Chapter One.

The burning sensation stung ever nerve in his chest as the young clone trooper groaned in pain, his legs felt weak and his his chest felt heavy. His breathing began to increase rapidly and in a desperate attempt to control his breathing he ripped his helmet off. Gripping his headgear in one hand he used his other to guide him against the cold surface of the main hall. His eyes were filled with panic as he glared behind him, his feet never stopping as he couldn't risk halting his advancement towards the exit. Behind him on the stairs leading up towards the command center were the two lifeless bodies of his fellow clones, both killed by the infiltration team of Commando Droids. As he kept pushing forward he could feel the heat of the blaster bolt that had burnt through his chest plate rip apart at his skin, his armor slowed the bolt enough where it didn't kill him but it wasn't enough to prevent the laser from burning his skin. Cursing under his breath he realized that just a few more inches deeper and the bolt would of pierced his heart, he wasn't sure if he was lucky or unlucky as the pain had nearly made his pass out.

"I'm almost there." He hissed as he threw himself forward, his hand slamming into the control panel causing the door to hiss alive. Panic filled his mind as he realized the droids might of heard the door opening, shuffling forward he began to exit just as the doors barely opened. Nearly collapsing on the ground as he climbed through the opening he took in the fresh air, the darkness of night oddly comforting as he stumbled forward onto the pad outside. Gripping his chest with his free hand he spotted the lifeless body of the sentry at the end of the pad, his stomach turned at the thought of dying alone like the sentry. Shaking his head he knew the droids would soon discover his missing body, turning to face the edge of the pad he decided his best bet was hiding. Gulping lowly as he shuffled towards the edge still in pain, "I really hope those eels aren't nocturnal."

Bracing himself for a rather far drop he did his best to control his breathing, but the surge of pain from his burn mark kept him from staying calm. Glaring down into the emptiness of the rough terrain below he stopped for a moment, it wasn't out of fear but he caught sight of something in the corner of his eye. Turning his attention to a small ridge he gasped in shock as he saw the white armored figures he called brothers, his heart nearly skipped a beat as he spotted his brothers still alive. Just as he was about to call out to them his stomach dropped at the sight of a Rishi Eel emerging from a cave right behind them. Nearly falling back out of shock he inhaled deeply and even if it cost him all the air in his lungs he shouted out, "Watch out behind you!"

The lead trooper looked up in shock and just as the eel was about to pounce on the rear trooper his brothers spun around. The two middle troopers quickly grabbed onto their rear brother and pulled him away, the mouth of the eel slamming shut just a few feet from them. The lead trooper quickly pulled out his blaster pistol and fired off a few rounds, the first three hitting the eel in the head but not killing it. Realizing the danger wasn't worth the meal the eel hissed loudly before retreating back into's hole, leaving the clones shocked at the events that unfolded.

"That was cl-" The wounded trooper sighed out of relief, but before he could finish his sentence the sudden sensation of being light headed over took him. His body suddenly going numb as he fell prey to the pain and without warning he collapsed forward. Dropping off the edge of the platform he felt his body hit the side of the cliff and roll violently a few feet before crashing into the ridge below. His vision was fuzzy for a moment before it started to go completely dark, his hearing rung loudly as he could hear footsteps in the distance.

"It's Droidbait!" A voice shouted, as the trooper smiled weakly as he recognized the unusual accent belonging to Cutup. Before he could greet his brothers for what might of been the last time everything went completely dark and his mind went blank. The burning sensation in his chest disappeared and he felt at ease for once in his life, no more orders being barked at him and no more simulated battles. The sweet embrace of silence wrapped around him like a blanket and while Droidbait didn't wish for eternal rest he did welcome a few hours of it, he just needed some silence.

"CT-00-210 are you responsive?" An unfamiliar almost robotic voice chirped through his mind, his vision still dark but his hearing slowly returning along with a low ringing. Droidbait felt unusual as if his body was pulsing with anticipation, his chest that once felt as if it was on fire now had a soothing icy tingle that covered it. He could feel his body shift slightly as his vision slowly returned and his hearing became clear again, his ability to smell hit him like a punch from Hevy during hand-to-hand training and for the first time in a while his mind was clear.

"His name is Droidbait, how many times do I have to tell you that?" A very familiar voice barked annoyingly, as Droidbait could feel a smile form on his face as he recognized the unusual accent belonging to Cutup.

"His identification chip states-" The robotic voice argued, but quickly was silenced as Cutup hushed it.

"Droidbait you're finally with the living I see." Cutup chuckled, as Droidbait's eyes shot open and he was greeted by the sight of Cutup. The prankster of his squad grinned back as he sported his usual lightly trimmed goatee that resembled five o'clock shadow. Droidbait blinked rapidly as he struggled to sit up, Cutup quickly assisting the clone as he was still getting use to moving around.

Droidbait looked around at the medical station they were in, "What happened?"

"You saved my life back on Rishi." Cutup admitted, as he was still surprised that the clone who once fell first in every simulation was the one who saved him. Rubbing the back of his neck he was slightly ashamed that he allowed an eel to get the drop on him, "You warned us right before one of those giant eels made a snack out of me."

The memory came back to Droidbait and his hand shot up towards his chest. Strapped to his chest right where the blaster bolt had burnt him was a bacta patch, his fingers gently grazing over the medical patch he exhaled weakly. Looking back at Cutup he coughed weakly which triggered his brother to quickly offer him a cup of water, smiling weakly Droidbait gulped down the water and nearly choked on it due to how dry his throat was. Coughing weakly he covered his mouth with his arm, "What happened after that?"

"Well you passed out at the worse time and fell right off the platform, we were able to patch up your chest and a few bruises you got on your head." Cutup explained, his face becoming uneasy as he handed Droidbait a mirror. Holding in his trademark laugh he motioned with his hands in hopes it would keep his brother calm as he flashed him the mirror, "The medical clanker insisted on shaving your head to make sure you did suffer any damage to the skull."

"My hair." Droidbait gasped, as his head was now was as smooth as his face as not a inch of hair could be found. Rubbing his hand over his head he winced at the unusual sensation of the smooth head, a part of him kind of liked the haircut as no one else in Domino Squad had a unique haircut. Smiling for a split moment he sighed loudly, "I kinda like it."

"Yeah the shaved head suits you." Cutup chuckled softly as he placed the mirror down, "You kinda look like an egg, but in a good way."

Droidbait chuckled softly, "What happened next?"

Cutup sighed as a look of discomfort took over his face, "Well the inspection officers showed up and were ambushed right away. We were able to warn them and later group up, but with you being wounded I volunteered to watch over you."

"You?" Droidbait was slightly surprised, as he suspected something like that from Echo or maybe even Fives.

"Don't act so surprised, you saved my life so I owed you one." Cutup weakly chuckled, as Droidbait could tell the comedian of the squad was forcing his laugh which was unusual for him. Inhaling loudly Cutup continued the story, "They were able to clear the station out, but reinforcements arrived. I did my best to provide them with cover fire from the ridge I was hiding on with you, but the droids pushed into the station."

"Did everyone make it out alright?" Droidbait asked, shifting in place so he could sit up better.

"They tried to blow the station up remotely, but something went wrong." Cutup looked down shamefully, "Hevy stayed behind and blew the station up manually."

Droidbait felt a pain in his chest and this time it wasn't the burn mark, he felt sorrow for his fallen brother. His eyes teared up as he choked back the urge to cry, he was always the emotional one in the squad and he knew if Hevy was here he would tell him to shape up. Gripping the bed sheet tightly he looked up weakly towards his brother, "That's how he would of liked to go out."

"Yeah, he was always a showy one." Cutup weakly laughed, as he knew Hevy better than anyone. The two clones sat in silence for a few moments as Cutup knew his brother needed time to process everything. Leaning back in his chair he decided to break the emotional mood before Droidbait started to sob in the middle of the medical station, "Echo and Fives would of been here but they got an offer to join the 501st Legion."

Droidbait was surprised, "Wait really?"

"Yeah, one of the inspection officers was Captain Rex of the 501st." Cutup chuckled, as he was glad he could pull Droidbait's focus away from Hevy. Throwing his arms in the air he slapped the bed side loudly, "I heard from some guys around here that they're a pretty tightly ran unit. They've seen some serious action and have some pretty skilled troopers within their ranks."

"That's incredible." Droidbait admitted, he was happy as Echo and Fives were always a good duo. Just as he said that he tilted his head in confusion, "Why didn't you join them?"

Cutup chuckled as he waved the comment off, "They said I was too skilled for the 501st."

"Really." Droidbait shook his head, smiling as Cutup shrugged playfully.

"The 501st were marching out right away and you still needed two more weeks of recovery, that blaster bolt not only burnt your chest but sent some shrapnel from your chest plate inches from your heart." Cutup explained, pointing towards Droidbait's armor set that sat beside his bed. Droidbait examined the armor which was no longer white and shiny, the armor was scratched up from the fall and right where his heart was on the chest plate was a large hole. Cutup sighed lowly as he smiled at his brother, "You saved my life so I couldn't just leave you."

Droidbait was shocked as he never expected Cutup to do such a thing, "You denied the 501st so you could sit around wait for me to recover?"

"Couldn't let you be the only member of Domino that was left behind." Cutup admitted, "Plus I'm sure we'll get marching orders soon enough."

Droidbait nodded in agreement, "Hopefully we gets orders to join an actual unit and not more garrison orders."

"I agree." Cutup chuckled, "Don't think I can stand looking at anymore monitors on some backwater moon."

"Officer in medical bay!" A clone shouted loudly, as every able bodied clone stood at attention. Droidbait did his best to sit up right in his bed as his eyes slowly shifted towards the main door where a clone in unusual armor was entering the room. His armor wasn't the usual solid white like your regular trooper, but was a collection of gray colors and his helmet which was tucked underneath his arm was even more unusual. A standard helmet with two large headphone like attachments on both sides, Droidbait wasn't sure if they were experimental for future use or if they were just specialized for him. The officer had a stern look on his face, but at the same time his eyes carried a weight of compassion as he walked past several wounded clones and passed on words of encouragement. His head was cleanly buzzed and on the side of his neck he had an unusual symbol tattooed which was the same symbol that was located on his shoulder pads.

The officer finally let everyone go at ease, but that's when he turned his attention towards the two members of Domino Squad. Both clones quickly returned to attention as he approached them, "You two must be the ones from the battle over at the Rishi outpost."

"That's correct, sir!" Cutup quickly puffed his chest out, "I'm Cutup and that's Droidbait."

"Unusual names, I like them." The officer chuckled as he signaled for the two clones to ease up, "I'm Commander Jet."

Droidbait exhaled weakly as he adjusted his posture a bit, "It's a please to meet you commander."

"No, the pleasure is all mine." Jet corrected the trooper with a grin, "Not everyday I get to meet two war heroes."

"War heroes?" Cutup asked his accent stronger whenever he was confused, "Sir you might have us confused with someone else."

"If I recall correctly from the report it was Droidbait who fought through a pretty serious injury and saved his brothers from becoming a meal." Jet explained, as he turned his attention towards the wounded clone. Quickly he shifted his attention towards the clone with the unusual accent, "Lets not forget Cutup who stuck by his brother's side and put a pretty decent dent in the reinforcements with some marksmen level shooting."

"Sir, I was unconscious for most the battle." Droidbait admitted, as he didn't like being called a war hero when he didn't feel like he didn't do his part.

"I only took down a few droids, it was the infiltration team who took down majority of them." Cutup explained, as while he provided some decent support fire from the ridge he didn't feel like he did as much as he could of. Look down shamefully he shook his head, "Plus if you read the report you know Hevy was the real hero."

"I read about his brave action, but you two fought just was bravely." Jet cut them off, his voice stern as he truly felt some admiration for the two young troopers. Smiling weakly as the two clones looked up at him he took a seat, "Without your efforts the Separatists would of launched a surprise attack on our home world and I guarantee you we wouldn't of been ready."

Droidbait nodded as he wasn't fully bought on the idea they saved their home world, "I guess you're right."

"How's your injury?" Jet asked, his eyes glancing at the patch on the clone's chest.

Droidbait gently ran his hand across the patch, "It's getting better commander."

"They said he'll be all good to go by tomorrow." Cutup explained, as he had been speaking with the medical staff and the droid.

Jet smiled as he looked at both troopers, "That's good because my men and I are leaving in two days."

"Gotta say I'm jealous." Cutup chuckled, "The smell of medical disinfectant is starting to make my dizzy."

"Well you won't have to worry about that much longer." Jet chuckled, as he got up from his seat and padded Cutup on the shoulder.

"We're getting orders?" Droidbait gasped, shocked it was happening so quickly.

"I requested for the two of you to join my unit." Jet grinned, as he could see the excitement fill both their eyes. Walking towards the end of the bed he showed off his unusual helmet, "How do you boys feel about joining the 1st Special Operations Battalion?"

"We'd honored, sir." Droidbait gasped.

Cutup pulled his arms down in excitement, "Oh Hevy would be so jealous!"

"I'm glad to hear." Jet grinned at the fire in both their eyes, "It's a tough unit and the boys in the battalion have gone through a lot. However, they've all heard about what you two did and while you might of not been trained for the role, they're all pretty excited to have you two in the battalion."

"Are you sure we're cut out for this?" Droidbait asked, slightly unsure of himself as he was always the weakest link within Domino.

Cutup playfully slapped his brother on his back, "Of course we are!"

"That's the spirit." Jet laughed as he could tell the two clones had potential, "Once you're released from medical come by our barracks."

"Sir, yes sir!" Both clones shouted, as Cutup snapped to attention and Droidbait did his best to sit upright in his bed.

Jet chuckled softly as he exited the medical station and was joined by two other clones dressed in the special operation experimental armor, "I got a good feeling about those two."