Star Wars Republic Commando: Hard Contact - The Insanity of Ghez Hokan
Hokan adds to a long line of wild and dangerous villains.
Star Wars Republic Commando: Hard Contact is Karen Traviss’ first Star Wars novel, and looking at her bibliography, her first franchise book.
Originally published in 2004 (reprinted with new artwork in May 2023) under Del Rey Books, Hard Contact follows a team of Republic Commandos in 22 BBY (or 22 years before A New Hope) who are sent to capture a scientist on Qiilura, a Separatist planet. Ovolot Qail Uthan is developing a nanovirus to kill clones and the Republic must absolutely stop her work if they are to win the war.
The team of commandos are like Clone Troopers but with expertise in certain areas. The story mostly focuses on Darman who is the demolitions expert of the group and who gets separated when the team’s landing on the planet is compromised. There are some similarities between this group, called The Omega Squad, and the Disney+ series, The Bad Batch. Both feature modified clones who take on special missions and tend to be a bit more quirky than their standard clone brothers.
While on Qiilura, the team recruits the help of a Jedi Padawan, Etain Tor-Mukan. Etain’s master was captured and murdered by the local Mandalorian mercenary, Ghez Hokan. Hokan is in charge of managing the Separatist facility on Qiilura and protecting the nanovirus development. Hokan has his own group of thugs as well as Separatist Battle Droids at his disposal.
My favorite part of this book is Hokan. He’s not exactly the smartest villain but he’s magnetic in his own way. A ruthless, red armored Mandalorian who carries around the lightsaber of a Jedi he killed.
Hokan felt in his blood-red jacket for the Jedi’s weapon. It didn’t look like much at all. And it was surprisingly easy to activate, even though he suspected that mastering it might be another matter. A humming blue shaft of light, vivid as day, shot out from the hilt. Hokan swept it scythe-style along a neatly clipped tarmul hedge, cutting its height in half.
Dangerous is a light term for Hokan. He was in a death squad and was kicked out for being too violent. This was before the Separatists hired his as muscle to watch over their assets on Qiilura.
Hokan, while murderous and insane, does have his moments of empathy. His men have been out asking the local farmers about the crashed ship and if anyone was harboring an enemy force. Hokan’s men, in order to assert authority, burned crops to scare the farmers into telling the truth. Hokan despised this action stating that you warn people first before taking action. He beheads the man responsible in front of all his other subordinates.
He [Hokan] peered down at the body and then the legs of his dark grey uniform trousers. Perfectly clean: no blood. He rather liked this lightsaber now. He sat back at the edge of the desk.
“That,” Hokan said, “was a punishment for Calishh. It’s a warning for the rest of you. Now, is the difference clear? It’s very important.
The gravitas and Uber-villain quality of Hokan ranks up there with other Star Wars villains. The problem is, of course, he doesn’t stay alive long enough to live out a legacy.
At the end of the book the Republic Commandos successfully break into the facility and steal the bio-warfare/war-criminal scientist and make for the extraction.
Hokan gets into a fight with Niner and Fi, 2 of the 4 commandos. Niner pretends to be dying and tricks Hokan into providing a mercy-kill. Hokan refuses to use the lightsaber on the commando as it would be disrespectful to the clone’s “father,” Jango Fett. A Mandalorian killed by a Jedi weapon which is not only a complicated part of Mandalorian/Jedi history but also, Fett was decapitated by one, as well. The pause to switch to his vibroblade from his lightsaber was enough for Jedi Etain to get behind Hokan and finish him for good.
I missed him at the end. A horrible murder-man but he had values and principles that dictated his actions, not his emotions. I was hoping he could stick around for another book or 2 but that’s the last we see of Hokan.
Side Note: One of the cooler parts in the book is a scene with the Jedi Padawan Etain. She is on the run in the wilderness fearing that Hokan’s men are after her. Darman, the Republic Commando, has been separated from the Omega Squad and is making his way to the rendezvous point. Etain accidentally gets near Darman but can’t see him - she feels his life force with the force and believes it is a child near her. The reason being, is that Darman, while looking like a grown man, is only 10 years old. A neat touch that I haven’t seen in SW-fiction before and added dimension.
Hard Contact is a fun book and it lays down groundwork for Traviss’ future projects. Her comfortability with squad-dynamics serves a bigger purpose later on in her career with the Halo and Gears of War franchises.
The 2nd book in the Republic Commando series, Triple Zero, is also getting a reprint in August 2023 (originally published in 2006). I will be returning to these characters to see where they are at and what trouble they have gotten themselves in when the re-release drops.
I wouldn’t recommend this book to someone just getting into the Star Wars novels but it’s fun if you’re already comfortable with the Clone-era.