Firmus Piett

Firmus Piett - Art By: Ryan Barger

**Firmus Piett** was a Human male who would serve in the fleet of the Galactic Empire during the Galactic Civil War. He came from humble beginnings on the Outer Rim Territories world of Axxila, Piett's naval career would catch the attention of high-ranking officers on Imperial Center. Piett eventually made his way into the service of Darth Vader as an officer within Death Squadron, as first officer on the *Executor*, Firmus Piett often assisted Admiral Kendal Ozzel. As an officer on the *Executor*, Piett relentlessly searched for the hidden Alliance base while secretly undermining the Admiral. After Admiral Kendal Ozzel committed a fatal mistake during the hunt for the rebels, Piett was made Admiral and given command of Vader's flagship.

Though he was criticized for his swift ascent to the top of the command chain, Firmus set himself about his task with great enthusiasm, though Firmus feared that his fate would be the same as Admiral Kendal Ozzel. Piett made several potentially fatal blunders soon after his promotion but was able to shift blame as he did in the past. In the aftermath of the victory at the Battle of Hoth, Firmus continued serving as the Admiral in Death Squadron until the Battle of Endor. It was during this time a portion of the Imperial fleet had confronted the Rebel Alliance around the second Death Star, with the Admiral Piett holding command of the fleet. Admiral Piett died in the battle when an A-Wing fighter crashed into the bridge of *Executor*.

## Biography

### Imperial Service

#### Early Naval Career

Born a male Human, **Firmus Piett** hailed from Axxila, a planet located in the Outer Rim Territories of the galaxy. At some point, Piett joined the fleet of Sheev Palpatine's Galactic Empire, and rose through the ranks. As a junior officer serving under the command of Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, Piett attended the Outer Rim planet Jelucan's introduction ceremony into the Empire, following its conquest eight years after the Clone Wars. Three years into the Galactic Civil War conflict, Piett had been made Captain. He was stationed aboard the *Executor*, an Imperial Super Star Destroyer which served as the personal flagship of Darth Vader, the right-hand man of Emperor Palpatine himself. The mission of Darth Vader's personal fleet of Star Destroyers, the Death Squadron, was to search the galaxy for the Rebel Alliance's secret base. On the *Executor*, Firmus Piett was subordinate to Admiral Kendal Ozzel, whom he saw as an incompetent officer. Piett was notably tasked with collecting and analyzing data sent by Imperial probe droids looking for traces of the rebels. When intel came in from a probe exploring the Hoth System, Piett called out to Ozzel while Vader was present on the bridge.

#### Promoted by Vader

Darth Vader recognized the information as a solid lead on the location of the rebel headquarters, and he ordered Death Squadron to set course for the icy world of Hoth. However, Admiral Kendal made a great mess of the Death Squadron approach to Hoth, taking the ships out of hyperspace too close to Hoth System. As the rebellion was now aware of the Imperial presence, they were able to erect a defense shield over their base, preventing orbital bombardment attempts. Captain Piett stood at Ozzel's side when Darth Vader telekinetically chocked the Admiral. With Kendal Ozzel dead, the Emperor's right-hand man promoted Captain Piett to Admiral on the spot. Firmus Piett's first action as a Admiral of the Imperial Starfleet was to order the disposal of his dead predecessor's corpse. Thanks to the intervention of the ground forces of General Maximilian Veers, the Empire managed to get the upper hand on Hoth, forcing the rebels to evacuate. Despite the orbital blockade imposed by the Death Squadron, many of the rebel enemy ships managed to fall through the cracks. Subsequently, Admiral Firmus Piett was ordered to hunt down one of the fleeing ships, *Millennium Falcon*.

With that vessel 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. Under Piett's command, the *Executor* then engaged in the hunt of *Millennium Falcon*. One of the bridge crew that served under his command during the pursuit was the Lieutenant Commander Ciena Ree. When it transpired that the Rebel craft was hiding in the Hoth system's asteroid field, the admiral was concerned that debris would cause significant damage to Death Squadron's vessels. Vader, however, ignored Piett's advice, ordering the fleet to enter the asteroid field. Shortly thereafter, Piett received word that the Emperor himself demanded to speak with his right hand man. Piett then informed Vader, and, under orders, moved the *Executor* out of the asteroid field, in hopes of sending a clear transmission. To Admiral Piett's discreet distaste, Vader assembled a motley crew of bounty hunters on the *Executor*'s bridge, enlisting them in his track for the *Millennium Falcon*. Later, Admiral Piett assembled a group of officers including Commander Ciena Ree and Nash Windrider for a patrol in the outer edge of Hudalla's ring.

#### Conflict over Endor

In private, Piett told Commander Ree that there were rebel spies in the planetary ring. He tasked he with ensuring that at least one of the enemy pilots escaped into hyperspace. During the dogfight, pilots Ciena and Nash encountered former Imperial and defector Thane Kyrell, who had joined the rebellion's Corona Squadron. Since she still loved Thane, Ciena then ensured that he and most of Corona Squadron escaped into hyperspace. Following the mission, the TIE pilots had been reprimanded for their failure to destroy all the rebel ships. However, Firmus discreetly nodded at Ciena to thank her for following his orders. Ree later learned that the dogfight was part of an Imperial plot to lure the Rebel Alliance into a trap at Endor. Although he failed to capture the rebel hero Luke Skywalker at Bespin, Piett managed to escape Vader's wrath. Some time later, he was given command of the substantial Imperial fleet that was amassed at Endor to trap the Alliance and defend the second Death Star, after ferrying Vader to the incomplete station to oversee the final phases of construction. Operations and preparations at Endor, overseen in part by the *Executor* starship, were done smoothly until the *Tydirium* tried to land on Endor. The ship was transmitting an older code, sowing seeds of suspicion in Piett's mind.

Vader soon took notice of the issue and ordered Piett to allow the shuttle to land, assuring Piett that he would deal with the occupants. The shuttle was eventually revealed to have been carrying an Alliance strike team, who had the intent of destroying the Death Star's shield generator on the forest moon. The shield generator was the battlestation's main line of defense, and its eradication would leave the Death Star vulnerable to attack. Palpatine, acting through Vader, sent the fleet to the far side of Endor, in order to hide it from the enemy fleet when they arrived. Shortly after, the fleet of rebellion entered the Endor System, prompting the armada commanded by Admiral Firmus Piett to reveal themselves to forces of the rebellion. Pitted against Mon Calamari Admiral Gial Ackbar, Piett's forces then blocked the Alliance's escape vector, while his fighters were dispatched to engage their Alliance counterparts. Piett was given direct orders from Palpatine to not directly attack and engage the Alliance craft, and so his fleet began to suffer from General Lando Calrissian's tactic of having the rebel ships engage the Star Destroyers at point-blank range. Due to this, Piett's performance as a tactician was hindered, and Death Star II couldn't use its superlaser on the rebels, since they were now so close to the Imperials.

When the Death Star's shield finally fell, many of the Alliance starfighters swept into the station's superstructure, with a swarm of Imperial starships pursuing. Admiral Ackbar ordered a concentrated assault on *Executor* and the Super Star Destroyer lost its bridge deflector shield when two fighters destroyed the portside generator. Concerned, Piett ordered his crewmen to amplify the *Executor*'s defensive fire, but it was too little, too late. As Piett relayed this order, an A-Wing starfighter piloted by Arvel Crynyd was struck by turbolaser fire and spun out of control. Crynyd was able to regain what little control he had and went straight for the bridge. Gherant saw it coming and screamed that it was too late. Admiral Piett whipped around, saw the incoming fighter and reflexively dived for cover as the A-Wing starfighter then slammed into the *Executor*'s bridge. The craft promptly exploded and obliterated the bridge, destroying it and killing Firmus Piett, Gherant, and the rest of the bridge crew. The foundering vessel, trapped in the Death Star II's gravity well, plummeted into the battlestation in a gargantuan fireball. The Battle of Endor was eventually lost by the weakened Galactic Empire, with the Galactic Emperor Palpatine dying at the hands of the redeemed Anakin Skywalker, who died during the battle.