Firefly is not mine. Much credit to hoperules as always.

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II. Purple Bellies

The UAV Tiber was leaving the Rim for supplies and repairs, and Commander Harken found himself regretting it. He had a duty to perform at this end of space, one his superiors would never assign him, especially not now.

The Reavers were getting bolder, moving further into human territory, striking more frequently. He’d reported this fact, like almost every other border commander, but he never received a response from Central Command. As far as anyone in the Core had cared, Reavers didn’t exist.

Then the Miranda Broadcast came, and now everyone knew those godforsaken monsters did exist. But there would still be nothing from the Alliance.

“They made them, after all.” Aloud, it seemed more real. In his head, it felt like a bad dream, but of course it wasn’t. “The Alliance made the Reavers, in an effort to maintain control over the populace of Miranda. An experiment. All for the sake of bringing further order to a universe of chaos and brutality.” Hard to believe, that not too long ago, he’d thought that was a worthy goal. Now he wasn’t so sure.

His office’s intercom suddenly emitted static for thirty seconds, one of the results of a year’s continuous patrol with no maintenance. “Commander, the Intel team has arrived on board.”

Harken tapped a button on his desk to reply. “Do they want anything?” Intelligence people tended to be demanding, commandeering equipment and personnel without giving a reason.

“Access to our secure communications link and to be left alone, sir.”

“Very well then. Grant them access.” Somehow that simple request managed to be unnerving.

There was not a military officer alive who did not hate the Bureau of Intelligence. Intel had not been of much use since the war. These days, Harken was willing to bet all of its work involved destroying political dissent; it had been Intel that had tried to quiet Miranda Broadcast stirrings, declaring it fake on the Cortex, telling mili