Yes, they were in cryogenic suspension.  They were a extrasolar expedition who went wrong. They were set adrift in space, and they decided it'd take centuries to fix the mess, so they slept while the onboard AI computer fixed the route.

The computer managed to get them back on track, but... it had happened a lot of time, so much the computer had to switch off cryogenics for the vast majority of the crew, prioritizing the indispensable ones, until a handful of them remained. And then they found out their world... or what was left of them.

And then the question whether the New Order would treat them fairly or say "hey, free lost tech" and rub them the wrong way to snatch allegedly hideously powerful pre-war firepower (they would have a stock of advanced weapons, but since it was, well, a expedition, just the minimal to ensure safety to scouts. The terraforming tools would even be more valuable.).