Star Wars - Hard Contact: Book 1 of The Republic Commando Series

In Star Wars: Republic Commando – Hard Contact, Karen Traviss launches a gritty, character-driven saga set during the height of the Clone Wars. When a newly formed squad of elite clone commandos—Niner, Darman, Fi, and Atin—is sent deep behind enemy lines to sabotage a Separatist nanovirus lab on the hostile planet Qiilura, survival becomes their only mission. Outnumbered, outgunned, and cut off from support, the squad must rely on raw skill and trust in each other. Along the way, Darman crosses paths with an inexperienced Jedi Padawan, Etain Tur-Mukan, and together they face a gauntlet of slavers, warlords, and moral dilemmas that challenge everything they thought they knew about war and identity.