User:Thefourdotelipsis/Workbench

"Don't fail me again&hellip;Admiral."

- Darth Vader

Firmus Piett was, essentially, the rockingest dude who ever had the opportunity to rock. He was in 2 movies, man. 2. Not even Cushing managed that (Lord knows Beardy tried).

Early career
Firmus Piett was born on the Outer Rim Territories ecumenopolis of Axxila during the Republic Classic era. Shortly following the Declaration of a New Order, Piett began his naval career, serving with the Axxila antipirate fleet. Due to the fact that he had no connections with the Core Worlds, Piett was mired by his background and forced to work in his native sector. Despite this, Piett soon rose in the ranks, and was given command of the antipirate fleet, making the Ciutric Hegemony one of the safest sectors in the Outer Rim. Piett's record with the fleet was flawless, and he had made a gargantuan amount of "arrests and suppressions." Soon enough, Piett's reputation reached the Core Worlds, as he received various commendations.

Captaincy of the Accuser and the Executor
Piett was singled out by the Supreme Commander of the Imperial Fleet, Lord Darth Vader, who selected the Axxilan to serve with his Death Squadron. As captain of the Imperial II-class Star Destroyer Accuser, Piett served under the fleet leader ship of Admiral Amise Griff, who commanded from the Executor-class Star Dreadnought Executor. Several months after the Battle of Yavin, Piett came across the planet of Kabal, which was claiming neutrality in the Galactic Civil War. Since neutrality was considered an act of insolence by the Empire, the captain had the Accuser attack Kabal. Among the craft fleeing from the planet was the Millennium Falcon, a ship with known Alliance connections. Piett's fighter pursued the Rebel craft, until it entered the general vicinity of a Collapsed dwarf star. Not willing to risk his ships near such an unstable entity, Piett had his ships. return to the Accuser.

On approach to the Rebel base at Yavin IV, Piett was present on board the Executor when it fell under attack from Vrad Dodonna. Seeking to curry favor with the Dark Lord, Piett personally congratulated Vader when Dodonna's attack failed. During the Fifth Battle of Yavin IV, in which the forces of the Galactic Empire drove the Alliance to Restore the Republic out of their hidden fortress, Griff perished. With the position of Death Squadron's admiral filled by Captain Kendal Ozzel, Piett was given command of the Executor.

For almost three years, Piett and his crew searched for the new Alliance base. As captain, Piett personally oversaw the ship's staffing, handpicking officers like future-Commander Gherant. Piett started to learn about the workings of the Death Squadron's chain of command, and had heard about Vader's execution of unsatisfactory officers. The captain swore to himself that he would not fall prey to the Dark Lord's wrath by making a simple blunder. It was generally perceived that Admiral Ozzel had as much power over the fleet as Vader did, but Piett knew better, and took to studying his superior officer. In doing so, he earned Ozzel's ire, but he was also able to figure out how ascend in rank.

In 2 ABY, Vader received a transmission from Governor Bin Essada of Gyndine, who claimed that Captain-Supervisor Grammel had captured Leia Organa and Luke Skywalker. Grammel had also come across intelligence of a powerful stone, the Kaiburr Crystal, that could enhance one's usage of the Force. The idea of possessing the crystal and the Rebels was attractive to Vader, and so he ordered Piett to take the Executor to Circarpous V. The ship was operating at peak efficiency, but Vader warned the captain that he would tolerate no delays. Upon reaching Circarpous V, the Dark Lord was unable to acquire either the Kaiburr Crystal or the two fugitives from justice.

Vader would not be deterred however, prompting him to set up a trap on Verdanth. A Viper probe droid, connected to the Executor via a cybernetic link, transmitted a distress signal and waited for Rebels to come across it, hoping to attempt a "rescue." Sure enough, the droid did detect a Rebel presence, but it was only a pair of droids. Piett, disappointed at the news, informed Vader, but the Dark Lord was confident that more entities would be lured to the scene. Eventually, Luke Skywalker and Han Solo reached the planet, prompting Vader to activate the cybernetic link. Using the Force, Vader attempted to extract the location of the Rebel base from Skywalker, but failed.

In 3 ABY, finally, a Viper probe droid reported that it had found a possible candidate in the Hoth system. Knowing that Admiral Ozzel would dismiss the finding, Piett waited until Lord Vader was on the bridge of the Executor before alerting his superior. Ozzel predictably passed the discovery off as a hidden smuggler base or something similar, but Vader was convinced that it was the Alliance base. Acting on the captain's advice, Vader had the Executor travel to the Hoth system. The admiral had been made to look a fool, souring him in Vader's eyes just as Piett had planned. At the same time, the Axxilan had made himself appear sharp and calculating in the Dark Lord's eyes, gaining him a small degree of favor.

Admiralty
Ozzel, however made a tactical blunder when exiting hyperspace in the Hoth system, alerting the Alliance to the Death Squadron's presence. This allowed the commanders of Echo Base to raise an energy shield, preventing the planned bombardment of the base by the Imperial fleet. The admiral was promptly contacted by Vader, who began choking Ozzel with the Force. Piett could do little more than watch on while Vader gave him orders to prepare a ground assault and disperse the fleet, in order to blockade Hoth. To Piett's surprise, Vader also gave him a swift promotion to admiral, before Ozzel's body had even hit the floor. Piett's first act as admiral was to have his predecessor's corpse disposed of.

With Captain Venka now in command of the Executor, betting pools were formed on the command ship by the junior officers as to Piett's life expectancy, since Vader's admirals tended not to last very long in the role. Nevertheless, Piett dedicated himself to his task. General Maximilian Veers and Blizzard Force were able to overcome the Rebel defenders, but many enemy craft were able to make it through the blockade. Landing on the planet, Piett briefly toured the remains of Echo Base, before informing Vader that seventeen Rebel ships had been destroyed while trying to flee. Vader cared little, since his primary target was the Millennium Falcon. With that ship and its crew of Han Solo, Leia Organa, C-3PO, and Chewbacca as bait Vader was confident he could lure Luke Skywalker into a trap. As such, Vader's only concern was for the Millennium Falcon, and he cared little for the outcome of the battle itself.

The Executor set off after the Millennium Falcon, pursuing it away from Hoth, but the Alliance craft sought refuge in an asteroid field. Piett was concerned that the field's debris could cause significant damage to the Death Squadron's cruisers, but Vader was undeterred. TIE/sa bombers were dispatched to try and force Captain Solo out, to no avail. The new admiral was given little time to relax however, as he received a transmission from Emperor Palpatine himself. Palpatine demanded to speak to Vader, and as Piett informed his master, he was ordered to move the Executor out of the asteroid field, in the hopes of sending a clear transmission.

To Piett's distaste, Vader summoned a group of bounty hunters to the Executor, in order to make use of their services in locating the Millennium Falcon. Piett was confident that the Death Squadron could and would find the craft, and his faith seemed to be well invested when a report from the Avenger claimed that the Millennium Falcon was within sight, and that capture was imminent. Pleased, he alerted Lord Vader, only to learn shortly afterwards that the ship had disappeared after what appeared to be a suicidal attack on the Avenger. Terminating the Avengers captain, Lorth Needa, Vader ordered Piett to disband the fleet in the search for the Millennium Falcon. The Dark Lord was not pleased, and made no hesitation in conveying his mood to the fearful Piett, who was sharply reminded of his predecessor's fate.

Following the dispersal of the Death Squadron, Vader received a transmission from Fett, who had located Solo and the Millennium Falcon on Cloud City, Bespin. Vader subsequently ordered Piett to take the Executor there with all due haste. Upon reaching the floating city, Piett sent a team down to sabotage the Millennium Falcons hyperdrive unit, preventing the Rebels escape if they were to escape Vader's trap. Sure enough, Vader returned from the city empty handed, despite the fact that Skywalker had taken the bait. Eventually, the Millennium Falcon made its way out of Cloud City, with the Executor trailing close behind. To Piett's surprise and fear, the Millennium Falcon successfully made the jump to lightspeed. The admiral's error would have been fatal at any other time, but Vader was too conflicted at the time, since Skywalker, his son, had refused to join him. Following the Bespin debacle, Piett filed a report on Vader's actions, which was eventually read by the Emperor himself.

When Vader returned to Imperial Center with the Executor, Admiral Okins was given temporary command on the recommendation of Emperor Palpatine. Piett was briefly transferred back to the Accuser, from which he carried out the work of Vader's Death Squadron. At some stage, Piett culled himself a personal advisor from the pilot corps: TIE Fighter ace Chiraneau. Hoping to survive his promotion, Piett was ordered to take an unpredictable route from system to system, in the hopes of finding the Alliance Fleet. Since the chance of success for that tactic was very low, the admiral suspected that Palpatine had something else in mind.

Death at the Battle of Endor
Several months later, once again on the Executor, Piett was given command of the substantial Imperial fleet amassed at Endor to trap the Alliance, after ferrying Vader to the incomplete battle station to oversee the final phases of construction. Piett's nephew, former Rebel Sarkli, was also present, to serve alongside the garrison on the forest moon. During the Battle of Endor, Piett was pitted against the renowned Mon Calamari Admiral Ackbar. He was given direct orders from Palpatine to not directly attack and engage the Alliance craft, and so his fleet began to suffer from enemy General Lando Calrissian's point-blank tactics. Due to this, Piett's performance as a commander and a tactician was greatly hindered.

When the Death Star II's shield fell, many of the Alliance starfighters swept into the battle station's superstructure, leaving the capital ships to battle unhindered. Piett perished when an RZ-1 A-wing interceptor piloted by Arvel Crynyd rammed into the Executor ' s bridge, destroying the ship with all hands on board. The wreckage of the vessel plummeted towards the Death Star II, crashing into the battle station in a gargantuan fireball. The Battle of Endor was eventually lost by the Empire, with Palpatine dying his first death at the hands of the turncoat Lord Vader, who also perished.

Personality and traits
Firmus Piett, in his admiralty, garnered himself a set of detractors who claimed that he only achieved the rank because Darth Vader had such a low tolerance for failure. This was not exactly true: Vader chose to crew his ships with the Empire's finest officers, regardless of their politics and background. Apart from Thrawn, Vader chose not to utilize Palpatine's Grand Admirals, since Piett displayed talent that rivaled them anyway.

Despite what looked like a flawless service record, Piett actually made a multitude of mistakes and blunders throughout his career. What set him apart from his colleagues and allowed him to climb the chain of command was his ability to divert blame onto others. Piett was also a far more creative individual than some of his more by-the-book superiors, and was adept at both political maneuvering and appeasing his superiors.

When Piett reached the rank of Admiral, he realized that it was not quite the best of positions after all, as his mistakes would have more severe consequences. However, his knack for avoiding Darth Vader's anger allowed him to keep the post longer than he should have.

Behind the scenes
In 2002, Piett was given the first name "Firmus" in Daniel Wallace's The New Essential Guide to Characters. Wallace derived the name from the Latin word meaning "strong" or "reliable."

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Empire at War
 * Star Wars: Empire at War: Forces of Corruption
 * Star Wars: Rebellion
 * Deadly Reunion
 * Doom Mission
 * Splinter of the Mind's Eye comic
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back / novelization
 * The Rise and Fall of Darth Vader
 * A Grand Admiral Returns
 * A Grand Admiral Returns