I don't own any of the characters involved in this story. All is owned by Lucasfilm and Disney.

Location: The Skyfall. Bridge.

Time: 0730 Hours.

Mission: TBD.

The hiss of blast doors opening sounded through the bridge, directly followed by the *click* of heels snapping together. "Atten-TION! Admiral on deck!" shouted a nearby Lieutenant, his hand at his forehead in a crisp salute.

"At ease," said Vaunn, waving his hand in dismissal. The Lieutenant, along with the rest of the bridge crew, immediately returned to what they had been doing before Vaunn had arrived. He had never liked distracting his crew, because he knew that any of them could be working on something vastly more important than a salute.

But they were all too well-trained not follow their programming, and Vaunn could respect that. He walked down the center aisle toward the viewports, looking out over the planet Ryloth. The Republic, and more specifically the 235th Airborne Division, had set up a protective blockade around the planet and had driven back the CIS forces, but there were still thousands of battle droids remaining planetside, abandoned by their leaders. It would have been pitiful, had they not been droids.

One of the bridge crew hurried up to him, murmuring in his ear. Vaunn nodded a few times as the clone spoke, continuing to watch the planet and his fleet. The ensign spoke for a few more seconds before Vaunn stopped him.

"Yularen? Yularen is trying to contact me? You're sure?"

The ensign nodded.

"Fine. Put him through."

The clone hurried to connect Yularen to the holoprojector inside an adjacent room as Vaunn stood waiting. He knew he had to present himself as professionally as possible.

Admiral Wullf Yularen was not a man to be trifled with. He had visibly aged since Vaunn had last seen him, but his piercing blue eyes and his militaristic stature never faltered.

"Admiral Yularen, it's been too long," said Vaunn, a slight smile on his face. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Cut the wampa shit, Vaunn. We have a problem." For a brief moment, Vaunn wished he had caught that on video, but his mind immediately returned to the conversation at hand.

"A problem? What do you mean? Ryloth is becoming more and more secure by the minute. The clankers don't have a leader and they're practically running around with blaster rifles up their-"

"Not Ryloth. I don't care about Ryloth. Have you heard of Glee Anselm?"

Vaunn was taken aback. Not only had Yularen cut him off, but he seemed to be offering Vaunn a vacation.

"Glee Anselm? I took a trip there a few years ago. Beautiful planet. Beautiful people, too. Why?"

Yularen raised his eyebrow at that last comment, but didn't pursue it. "There's a separatist caravan traveling across the planet carrying something of immense value. We don't know what it is just yet."

It was Vaunn's turn to raise an eyebrow. "You're telling me that the CIS is walking something of 'immense value' across a planet in the Mid Rim that we control? That's the dumbest plan I've heard in my life. Why not just move it in the Outer Rim or even Deep Space?"

Yularen shook his head. "Unknown. However, they're clearly willing to do whatever it takes to move this item or else they would have done as you suggested." Vaunn opened his mouth to speak, but Yularen waved his hand and continued. "I'm sending the mission information to you know. What you need to know is that you'll need a team of your best operatives in the field to get whatever the separatists are moving.

I don't care how you get it, and I don't care what you requisition, but this mission cannot fail. At best, it's just funds for weapons and droids. At worst, this payload could change the course of the war."

Vaunn smirked quizzically. "Why is that the worst case scenario? My team will complete the mission."

Yularen, for his part, frowned. "That is the worst case scenario because the 235th was not our first choice for the mission. Operatives from the 212th, 501st, and even Delta Squad were requested, but they are all… Otherwise occupied." He sighed. "The 235th is fantastic at what you do, I'll say that beyond a shadow of a doubt. But this is not what you do. I don't believe you'll be able to complete this mission, but it's out of my hands. Prove me wrong, Vaunn." Yularen reached out of the camera's view and the connection closed.