Cauley Cauley was a human male 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 " bridge into his optical implant s . 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 " 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 . Biography . 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 implant s , 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 . Cauley was present at his station on the bridge when " Ultimatum " oversaw freighters transport ing 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 . Personality and traits . 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 . 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 . The novel was the first to be released in the " Star Wars " franchise ' s new canon .