The Firefly and Serenity Database
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This is a list of past featured articles showcased on the Firefly and Serenity Database Main Page.

February 22, 2011 – January 4, 2012[]

Franco DeSalvo

Francis Gaylord Proffington, better known by his alias "Franco DeSalvo," which he preferred to use, was a gambler and a gunslinger who traveled aboard CanTankerous in an attempt to earn money and help out his once-rich family that was living in poverty. A tough combatant, DeSalvo was brought aboard CanTankerous mainly due to his fighting skills. (Read more…)

July 18, 2010 – February 22, 2011[]

Dortmunder captain

This Union of Allied Planets captain was the commanding officer of the Tohoku-class cruiser I.A.V. Dortmunder. In 2517, the Dortmunder was on patrol when it came across a derelict Vanderdecken-class heavy cargo carrier. While paying due respect to the crew of the cargo carrier that had lost their lives, he was informed by one of his bridge crew that a residual heat signature was present in the debris field. Further investigation showed that it was a Firefly-class transport ship engaged in an illegal salvage operation. Despite initially ordering a pursuit of the vessel as it fled the area, the Captain's attention was distracted by a distress call from a stricken personnel carrier. He allowed the transport to run so that he could rescue the passenger ship, unaware that the message was a ruse perpetrated by the crew of the salvage vessel to allow them to escape. (Read more…)

May 10, 2010 – July 18, 2010[]

El Dorado

The Floating World Class cruise liner was a luxury starship designed to transport passengers through the Verse in relative comfort and with ample entertainment. Consisting of five decks, vessels of the Floating World Class employed a quartet of engines to drive them through space. Each vessel was crewed by over eighty personnel, including officers, space hands, passenger care specialists and entertainers. Ships of the Floating World Class were lavishly appointed, with dining and gambling salons, extensive passenger quarters, entertainment facilities and Companion services. Ships in the class included the El Dorado, the Galaxy Princess, the Lotus Blossom, the Nu Du Shen, and the Truthful James. (Read more…)

March 10, 2010 – May 10, 2010[]

IAVDortmunder

The I.A.V. Dortmunder was an Iskellian Technology Solutions Tohoku-class cruiser that served the Anglo-Sino Alliance in 2517. While on patrol in the Rim, the Dortmunder came upon a derelict Vanderdecken-class heavy cargo carrier. The wreckage of the ship was the target of an illegal salvage operation perpetrated by the crew of the Firefly-class transport ship Serenity. The crew, contracted by an individual named Badger, had been hired to steal cases of foodstuffs that had survived in airtight sections.

The commanding officer of the Dortmunder initially ordered the vessel's ASREV gunships launched to intercept and capture the transport. the Dortmunder then received a distress signal from a personnel carrier thirteen kilometers from their current location. The Captain countermanded his order to launch the gunships, setting course to aid the stricken ship. However, the call for help was actually a ruse perpetrated by the crew of the Serenity through the use of a cry baby—a piece of equipment rigged to transmit a fake distress call—to allow them to escape capture by the Alliance. (Read more…)

December 9, 2009 – March 10, 2010[]

JoeHenderson-RPG

Joe "Time Bomb" Henderson was the son of a mine owner, who was born in approximately 2493 and raised on a mining colony. Henderson had a fascination with explosives, and once nearly blew up both himself and his family's home, leading his father to take him to the mine foreman so the boy could learn from him. After learning all he could about blasting rock, Henderson continued his studies at college, taking courses chemical, mechanical, and civil engineering, but never attaining a degree. During one of the long commercial flights from his home planet to the college, Henderson met the captain of the starship Aces and Eights, Maxx Williams. By the end of the trip, Williams had hired Henderson as the ship's mechanic.

In 2518, the Aces and Eights was stopped on a planet while the famed gambler Jack Leland, the owner of the vessel, participated in a poker game. Captain Williams discovered that a bomb had been planted on the ship and called Henderson to aid in disarming it. The crew discovered the bomb had been planted by Tong assassins, who had also attacked Leland and his bodyguard, Hwa Ling. After they found the ship's electrical systems had malfunctioned, making it impossible for them to leave the ship, the crew were contacted by the Tong who were holding Ling hostage and threatening to blow up the Aces and Eights. In response, Captain Williams went to negotiate with the Tong, while Henderson worked on disarming the bomb. (Read more…)

October 9, 2009 – December 9, 2009[]

Ariel planet

Ariel was the eleventh planet of the White Sun system in the Verse. Originally designated as P/2027(White Sun)07 when it was discovered in 2027 by astronomers, the planet was terraformed by robot terraformers to allow Humans to colonize the world after the mass evacuation of Earth-That-Was. Terraforming was completed in 2266, and the planet became one of the Central Planets of the Verse. By 2518, Ariel was a metropolitan world covered with glass and steel cities. It citizens had access to some of the finest examples of technology, and the planet was reputed for its medical facilities and dining establishments.

In 2517, one of the planet's hospitals—Saint Lucy's in Ariel City—was the target of an audacious scheme perpetrated by crew of the Firefly-class transport ship Serenity. The crew infiltrated the hospital, bypassing its security, and stole a sizeable amount of prescription drugs that they could resell on the open market for a large sum of credits. At the same time, one of their number—fugitive doctor Simon Tam—made use of the hospital facilities to scan his sister River's brain. She had been the victim of Alliance experiments to create perfect assassins and spies. The procedures that she had endured had left her mentally unstable, prompting the doctor to try and diagnose the problem in an attempt to cure it. (Read more…)

March 19, 2009 – October 9, 2009[]

BetterDays

Serenity: Better Days is a three-issue comic book series published by Dark Horse Comics. The mini-series, which debuted on 12 March 2008, explores plot lines which creator Joss Whedon intended originally to explore with the Firefly TV series. The series is written by Joss Whedon and Brett Matthews, featuring the internal artwork of Will Conrad, cover artwork of Adam Hughes, and coloring by Michelle Madsen. Chronologically, it occurs prior to Serenity: Those Left Behind and the film Serenity, but after "Objects in Space."

October 16, 2007 – March 19, 2008[]

IAVDortmunder

The IAV Dortmunder is an Alliance cruiser featured in the Firefly TV series' episode "Serenity". This cruiser stumbles upon Serenity salvaging wreckage. Its commander decides to let Serenity escape in favor of helping a personnel carrier, which turns out to be a cry baby activated by Wash.

July 22, 2006 – October 16, 2007[]

Independents flag

The confederacy of planets and moons that formed the Independent Planets was doomed from the start. Each of the outer worlds had its own form of government. They'd never really worked together except to do one thing - deliver the mail. Out on the frontier, folk liked to keep themselves to themselves, dealing with their own trouble in their own way. On the Border planets, it could be dangerous to stick a gun in someone's face because often as not three more could be pointing back at you.

While leaders among the scattered outer worlds expressed concern over the formation of the Anglo-Sino Alliance, most folk didn't much care, figuring it wouldn't affect them. They were concerned with far more mundane troubles: food shortages, low medical supplies, and the 'quirks' of recently terraformed planets. It wasn't until the Alliance's proclamation that it intended to extend control over the entire system that the folk on the outer worlds woke up and smelled the tea leaves. They came together to present a unified front of resistance. Resist they did—far more than the Alliance had anticipated. Folk fighting for their homes, freedom, and way of life fight a hell of a lot harder than those drafted into the army or who carry arms in exchange for credits. What the Independents lacked in training and equipment, they made up for in spirit.

May 14, 2006 – July 22, 2006[]

Malcolm Reynolds1

Captain Malcolm 'Mal' Reynolds fought for the continued independence of the planets in the Unification War—and lost. Bitter about the defeat and unable to see eye-to-eye with the government that formed in its wake, Mal bought his own bit of freedom—a run-down, Firefly-class transport ship he named Serenity—and headed out into the black to make his own way. Mal takes on all kinds of cargo and passengers and jobs—legal or more often not—almost anything that pays. He wants only to keep his ship flying and his crew safe, though that's rarely as easy as it sounds.

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