English and Cantonese. The Chinese spoken is based on Mandarin (intermixed with Cantonese), but the pronunciation is heavily corrupted from the real-world language by the actors. Chinese appears to be the superior language in Alliance society as it is used for written public communications and for polite address between strangers. For example, when the Alliance agent McGinnis, answers the intercom in the episode "Ariel", he uses, 你好 (ni hao) rather than hello. Alliance military The Alliance operates a fleet of massive spaceships, resembling huge floating cities, that act as both military and police in the space between the various planets of the Firefly Universe. Alliance ships have the registry prefix IAV (Interstellar Alliance Vessel): e.g., IAV Dortmunder and IAV Magellan. The pilot episode of the series reveals that the large city-ships carry smaller gunships; these are never named nor described further. In the episode "Bushwhacked," it is revealed that Alliance ships have nurseries. In the film Serenity, there appear a fleet of sleeker, more streamlined warships, suggesting that the film had a higher CGI budget. Alliance ground troops are nicknamed "purple bellies" (in contrast to the Independent "browncoats"). Crewmembers on Alliance starships wear gray uniforms resembling those worn by Imperial German Army from World War I; officers and enlisted crew are identically dressed (except for headgear: officers wear hats, enlisted crew wear berets). In Serenity, Alliance crew members wear blue uniforms. The exact structure of the Alliance military, such as its rank system and branch organization, is not described. Some Alliance officers are seen with naval ranks, such as Commander, and others with ground force ranks such as Colonel and General. Future During the events of the 2005 film, the crew of Serenity discover the truth behind River Tam's insanity; she had discovered the truth behind the Reavers, in which the Alliance had inadvertently created the first Reavers in an attempt to create peace on the planet Miranda. Malcolm Reynolds resolves to reveal this to the universe, and after a lengthy battle with the Operative, succeeds in doing so, ruining the Operative's faith in the Alliance's methods and revealing the existence of the Reavers (plus the true colors of the Alliance) to the system at large. Before he departs, the Operative tells Mal of how much trouble he had caused the Alliance (in the shooting script, he states that they had gotten multiple complaints from several worlds), and warns him