| “ | Intensify the forward batteries. I don't want anything to get through... INTENSIFY FORWARD FIREPOWER!! | „ |
| ~ Admiral Piett's last order. |
Fleet Admiral Firmus Piett is a supporting antagonist in the Star Wars franchise. He serves as a major antagonist in the original trilogy, appearing as a major antagonist in The Empire Strikes Back and a supporting antagonist in Return of the Jedi. He was an Imperial Navy admiral and the successor of his superior Admiral Kendal Ozzel as the commander of the Death Squadron, Darth Vader's personal fleet of Star Destroyers.
He was portrayed by Kenneth Colley.
Personality[]
Firmus Piett was an ambitious officer known for his quick thinking in his ability to shift blame for his blunders. Although Garrick Versio perceived him as a fool during his and his fellow Executor crew's deaths at hands of Arvel Crynyd, Piett proved himself to be more competent and dutiful in carrying out his duty than his predecessor Ozzel, faring better than the latter throughout his participation against the rebels as proven following his promotion by Vader.
History[]
Coming from humble beginnings on the backwater Outer Rim world of Axxila, Piett began his naval career with the Axxila antipirate fleet. Though his posting was not notable, Piett's creativity and dedication made his home sector the safest in the Outer Rim. His ascension through the ranks, however, was not so much a tribute to his dedication, but his ability to shift blame onto others when mistakes were made. With an extraordinary number of arrests and suppression to his name, as well as what appeared to be a perfectly clean record, Piett earned the attention of high-ranking officers on Imperial Center.
Transferred to the Imperial Navy, Piett was selected to serve in Darth Vader's Death Squadron, which prowled the galaxy searching for Rebel Alliance headquarters. Given the captaincy of the Imperial II-class Star Destroyer Accuser, Piett served diligently until the command of the fleet's flagship, the Executor-class Star Dreadnought Executor, was vacant. As captain of the Executor, Piett relentlessly searched for the hidden Alliance base while secretly undermining his superior, Admiral Kendal Ozzel. Prior to the Battle of Hoth, Piett made sure that Vader was on the bridge of the Executor as he reported finding of the base to Ozzel. At the Battle of Hoth, Ozzel orders the fleet to exit hyperspace too close to the planet, enabling them to be detected by the Rebels, who raise an energy shield to stop any orbital bombardment. As punishment for Ozzel's mistake, Vader used the dark side of the Force to choke him to death, and promoted Piett to admiral in his place.
Though he made enemies for his swift ascent to the top of the command chain, Piett set himself about his task with enthusiasm, though he feared that he would meet the same fate as Ozzel. Upon hearing of Piett's promotion junior officers on the Executor began betting pools on how long Piett would live.
After the Battle of Hoth, Piett is tasked with the pursuit of the Millennium Falcon, which has escaped into a nearby asteroid field. Piett informs Vader of this, whilst Vader is in his meditation chamber aboard the Executor; in doing so, Piett becomes the first onscreen character to see Vader without his helmet. Vader at first ignores Piett's concern over venturing into the field, but later commands the admiral to move the ship away from the asteroids, in order to gain a clear signal for Vader's communication with Emperor Palpatine. Vader subsequently hires bounty hunters to assist in the capture of the Millennium Falcon, a decision which Piett appears to disdain. With the Falcon continuing to evade capture, Vader executes Star Destroyer Avenger captain Lorth Needa, conveying his displeasure as an ominous warning to Piett.
With bounty hunter Boba Fett tracking the Falcon to Cloud City on Bespin, Piett has his engineers deactivate the hyperdrive on the ship. Later attempting to escape, the Falcon, and those within it, are nearly captured when Piett orders the activation of the Executor's tractor beam. However, the Falcon unexpectedly jumps to light-speed and evades capture, as R2-D2 is able to reactivate the hyperdrive, having discovered it from Cloud City's central computer. Despite his failure, a visibly terrified Piett finds his life uncharacteristically spared by Vader at the end of the film.
After Bespin, the Executor was taken back to Imperial Center, leaving Piett to command the Accuser once more. In 4 ABY, though, Piett was once again on the bridge of the Super Star Destroyer, commanding the Imperial fleet in the Battle of Endor. Piett died in the battle on the Executor when an RZ-1 A-wing interceptor piloted by Arvel Crynyd rammed the ship's bridge, sending the ship crashing into the Death Star and killing everyone onboard.
External Links[]
- Admiral Piett on the Star Wars Wiki
- Admiral Piett on the Wikipedia
