The Imperial Marauder-class cruiser flew over the planet Naom Char, piloted by Ensign Janos of the Imperial Navy. It was sent as a quick expedition force to investigate reports of pirate activity in the system. The task force was headed by two commanders: the aging Danik Kreldin and the young Lanil Jast. It had a small detachment of stormtroopers, but was mostly occupied by Army regulars. Their equipment was small time; two E-webs were closed in cases on the floor, not yet assembled. The rest were ST-IIs, hand-held weapons used by the Army grunts and the stormtrooper elite. Danik himself was only equipped with combat armor and his favorite Kylan-3 pistol. He, and no one else, was expecting this to be anything other than a simple recon mission.