Reading Recommendation: Star Wars Imperial Commando: 501st

A thought struck him.  "So what happens if you're a nerf with a high midi-chlorian count?"

.... "Well, latent Force-user or not, I bet someone ate it."

                                 --Karen Traviss, Star Wars Imperial Commando:  501st

~*~*~*~

Warning:  You can safely assume that the following post contains spoilers for Star Wars Imperial Commando:  501st by Karen Traviss, as well as for the books in the Republic Commando series by the same author.

This past Friday night my husband and I had a moment of nerdvana.  We, along with our daughter, had gone to dinner at our local Genghis Grill and I was attempting to feed her a piece of carrot from her bowl.  Normally she goes straight for her veggies, but it appears she prefers her carrots in whole baby carrot form rather than the sliced bits GG had to offer.  Also, she was totally chowing down on her noodles and wasn't feeling the carrot love at that precise moment.  She let us know this fact by pushing away the carrot bit and making a gesture very reminiscent of the Jedi mind-trick move.  Immediately my husband and I both looked at each other and said, "This is not the carrot you are looking for."  It was priceless, and extremely amusing to the both of us, and a very good indicator that we chose well when we married each other.  This poor kid has no chance of escaping our house as any type of non-geek.

Last night I continued on the Star Wars love by finishing up the first and only book in Karen Traviss' Imperial Commando series, 501st.  Imperial Commando was set to be the follow-up series to Republic Commando, which concluded, fittingly, with the fall of the Republic and the slaughter of the Jedi Order in Order 66.  Originally Traviss had been under contract to write at least one more book in the second series, which was supposed to have come out in July of this past year.  The series was canceled by Lucas' powerhouse, however, which is unfortunate, because 501st ends with a beginning rather than an ending.  There is little to no closure here, and I am a little saddened to know that fans of the series are unlikely to get any in the future.  I am sure I can probably by now hunt down some fan fiction continuing the series, but without Traviss' unique voice I am not sure I want to read it.

As disturbed as I was left by the abrupt ending of this story, which has so much more potential, I would still heartily recommend 501st to anyone who has read the Republic Commando series.  While this was clearly meant to be the first in a larger arc of stories, there is still much worth to be found within its pages.  Again, as a fan of the Jedi, I found myself constantly challenged by the opinions of Skirata and his clan toward force-users, as well as some of the events in the book itself.

This story takes place on two fronts:  Skirata's hideaway in a remote section of Mandalore, and Imperial City (formerly Coruscant) where Darman and Niner are stuck as part of the Emperor's elite commando unit since they did not manage to escape with the others on the night of Order 66.  Skirata wants to bring Darman and Niner home to Mandalore, but it is not as easy as all that.  Things have, of course, changed under the new regime, and Skirata and his allies find themselves on the Empire's most-wanted list for desertion and conspiracy against the Empire.  Darman and Niner meanwhile have been tasked with hunting down the remaining Jedi.  They are among the few who know that Palpatine is really a Sith, though they see little distinction between the two factions of force-users.

Because of his loss during the execution of Order 66, Darman has become fiercely determined to wipe out any force-users that might attempt to rebuild the Jedi Order.  His reasons have nothing to do with serving Palpatine, however, and everything to do with protecting his son from ever being taken by the order that, in his mind, took away everything he ever loved, all the while using up his brothers like so much cannon fodder in a war they were too stupid to see had been engineered solely to wipe them out of existence.  There is a lot of intensity going on here.

Back on Mandalore Skirata is still doing everything in his power to find a way to stop the rapid aging of the clones.  He even goes so far as to give safe haven to a Kaminoan Jedi who, it turns out, it at least a thousand years old and who is perfectly willing to allow Skirata and Uthan to study her DNA to find a way to extend the lives of the clones.  Kina Ha is a character I would dearly have loved to see more of had this series continued.  She was once an outcast from Kamino because of her aberrations, but now she is largely forgotten, by the Jedi as well as by her own people.  She exudes the true manner of the Jedi, however, and bears no malice toward her people for shunning her, even though her force-sensitivity was the result of their own experimentation.  She bears no ill will toward Skirata for using her to further his own ends, in fact, she willingly offers herself up for study if they believe it will help the clones.  She is calm and polite and observant, and goodness gracious if I didn't want to know more of what was going through her head half the time!

Throughout the story some things go according to plan while others go off the rail.  There are a few loose ends from the Republic Commando series that get tied up, certainly, but mostly we see the introduction of a new set of story lines.  With the loss of Etain, we spend much more time inside Bardan Jusik's headspace, and I have to say he has officially made it onto the top of my list of favorite Jedi throughout the franchise.  Considering he walked away from the Order, that says a lot about how this series has made me look at the Jedi, I think.  I mean, I will still always come down on the side of the Jedi over the Sith, of course, and of force-sensitives over mundanes, most likely.  Come on, the Force is pretty freaking awesome!  But it is very interesting to follow Traviss as she explores the implications of the different ways to actually use one's force-sensitivity, as well as what that says about a person or a culture.  In 501st the readers get to meet Djinn Altis, a Jedi who walked away from the Order long ago and set up his own temple, following a more old-fashioned ideology, allowing his students to love and have families.  I would truly have loved to have gotten to explore more of his group and their dynamic, especially given the moral dilemmas this presented to many of our main characters.

One last thing I'll mention about this book that I really enjoyed was that having so much of it set on Mandalore offered up a truly fascinating look into the Mandalorian culture.  Throughout the Republic Commando series we were given glimpses, but we get a much deeper exploration here.  Some of the speculation as to why the Imperial Commando series was canceled was that the Mandalorian culture Traviss presented varies wildly from that the television series Star Wars Clone Wars has been developing.  Traviss denies this is the reason, stating there were contractual issues.  It does seem that a story line she had in mind about Boba Fett would have had to have been changed up however, due to the live action Star Wars series Lucas has in development.  io9 did a brief write-up on that here that you can check out.  I stress the word speculation, however.  I do have to say, I much, much prefer Traviss' versions of the Mandalorians to what Clone Wars has given us, truth be told.  I think this is because it tends to fall much more in line with the culture of Mandalorians presented in Star Wars The Knights of the Old Republic and its sequel game.  But also because the Mandalorians on the cartoon are a bit too touchy-feely for my liking.  This makes a little bit of sense, I suppose, since it is a show aimed at kids, but still.  The whole point of Mandalorians is that they were hardcore.

Despite its unsatisfying ending--which was unsatisfying only because it wasn't meant to be an ending--I really would recommend this book to anyone who is curious about Mandalorian culture or the lives of the clones outside of what we have seen in the movies or on the television show.  Traviss really knows how to get into the world of Star Wars and bring it to life with characters that feel so much more real to me than almost anyone I've seen on screen to date.  This is the nitty-gritty, the reality of a war brought on by scheming politicians, and the backlash on the innocent and not-so-innocent bystanders.

(Incidentally, if you'd like an actual coherent explanation of why this series is so awesome, here is the article on io9 that got me interested in the series in the first place, back when Order 66 came out.)

Progress Report

So just a few quick things for you today and then I'll let you be on your way to your weekend.  Which hopefully will be warmer than the one we're expecting.  Stupid incoming cold front.  Sigh.  Bring on the idiocy on the roads.  I don't think I want to leave my house again until the temperatures warm up once more.  But I digress.

So, I have made it through the first week of the new year pretty well I think.  I am working on my goals at a good (and hopefully sustainable) pace.  While I have actually mostly been enjoying Kingdom Hearts II very much (still haven't cracked a walkthrough, go me), I have been keeping my playtime short.  Thankfully this game, unlike, say, Mass Effect, does not have the crack-cocaine addictiveness factor going for it.  I've been playing for forty minutes to two hours during nap time in the afternoons each day, but have been passing on the evening gaming session for other pursuits.

I have two observations (not quite complaints) about the game so far.  The first is that whoever designed this game was really, really in love with the new graphics technology that became available between the development of the first and second games.  It is cut scene-o-rama around here.  I almost feel like the game is too focused on the story.  It's a neat story, don't get me wrong, but there's not nearly the amount of running around and exploring each area that there was in the last game.  Not yet, at least.  Also, every freaking time you walk from one room to another, there is a pause for a "title card" of what new room or area you have entered.  It is bloody distracting and it interrupts my gaming flow. Sigh.  Sorry, sorry, not complaining, really.  The other observation is that the combat system seems to be at odds with itself, even more so in this game than in the first.  I don't think it is necessarily a bad idea to have combat in real time--where you can't pause the action while you are trying to heal yourself or decide your next move--but the way this system is designed, you have to constantly be watching the list of actions down in one corner of the screen in order to know what actions are available to you and when.  I can either pay attention to the foe I am fighting with, and try to hit him, or I can watch the corner of the screen and wait for commands to become available.  I cannot do both at the same time.  It leaves for slightly unfufilling battles, and I am often left at the end wondering what the heck just happened because I didn't actually see any of it.  It just seems to me like it is the kind of thing that would make more sense if you could issue out a few commands or pause to decide what your next move will be and which enemy you will use it against.  Again, I have been spoiled by Bioware, I suppose.  But still.  I do really like that they have managed to make even the worlds or people you've seen before seem fresh and incorporate their story into the new adventure.  That's pretty cool.

Those other pursuits I mentioned I'd been doing in the evenings?  Reading.  I had forgotten how much I love reading before bed--just a chapter or two.  I finished the book I had been working on earlier in the week and Tuesday or Wednesday got started on the final installment in the Republic Commando series by Karen Traviss.  So far, so good.  I will probably do a writeup of that once I finish reading it.  I am very curious to see how this tale wraps up.  I suspect it may be a slightly open-ended ending though, since I believe Traviss was originally contracted to write a few more books in the series before The Powers That Be axed it in favor of something else.

Lastly, I finally started my first knitting project yesterday.  I took a few days off after the organization frenzy and then played around a little bit practicing the knit and purl stitches before actually starting.  The project I am working on (a pair of slippers) is a wonderfully simple pattern, and perfect for a beginner, despite the slight challenge added by working with two strands of yarn at once.  But I made good progress yesterday and look forward to maybe getting one of the pair finished (or close to at least) this weekend.  I do have to make a run out today to buy some longer needles, though.  Last year when I was first getting ready to teach myself to knit, I bought some basic, inexpensive starter needles in a variety of sizes.  I never planned to use these needles long-term, just until I figured out which sizes I would realistically need for the specific types of projects I mostly want to work on.  As with when I was building my store of quality crochet hooks, my plan is to buy the special needles I need as I buy the yarn for projects.  The needles I am working on right now would be fine, except that they are only 5" long double-pointed needles, which is about an inch too short.  I probably could work on three needles in the round, but that is beyond me right now, I think, so today I go in quest of 7" needles.  I was nervously eying my project yesterday wondering how on earth I was going to move it to new needles when I get them when it dawned on me that I can just knit it off the current short needle onto the longer one.  Duh.  There is definitely going to be a learning curve here folks, but I am still excited.  Also, yesterday I ordered the yarn for what will be my second knitting project--the Doctor Who scarf.  Yay!

So with that I bid you adieu and wish you a happy and warm weekend!  Have a great one!

Don't forget to swing by Gronk and check out this week's strip while you're playing on the internet though!  It actually went up on Wednesday, but I forgot to link to it.  We've got another guest strip, a beautiful pin-up piece this time.  Enjoy!

Update:  There was a new guest Gronk today as well, it just went up late!  Here you go, enjoy!  

Reading Recommendation: Star Wars Republic Commando: Order 66

Be warned, the following review contains minor spoilers for the entire Star Wars Republic Commando series as well as some major spoilers for the film Star Wars Revenge of the Sith.  

Now you know. 

Ooh look, a pretty picture of space, because, you know, spoiler space...

I'm not going to lie to you, folks.  Karen Traviss' Order 66 was a brutal read.  Don't get me wrong, it is a fantastic book, but it kept me on tenterhooks pretty much the entire time I was reading.  Throughout much of the book, it seemed like things were going far too well for Kal Skirata and his ragtag band of misfits.  Even events that could have easily sent everything into a tailspin managed to resolve themselves quickly and quietly, and for the most part, with no one worse for the wear.  So I spent a very lot of this read waiting for the other shoe(s) to drop.  I kept thinking to myself, Something has to go wrong now, because if it doesn't, then when things do go south they are going to be very bad indeed.  I was not wrong.


The previous books in the series have primarily served to build up Kal Skirata's clan, while showing us a pretty decent behind the scenes view of the events of the Clone Wars.  The movies are more or less told from the point of view of the Jedi, and this series is told from the point of view of the clones and the "regular" people.  Throughout the series Kal and his Null ARC troopers (and to a lesser extent the rest of his adopted clan) slowly come to the realization that too much about the war doesn't make sense.  Let's go down the list:

1. While the Separatists have been a credible threat for quite some time, there wasn't really enough indication ten years before the war broke out that such an event would indeed happen, yet someone commissioned the clones ten years before the battle at Geonosis.  
2. The mystery of who actually commissioned the clone army or why is never resolved by the Jedi Council or the Senate.  Sure, with hindsight, we can assume Palpatine was behind it, but no one actually figures that out until after he shows his true Sithy colors and declares Empire.
3. Even if everyone decided they were fine not knowing why the army was commissioned in the first place, surely the Treasury would be asking how the heck the army was paid for, but it isn't.
4. The timing of the war breaking out just as the first batch of clones is ready is awfully convenient.
5. The Separatists don't have anywhere near the number of droids that the Republic is claiming they have.  They are a threat, but not quite the imminent threat that the propaganda is making them out to be.
6. The war is being fought in a way that both spreads the Republic forces out as thinly as possible and keeps it going for much longer than is necessary.  A change in tactics could have ended it in much sooner than three years.
7. Every Jedi general or commander has a clone aide, usually an ARC trooper or a commando, at all times.  Presumably this is for the protection of the leaders of the war effort, but Jedi are more than capable of defending themselves and this seems like a big waste of a lot of highly trained clones.  
8. The fact that the Jedi--a peace-keeping, generally non-violent group--are put in charge of the clone army at all should be a BIG red flag.
9. New (and secret) clone-growing facilities have been set up on Coruscant and one of its moons, using the quick-grow technology of some of Kamino's rivals in the cloning industry.  But absolutely no one is announcing that reinforcement troops are soon to come--a fact that would not only greatly boost the waning morale of the existing clones, but would also do a great deal to reassure the people of the Republic.  
10. Also, since Jango Fett died at Geonosis, the new clones are being grown from second generation source material, instead of Jango himself.  The Kaminoans refused to use second generation source material because they found it produced inferior "product" with a much shorter lifespan than the original clones.  While the original clones are considered "expendable," the new ones will be "disposable."
11. A new fleet of warships is being built but also kept secret from the Senate, the Jedi Order, and the GAR.  It is scheduled for completion in a very specific timeframe, even though it was commissioned in plenty of time to be completed well before that date.

These are just some of the inconsistencies and worrying facts that Kal and his crew have dredged up over the course of the series.  Perhaps one or two of these items on its own isn't enough to suggest that something is very very wrong, but altogether, they point to this war having been engineered for a very specific purpose and conducted to last for a very specific period of time.  They also suggest that something very big is coming up and give Kal a pretty good idea of when it will happen.  With all of this information, plus the growing realization that, short lifespan or not, the Republic has made no provisions for the clones after the war is over, Kal decides that it is time for his family to cut and run.  He has been setting up a refuge on Mandalore and has been putting together a very thorough research database on cloning so that the right scientist can use the information to stop the clones' accelerated aging.  All he has to do is put everything in motion.

The book starts out pretty much right after the end of True Colors, but then makes several jumps forward in time to align with the events of Revenge of the Sith.  I don't think I had ever realized that the movie takes place over the course of only a few days.  Just as Kal is getting ready to send out the call for everyone to rendezvous on Coruscant and then hightail it to Mandalore, the Separatist siege of Coruscant begins.  In some ways, this serves as a lucky break for the Skirata clan, because it results in Omega Squad being called back to the planet from deployment elsewhere--something Kal was trying to work out how to do.  And the added chaos gives his people a much better chance to move around unseen by the Chancellor's security forces, who are now looking for Kal.

Kal wants to get the following people to Mandalore in the first wave of "strategic withdrawal":

1. Omega Squad, deployed off-world, but called back to Coruscant during the siege.
2. Etain, deployed on Kashyyk.
3. The Null ARC troopers, deployed in various places but mostly able to relocate at will.
4. Laseema, Besany, and Kad, hidden in a safe house on Coruscant.
5. Vau and Bardan, both able to move from world to world at will.
6. Jilka, a colleague of Besany's, falsely arrested for treason for being in the wrong place at the wrong time--needs to be broken out of detention.
7. Kal's biological daughter Ruu, who has been imprisoned by the Republic for supporting the Separatists.
8. Dr. Uthan, the geneticist from way back in Hard Contact, who has been imprisoned by the Republic ever since, and who Kal thinks will be able to solve the problem of the clones' accelerated aging.

Yes, you read that correctly.  Kal and his gang have to pull off three separate prison breaks before they can leave Coruscant.  No one could ever say that Kal Skirata is not an ambitious character.  Traviss definitely knows how to keep things exciting.  In the middle of all of that, Jedi Master Mace Windu goes to confront Palpatine, causing the Chancellor to give the GAR the command to execute order 66.  In the movie it all seems so mysterious and I will admit I always wondered how that whole thing worked.  Were the clones brainwashed during training, at the Chancellor's request, so he could just say the phrase and flip the switch?  It always seemed so bizarre to me, that the clones that worked so well with the Jedi could just turn on them like that, at the drop of a hat, with no further elaboration other than to "execute order 66."  

But the truth is even more horrifying because it is so much more mundane than that.  While training on Kamino, the clones received a document called "Contingency Orders for the Grand Army of the Republic:  Order Initiation, Orders 1-150."  They had 150 orders to memorize in the event of several possible worst case scenarios.  Here is the text of Order 66, as Traviss gives it to us:

"Order 66:  In the event of Jedi officers acting against the interests of the Republic, and after receiving specific orders verified as coming directly from the Supreme Commander (Chancellor), GAR commanders will remove those officers by lethal force, and command of the GAR will revert to the Supreme Commander (Chancellor) until a new command structure is established."

Basically translated:  "The Jedi have initiated a coup, execute on sight."  Which makes sense, really, since non-Force users like clones have no way of containing rebel Jedi.  Upon hearing this order, most of the clones complied simply out of anger at a presumed betrayal by their leaders.  The clones were made to serve the Republic and to follow orders--and that they do.  What is most deeply disturbing is that, as Kal realizes toward the end of the story, Palpatine was able to engineer this army, engineer this war, and them put himself in a position to be able to use the war and the army to completely annihilate the true enemy of any Sith Lord--the Jedi Order.  That takes some serious patience and planning.

While the Nulls and Omega Squad don't comply with this order, it isn't out of any fundamental loyalty to the Jedi.  It is largely because they have other things occupying their minds--like trying to get everybody together and off of Coruscant in one piece.  They've already begun the process of desertion at this point, so the order is more of an inconvenience to them than anything else.  They wouldn't harm Bardan or Etain, of course, but then, most of them stopped classifying those two as "Jedi" long before Order 66 is given. 

In fact, at first glance, I was unpleasantly surprised by the reaction of most of the clones and other non-Jedi to the order. The more I think about it though, the more it makes perfect sense.  Fans of Star Wars have been trained to see Jedi as the pillars of light.  They are the unequivocal good guys in this universe.  But throughout the Republic Commando series, Traviss does an excellent job of showing the faults of the order.  There must be a reason, after all, that it was so easy for Palpatine to manipulate events exactly to his desires.  Like the Republic, the Jedi Order had long since begun to rot from the inside out.  So it is no wonder that the "regular people" resent the Jedi, believing them to be pompous fools trying to enforce their own two-faced form of morality upon the galaxy.  After all, they preach reverence for all life, but they lead the GAR, an army composed of slaves.  They take Force-sensitive children away from their families at a very young age and give them no choice about what to do with their lives.  While the clones may be fond of some individual Jedi, they see them as puppets of the Senate--throwing away the lives of the expendable soldiers in a war that has dragged on much longer than it should have.  We are treated to some very uncharitable characterizations of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda from the perspective of the clones.  There is some surprise when it is learned the Jedi tried to overthrow the Chancellor, but there is also belief--and very little hesitation to put the Jedi down.  It is an extremely sobering way of looking at things for someone like myself who has always been so gung-ho pro-Jedi.  But even our main characters, who know what's going on and have maybe more cause than some of the others to resent the Jedi, acknowledge that not all Jedi are bad.  The ideals they strive to meet are certainly commendable, but they seem to have ventured down the wrong path while trying to achieve their goals. 

I do want to give props to the fact that Traviss had one of her characters (Ordo, I believe) ask Jedi Master Zey a question that has been bugging me for years.  How the heck did no one in the Jedi Council realize that Chancellor Palpatine--who they all worked very closely with--was a freaking SITH?  The Jedi are always going on about being able to sense the Force in people and the strength of other Force-users.  Why did no one notice what Palpatine was?  Master Zey provides no answer to this question, of course.  I would be unsurprised to learn that perhaps Lucas just never bothered to come up with an explanation for that when he was plotting the prequels.  But it was very nice to have someone in the universe acknowledge the oddness of that slipping by unnoticed, all the same. 

While Kal does manage to get most of his family to Mandalore, they do not all make it.  Some fall, and some choose to stay behind.  There is a death that is absolutely heartbreaking.  I am not ashamed to admit I almost started bawling my eyes out when it happened.  Those that make it to the safe haven are broken, and it is quite clear to the readers, as the story closes out, that these men and women have a long way to go before they feel whole again.  There is no happy ending here.  Just a very rocky beginning.

When Did Friday Get Here?

Oh boy, is it Friday already?  Blink blink.  Blink blink.  When the heck did that happen? 

Sigh, so the Rangers got absolutely creamed (again) last night.  I am so very thankful there is no game tonight.  I need a break.  So do the Rangers, apparently.  That eighth inning was just painful.  But we're still only two games in.  They just have to win four, right?  It's totally doable!  I remain positive.  No, really.  I swear. 

Um, moving on.  Hey, it is Friday, isn't it?  You know what that means?  There's a new Gronk up!  Yay!

Here you go, enjoy.  I love all of the costumes, but especially Kitteh's Cthulhu and Gronk's homemade R2D2.  Though sadly, that just reminded me I lost one of the legs of my poor Lego R2D2 key chain yesterday.  And apparently Lego doesn't make those anymore.  I've been trying to find a new one for a while, because almost all of his paint has rubbed off, but now with a missing leg, I may have to officially retire him.  My husband did find this really awesome global Lego selling site that had some though, so it may be time to make him call in an order.  (I don't remember what the site was, and he's temporarily stranded at an airport in Boston, so I can't ask him to send me the link, otherwise I'd share it with you.)

I finished the last Republic Commando novel, Order 66, last night.  I was going to try to go ahead and have my write-up for you today, but um, that didn't happen.  You can expect it on Monday though.  There is a follow-up book, the first of what was supposed to be a a new series, Imperial Commando, but then someone in Lucas' camp pulled the plug so it looks like only the first got published.  I have that and will be reading it soon.  But the next Wheel of Time book (Towers of Midnight) comes out on Tuesday (in fact, Amazon just emailed me earlier today to tell my my copy had shipped, huzzah!).  So instead of diving into the next Star Wars book, I have to take a break to read The Gathering Storm again so I will remember who the heck all of these people are and what the heck is going on.  I started it this afternoon.  Hopefully I can get it finished by Tuesday so I don't have to fight my husband for dibs on ToM.  Fingers crossed.  Also, Brandon Sanderson himself will be in Dallas doing a book signing at Borders next Thursday.  My husband and I (and a friend) are totally going to that.  Should be really cool or really crazy or both.

Also, Monday will be a big day because it officially kicks of National Novel Writing Month.  Six pages a day.  I can do it.  I can do it.  I've got an outline, I've got names for my main characters, I'm getting a general picture of what the world looks like (though I haven't drawn a map yet, I can't imagine that's far off).  The opening scene is kicking around in my head, but I am trying not to pay too much attention to it so I don't forget it all when I sit down to start writing and then get mad that I screwed it up. 

In fact, I am trying not to overthink any aspect of the story too much beforehand.  I had a mini-writing revelation the other night.  One of the big reasons I think that I get so bogged down and stall out when I am writing is because I have a tendency to go off on tangents describing stuff, or trying to figure out how to describe stuff (people, places, clothes, etc.) and end up wandering away from the story itself, without any idea of how to get back to the path.  I believe that is one of the reasons why I was usually able to do a pretty good job completing my fan fiction stories--I knew exactly who these characters were, and what their surroundings looked like.  I could focus on what was going on instead of worrying about making sure the readers could see the same picture I saw in my head, because the readers also already knew what I did.  My biggest job was to tell a good story and make sure I got the voice of the characters correct. 

Since the primary purpose of NaNoWriMo is to actually just get the story written, and the focus is on quantity not quality I have decided to try approaching the writing of this as I did with my fan fiction.  I am just going to assume that anyone reading the story already knows what I am seeing in my head and not worry too much about describing people or places unless it is necessary to the story.  After all, once I have actually gotten the whole thing written, I can always go back later and fill in any obvious blanks.  That's just a matter of rewrites and editing.

So I am off to have my weekend.  I'll be watching the World Series, watching Red:  Werewolf Hunter on Syfy, taking my daughter to Boo at the Zoo, giving out candy to trick-or-treaters, and working on getting any necessary (for me) background information for my story sussed out before Monday.  Also, I will be frantically reading The Gathering Storm in there as well.  Should be packed full of awesome. 

Have a fantastic weekend--and happy Halloween!

Reading Recommendation: Star Wars Republic Commando: True Colors

SPOILER ALERT!  SPOILER ALERT!  SPOILER ALERT!  SPOILER ALERT!  SPOILER ALERT!

T3M4 advises you to proceed at your own risk. 

As its title might suggest, Karen Traviss' third entry in the Republic Commando series, True Colors, is all about setting the stage for the final alliances of our various clone, Jedi, Mandalorian, and other friends from the series so far.  Those familiar with the Star Wars timeline know that at the beginning of the end of The Revenge of the Sith, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine orders the clones to assassinate, in its entirety, the Jedi Order.  Clearly, this order is going to cause a lot of problems for Kal Skirata's Null ARC Troopers, as well as his commando squads, particularly Omega Squad. 

True Colors gives us strong hints, however, that not all of the clones (or Jedi for that matter) will take this order without a fight.  Ever since meeting the six surviving clones from the Null batch at the age of two, and rescuing them from "reconditioning" (otherwise known as termination) by the Kaminoan head scientist Ko Sai, Kal Skirata has had his own agenda with regards to the clones.  In this novel we, the readers, finally get to see the entirety of that agenda, as well as read eagerly along while it begins to come to fruition.

Let me back up a little bit, because I skipped over this in my last review.  When the scientists on Kamino first started creating the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), they planned not just to clone Jango Fett, but also to tweak his DNA to make the clones a) more willing/able to work with each other (as Jango was something of a loner), and b) more obedient/loyal to their Republic masters.  The first batch of "prototype" clones was a group of twelve designated "Null" troopers.  Only half of those prototype clones survived the birthing/hatching process.  The Nulls, however, turned out to not be what the Kaminoans were looking for, and so subsequent clones were based on the next template they created.  This means that among the clones the Nulls are a bit different, both in physical appearance and in genetic traits.  

Kal arrived on Kamino when the Null clones were two years old (approximately 5 or 6 in appearance and development).  One of his first encounters on the planet, in fact, was with Ko Sai and the Nulls.  She had finally deemed them irrefutably flawed and scheduled them for reconditioning.  Kal, seeing only six very frightened little boys, stopped her from killing the children and took responsibility for them upon himself, along with the training of his batch of regular commando troopers.  He raised these boys as his own sons, and it was his interactions with them that shaped his opinions of the Kaminoans as well as his treatment of all of the commandos he trained.  The Nulls were classified as Advanced Recon Commando (ARC) troopers--though the ARC troopers from the subsequent template (the Alphas) were all trained by Jango Fett himself, and the Mandalorian mercenaries he hired (including Kal) trained the Commando troopers.  The "basic" model clone troopers were trained by a variety of soldiers, also hired by Fett, though they were not Mandalorian.

The Null ARC troopers are:  Prudii (N-5), Kom'rk (N-6), Mereel (N-7), Jaing (N-10), Ordo (N-11), and A'den (N-12).  In Triple Zero Traviss introduced Ordo and Mereel, as well as Kal's back story with the Nulls.  In True Colors we also meet A'den, though Ordo and Mereel both play very heavy roles in the story. 

There is a very very lot going on in this book, but the main plot(s) centers around the search for Ko Sai, who fled from Kamino when it was attacked by Separatists at the start of the Clone Wars.  The official line is that she died in the attack, but in truth she defected to the Separatists, and then took their money and ran.  She's been in hiding for over a year, and a lot of people are looking for her. The other Kaminoan scientists want her back because she is their best scientist (and she stole quite a bit of the cloning research when she fled).  Chancellor Palpatine wants her back ostensibly to deny her services to the Separatists and to ensure the continued development of clones for the GAR, the Separatists want their money back (and her research if they can get it), and Kal wants to find her to make her come up with a solution to the accelerated aging every clone is saddled with.

The Nulls spent the time since Geonosis doing odd jobs for Kal, technically classified as Special Operations, but really more to further his own goals of providing a solid future for his adopted sons once the war is completed.  One of those odd jobs has been tracking down Ko Sai, and in True Colors, Kal finally has a strong enough lead to actually go and look for her himself, along with the assistance of Ordo, Mereel, and, surprisingly, Walon Vau.  I say "surprisingly" because these two men do not like each other one bit.  But over the course of the novel, it becomes clear that they both resent the way the clones have been used by the Republic and want to secure the chance of a future for them.  Despite their very different approaches to training the men and to life in general, these men grow to grudgingly respect each other and recognize that they need each other to be able to do what they want to do. 

But, as I mentioned, Palpatine also wants Ko Sai found, immediately.  So he tasks Bardan Jusik and Delta Squad to find her.  Bardan, of course, is in on Kal's plans and realizes that he can't let Delta find her first.  So he works with Kal to delay Delta Squad's search, and in the end, Kal and his team do reach her first.  She is captured and taken to Mandalore, where Kal sets up facilities for her to start working on a way to end the clones' accelerated aging. 

I feel like the dichotomy of this particular plot point is a very important one that will have extremely far-reaching consequences.  For one thing, up until now Delta has been part of the inner circle with Kal, Vau, Omega, and the Nulls.  There have been differences of opinion, but they have been on the same side through it all, putting those differences aside to get the job done.  But from this point forward, Delta is outside the circle.  I foresee that leading to some nasty conflicts and/or some hard choices down the road.  For another thing, it has Vau actively working against Delta, and though he would never admit it, it has been made clear that they are his "boys" in the same way that Omega is to Kal.  Delta is given specific orders not to mention their assignment to Vau or to Kal.  While they have no problem keeping Kal out of the loop, it is interesting to see that, though they don't like it, they are equally willing to exclude Vau as well, because they are ordered to do so.  Kal's training methods brought up a batch of very competent commandos, but their loyalty is to him first, and then the Republic.  In Delta we see that Vau's training instilled loyalty to the Republic above all else--even if the Republic's actions aren't making any sense.

And make no mistake about it, the Republic's actions aren't making sense.  Not any more, not to anyone who is willing to look beyond the propaganda and the individual assignments to take a gander at the big picture.  The Republic is claiming that the Separatists have quadrillions of droids, but if they do, then they aren't using them--if they were, the Republic would have been overrun long before this point in the story.  The Nulls' forays into the various Separatist droid factories on sabotage missions confirm that the numbers are far less than what is being claimed.  But the leaders of the Republic military don't seem to care about this news that the enemy is much smaller than they thought.  They certainly aren't taking the advice of their generals to adjust their strategy to one that would bring about a swift end to the war based on the new and confirmed intel. 

In fact, the government seems to be doing the exact opposite, stretching their resources throughout the galaxy very dangerously and therefore stretching out the war unnecessarily.  Omega, for instance, is on an assignment during this story that they quickly realize makes no strategic sense whatsoever.  Treasury Agent Besany Wennen, who was more or less drafted into Kal's clan during their mission on Coruscant, has been doing some digging on her end of things and has made a couple of very interesting--and disturbing--discoveries.  First, it seems that the government has busily been setting up new cloning facilities on one of Coruscant's moons, but they're keeping it top secret and hiding the money trail.  Second, there is very little to no expenditure being allocated toward health care and rehabilitation for clones.  Put together an encounter of Omega's on their mission, Kal and his band realize that any clones who are too injured to be healed and put back into action immediately or at all are being euthanized.  And any clones that express a desire to leave the GAR are being executed by Covert Ops, which means it is sanctioned by the Senate.  Our motley little band is coming to the realization that something is very very wrong with the war, and that the Republic they are serving might be just as rotten as the Separatists they are fighting.

Ko Sai also reveals to Kal and Etain that the real reason she left Kamino was to get away from Chancellor Palpatine.  It seems he had been haranguing her to develop a means for him--not mankind,  not the clones, just him--to expand his life span well past that of an ordinary human.  If that isn't a sinister hint that things are in place to get much much worse, then I don't know what is. 

Adding to the growing discontent with the clones' lot in life, Darman's not the only one of his brothers who has found himself a girl.  Ordo has been seeing Besany Wennen and Atin has fallen for a Twi'lek named Laseema.  The clones who haven't found companionship outside of their brothers are looking to those who have and starting to think about what they want outside of service in the GAR.  Fi, in particular, feels the lack of a "normal" life imposed by the conditions of his creation.  The clones may have been trained only to serve in the GAR, but once exposed to the rest of the galaxy, it did not take long for many of them to realize that they are, in fact, still human men, and to crave the kind of existence, or at least choices, that other humans take for granted.  Jedi Knight Bardan Jusik is hit particularly hard by realizing his complicity in what has been done to these men, in how they are being used, and he faces a great struggle with himself over whether he still belongs in the Jedi Order at all. 

As I said, there's quite a bit going on in True Colors, and I haven't even begun to scrape the surface.  Traviss takes us into the real meat of the issues here.  The casual Star Wars fans who have seen the movies will come at this knowing all along that Palpatine is a Bad Guy, and therefore all of his calls in the war are subject to question.  We know, as the readers, that he is Up To No Good.  Traviss does an amazing job of taking that into consideration and managing to show us why Palpatine was able to pull off this grand deception.  We see these people living their lives as citizens or servants (or property) of the Republic.  We see the ideals that they want to believe they are upholding, and we see how separate from the reality of the war the Senate and the people of the Republic truly are.  And once we're sucked in, we get to ride along as a few of these people start finding the pieces and putting them together.  I am amazed by how well it is executed.  This series gets better, richer, with each new book.  Do yourself a favor and read it.

Reading Recommendation: Star Wars Republic Commando: Triple Zero

While I did try to make the below review as spoiler-free as possible, please be aware that some spoilers may still have crept in while I wasn't looking.  

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In Republic Commando Hard Contact, author Karen Traviss introduced her readers to Omega Squad.  Niner, Darman, Fi, and Atin make up a squad of specialized clone commandos put together after each was left standing as the sole survivor of his original squad.  We were also introduced to a Jedi Padawan named Etain Tur-Makan, who worked with Omega Squad to remove a Separatist research facility from a planet called Qiilura. 

The follow up entry in the Republic Commando series, Triple Zero brings back Omega Squad and Etain, now a Jedi Knight, as well as introducing several more colorful characters into the mix.  Kal Skirata, a Mandalorian mercenary who trained Niner, Darman, and Fi quickly becomes one of the central members of this story.  Also along for the ride is Walon Vau, another Mandalorian mercenary, the one who trained Atin, in fact, as well as one of his commando squads, Delta, comprised of the clones Boss, Scorch, Fixer, and Sev.  Finishing up the primary team are Advance Recon Commando Ordo and Jedi Knight Bardan Jusik.  And those are just the most prominent players in this new story--which seems to be one determined to give readers a very strong taste of what life is like for all walks of clone life, as well as for the men who trained them and the Jedi who must now lead them.

Set on the planet Coruscant, Triple Zero plants our commando squads firmly out of their familiar combat element.  A Separatist terrorist cell has been striking at clone barracks in the heart of the Republic itself, and the Coruscant Security Force (CSF) has proven ineffective in shutting the cell down.  So the task falls to Kal Skirata, who assembles his team and begins to introduce them to the world of black ops.  What I love most about the mission part of the story is that Skirata seizes the advantage of needing a legitimate reason for clones to be running around on Coruscant and utilizes this to extend a much deserved R&R for many of the clone troopers.  These men are literally throwing their lives away for the GAR, and for a war that they have no personal stake in, but they don't get paid, they don't get leave, they don't get to go home to their families afterward.  

That truly is the heart of this story.  The mission is the framework, but the story Traviss is telling is about the injustice done to these men who are so willing to give everything for a people who don't even see them as men. And they are perfectly willing.  Sure, they were created for this specific purpose, but they are human men.  They have free will, but they were bred not to exercise it outside of battle.  If Hard Contact was about establishing that each and every clone is a unique human being, then Triple Zero is about some of those clones, at least, as well as some of the men who work with them, coming to realize the great injustice of the Clone Wars.  It is not what the Separatists are doing, but what the Republic itself is doing to its own soldiers.  Is it any wonder then, that in the end of things, Palpatine is so easily able to turn the clones against their Jedi masters to effect such a complete coup?  But that is getting ahead of ourselves. 

I mentioned, in my review of the last book, that while the relationship between Etain and Darman is left at a purely platonic stage, I felt that Traviss was leaving a lot of room for development.  I was not wrong.  A central element of Triple Zero is the realization of these two that they are much more than friends to each other.  The story reunites them after a separation of seven or eight months, and we are quickly shown that neither has stopped thinking of the other since Qiilura.  Even though pursuit of such a relationship goes against all of her Jedi training, and bucks regulations for Darman (Etain is, after all, his commanding officer), they both feel that their love is too precious to ignore, and so a relationship blossoms over the course of the mission. 

Etain is not the only Jedi questioning her training throughout this story.  Bardan Jusik, who we glimpse briefly in Hard Contact, is back with a much meatier role this time around.  His work with the clones, and the commandos in particular, has shown him a way of life very different from his own and he is clearly relishing it.  Another character at one point reflects that if Bardan had not been born Force-sensitive, he would have gladly served as a soldier.  And that is a very interesting concept that often gets overlooked in the general perception of Star Wars.  Jedi are not volunteers.  Force-sensitive children are conscripted for training as toddlers--taken from their families and taught to relinquish all familial bonds.  Emotional attachment of any sort is frowned upon. 

The Jedi Order is absolutely terrified that any Force-sensitive individual left unchecked will give in to the Dark Side.  So they simply don't give them the chance.  And watching Etain and Bardan struggle with realizing how much they are truly missing by being Jedi, and wondering just how correct the Order actually is, it is easy to believe how strong the pull of the Dark Side can be.  I found myself often both fearing and hoping for these Jedi.  I don't want them to stray to the Dark Side, but I do so want them to be able to live a life more than what they have.  It is an interesting conundrum, to be certain.  Traviss does a wonderful job in drawing a parallel between the clones and the Jedi.

I may or may not have mentioned in my last review that the books in the Republic Commando series are actually a tie-in for the Star Wars video game of the same name.  I haven't played the game yet (I'll be starting it this afternoon, actually), but in looking over the manual, I see that it is based around Delta Squad.  You play as their leader, Boss, and Scorch, Fixer, and Sev make up the rest of your squad.  So even though Delta Squad is only briefly mentioned in Hard Contact, they are actually established characters when they show up in Triple Zero. 

Delta Squad provides an interesting contrast to Omega Squad for two primary reasons.  For one thing, they were trained by Walon Vau, while most of Omega was trained by Kal Skirata (Atin is the exception, though he has fallen into the ways of his new squadmates by the time this novel takes place).  Both men are Mandalorian mercenaries, but it quickly becomes clear that each had a distinctly different idea of how to train his commando squads.  The second point of contrast between the two squads is the fact that Delta is of "original" manufacture.  That is to say that these four men have been together since birth.  They grew up together, went through their training together, and survived Geonosis together.  Comparing Omega to Delta I was at once both amazed at how well these men have been able to form a cohesive team, and saddened by the losses they went through with the deaths of their "birth" brothers. 

Not only do we get to see the differences in the training styles of Kal and Vau, we are also treated to seeing the differences between the men themselves, as both play an integral part in the mission on Coruscant.  Tension of all sorts is brewing underneath the surface of this group as they go about their mission--Kal versus Vau, Vau versus Atin, Delta versus Omega.  In some cases it is merely the competitive rivalry of young men trying to outdo one another, while in others it is long seated and potentially deadly grudges.  Yet through it all, the team manages to put their personal feelings aside in order to get the job done.  In a story about the discovery and then fulfillment of personal wants and desires, this is one of the few points where the need of the greater good always takes precedence.  It makes a very interesting statement about not only the clones but about the men who trained them as well.  I wonder if further novels will give us insight into any of the other clone trainers (aside from Jango Fett, of course).

In the mind of Kal Skirata (and clearly in Traviss' mind as well), the greatest injustice being done to the clones (and possibly to the Jedi) is the denial of family.  Especially since these clones have been produced from the stock of a Mandalorian--a culture that places a huge emphasis on the bond between a father and his sons.  Is it any wonder then that Kal quickly comes to see these children put into his care--for make no mistake, they are just children when he starts to train them--as his own sons?  He does his best to instill a strong sense of the values and culture of Mandalore in all of the commandos he trains, and he views every one of them as his own sons.  He even finds himself picking up "strays" that come across his path, such as Atin, or the trooper Corr, who they encounter and enlist during their mission.  Throughout the story, the reader is given hints that not only does Kal resent the injustice done to his "sons," but he intends to do something about it as well.  I have no doubt that these plans will play heavily in the next few novels. 

Overall, this was another excellent effort from Traviss.  She writes this universe so convincingly, the reader is swept right into all of the action.  Even with over a dozen "main" characters in the story, she manages to give each plenty of screen time and all of them are fabulously well developed.  I, for one, can't wait to find out what happens next.  I have dived into the third novel in the series, True Colors, and have complete faith I will enjoy it just as much as, if not more than, Triple Zero.

Reading Recommendation: Star Wars Republic Commando: Hard Contact

**So, I spent most of the weekend trying to write this, and ended up completely scrapping what I had and rewriting it today.  In the process, I inadvertently made this a Monday-Friday blog rather than an every day one.  But I actually decided I like it that way, so, just, FYI, that's what we're going to go with from here on out.**

Please note the potential for spoilers in the following review.  

Okay, you've been warned.  Carry on.  

When the general population thinks about Star Wars, they tend to picture campy, light-hearted entertainment.  Star Wars is seen by most as fare that tends to look at good and evil in a very black and white way.  And, when it comes to the films and television series, this is mostly a fair assessment.  There is a definite pattern of skimming right over the grey areas of moral ambiguity that come inevitably with the telling of a story that, when it comes down to it, is one of war. I mean, it's right there in the title:  Star Wars, but somehow the war part seems to get overlooked.

In the original trilogy, of course, what is good and what is evil do seem to be rather obvious to even the most dedicated of fans.  The Empire's rule is one of oppression, and the rebels are fighting for nothing more or less than the freedom to choose to live a different way.  But with the new trilogy, specifically with Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, right and wrong are not so clear-cut.  And the most glaring example of this grey area is the clone army.  The animated movie and subsequent series The Clone Wars, portraying the time frame between Episodes II and III, by necessity gives the audience a very detailed look at the clone army.  But still, it is a cartoon, shown on a network designed for children, and as such, the look we get is not complete.  We see that the clones, for the most part, are happy and well adjusted, having no real questions about their lot in life (with one significant exception in the season two episode "The Deserter").  Some of their training is shown, but in a very positive light indeed, and no one seems to be questioning anymore how the clone army actually came into existence (a lingering mystery from Episode II). 

In the book series Star Wars Republic Commando, author Karen Traviss sets out to remedy this lack.  She takes a hard look at the lives of clones in the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) and in their interactions with each other, with their Kaminoan creators, with their military trainers, and with their Jedi commanders.   

The first book in the series, Hard Contact, tells two stories that intricately wrap up in each other to produce what is, in this writer's humble opinion, a quite spectacular read.  The first story is that of stumbling Jedi Padawan Etain Tur-Makan as she must learn to have faith in herself and her abilities as a Jedi.  The second story is that of Republic Commando squad Omega, newly formed and learning to work with each other as they are thrown head first into their first mission together.  This mission takes them to the planet of Qiilura with the objective of making contact with Etain and her master, who have been sent ahead to the planet on reconnaissance.  The Separatist forces have commissioned the creation of a virus meant to specifically target and incapacitate clones, and it is being developed on Qiilura.  Omega Squad's primary objective is to shut down development of this virus and capture the Separatist scientist in charge of the project.

The book opens with the clone Darman engaged in the battle on Geonosis that fans of the franchise will remember was the big close to Episode II.  Geonosis is the first battle of the Clone Wars--which means it is the first action any of the clones have seen outside of training.  Darman loses contact with his squad during the fighting and learns only after the battle is over that he is the only member of his team to survive their first engagement.  Three months later he is assigned to Omega Squad with the clones Niner, Fi, and Atin--each also the only survivor of his previous squad (or in Atin's case, squads).  

Right away Traviss shows the reader just how different the clones are to each other, while still seeming exactly alike to almost everyone else.  Darman, Niner, and Fi were, as it turns out, all trained on Kamino by the same sergeant (a Mandalorian named Kal Skirata), while Atin had a different sergeant.  The three trained by Skirata are instantly more at ease with each other, while Atin is very clearly the outsider, and takes most of the book to really fit in with the rest of his squad.  As the mission progresses, we learn that each man has different areas of expertise as a commando.  Niner is the leader of the group and is very skilled at diffusing tension between the men.  Fi is the joker and the boy scout of the group--always prepared, while Darman is all about the explosives and Atin seems happiest when playing with tech.  These differing areas of expertise spill over and are intertwined with their different personalities.  Traviss  But she also leaves plenty of room for the reader to see that "nurture" can only explain so much--some of these differences must very clearly be down to "nature," which is a very interesting concept when dealing with clones. 

When first we meet Etain, she is running for her life through a field of barq (the main agricultural export of Qiilura) from a native who is quite intent on raping and killing her.  That alone should tell the reader that this is not your typical "light" Star Wars anymore.  Etain's master has been captured and she is on her own on the planet with no resources for getting away with the intelligence that they managed to obtain about the research facility.  She believes that the Republic will send help eventually, but has no idea how she will hold out until then.  Because while she may be a Jedi Padawan, she feels that she is scarcely worthy of the title.  She has trouble keeping her emotions in check, and can only truly control the Force when she is calm, which is of little use to her on the run on Qiilura.  Before this mission she had already despaired that she would never become a Jedi Knight, but when we meet her, she is starting to accept the fact that she in all likelihood won't make it off Qiilura alive, never mind have to worry completing her training. 

Etain has been on Qiilura and out of contact for long enough that she is unaware of the Clone Wars, and indeed, of the clones themselves, until she meets Darman.  It is through Etain's eyes that Traviss shows the reader one of the most horrifying aspects of the clones.  Before she ever lays eyes on Darman, Etain senses the presence of a child, and not knowing about the clones, is quite baffled to find a grown man where she was expecting to find that child.  Separated from his squad during a crash landing on the planet, Darman has been working his way to a rendezvous point alone, and has displayed almost heart-breaking levels of awe and wonder at his surroundings.  Even after he explains about the war and the clones, Etain has a very hard time reconciling the child she can sense with the man she is talking to.  Because for all that he has been bred to be a warrior--to be a disposable killing machine--the actual experiences and trappings of life itself are utterly new to him.  The accelerated growth process of the clones means that the Republic is literally fighting its war with children.  Children very highly trained and very capable on the battlefield, but children nonetheless.  It is a sobering thought--especially when one considers that these children are being led into battle by the Jedi Order, which stands for a respect of all life above all else. 

For her part, Etain is horrified to learn that the creation of the clone army also means an immediate promotion of all Jedi to officers in the GAR.  As a Padawan, she is a Commander (Knights are Generals).  As I mentioned before, Etain barely has confidence in her abilities to get herself out of her current situation.  Finding out that she is now in charge of four commandos and their mission to destroy the research station and extract the head scientist on the project is almost the young Padawan's undoing.  She is shaken by the complete and utter faith Darman gives her simply because she is a Jedi.  But at the same time, it is this faith that allows her to go on, and to find within herself that which she has always been lacking.  As a Padawan, and one perceiving herself full of deficiencies, she has no problem admitting to the commandos that she doesn't know what she is doing and securing their promise that they will tell her when she makes mistakes so that she may learn from them. 

Darman's reverence for the Jedi is another fascinating element of the story.  It is made clear that the clones were raised with the understanding that the Jedi would be their commanders in this war, and makes sense that a clone would expect a Jedi to know what she is doing in any given situation.  But even the rest of his squad, when first meeting Etain, does not seem to share quite the same depth of belief in the Jedi that Darman possesses.  They respect her, certainly, but they see that she is not exactly commanding officer material yet.  It is just another example of how men brought up to be so similar have managed to turn out so differently.  When Etain first meets the rest of Omega Squad, after having spent some time alone with Darman, she is unsettled by their identical appearance, but that lasts hardly a moment before she senses them with the Force and can see just how truly different each man is. 

I said earlier that this book is two stories: Etain's journey to realizing that while she may not yet be Jedi Knight material, that day will come; and Omega Squad's coming together as a true team during the course of their first mission.  These stories are so intertwined as to seem one, and indeed, I do not think either could have reached its conclusion on its own.  Being handed command of Omega Squad and their mission, and getting to know these clones as individual people is exactly what Etain needed to find her confidence in herself.  Likewise, I do not believe Omega Squad could have bonded so thoroughly so quickly without Etain to bring them together--to help each of them see that they have all lost the same thing--their families (the brothers of their original squads, Etain's master)--and to realize that while those who are lost cannot be replaced, a new family can be forged. 

Indeed, an important side-effect of Etain's involvement during the bonding of Omega Squad is that she, too, becomes a part of their family.  She is, for better or worse, attached to these men now, and to Darman more than any of the others.  It is quite clear that their bond is a completely platonic one, but I am left wondering if it will not grow as the series progresses.  Setting aside the Jedi Order's rules against forming attachments, this bond is still going to lead to complications down the line.  For Etain, as an officer leading the clones, she has seen beyond the identical faces to the individual men behind them.  She cares about the men in her charge and must learn how to reconcile that with leading them in a war where it is very likely she will have to order one or more of them to their deaths someday.  On the part of the clones, these men have been trained to understand and accept the fact that they are essentially expendable.  They are a resource and, for the time being, an easily replaced one.  Forming attachments with those outside of their squad can give them pause before following those orders they know could be to their death, and that severely hinders their usefulness. 

All in all, Hard Contact sets the stage for an amazing adventure.  Even knowing, and perhaps because I know, the final outcome of the Clone Wars and the role the clones play in the destruction of the Jedi Order, I find that I can't wait to see how all of those unseen events between point A and point B play out.  I am absolutely compelled to read on.  If you are a Star Wars fan looking for something meatier than what we've been given on screen, then this is the perfect book for you.  If you are just looking for a well written good read that makes you pause and think, well, this is the perfect book for you, too.  

On a slightly related note,  here's some more Star Wars happiness from the internet.  Prose Before Hos 2 has drawn up some lovely World War II style propaganda posters for the Empire and the Rebel Alliance that you can check out here.