Blue Sun Room FICTION - GENERAL

Virtual Firefly episode 1x18 (act four)

Friday, January 13, 2006

“Property Rights” (act four): This is the third episode of the Virtual Firefly project. Check out our web site at stillflying.net!

CATEGORY: FICTION    TIMES READ: 3685    RATING: 9.0 (PG)    SERIES: FIREFLY

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EXT. LUHAN FARMHOUSE – NIGHT

Chaos erupts as Barrett walks down the stairs, firing the Lassiter. His men rally and offer support fire, shooting into the crowd.

Mal, Jayne and Zoe seek cover at different locations, and in the background, Wash tackles Mister Frye to push him into the safety of the treeline.

Folks in the posse run in every direction. The posse scatters, a few trying to support Mal and his crew, but most just trying to escape.

Most of Barrett’s shots miss, hitting the grass and setting it ablaze.

In the middle of the chaos, Haymer stands, staring at the Lassiter, his bodyguards in phalanx around him, an island of calm in the chaos.

Mal, crouched in SHRUBS, sees Peete start to drag Grandma Luhan into the house.

MAL

(pointing) Jayne!

Jayne, hiding behind a BARREL, nods and rushes around the side of the porch, disappearing from sight.

Zoe, from her vantage point behind the LOW WALL that previously sheltered Mal, gives him cover fire.

Samuels looks over the side, sees Jayne coming—

Then Zoe shoots him. Samuels topples over the rail, landing not far from where Barrett stands, still firing into the chaos, clearly drunk with power.

BARRETT: Run, you {mouse droppings}, run!

Barrett looks at Samuels's body and fires at Zoe. The laser beam burns a groove in the top of the LOW WALL. As Barrett fires again, Mal slams into him, spoiling the shot. The bolt goes wide, setting a tree afire.

Barrett and Mal fall to the ground in a tumble of fists and anger, the Lassiter sailing a few yards away. Mal manages to keep hold of his own gun and pistol whips Barrett, gaining the upper hand.

With the Lassiter silenced, Barrett’s boys lose their fight and some of the posse start to come back. On the porch, Jayne stands protectively in front of Grandma Luhan.

Zoe walks forward to try to help Mal, but can’t fire at Barrett because the two men are going at it so ferociously, still rolling in the dirt.

When they roll close enough to Samuels’ body, Barrett grabs his gun, bu

Comments
Friday, 13 January 2006 07:26
Could you maybe post each episode in it's entirity instead of posting each act seperately?
Friday, 13 January 2006 07:58
WOW... i loved this all of it! But could you post it all together, it would be helpful. Any way if you cant its ok i would still read it, it read real well.
Friday, 13 January 2006 09:46
Would make a good episode..
Friday, 13 January 2006 12:08
I agree with Snoozaman, this would have made a very good episode.
Friday, 13 January 2006 12:55
This was fabulous! You really outdid yourself and I loved every gorram word you wrote. And the ending? Absolutely perfect. Mighty fine story, *xie xie ni*. Ali D :~)
You can't take the sky from me
Friday, 13 January 2006 14:51
Hey, folks. I apologize for the logistics of posting each act separately, but the scripts do run approx. 50 pages.

If anyone is interested in receiving the pdfs of the episodes, please e-mail me at gwek@optonline.net to be put on our mailing list. (They're complete and MUCH prettier!).

Our first two episodes are available on our site, stillflying.net, and third will be up shortly.
Friday, 13 January 2006 18:14
Great story. These scripts have definitely become a habit. Good stories, good writing, good pacing, great on the characterizations. Writing dialog isn't easy, and you seem to get every character's phrasing just right. I can hear them saying the words you put in their mouths. I'm here for the duration. Thanks.
Friday, 13 January 2006 21:37
What a great surprise. I've been busy and was so excited when the pdf showed up in my mail.

I read it in one sitting. This series is definitely spot on. <i> Property Rights </i> was excellent. Just sulking about having to wait two weeks to see another one. Sounds like Fox ::spit::

Just don't cancel this!


ANONYMOUS
Friday, 13 January 2006 21:48
I was going to make a joke about airing baseball next week and then showing the next episode at 4 on a Saturday afternoon, but it just didn't seem funny...

Seriously, much as I would love for us to do them weekly, I'm afraid our quality will begin to slip. After next week, you should have four in a row until the end of Season One.

--George
2X2
Friday, 13 January 2006 22:19
This was great! I'm definately enjoyin' these... Good story, very 'real' feeling to it... way to go!
ANONYMOUS
Saturday, 14 January 2006 01:58
Another impressive effort. I have only one complaint, and it's only a complaint because it's a running theme in the Still Flying project so far. Can we stop having the cameo-a-week thing? The episode would've been just fine being just about entirely on the situation with Barrett and the Luhans. The stuff with Kaylee's family, and the stuff with Haymer feel like they could've gone into another episode without harming this one. At times I just feel like you're writing this to go <wink wink, nudge nudge> to the entire Browncoat population. But I can't complain too much, because as long as you keep writing, I'll keep reading.
ANONYMOUS
Saturday, 14 January 2006 02:06
and what I meant above was we don't need to have the guests from all the fourteen previous episodes show up in virtual firefly. It's a big 'verse, let's have some new blood.
Saturday, 14 January 2006 07:33
I understand your feelings about the "cameo of the week." This was largely intentional, to help build a bridge between the show and our work.

Personally, I'm sometimes put off by fanfic where the familiar faces are outnumbered (or overwhelmed) by new ones, so we choose to err on the side of caution here.

More importantly, we wanted to give closure from some of the open-ended story arcs from the show (hence the demise of Niska and Haymer getting back the Lassiter).

As we move forward, you'll see some familiar faces, but you'll also be seeing a lot of new ones.
Saturday, 14 January 2006 09:11
As the writer of this last one, I respond:

I didn't think we could have the sale of the Lassiter without Haymer. It just didn't seem right. This episode didn't need to come right after the Niska cameo--it was originally scheduled for 1x20--but when it came, Haymer had to be in it.

Similarly, the Barrett storyline was originally a teaser to an episode about Mal killing an innocent. But as that developed, it became clear that Mal had no real motivation to come to grips with Barrett, since there was no money in it. He'd feel guilty about the death, but wouldn't choose to bind himself to the planet's City of Refuge law. Having Barrett take something valuable that the crew needed to get back was the solution I came up with--and then we needed a Lassiter plot. The two were a natural fit.
Thursday, 04 May 2006 03:19
hmm loved it you write very well, very well indeed, keep up the good work
Friday, 13 May 2011 14:47
Just discovered this, about 5 years late...

I loved the conversation between Mal & Haymer about Yo-Saf-Bridge! Shiny stuff!
Friday, 13 May 2011 17:23
Glad you enjoyed! Always happy to have people find us. :)

If you're interested in seeing the scripts in pdf format, check out http://www.stillflying.net. We've got 29 episodes total (inlcuding a full 22-episode second season).

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