Disclaimer – Everything either does belong to Joss or it should. I’m just borrowing his shiny ‘verse for a while.

The 21st Lancers belong to the British Army so I’m borrowing them too. I hope they don’t mind

* * *

Qingdao City - Macau – 2520AD

Knowing when to get the hell out of the way had been a skill of Mal Reynolds for a considerable number of years so as soon as he heard the firing he was already diving for cover. He was in fact just starting to move when Steven was hit and he got splashed with the Lancers blood.

The street was crowded and it was a miracle that number of bystanders had not been hit by those shots in the burst that had not struck Steven. Everyone was screaming and scattering which must have had an effect on the gunman because his second burst aimed at Mal went wild.

Muscle memory is a wonderful thing. Repeat the same action enough times and you can do it smoothly and automatically with barely a hint of actual thought required. Mal was still dropping to the ground when his pistol came up and fired at the gunman.

The Captains first shot missed but definitely had an effect because his opponent also began diving for cover behind a market stall. He had almost made it when Mal Reynolds second shot hit him square in the chest and sent him crashing awkwardly to earth.

The screaming and scattering continued as Mal fired a second shot into his opponent. He was about to deliver a coup de grace headshot when a shotgun blast hit the car in front of him showering him with plexiglass.

Another blast then another very fast it was either somebody very practised with a pump-action or they were toting an autoloader. In any case Mal was keeping his head well down.

If the car had been a conventional wheel design Mal could have looked underneath but it was a powered down hovercar resting flat on the roadway.

The blasts got closer and closer and Mal was deciding whether to break left or right when another gun opened up full-auto.

Mal heard the sound of bulle