Republic Commando: Hard Contact is a 293-page tie-in novel to the video game Star Wars: Republic Commando and the first novel in the Republic Commando series. The book, written by Karen Traviss and published by Del Rey on October 26, 2004, is set in 22 BBY during the Rise of the Empire era. It tells the story of a squad of clone commandos on a mission to destroy a Separatist bioweapons lab on the world of Qiilura. The commandos (Niner, Fi, Atin, and Darman) are aided by the Gurlanins Jinart and Valaqil, along with an inexperienced Padawan named Etain Tur-Mukan.