At 0700 hours, the Prosecutor canteen opened for breakfast and the ravenous hoard swarmed in. As always, Sev, 42 and Scorch were the first to grab their meal trays and shove their way to their favourite spot. Before they ate, the trio immediately realised that Fixer was still missing. Eating meals together without Boss had become a squad tradition but without Fixer, the morning meal just felt empty.

Before the commandos began to get worried, Scorch quickly explained "Fixer said he had a meeting with Addie, but I don't know what it was about. Any guesses?"

"Maybe he's getting reprimanded?" 42 guessed at random.

Sev scoffed at the ridiculous theory. "Fixer getting reprimanded? The clone whose favourite book is the regulations manual?"

"Actually, his favourite book is the L-series droid's technical journal, after that it's '24 Commando Attack patterns from Alpha to Omega. Then number 3 is the regulations manual." Scorch rapidly recalled. The two commandos gave him a bewildered look. "…Fixer has a habit of reading out loud when he's alone. I think I'm starting to learn stuff in my sleep." He sheepishly explained.

After speculating even more on Fixer's secret meeting, 42 turned the conversation towards his plans for their final night.

"I still have the decorations from the last party and Tabura's grabbing us that spicy Arch Grub soup. It's going to be awesome!"

42 looked at his squad mates, unsurprisingly his idea was met with indifference from Sev and unbridled excitement from Scorch who further proposed "We could have a soup speed-drinking challenge, and we could have a big souvenir contest." He clicked his fingers as he came up with a new idea. "We could all dress up in the same outfit!"

Sev looked down at his uniform. "Not to sound like Fixer, but I thought Martz banned parties." He recalled.

"No, I think she just banned BBQ's. I'm sure parties are fine as long as we don't make a mess again. Besides, you know that old saying, 'The first rule of a farewell party: There are no rules.'"

"That's not a saying…is it?" Sev turned to Scorch who was just as clueless.

Before 42 could explain his reasoning, Fixer finally entered the canteen and joined the squad.

"Finally Fixer, 42 and I were thinking you got lost or something." Scorch laughed.

"I thought you were dead." Sev calmly stated.

"Seriously what was that meeting about? You didn't get reprimanded, did you?" 42 asked.

Fixer felt his heart thump in his chest as he broke the news. "Oh, well actually… I've just been promoted to Acting Sergeant. Gamma Squad needs a new second in command. And…and they want me." He noticed Scorch's face drop before hearing "Nice one." "Woo-hoo!" from the other squad mates in celebration.

"When do they need you? Next week? Next month?" Sev asked.

"Uh…basically now."

The squad went silent before 42 asked "Likenownow or…"

Fixer elaborated. "I'll be leaving the Prosecutor tonight as planned. But I'll be leaving just before you do to meet up with Gamma Squad. I'll be leaving probablyaround 2-"

"You know, G-Gamma Squad'll be lucky to have you! Just remember to say no if they want to play 'Shoot the Boot'." Scorch interrupted with a forced smile. Fixer couldn't help but detect a feeling of disingenuousness from the demolition expert.

"...as I was saying, I'll be leaving Delta Squad-"

"Well, I'm sure you'll be fine without us. You always seemed better for Gamma Squad anyway." Scorch laughed awkwardly.

Fixer didn't know what to say to Scorch's weird reactions. "Anyway… I got a lot of work to revise." He got up from the table before grabbing a nutrient bar from the canteen and leaving the squad by themselves.

As soon as Fixer left, Scorch showed his true colours. "I can't believe he's leaving." He said in a quiet voice.

"I thought you'd be happier, Scorch." teased Sev.

"Are you kidding me? What are we going to do without Fixer?"

"We'll just get another commando with similar training." Sev coldly explained.

"We can't just replace him and acted like nothing happened!" Scorch started to become more upset at the thought of losing his brother.

42 decided to voice what they were all thinking. "Can't we just tell him not to go?"

Scorch was immediately offended. "Kriff no! He gets promoted, gets the best stuff, sees his favourite person in the galaxy every day. This is an opportunity of a lifetime! Everyone in the Republic knows Gamma Squad's the best, who cares about us? It's not like he'd listen to us anyway." Scorch looked down and said in an even quieter voice "Especially not me..."

Scorch realised that his brothers were looking at him with concern, so he quickly put on a smirk and changed the topic. "So 42, what are you thinking about drinks? Please tell me Tabura isn't getting us that disgusting Toydarian fruit juice? I don't want to make a mess in Hanger B again."

42 gave a shudder in response "Hope not. I swear that planet is incapable of making a single palatable drink. No, Boss said he'll ask Martz for some wine."

"Wine?" Sev asked sceptically.

"She's a Republic Navy captain, don't they all have like a secret stash of wine in her ready room for special occasions?"

Sev rolled his eyes "You need to watch less holonet. This is just like that stupid rumour that she keeps a blast cannon in her chair."

"I'm telling you that's true! How do you think she executed that clone who screwed up?"

Sev tried his best not to smile as he answered. "Of course. How could I forget?"

"Thank you Sev. So, if I was right about that, maybe I'm right about the wine as well?"

"You are aware Captain Martz doesn't even allow alcohol onboard? It's like her first rule."

"What's the first rule of a farewell party?" Delta Squad's advisor asked, jump-scaring the team as he seemingly came out of nowhere. "There are no rules." he responded cryptically.

The 3 soldiers all looked at each other in puzzlement. They turned back to respond only to find the officer had disappeared as quickly as he arrived.

42 began turning in his seat trying to find the disappearing clone as he loudly asked "Does that mean we can have alcohol? …Sir?"

Author's notes:

For anyone confused at Sev's reaction near the end. Read The Pilot: Chapter 8, line 2-4 s/14309176/8/Star-Wars-Republic-Commando-ep-1-The-Pilot

I also just discovered the use of horizontal lines in and I'll try to use them going forward. I may retroactively put them in my old stories but it may not be for a while