(All Firefly characters are the property of Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy and all original characters are mine.)

All feedback is very welcome, good or bad please tell me what you think.

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Part 1

The job had gone from bad to worse. It had started off like any other and Mal had been hopeful that everything would, for once, go smoothly. No chance of that!

They had found a contact, money changed hands and the cargo was loaded on to Serenity.

They would all be getting a very large payout on this job once the cargo was delivered to the small and uninhabited moon of Daion and picked up safely. Mal desperately needed the money to keep his ship afloat and fueled and the crew paid.

The two week run to Daion was pretty uneventful and it was with a light heart that Serenity landed and Mal, Zoe, Jayne and Book set off toward the meeting site. Unfortunately they ran into an ambush on the way.

Someone had tipped off a band of known pirates that Serenity was carrying a very valuable cargo, but luckily for Mal and the others, this rag tag team of ruffians weren't patient enough for a successful ambush.

Their activities were limited to boarding ships in midair and raping or killing those they found rather than hiding in bushes and waiting around.

Even so, the situation turned into a gun fight very quickly with bullets flying every which way.

'Get back to the ship!' Mal ordered and started to shuffle forward.

The others stayed low and moved fast but the pirates must have had some training with firearms as they rained fire balls and bullets upon them.

A cry behind Mal signalled that Book was hit. He hoped it wasn't too bad.

Going for the small bag of coins that had been dropped by one of the pirates, Mal felt a sharp burning sensation that told him he had been hit.

Mal gasped. “Could this day get any better?” he thought. He coughed, trying to draw his breath in. “Book w