodded as Zoe silently left the building, then the captain turned to the others. "What are you all still standing around for?! The infirmary is our rendezvous point, and some of need urgent medical attention. Let's move out people!" The Tams and Inara all gave Mal annoyed looks for his rude manner of addressing them, but they did as the captain said anyway, albeit with several grumbles of discontent thrown in as they all walked the short distance to the infirmary, while the doctors Tam carried Vulture's corps with them.
AN: And so ends another chapter! I hope all of find this to be a decent Christmas (or whatever holiday you celebrate this time of year) present this season, as I will soon be going to a place where I will not have access to a computer for a while. But fear not, I have no intention of leaving this story unfinished! In any case, please let me know what you think of this chapter. Once again, I would like to thank all of my readers for supporting this story, especially bjq, Wicked, Onna, and galwidanatitud, who have reviewed my last chapter as of the time of this writing. And of course, a very special thank you is in order for my beta-reader. You are the wind for my leaf, watch how we soar. But watch out for reavers, and sudden objects of impalement!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Until next time, I am...
-supercode
Addendum: I noticed that I had been neglecting a certain character in this story lately, and although I have an explanation for this, I now realize that I had not fully explained Mattie's absence in the last few chapters to my readers, so I have made some small changes to some of the chapters since chapter 7. You can re-read those chapters if you wish, but if not, just know that Mattie has been sleeping off his last round of post-treatment for his damp lung during the events of Atherton's invasion of the villa. Sorry for any confusion my writing errors may have caused my readers.
