Hardin, known as Bug on his home planet of Somov Rit, was one of the young Force-sensitives conscripted into Jedi Master Lord Hoth's Army of Light during the war with Lord Kaan's Brotherhood of Darkness. As Somov Rit was covered in shallow seas, Hardin and his cousins, Darovit and Zannah, came from a sea-faring people and lived a subsistence life as fisherman and farmers. At the height of the war with the Sith, both the Jedi and the Sith faced heavy losses and subsequently initiated scouting missions to locate Force-sensitives to draft into their armies and bolster their forces.

When Jedi Master Torr Snapit came to Somov Rit, Hardin and his cousin Darovit showed themselves to be viable candidates as soldiers. Although they were teenagers, the Jedi were desperate and taking anyone they could get. While Jedi Master Snapit originally wanted only Hardin and Darovit, Darovit convinced the Jedi Master to accept their younger cousin Zannah as well. With that, the three were aboard Master Snapit's starship on their way to war and the Battle of Ruusan.

Aboard the starship, Hardin and his cousins met Sladak and Slatka, Force-sensitive siblings also drafted into the Army of Light. As they arrived on Ruusan, Hardin and his cousins could not believe the beautiful landscape. Used to seeing nothing but seas on towards the horizon, they were amazed at the dense forests that covered Ruusan. The excitement was short-lived however as a pair of Sith fighters moved in behind Hardin and the Jedi and began to fire on the ship. The first blast that hit the ship blew a hole in it so large that Sladak and Slatka were instantly vaporized, and Zannah was sucked out of Darovit's arms to the surface below.