This is a short one, but the next and final one should tie everything up nicely.

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pt 01,pt 02,pt 03,pt 04,pt 05,pt 06,pt 07,pt 08

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The lone commando noticed Serenity approaching, though he could do nothing to speed up his escape process. The net contained a very strong current, and once it was grounded it took a gradual decrease to release the connection to the land. He started the de-activation sequence, attempting to force it to move faster by increasing the power to the engines. As he felt the ship slowly begin to pull away from the ground, he realized too late what the approaching vessel planned to do. Releasing his restraining harness, he bolted for the side door, grabbing a parachute pack and breathing mask before throwing himself out of it.

Wash continued to fly Serenity over the smaller ship as he saw the man jump out from the side of it, turning the side thrusters downward toward it. The expulsion from the thrusters forced the ship downward, the resulting tangent with the fading net pulling it forward. The ship continued downward on a parabolic collision course with the ground five yards away from the parked Alliance patrol boat, causing the two guards stationed there to dive for cover.

Wash expertly landed Serenity on the opposite side of the other Firefly from the patrol ship moments later, with Mal, Zoe, and Jayne at the sides of the cargo bay ramp, guns drawn as they scanned for the guards outside of both ships.

“Gorramit, they all got real guns this time,” Jayne half-whispered, dropping the binoculars from his eyes. “Gotta take ‘em down fast.”

Mal nodded to him, signaling him to move out of the front door toward a medium-sized rock for cover. Several shots ricocheted off of the rock and the outer hull of the ship as the four Alliance guards charged towards them. At the first break in their fire, Jayne popped up, firing as soon as he could see his target. The foremost guard’s head snapped back as he fell to the ground, Jayne’s first shot finding its mark with lethal precision. He took aim again as shots rang out from behind him.

Mal had taken out the knee of another guard while Zoe knocked another on his back with a shot to the chest. Mal ran down the ramp toward another rock, dropping himself into a shoulder roll to avoid a bullet that was aimed in his direction. Jayne, seeing the guard distracted by Mal, took the opportunity to put a bullet into his side in the area devoid of armor under his arm. Knowing the shot would pierce at least one of the lungs, he turned his attention to the other two downed guards.

Zoe took a chance during Mal’s distraction to fire several more shots into the chest of the guard that she had knocked over, pausing only to make sure that at least one of them had penetrated the armor. As Mal got to his feet, he peered around the rock just in time to see Jayne fire several shots into the man whose knee he had hit.

Without any exchange of words, Zoe moved down the ramp, covering the entrances to both ships as she moved closer to the Firefly’s open airlock door. As Jayne stood to move a shot rang out behind him. His left arm flew forward, forced into position by the force of the bullet connecting with the flesh of his shoulder. As he dropped himself to the ground, he turned in time to see the parachuting commando landing, his feet running out the extra inertia. As Jayne watched, preparing to take aim at the man, his neck exploded in a shower of blood. The parachute dragged his dying body into one of the idle thrusters of the Firefly, snagging and tearing on idle blades. Zoe, smoke still actively rising from the barrel of her gun, ducked for cover around the side of the thruster. Jayne ducked back behind his rock as Mal moved to a vantage point behind the rear left leg of the landing gear.

Seconds after Mal was in position, the four troops that had been stationed inside the cargo bay came running out the door, guns at the ready and covering each other. Mal waited until they were in a line along the outside of the cargo bay, then leaned out and fired a shot, hitting the lead guard’s nose and driving it through the rest of his head. As all three remaining men turned to look, Jayne half stood behind his rock, unloading half a dozen shots into the arms, legs and lower torso of the last one in line. The remaining two turned so their backs were to each other, dropping to their knees to take aim. One of the guards was able to squeeze his trigger, firing off a few rounds in Mal’s direction before the blast from Zoe’s gun hit them both in the shoulder, the three following blasts knocking the weapons from their hands in addition to the multiple entry wounds on their arms, face, and side. Mal moved in, kicking the guns away from the dying bodies. Zoe went to check Jayne’s wound, which turned out to be a flesh wound than entered and exited very cleanly.

As the trio moved toward the cargo bay door, the patrol boat began to lift off. Mal turned, squinting for a split second before firing a bullet into the main conduit from the power controls into the cockpit. Rocking on its axis, the ship crashed back down the ten meters it had risen, throwing the surprised pilot through the broken glass of the front windows. Mal turned, scanning the entire vicinity before backing toward the ship, keeping watch as Zoe slowly poked her head inside.

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After dragging the body of the dead commando inside the engine room, Amos and Anya had slowly headed toward the engine room, stopping in the galley when they heard the gunshots outside the cargo bay. Upon hearing and feeling the impact of the patrol ship, Amos decided that whoever was outside would have the cargo bay covered, so they doubled back and headed down the stairs that would take them to the passenger dorms. Halfway down, they stopped on the landing, hearing the remaining guards moving around below them.

Before she realized what was happening, a figure dropped from the ceiling, kicking Amos back up the stairs as he moved to get behind Anya, his knife already drawn. As he landed, he raised his arm to slice her throat. Before the knife made it to its destination, his arm went limp, mirroring the rest of his body. Anya’s long, thin knife slid out of his chest as the body sunk to the floor. Standing up, Amos gave her an appraising look before motioning her to lead the way further down the stairs.

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Ryan continued to drag the fine blade down Claire’s arms, each line of fresh blood bringing a more sadistic smile to his face. Alec watched on approvingly, his arms crossed across his chest.

“So, since we have both now experienced both ends of this equation, I have to ask you: Do you prefer being the one to be cut on or the one doing the cutting?”

She spat into his face once more, gritting her teeth as fresh pain was inflicted on her body. She wasn’t going to let the sick bastard have the pleasure of getting a response from her. She stared up at him, remaining silent as she forced a smile in his direction.

“Aww Alec, she doesn’t want to talk to me. I am so hurt. Maybe we can play with her face next, I have always wanted to try giving someone a new nose.”

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Mal, Jayne, and Zoe crept quietly and swiftly across the cargo bay floor, moving between various crates for cover as they approached the door. Mal could see one of the men in the infirmary, apparently watching what was going on on the exam table. He could also see several of the remaining guards sitting on the couch.

A sudden noise at the other end of the room got their attention, two of them moving away towards it. Mal took the opportunity to move inside the room, staying crouched in the shadows as he fired at the guard left on the couch, his shot passing through the left eye of his target. Zoe leaned in, firing twice more to take out the man sitting next to him. Mal moved down the stairs, watching the two remaining guards move toward the other end of the room.

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Amos threw the dead commando’s knife to the floor below, trying to get the attention of any other guards in the room. They backed up the stairs as the guards came over. One bent over to inspect the knife, the other remaining standing and scanning the area. Several quick bursts exploded from the barrel of Amos’ gun, taking down both of the men before they could even look up to find where the shots came from. They waited a moment for any other surprises from the lower floor, then continued down the stairs, guns ready.

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Mal saw motion on the other side of the room, watching with a bit of admiration as Amos and Anya took out the last two guards. They saw Tom still cuffed to the bulkhead, crouching so as to protect himself from any stray bullets. As he moved to get a look inside the infirmary, the door was shoved open, and a dark haired man shoved the bleeding and limping form of Claire before him, a scalpel held tight against her throat.

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pt 10

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