After the events of A New Hope the Troop is sent to Kearse, a Somalia-like planet that for the most part needs to be cleared of enemy insurgent activity. However they won't be going it alone as they are teamed up with the Texian 101st Light Airborne unit, which through the book also goes with a futuristic rendition of Operation Gothic Serpent, the operation made famous from the movie Black Hawk Down. This book goes over the search for General Malik, the head of the insurgency on Kearse and the operations conducted to capture him. Of course there is violence but in this case a different way of life in a chaotic universe is all the same to the hardened troopers of 2/4 Cav.