On Board Serenity

The I.A.V. Armstrong was a long-range vessel, designed with practicality and simplicity in mind, unlike the Alliance cruisers that resembled massive floating cities. The Armstrong was a long, sleek vessel, designed for easy planetfall, as well as quick speeds in the black. She wasn’t as pretty a ship as the Alliance’s flagships, but she served her purpose well. The Armstrong’s mission statement was geared towards peacekeeping, which meant that there were several regiments of soldiers standing outside the docking bay when Serenity’s hatch opened. Etris walked slowly down the ramp, his hands at his sides, open palms facing the soldiers. A squad of soldiers approached him slowly, their guns raised and pointing in his direction. They passed on either side of him and boarded the ship, no doubt to inspect the rest of Serenity to ensure that there were no surprises hiding on board. The entire crew was gathered in the cargo bay, save for Gretta and Zoe, both of whom were still in the Infirmary.

To his right, Rian walked up beside him, her hands exposed as well, her Asian features unreadable to anyone but Etris. She was nervous, but only he could tell. On Etris’ other side, Tark stood, his fingers twitching as if they couldn’t stand not holding a gun.

“Easy, Spooky,” Etris whispered.

Tark stared straight ahead and growled under his breath.

‘Who is the Captain of this vessel?” a voice shouted out.

Etris looked over to see a short, balding man marching through the crowd of soldiers. He wore the uniform of an Alliance officer, but walked with the controlled pace of a soldier, as if he hadn’t allowed the rank his office gave him to remove from him the ideals he had as a simple soldier. He was peering down at a small computer pad, and didn’t look up until he was right in front of the docking bay.

Etris stepped forward.

“I’m Captain Etris Kurdian. This is my ship Destiny. We have an injured crewman on board, and we are requesting—“

The Alliance Commander waved him off.

“