Cauley

Cauley
Descriptive information
Species	Human
Pronouns	He/him
Chronological and political information
Affiliation(s)	Galactic Empire Imperial Navy's officer corps Death Squadron

"Pull all escort wings in that area off their duty. Send them all against Kanan!"
"Against who, Captain?"
"Renegade One! The guy shooting at everyone!"

―Rae Sloane and Cauley

Cauley was a human who served as an Imperial Navy ensign aboard the Imperial Star Destroyer Ultimatum during the Gorse Conflict in 11 BBY, in which the Imperial cyborg Count Denetrius Vidian attempted to improve thorilide mining efficiency on the planet Gorse and its moon, Cynda. Shortly after Ultimatum arrived in the Gorse system, Vidian fed the output from Cauley's terminal on Ultimatum's bridge into his optical implants. Unaware of what Vidian was doing, Cauley was at first confused by the count's actions but was soon allowed to return to his work.

Later, in the final stages of the conflict, Cauley reported to Ultimatum's captain, Rae Sloane, on the actions of the freighter Moonglow-72 as it tried to prevent Vidian's plan to destroy Cynda from coming to fruition. Cauley was still serving on the Ultimatum when Captain Canonhaus was given temporary command of the vessel while Sloane left on an inspection tour. During Sloane's absence, the vessel was destroyed in the Hoth asteroid belt in 3 ABY, killing all on board.

Biography

Arrival at Gorse

In 11 BBY, Cauley served in the Imperial Navy as an ensign and tactical officer aboard the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Ultimatum during the vessel's mission to the planet Gorse. Commanded by Captain Rae Sloane, the Star Destroyer's purpose was to transport and serve cyborg Count Denetrius Vidian while he improved the efficiency of thorilide mining on Gorse's moon, Cynda.

When Ultimatum first arrived in the Gorse system, Cauley was stationed at a tactical console on the Star Destroyer's bridge, which displayed the locations of all of the other ships in the star system. Immediately after exiting hyperspace, Ultimatum nearly collided with a freighter named Cynda Dreaming, which clipped the larger vessel while narrowly dodging a full on collision. Moments later, Vidian arrived on the bridge and pushed past Cauley to his console, feeding the visual output from the ensign's screen into his optical implants, allowing the count to monitor the nearby vessels and Cauley to return to his work. After thorolide production totals began being transmitted to Ultimatum by the Mining Guild, Vidian moved away from Cauley's station to a data terminal and then ordered that Cynda Dreaming be destroyed after it was discovered that the freighter was delaying the convoy of ships heading from Gorse to Cynda.

The puzzle of Moonglow-72

"I've got a TIE pilot chasing after the hauler he's escorting now. It's fleeing, afraid of being targeted by Renegade One. Our pilot's asking if he can shoot his hauler down."

―Cauley, to Rae Sloane

Cauley served as an ensign on board the Ultimatum.

Cauley was present at his station on the bridge when Ultimatum oversaw freighters transporting canisters of the explosive chemical baradium-357 from the Calcoraan Depot space station in the Calcoraan system to the Gorse system. The chemical was to be used to destroy Cynda, allowing the thorilide it contained to be harvested from the debris by Vidian's vessel Forager. However, a group of rebels, including the pilot Kanan Jarrus, had learned of the plan, and, aboard the freighter Moonglow-72, began destroying the TIE fighters guarding the baradium haulers. The rebel group then initiated harassing fire on the haulers themselves, preventing the convoy from delivering their loads and scaring the pilots. Cauley tried to follow what the rogue freighter—dubbed Renegade One by Sloane—was doing but could not understand why it was was not destroying the freighters.

Sloane, who had encountered Jarrus before, realized that he and the rebels were trying to scare off the other haulers, which Cauley confirmed, as any vessel that Moonglow-72 approached attempted to flee and turn off its ID transponder. The ensign then received word from one of the surviving TIE fighters that it was chasing a fleeing hauler that it had been escorting and needed instruction on what to do. Sloane began giving orders to run interference, but Cauley's communication was cut off with the fighter as it was destroyed by Renegade One. Infuriated, Sloane ordered a wing of fighters to destroy Jarrus and his freighter. However, they were unsuccessful, and the crew of the freighter ultimately prevented the destruction of Cynda. Vidian was exposed as having betrayed the Empire, as his scheme to destroy the planet would have ultimately resulted in a shortage of thorilide. The Gorse conflict was ended when the rebel Skelly detonated the baradium stored on Moonglow-72 while the freighter was docked aboard the Forager, destroying the larger vessel and killing the count.

Destruction of the Ultimatum

"I guess I don't have to worry about that money I owe Ensign Cauley."

―Kanna Deltic assumes Cauley is dead upon hearing of the Ultimatum's destruction

Cauley was still serving as an ensign on board the Ultimatum when the vessel was placed under the temporary command of Captain Canonhaus while Sloane left on an inspection tour of new shuttle technology with Lieutenant Kanna Deltic, who owed Cauley credits. During Sloane's several week absence, the Ultimatum was among the ships of Death Squadron that participated in the Battle of Hoth in 3 ABY and the subsequent chase of the Millennium Falcon, a rebel vessel that fled from the battle into the Hoth asteroid belt. The Ultimatum and the rest of Death Squadron pursued the Falcon into the asteroid field, where the Star Destroyer was struck by an asteroid, destroying it and killing all onboard. Upon hearing of the Star Destroyer's destruction, Deltic assumed that Cauley had been among those on board, meaning she would not have to pay back the credits she owed him.

Personality and traits

"My lord?"

―Cauley is confused by Vidian's use of optical implants

During the Gorse conflict, the human Cauley was young and fresh faced. Vidian's decision to feed the output from Cauley's data terminal into his optical implants caused the count to become stationary and stare into the distance, confusing Cauley and leading him to wonder what Vidian was doing. When Vidian gave permission for Cauley to return to his work, Captain Sloane imagined that he was relieved to not have the count looking over his shoulder. He spoke Galactic Basic Standard with an aristocratic accent.

Equipment

While working at his terminal, Cauley wore a headset.

Behind the scenes

Cauley first appeared in the 2014 novel A New Dawn, written by John Jackson Miller.

Appearances

• A New Dawn (First appearance, simultaneous with A New Dawn audiobook)
• A New Dawn audiobook
• "Lord Vader Will See You Now" — From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back (Mentioned only) (In flashback(s))
• "Lord Vader Will See You Now" — From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back audiobook (Mentioned only) (In flashback(s))

Notes and references

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