Saga Blue Sun Down: A SW/Firefly XO--Winner, Best Crossover, 2008 Fanfic Awards

I can hear all of these characters speaking your lines, and that is a tribute to your talent!

Mal shushed her, and ignoring her fiery look, pointed down. The four of them watched as River began to gesticulate wildly in response to something she said to the tank, and then stood up and slowly began to dance. The dance was at once alien and breathtakingly beautiful, but with an odd martial tone to it.

?If I didn?t know better,? Inara whispered, ?I would say that is some type of taolu or kata. I don?t recognize the style, but it?s definitely martial. See the way she?s moving her hands? Like she?s swinging a light-weight sword.?

?We all saw what she done at Mr. Universe,? Jayne said. ?Mayhap she?s having one o? dem hatchbacks or somethin?.?

?You mean ?flashback??? Zoe said.

?Maybe,? Jayne said, suspicious they were making fun of him.

?It?s beautiful,? Inara whispered.

Suddenly River spun into a jump that took her into a flying cartwheel almost ten feet off the floor of the ship, and all four watchers stood straight and exchanged looks. Inara was the one to voice their thoughts: ?That wasn?t possible.?


For some reason, that passage just really stood out for me!

 

The "embryos" parts were great. Though I think my favorite line from this whole post (and it was hard to narrow it down 'cause there were so many) was this one from Wash:
When they were gone, he shouted, ?I?m so bored!?

I really like all the details you're including, like the references to Wash's dinosaurs (my favorite Firefly scene ever) and Jayne's hat.

Very cool scene in the cargo bay with the cryo container. We got some answers but even more questions. I'm looking forward to seeing who the guy in the cryo container is and what, if anything, Mal's going to do with River's claim about what Badger is doing.

Great update!

-Thumper

 

Hmm? I?m guessing the ship ?should not exist?? I wonder what it is?

Perfect Jayne response to that.

Corlingua = Esperanto. I?m saying it right now, to get ahead of the conspiracy theory curve.

The ending to this post was definitely that moment where you need the opening credits and theme song to start up. Another great post!

Any chance I could get added to the PM list?

 

Good to see you're keeping up the tension in this update, Vader! The Firefly details are great, and are making me look forward to the future culture shock on both sides. Who's the man?

River turned from Simon to the captain, and then back to the tank. Her fingers flew over the control pad as if she were a trained technician, and with a pop and a shower of cold vapor the lid of the tank unsealed. As it rose, everyone gathered closer around the tank to see.

They saw a very large, very well-muscled man with a mane of black hair curled up in fetal position, his eyes closed and his skin gray from the cold of the cryo stasis. He was also very, very naked.

 

OH! New Firefly crossover!

I love the cows part, and laughed so hard it was ridiculous.

He was also very, very naked.

I think that, right there is my favorite line. You mentioned Quinlan Vos, so I'm going to assume that this is him.

I just thought of Obi-wan in this same situation, and what he'd do when he found out that these people lived on the shady side of the law.

Could I get on the PM list please?

 

Golden-Jedi?Well, since I gave a character list and you?re about to see a yellow-white tattoo across his face, I don?t suppose I?m giving to much away by mentioning it?s not Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Dianethx?I?m glad you?re enjoying it. I?ve read a few Jayne/River fanfics and I was surprised that one or two even worked. She enjoys beating him up, and he enjoys the attention. And I read somewhere that the reason she slashed him in the series was actually because of the Blue Sun logo on his shirt. Interesting, huh?

Corellian_Ale?Thank you. This has been a hard fic to write because of making sure everyone spoke with their true voice.

Cggunnersmate?Shh! Don?t tell anyone. And I might get Jayne in his bunk eventually. I?ll give it a try, at least.

Cobranaconda?Thank you. Things will start linking with this chapter.

LadyLunas?I?m sorry for not PMing you with the first post. I felt kind of guilty over stopping the first version and this one was a completely different story, so I decided to start over cold. I?m glad you found it, though. You?re on the list!

VaderLvr64?Now you?re making me blush. Thank you very much.

Thumper09?For me, that pretty much cemented Wash?s character, and confirmed why I had to veer away from canon and put him and Book in. And Mal?s going to have his hands full of naked man here pretty soon.

The Face?plots within plots. ?Corlingua=Esperanto?. LOL! That had me cracking up when I read it. I just see William Shatner trying to talk to Mal in Esperanto. And for that, you bet, you?re on the list!

Kevin_Solo?I don?t know why naked men keep showing up in my stories. RedGold laughed at me all the time over how my Kale Naberried character in Legacy of the Red Sun kept losing his shirt. But in this case I have solid backing from Firefly itself that the man should be naked. And although I don?t name him immediately, emerald54 is right.

Emerald54?Thank you. And yes, you?re right. As for Obi-Wan, I suspect he would get along with them just fine. He only seemed prudish around Anakin, and probably in direct response to Anakin. Then again, I haven?t read a lot of the PT-era novels, either. You?re on the list.


(Author?s note: The Operative from Serenity was never named. So I named him.)



Chapter Three: Naked Men


Samhael Afolabi ran through the streets of Persephone with smooth, even breaths and strong legs that left his pursuers momentarily behind.

The slums of Eavestown Docks did not attract the type of people who concerned themselves with other people?s business. Samhael could have a knife in his chest and three men with clubs after him, and no one would look twice.

He was not injured, however, and he was the hunter as much as the hunted. He was, after all, very good at both.

Samhael Afolabi was on his third life. His first life was unremarkable. He was a thief and drug addict, like many in the slums of Londinium. He stole to get the money to pay for the drugs that helped him forget about the hopeless, endless hole that was his life.

One day, when he was in his early teens, he tried to rob someone he should not have robbed. He remembered the sound his arms and legs made when they snapped. His would-be victim methodically broke his humerus, radius and ulna bones in both arms, then as he lay writhing on the ground in agony, proceeded to break both femurs, his fibulas and his tibias.

The man leaned over and grabbed the thoroughly incapacitated teen by the chin. ?Does you?re life mean anything??

Samhael remembered sputtering out a plea for mercy, which made the man smile cruelly. ?Mercy? No. There will be no mercy. I will destroy you so utterly you won?t even remember your name.?

From that day on, he became a creature of the Alliance, subjected to the most agonizing, intensive training in the galaxy. His speech was reworked, his features shifted through injury and reconstruc

 

The Operative is really scary. He certainly knows how to kill. I wonder if he knows how to live.

As for the shipmates on Serenity, you got them down perfectly. Kaylee was hilarious looking at the naked guy. Loved how they fought with him and yet River was able to get him to stop and cover up.

?Well, that was exciting,? Wash summed up from the other side of the room. ?Do we get to see naked women fighting now?? He'll pay for that remark later!

Great job. Looking forward to seeing how you are going to tie this up with SW.

 

Since I know next to nothing about the EU people, I was in the dark about who the mistery jedi was until you pointed out at the 'dramatis personae' index... He seems to be rather well endowed indeed, by the ladies reactions .

About the other scene... ugh, if I had been at the theater I would have been covering my eyes, but that doesn't seem to help when you're reading . Excellent action there!

 

Oh... that last line... pure Wash. I'm giggling way to hard for this to be healthy.

I was going off of the movies, and to me he always seemed more conservative then Anakin, but maybe I need to rewatch them.

Hope you update soon, because this is really good!

 

Chapter Three: Naked Men

?Well, that was exciting,? Wash summed up from the other side of the room. ?Do we get to see naked women fighting now??



Your portrayal "The Operative" Samhael Afolabi was also excellent!

 

Wash! Kaylee! I loved it.

Of course, the humour was offset by the Operative's section. You have a really nice creepy portrayal of him.

 

As others have pointed out, it's a nice mixture of horror and humour. The Operative's early life and career was well set out. I grimaced at how he was 'recruited':

One day, when he was in his early teens, he tried to rob someone he should not have robbed. He remembered the sound his arms and legs made when they snapped. His would-be victim methodically broke his humerus, radius and ulna bones in both arms, then as he lay writhing on the ground in agony, proceeded to break both femurs, his fibulas and his tibias.

The man leaned over and grabbed the thoroughly incapacitated teen by the chin. ?Does you?re life mean anything??

Samhael remembered sputtering out a plea for mercy, which made the man smile cruelly. ?Mercy? No. There will be no mercy. I will destroy you so utterly you won?t even remember your name.?

From that day on, he became a creature of the Alliance, subjected to the most agonizing, intensive training in the galaxy. His speech was reworked, his features shifted through injury and reconstruction. He was trained on weapons of every description, and how to use anything else at hand as a weapon. He was shaped, over and over again, until he became an Operative.

Nasty! At least I didn't mind his killing of Badger, considering that the latter was a crook, who doubtless caused suffering to many:

?I want to know where to find Malcolm Reynolds.?

?Gonna kill me if I don?t tell you, huh??

The former Operative smiled gently. ?No. I?m going to kill you regardless. But I?ll kill you painlessly if you cooperate.?

The two guards pulled their guns. Samhael did not even bother with the katana he carried on his back. He disarmed and killed both men with his bare hands in the space it took Badger to run around his desk for his own gun. By the time he brought the supposed pre-ban ?antique? revolver to bear, a hand with an iron grip caught his wrist and slammed the gun hand to the desk with sufficient strength to make Badger drop the weapon.

?As I was saying,? Samhael said, ?you are going to die regardless. But there are many ways to die. If you give me what I want, you will die quickly and with minimal pain. If you do not, you will rupture your vocal cords screaming in agony for many, many hours. Your choice.

For some reason, I'm not broken-hearted at this.

Now we come to him naked in the Serenity's infirmary. The comments from most the crew about his appearance were great:

?Come on, Cap?n,? Kaylee complained at one point. ?You?re blockin the view!?

?Kaylee!? Simon said, shocked.

Kaylee shrugged. ?Don?t see things like that often,? she said in defense of herself.

?He is very well endowed,? Inara noted.

?Not that big,? Jayne said.

?Penis envy,? River said.

?Now wait one ruttin? gorram minute!? the mercenary started.

?Enough. No more talk about this man?s penis!? Mal said.

Kaylee snickered. ?Made you say it.?

?If we can get our attention above his waistline,? Simon said, ?I?m more interested in his scars. Look at his stomach.?

?I?m looking,? Kaylee said as they finally reached the infirmary and placed him on the bed. ?That I am!?

?What?s this, now?? Wash said just as Zoe joined him. ?A naked boy toy? Do we get naked girl toys too??

?Honey,? Zoe said. ?Shut up.?

?I just want things to be fair,? Wash said plaintively.



Then it goes on some more:

?I see six foot five of man,? Kaylee said.

?Would you please stop that?? Simon asked.

She walked around the table and gave him a lingering kiss. ?Don?t worry, it?s shiny. I?m all looky-looky, no touchy-touchy.? She turned back and flushed scarlet. ?But the looky-looky?s almost enough.?

Mal huffed. ?Kaylee, don?t you have somethin? to fix in the engines??



Then the fighting starts, which was well described. Again to conter the violence depicted on board ship and earlier, we end with more humour:

?Well, that was e

 

Sorry for the bad spelling of 'counter', the absence of 'of', and the Serenity's name not being in italics, due to me accidentally posting too soon, before I had everything properly revised!

There was something else that struck me after reading Chapter 3. If this is their reaction when they see the naked Operative, how are the women going to behave when they see a clothed Anakin Skywalker?

 

Wow, lots of action here. Good stuff.

I'm curious about the past injuries that Vos had (this might be due to my general lack of EU knowledge, though).

Interesting background on the Operative. Hmm...Blue Sun secrets... And wow--I didn't expect Badger to get killed. I guess Mal won't have to worry about him after all. Though after reading through this update, I suppose Badger would have been fairly low on Mal's priority list.


She was replaced a moment later by Book. ?What?s all the commotion about?oh, a new passenger,? he noted. ?And clothing-impaired, as well.?

Great line there from Book, LOL.

Awesome update! Keep up the good work.

-Thumper

 

Oh, you need to add me to that PM list!!!

You have the tone of the characters from Firefly down pat. I haven't seen the movie yet (and don't really want to, because of certain people's deaths), but this is really cool!

 

I'll make a new post and acknowledgments next week. For now, I wish everyone a happy holiday and a brilliant New Year.

 

Just wanted to send you an encouraging word and let you know that we are all waiting to see what happens next? Hope you have a great holiday; please continue the PM?s?it is so great to have that message pop up and let you know something great is ready to be enjoyed!!

Thanks again!!

 

First off, I hope everyone had a Happy Holiday Bowl. My Holiday Bowl was especially nice since my Horns won it. May everyone?s Holiday Bowl be as enjoyable. (Readers in Arizona exempted, of course

Dianethx?Afolabi is pretty scary, but judging from the reactions I think I may not have made the chapter as clear as I should have. Samhael cut Badger?s ear off, but HE DID NOT KILL BADGER. The soldiers that stormed the building were actually after Samhael and Badger was killed in the crossfire. I?m writing this sans Beta reader, so I may not have made that as clear as I should have. Samhael Afolabi is definitely creepy, but he?s not actually the bad guy in this.

Golden_Jedi?Quinlan Vos is one of the more popular Clone Wars era EU characters. A whole series of comic books detailed his life, all of which was based on a 2 second appearance in the background of The Phantom Menace on Tattoine. Just FYI?He was Aayla Secura?s master.

Emerald54?I can?t write humor for humor?s sake worth a darn. But I can sure pack in a few laughs in my dramas.

Correllian_Ale?Thank you and thank you! Gotta love Wash.

LadyLunas?Thank you. I love urbane killers in fiction. It?s like there?s a piece missing in his psyche that most other people have. A moral base. He has ethics, but no morals. But again, he?s really not the bad guy in this. You?ll see soon.

Kevin_Solo?In the movie he always seemed sure he had no place in the society he thought he protected. I wanted him to have a background that always put him ?outside? the societal norms. I acknowledge I borrowed the concept from La Femme Nikita (the original French movie, not the Americanized version or the series, which I didn?t watch).

And again, just FYI, Afolabi did not kill Badger. Badger was killed in the crossfire of those trying to kill the former Operative.

Thumper09?Although it?s important to this story, Vos?s background is C-canon and on Wookiepedia, so I?ll admit for the record that he was on Kashyyk with Yoda when Order 66 was given. I?m glad you?re still liking it.

Laine_Snowtrekker?Done. I?m glad you?re enjoying it. Although I didn?t enjoy certain parts of the movie, other parts were just the perfect wrap-up to the series. Watching River go postal in a bar was truly a thing of beauty, and her fighting in the movie was in part the inspiration for this story.

GraceSolo?Why thank you. I appreciate that. And indeed, my Holiday Bowl was delicious. My boy Colt McCoy finally played the game he should have been playing all year.


I appreciate as always your reviews and support. Just to reiterate, Samhael Afolabi did not kill Badger. Granted, he cut the little weasel?s ear off, but he never actually intended to kill him. This is important because of what follows in this chapter. For the first time, we start to get glimpses of what?s happening in the larger universe.

I hope everyone enjoys. Also, have a Happy New Years!



Chapter Four: With Friends Like These?


The stranger, whom the crew had named Long John (?I mean, did you not see him?? Kaylee said of the appellation) sat in the galley staring at a protein bar while the rest of the crew stood around him, watching him stare.

He wore a pair of Jayne?s slacks and T-shirts, which surprisingly fit. River sat near him at the table. Simon, who by then had mostly recovered from the tranquilizer, sat groggily a few chairs away with Kaylee?s arms around his slumped shoulders. It was a mark of his state of mind that they touched at all in front of the others. He was still pretty shy in that regard.

?What?s his name?? Mal said. He leaned with his arms across his chest against the galley bar.

?He doesn?t know,? River said without asking.

?Ask him, please,? Mal said.

River turned, said something in Corlingua, then turned back to the captain. ?He says he doesn?t know.?

?Where?s he from??

?He doesn?t know.?

?What does he know??

?That Jayne didn?t wash those clothe

 

Good post.

And intriguing. River wants to make Jedi babies??

Thanks for the PM.

 

They were coming straight at Mal and the rest of the Serenity crew.

?Sir,? Zoe said.

That's just a Zoe line, not needing a lot of words, but getting the point across in an instant. Interesting how the Alliance has been giving kids to what, Sidious? the Empire? The Republic? And the Rever that was strange, he couldn't be Vader, because he can't live without the mask, but another Sith?

Damn, I'm doing the question thing again. Great post!

 

The room fell quiet again. Simon started to talk, but River forestalled him by raising her hand. Finally, the man?s eyes made their way back to her, and the two sat staring at each other so intensely even Inara?s cheeks colored. ?Should we leave the room?? she finally asked, half in jest.

River turned and grinned suddenly. Her whole face came alight as it sometimes did, making her startlingly beautiful. ?Yes, please. I?m going to have his baby.?

Mal choked on spit and turned away from everyone, coughing violently.



I choked on my coffee too!

I love the way you tell this story, I can *see* the scenes in my mind, you know?

 

River's going to have Quinlin's baby. LOL. I thought that was very funny and she knew it wasn't on Serenity that she'd have it, either. Maybe not so funny.

I have to wonder what the Reavers are doing with that oddly dressed one. Sounds almost like Vader.

Suddenly all firing stopped. With the cessation of gunfire they could hear the station alarm ringing. Mal stopped in his tracks and looked back. The Reavers were still there, standing oddly silent. In their midst was the largest Reaver Mal had ever seen. The creature stood a full head taller than anyone around and was clad in a strange collection of black leather. Its face was as horribly mutated as the rest, but it stood straight and proud and at that very moment was pointing across the market way at?Mal.

No, Mal realized. It was pointing at John. And it was speaking. A harsh, guttural, spitting language unlike anything Mal had heard before.

As it spoke, the other Reavers screamed their approval, and with a suddenness that caught the station defenders off guard, the whole Reaver force surged forward through the barricades. The mercenaries and merchants opened fire, but the Reavers ignored them.

They were coming straight at Mal and the rest of the Serenity crew.

?Sir,? Zoe said.

?Yup.? Mal looked back at the rest of them and said, ?Run!?


Another Jedi turned bad or insane? Looking forward to more. Great job.

 

Oh wow, this is awesome!

You have the Firefly characters down, that's for sure. Can I be on the PM list?

Also, I think the "two by two" thing might have something to do with "only two there are, no more, no less"....


Keep up the great work!

 

I loved Mal's reaction to River's baby intentions, LOL.

This was definitely a thinker post for me (and I mean that in a good way ). Afolabi's conversation with the crew during the meal about the aliens and the Alliance was a lot of food for thought. A few different reactions and mentions of events made me ponder about possibilities, but I'll see if my little theories amount to anything as the story goes on.


It was the perfect place for criminals and shady dealing in general. ?I like it,? Jayne said.

LOL. Great line!

One of the things I loved about Firefly was its attention to details like the lack of fresh food and certain kinds of food way out there, and I think you did a great job with the crew's attitude toward the restaurant, the free meal and Kaylee's strawberries.

Whoa, the crew looks to be in for a world of hurt with those Reavers coming at them! And that weird big Reaver...hmm...

Great post!

-Thumper

 

Once again, I have to say, you've certainly nailed the characterization here! Please keep me on the PM list. DRL has been wicked lately, but I still want to follow this story!

Amazing work, as always!