Hard Contact Prologue: P for Plenty
Jul. 27th, 2025 10:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mamuzzyThis is actually my second attempt to go through the english version of Hard Contact.
I choose this platform to start again, because here I'm not exposed to social media and when first I tried it, tumblr was still full of repcomm antis who talked shit about the books and the main characters all the time and I got myself addressing these antis in my posts, trying to disprove them over things, instead of just... enjoying the blogging itself. I'm hoping to get through with my originial priorities such as collecting lore about the characters, especially the clones, mandalorians, jedi, and overall the universe Karen Traviss built up. Also these books are addressing lots of disabilities -- physical and mental as well --, and as someone who has cPTSD and Cluster B personality disorders, having representations that don't try to put us instantly into the serial killer trope is important for me.
Let's start with the Prologue then!
Darman breaks with the stereotype of being a crazed bombman
This is the first appearance of Darman (RC-1136), member of the Theta Squad and we see the partial events of the Battle of Geonosis through his POV. What I noticed right away that Darman is already breaking with the stereotypes of maniacs who are enjoing the explosions for the explosion's sake, or as Boss would say, rearranging the architecture. He is calm, professional, and making things explode is just simply the thing he is good at. I liked the bickering he had with Boss through the comms, who waited for Darman to explode the doorway for them, and he still remained calm.
What was the mission of Theta and Delta Squad?
You don't get this anwers in the books. You actually get the answer from the game -- Republic Commando -- which was released one year later after the book, Hard Contact.
The Delta Squad's original mission was killing Sun Fac, chief-advisor of Poggle the Lesser, Archduke of Geonosis. Theta was tasked with destroying the droid factory, but in the game when you get this mission, Theta Squad was already wiped out and Deltas had to finish the job for them.
In the books when Deltas are arriving, Theta is still alive, but not for long.
Differences between Theta and Delta Squad
If you compare how the Deltas interacted with each other in the videogame to the Thetas in this prologue, you can already notice the differences in their mindset, especially about how they address each other and other squad. Boss barely addresses them in their name, he usually says Deltas. Scorch calls him Boss, Fixer calls him sir, Sev refers to him 'Eight which is already giving away glimpes of their personalities. But overall there is this pride in them that they do things as DELTAS, the team.
They are a squad, a hunting pod of aiwhas. Alone, they are nothing. If you think about it, the Commando squad are highly elite soldiers and their purpose was together being a four-men-army and do the jobs a regular trooper can't. They were trained to act together, work together, think together, and encouraged to look after each other. Meaning there is no I, there is no you, there is only we and us. Refering them as a whole is not considered as an insult to their individuality.
While Darman address Boss as Delta, you can notice that he refers his own squad members by their names, this is why we know that the other Thetas are called Vin, Taler and Jay. This implicates less hierarchical structure to their squad and you can only know that Taler is the commanding officer, because he gives the shots what to do next and Darman obeys.
Now if you know that Delta Squad is trained by Walon Vau and the Thetas by Kal Skirata, this is very interesting regarding with what mindset they raised these troopers.
Endnotes
Heartbreak. Total heartbreak. Darman loses contact with his podmates.
When I first met with this book series in 2023, I was really skeptical that I could enjoy these books, because I wasn't fan of the Republic Commando game to begin with. It probably had to do with the fact, that I was a kid when it came out, and when Revenge of the Sith came out, i was pretty much a clone hater after that movie, so I don't have this nostalgic love for the Deltas. Also, from gamer perspective, this game was difficult. It really took reading this prologue+chapter 1 for me to decide: Ok I love Darman and I want him and his story in my life.
I choose this platform to start again, because here I'm not exposed to social media and when first I tried it, tumblr was still full of repcomm antis who talked shit about the books and the main characters all the time and I got myself addressing these antis in my posts, trying to disprove them over things, instead of just... enjoying the blogging itself. I'm hoping to get through with my originial priorities such as collecting lore about the characters, especially the clones, mandalorians, jedi, and overall the universe Karen Traviss built up. Also these books are addressing lots of disabilities -- physical and mental as well --, and as someone who has cPTSD and Cluster B personality disorders, having representations that don't try to put us instantly into the serial killer trope is important for me.
Let's start with the Prologue then!
Darman breaks with the stereotype of being a crazed bombman
This is the first appearance of Darman (RC-1136), member of the Theta Squad and we see the partial events of the Battle of Geonosis through his POV. What I noticed right away that Darman is already breaking with the stereotypes of maniacs who are enjoing the explosions for the explosion's sake, or as Boss would say, rearranging the architecture. He is calm, professional, and making things explode is just simply the thing he is good at. I liked the bickering he had with Boss through the comms, who waited for Darman to explode the doorway for them, and he still remained calm.
Delta Squad’s CO gets on the helmet comlink. “You having a party down there, Theta?”
“Can’t rush an artist …”“You want to tell that to the spider droids?”“Patience, Delta.” Come on, come on. Stick to the metal, will you? “Nearly there.”“A lot of spider droids …”“I hear you, Delta.”“In your own time. No pressure. None at all …”“Clear!”
-- An exchange between Darman and Boss,
Hard Contact: Prologue
What was the mission of Theta and Delta Squad?
You don't get this anwers in the books. You actually get the answer from the game -- Republic Commando -- which was released one year later after the book, Hard Contact.
The Delta Squad's original mission was killing Sun Fac, chief-advisor of Poggle the Lesser, Archduke of Geonosis. Theta was tasked with destroying the droid factory, but in the game when you get this mission, Theta Squad was already wiped out and Deltas had to finish the job for them.
In the books when Deltas are arriving, Theta is still alive, but not for long.
"There is no time to celebrate, Deltas. As you already know, 36's squad has been incapacitated. Their mission was to disable to droid factory in this sector. Your squad has been retasked for this purpose."
-- Clone Advisor, Republic Commando
Differences between Theta and Delta Squad
If you compare how the Deltas interacted with each other in the videogame to the Thetas in this prologue, you can already notice the differences in their mindset, especially about how they address each other and other squad. Boss barely addresses them in their name, he usually says Deltas. Scorch calls him Boss, Fixer calls him sir, Sev refers to him 'Eight which is already giving away glimpes of their personalities. But overall there is this pride in them that they do things as DELTAS, the team.
They are a squad, a hunting pod of aiwhas. Alone, they are nothing. If you think about it, the Commando squad are highly elite soldiers and their purpose was together being a four-men-army and do the jobs a regular trooper can't. They were trained to act together, work together, think together, and encouraged to look after each other. Meaning there is no I, there is no you, there is only we and us. Refering them as a whole is not considered as an insult to their individuality.
While Darman address Boss as Delta, you can notice that he refers his own squad members by their names, this is why we know that the other Thetas are called Vin, Taler and Jay. This implicates less hierarchical structure to their squad and you can only know that Taler is the commanding officer, because he gives the shots what to do next and Darman obeys.
Now if you know that Delta Squad is trained by Walon Vau and the Thetas by Kal Skirata, this is very interesting regarding with what mindset they raised these troopers.
Endnotes
Heartbreak. Total heartbreak. Darman loses contact with his podmates.
When I first met with this book series in 2023, I was really skeptical that I could enjoy these books, because I wasn't fan of the Republic Commando game to begin with. It probably had to do with the fact, that I was a kid when it came out, and when Revenge of the Sith came out, i was pretty much a clone hater after that movie, so I don't have this nostalgic love for the Deltas. Also, from gamer perspective, this game was difficult. It really took reading this prologue+chapter 1 for me to decide: Ok I love Darman and I want him and his story in my life.
