The Reaver boat that had been dogging them was massive.

Reaver ships were, generally, intended to strike fear into who or whatever they were pursuing, and this one was no different. At some distant point in the past, this boat looked like it might have been one of the huge cargo haulers the Alliance used to run between cruisers, big enough to carry ten fully equipped gunships. This was a rough description, because the ship, like it’s inhabitants, had been mutilated to near beyond recognition.

Two massive harpoon pods had been built onto nacelles which had never been intended for such a vessel. The nacelles ended in ragged edges, like junk that had been hastily welded onto the superstructure. Shards of metal, some small, some bigger than the Firefly herself, stuck out of the sides, top and bottom of the ship, like a massive, insane pin-cushion, made all the more frightful by the red running lights that ran the length of her.

Though the Firefly hadn’t been close enough to see, there were skeletons, or what remained of skeletons, strewn along the bow of the ship.

A trail of black, oily smoke ran behind her, evidence of the reactor-core containment units which were non-existent on the ship. Reavers were well known for removing these, giving them additional speed to run their quarry down. While radiation poisoning was inevitable, Reavers weren’t known for thinking too far into the future.

What the massive boat was not, however, was agile, and so far, that had kept the Firefly ahead.

“Bring her around to starboard, full speed, make for that asteroid cluster,” the captain barked.

“Sir, that’s an awful straight-ahead run with that thing behind us,” His mate told him.

“I am well aware of that, and if you have any other ideas, really, do feel free to share,” he said sardonically. “I’m feeling quite open-minded right about now.”

“Let’s make a zig-zag pattern, it’ll slow us down, but they won’t be so easy to put one of those harpoons into us.”

“Give it a try,” he said, running a hand through his hair.