In the climax of Laguna and co's escape from the Lunatic Pandora excavation site in Centra ( disc 1 , second flashback) they're surrounded by Estharian soldiers and are forced back to the edge of a giant cliff. A fierce battle ensues - Kiros and Ward are badly wounded by an Estharian cyborg , their HP reduced to 1 by the move "Soul Crush "... Ward loses his voice.

Just curious , but is there any way of avoiding this or is it supposed to happen as part of the storyline ?