Star Wars Republic Commando: Hard Contact
Karen Traviss
On a mission to sabotage a chemical weapon research facility on a Separatist-held planet, four clone troopers operate under the very noses of their enemies. The commandos are outnumbered and outgunned, deep behind enemy lines with no backup-and working with strangers instead of trusted teammates. Matters don't improve when Darman, the squad's demolitions expert, gets separated from the others during planetfall. Even Darman's apparent good luck in meeting an inexperienced Padawan vanishes once Etain admits to her woeful inexperience.
For the separated clone commandos and stranded Jedi, a long, dangerous journey lies ahead, through hostile territory brimming with Trandoshan slavers, Separatists, and suspicious natives. A single misstep could mean discovery . . . and death. It's a virtual suicide mission for anyone-anyone except Republic Commandos.
Wow! I'm really looking forward to reading more by Traviss! Very good story, which just *happens* to be a good Star Wars episode.
I wasn't even going to look at this one, since it was based on a video game, but heard an interview with the author - she sounded very good, and then hooked me by promising fun stuff with Mandalorean language. There wasn't a *lot* of that, but the story was excellent. It was again proof of my thesis that much Mil SF, if not most Star Wars fiction, is anti-war in the final analysis.
