Mal orders that "Serenity" be made to look like a Reaver ship. They get the disguised ship through a fleet of Reaver warships. When they get to Miranda, the crew finds everyone that lived there is dead. There are dead bodies everywhere but they can not tell how the people died. The crew finds a video made after the disaster by an Alliance ship. It tells them that the Alliance made a chemical that was susposed to stop aggression and make the planet free of violence. The chemical worked so well that the people stopped doing everything, including eating, and let themselves die. In a tenth of a percent of the people, the chemical had the opposite effect. It turned them very aggressive and caused mental problems: they became the Reavers. Mal wanted to show this secret to all the worlds by using Mr. Universe's equipment. The Operative figures out where they are going and waits just outside of Reaver space with an Alliance fleet. Knowing that the Operative is likely to be waiting for them, "Serenity" opens fire on one of the Reaver ships while coming back. The other Reaver ships chase after them. "Serenity" leaves Reaver space and pass through the cloud around Mr. Universe's planet while being chased by the entire Reaver fleet. There is a large fight between the Alliance and the Reavers. The fight lets "Serenity's" pilot Wash to fly down to the planet. The Operative's ship is destroyed, and he also goes to the planet in an escape pod.