Written by Mr. Mouseburger 20th Jan 2006

Kindly submitted by Nato

Psychic fugitive River Tam has led the crew of the Firefly-class transport Serenity to the galaxy's darkest secret - the deaths of millions of people on the planet Miranda, after the ruling Alliance's plan to dose the Mirandans with a docility-inducing drug went horribly wrong.

Now Serenity is on her way to the planetoid home of "Mr. Universe," a media junkie with the necessary equipment to broadcast evidence of the destruction of Miranda to the entire population of the Alliance.

Waiting for Serenity at Mr. Universe's planet is an entire fleet of Alliance warships led by the enigmatic Operative, who are unaware of the secret of Miranda, but determined to recapture River at all costs. At Serenity's heels - a horde of bloodthirsty Reavers, a fragment of the Mirandan population driven into hyper violent insanity, who now roam the galaxy as feared cannibals and marauders.

When the two fleets meet, a massive battle ensues, with the tiny Serenity caught in the middle. Wash, Serenity's ace pilot, somehow manages to steer the ship through the chaos of the battle. As ships on both sides are destroyed all around him, he quietly repeats, "I am a leaf on the wind; watch me soar." Serenity makes it to the planet's atmosphere, only to be hit by an electromagnetic pulse from a pursuing Reaver ship. Wash manages to restart the engines at the last minute, pulling Serenity out of a tailspin and guiding her to a teeth-rattling crash landing in the docking bay of Mr. Universe's cavernous headquarters.

In the silent moments after the crash, Wash lets out the breath he was holding. "I am a leaf on the wind," he says, turning to his wife, Zoë, and his captain, Mal. "Watch me--" and then a massive spike fired from the Reaver ship slams through the windshield, impaling him in his chair, and killing him instantly.