The Forerunner II was a light cruiser in the service of the Galactic Empire during the Imperial Era. It was commanded by Admiral Tarl Sokoli, an Imperial war hero. The Sith Lord Darth Vader, displeased by Sokoli's public dissatisfaction with the Empire, falsely claimed that Sokoli was secretly working for the Crimson Dawn criminal syndicate. He tasked Beilert Valance, cyborg bounty hunter who had been captured and forced to serve Vader as the leader of Dark Squadron, with assassinating Sokoli; Valance had formerly served the Empire after being inspired by Sokoli, and the Sith Lord wished to test the cyborg.
The Forerunner II was directed by Vader to a location outside the Eriadu system, where the TIE Defenders of Dark Squadron attacked it, engaging with the cruiser's own TIE fighter escort. Though two members of Valance's squadron were shot down, one by the cannons of the Forerunner II itself, the cyborg crashed his own TIE into the light cruiser's bridge, confronting and killing Sokoli before leaping into space to be picked up by one of his squadron's starfighters.