Almost everyone in the 'verse knew that on Hera, in Serenity Valley, the Independents were dealt a crushing blow by the Alliance that all but ended the war. Most history books given to children cover that fact. They also cover that Hera was mostly a neutral planet, were both Browncoats and Unification supporters could go. The interplanetary civil war that tore at the core worlds all the way to the rim had also tore at some families. Hera was where they could go to meet again. Provided they had the leave saved up, and the means to get there. For some, it was a way to meet your enemy face to face. Whatever reason any soldier went to Hera, there was one bar they could go to and not worry about having to fight, or a fight breaking out, or having to break up a fight. The Rusty Hinge was, for all intents and purposes, a dive bar, and most Alliance soldiers steered clear of it. But, should a group come in, the Independents there were known to remain civil. Everyone would have their drinks, and, like as not, the more drinks they had, the more chance they had of drinking together before dawn.

The Skirmish at The Rusty Hinge ended all that. A full three years before the Battle of Serenity Valley, there was a lot less bloodshed at the Skirmish, but, enough to ensure that bad blood stayed on Hera from time out of mind. The neutral reputation the planet had so carefully cultivated was gone. What wasn't in any history book anywhere, however, was who started the Skirmish. It had, in fact, been a young corporal who went by the name of Malcolm Reynolds.

For all this, the most frightening thing about that evening for Corporal Reynolds was not that he had started a fight that ended in bloodshed. No, something far more disturbing reared its head that night. Something that would haunt him, and the rest of the known 'verse for a full ten years...that is to say, all the way to the present. The night of The Skirmish at The Rusty Hinge was the night that Mal met Rudd.

The Skirmish had lasted only 2