An Action VI-class bulk freighter named Molten Queen carries refugees fleeing the violent suppression campaign on Clone-occupied Alderaan. Among these are the political dissidents General Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ambassador Marya Organa, sister of King Bail Organa, on the Queen's bridge with Bothan merchant pilot Baatu Fey.

A Clone strikecraft maneuvers towards the freighter and attaches itself to the ship's aft cargo bay.

Wend-Haral, a lowly Yarkora member of Fey's crew, stumbles upon a boarding party of Clones while conducting regular freighter oversight duties with his trusty droid companion L5.

L5 is blasted to bits. Wend-Haral barely weaves through a torrent of high-energy bolts emitted by the enemy swarm. Bounding past open blast doors, he reaches a group of merchant guardsmen mobilized to meet the threat, but they are quickly overwhelmed by the Clones. Wend-Haral scurries through access tunnels towards the Queen's bridge, expecting to meet captain Fey.