Hey guys, this is a fanfic branching off from Karen Traviss's Republic Commando series, hope you enjoy it.

Ciao!

Republic Military Barracks, Coruscant-

Rever was on the warpath.

Someone had thought it would be funny to throw a bucket of ice-cold water on him while he was asleep, and he had a pretty good idea who it was, RC-8015, also known as Fi.

"Oh come on, Rever, I was just messing around," Fi said as he attempted to hide behind his squadmates. Bloodbath was right on Rever's heels, the two of them had been inseparable since the day they were hatched. Fi watched, worry etched on his face, as Rever made some hand signals, then looked at Bloodbath.

Bloodbath kept his face completely deadpan as he spoke. "Rever says that he's going to teach you a lesson in messing around..." he paused as Rever motioned again, this time waving his vibroblade around. Fi didn't need a translation to know what that meant.

"Please don't!" He yelled as Rever came after him. "I'm too pretty to be horribly disfigured for life!" He yelped again as Rever broke through his 'barrier' and came straight at him, this time, though, Omega Squad intervened.

Darman and Atin each grabbed one of Rever's arms, effectively halting his advance towards Fi. "Come on, Rever," Darman said as he wrestled the blade out of his hand. "Fi was just being a di'kut."

After Rever stopped struggling, they each released their holds on him. By this time, the rest of Cannon Squad had shown up. "What happened?" Des asked in a resigned tone, although he already knew what had happened, Ramik just stood there shaking his head.

"I just gave Rever a little wake up call," Fi said, innocence written all over his face. Rever made a few more gestures and everyone looked to Bloodbath. He cleared his throat. "You probably don't want me to translate that," he said.

"Alright, this has gone far enough, Fi, apologize," Niner ordered. "But it was just a joke and I..." he stopped as Niner glared at him. "Yes, Sarge," he mumbled. "Sorry, Rever." Rever stood there for a few minutes before nodding his head.

"There, see? No harm done," Des said, he gestured for them to get going. As Bloodbath turned to leave, he could hear Niner scolding Fi, loudly.

"What in Haran could have possibly possessed you to do something stupid like that, Fi?!" he yelled. "You know better than to antagonize anyone in Cannon Squad, especially if it's Rever!"

"It was just a joke," Fi said defensively. "And it's like Des said, no harm do... Ow ow ow ow!" Fi's sentence was cut off with a string of painful yelps as Niner grabbed him by the ear and dragged him away, all the while mumbling under his breath. "What am I going to do with you?" he asked nobody in particular.

Back on their side of the barracks, Rever was being lectured by Des. "You shouldn't ever threaten to physically harm someone just because of a joke," he said. Rever just tuned him out, he desperately wished he had his voice back. It was so frustrating not being able to yell at Fi himself.

He thought back to the day he lost his voice eight months earlier. Their sergeant, Kal Skirata, had decided to use the livefire course, complete with rotting nerf guts and blood, meant to toughen them up. He remembered it like it was yesterday...

"Rever!" Sergeant Skirata shouted. "Get your head out of your shebs and into action!" They had been pitted against some of Vau's commandos in this exercise and were currently attempting to overrun their position. Rever's and Bloodbath's job was to draw their fire as Des said Ramik outflanked them. Rever had just missed being hit by a blasterbolt coming from his left by dropping to the ground, but as he got up he didn't see the second bolt directly behind the first.

There was a flash of light, and then Rever felt a searing pain just below his chin. "Oh shab, he thought, I've been shot." He fell to the ground gasping for air and clutching his throat.

"Rever!" He heard someone shout, then Bloodbath was at his side. "Sergeant Skirata! Rever's been shot!" Bloodbath yelled again as he cradled Rever's upper body in his arms. The exercise halted as people started noticing, Rever could see Sergeant Skirata running towards them. "It's going to be okay, Rever,you just hold on," he said, completely calm, though Rever could see the worry in his eyes. As Sergeant Skirata called for the medics, Rever finally passed out from the pain.

The medics did everything they could, but his throat and vocal cords were damaged beyond repair. They said he was lucky to be alive, the rim of his helmet had caught most of the bolt, slowing it enough to keep from killing him. Since the accident, Rever only "talked" to Bloodbath, and he never smiled again.

"Rever! Are you listening to me?" Rever snapped back to the present, he glanced up at Des and nodded once. Des sighed heavily. "Just keep a lid on that temper of yours, okay?" Rever nodded again and Des walked away. Bloodbath nudged him. "You okay?" He asked. Rever just shrugged and headed to the 'freshers. He washed his face and looked at his reflection in the mirror before removing his shirt.

The blasterbolt that took his voice had left a very nasty burn scar covering his entire throat and part of his chin. He rubbed it, wishing that he could speak. He finished undressing before stepping into the shower. When he was done he put his shirt back on and tugged the collar up to completely cover the scar. Very few people had seen it, only Sergeant Wad'e, Bloodbath, and the medics on Kamino. He hadn't even shown it to Des and Ramik.

A knock came from outside. "Rever," someone called, it was Bloodbath. "Come on, we've got a mission and they need us in the briefing room." Rever kicked the wall twice to show he had heard. Checking the mirror one last time to make sure his collar was completely covering his neck, Rever left the 'freshers and headed to the briefing room. Maybe this mission will turn out to be good, he thought to himself.

They were being deployed to the planet Shili, home of the Togrutas. The Separatists had built a fortress against the wishes of the Togruta and the Republic had been requested to aid in their efforts to destroy it. Cannon Squad was to infiltrate the facility and plant charges so they could blow it from the inside out.

"Well, the mission could be worse," Ramik said as he pulled on his armor. "Oh come on, this will be a piece of cake," Bloodbath said as he grabbed his Deece. "What could possibly go wrong?"

One Week Later-

"Come on, Rever, breath!" Des yelled. "Don't do this to me you di'kut, BREATH!" He yelled again, he was giving the motionless clone CPR, but Rever wasn't responding.

Hope you liked the chapter. That tiny tidbit on the end is a sneak peak into the future of the story, it's only purpose is to get readers excited.

Please read and review, I don't mind criticism and welcome advice for the storyline.

Ciao!