Firmus Piett

Firmus Piett, a male human, was born on the planet of Axxila, a world situated in the Outer Rim Territories of the galaxy. Eventually, Piett enlisted in the starfleet of Palpatine's Galactic Empire, gradually climbing through the ranks. Serving as a junior officer under the command of Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, he was present at the induction ceremony for the planet Jelucan into the Galactic Empire, following its conquest eight years after the end of the Clone Wars. During the Battle of Comantira, Piett, in command, delayed the evacuation transport's launch by four seconds beyond the scheduled time, allowing late shuttles to dock. Corleque's shuttle, arriving three seconds late, managed to dock due to Piett's choice, earning Corleque's respect.

By 3 ABY, Piett had achieved the rank of Flag Captain. He was assigned to the Executor, a Super Star Destroyer serving as the flagship of Darth Vader, the second-in-command to Emperor Sheev Palpatine. Vader's personal fleet of Star Destroyers, known as the Death Squadron, was tasked with locating the Rebel Alliance's hidden base throughout the galaxy. On the Executor, Piett reported to Admiral Kendal Ozzel, whom he regarded as an arrogant and incompetent officer.

Piett, like his colleagues, was responsible for gathering and scrutinizing data transmitted by Imperial probe droids in search of Rebel traces. While the fleet was stationed in the [Juris sector](/article/juris_sector], a probe exploring the Hoth system sent back information. Piett brought this to Admiral Ozzel's attention while Vader was present on the bridge. Ozzel initially dismissed Piett's findings, but Vader overheard their conversation and inquired about the information. Piett presented Vader with an image of the Rebel base's shield generator, which Vader recognized as a promising lead to the Rebel headquarters. Despite Ozzel's attempts to dissuade him, Vader ordered the Death Squadron to head for the icy planet of Hoth. After Vader left, Ozzel silently glared at Piett for embarrassing him.

However, Admiral Ozzel's approach to Hoth was disastrous, as he brought the Death Squadron out of hyperspace too close to the system. This alerted the Rebels, allowing them to raise a defense shield over their base, preventing any orbital bombardment. Captain Piett stood beside Ozzel when Darth Vader used the Force choke on the admiral, killing him. Immediately after Ozzel's death, the Emperor's second-in-command promoted Captain Piett to admiral. Piett's first act as an admiral was to order the disposal of his predecessor's body.

Thanks to the efforts of General Veers' ground force, the Empire gained the advantage on Hoth, forcing the Rebels to evacuate. Despite the Death Squadron's orbital blockade, many Rebel ships slipped through due to cover fire from the Rebel's planetary ion cannon. Admiral Piett was subsequently ordered to track the Millennium Falcon, one of the escaping ships. Using that ship and its crew, including Han Solo, Leia Organa, C-3PO, and Chewbacca, as bait, Vader hoped to lure Luke Skywalker into a trap.

Under Piett's leadership, the Executor pursued the Millennium Falcon. Lieutenant Commander Ciena Ree was among the bridge crew serving under him during this pursuit. When the Rebel ship hid in the Hoth system's asteroid field, Piett expressed concern that debris would severely damage the Death Squadron's ships. However, Vader disregarded Piett's warning and ordered the fleet into the asteroid field. As predicted, the asteroid field took a heavy toll on the Imperial fleet, with numerous meteor impacts destroying at least one Star Destroyer and causing significant damage. During a holographic conference with Vader and the commanders of the other Destroyers, one of whom died when his Destroyer was destroyed, Captain Lorth Needa suggested that the Rebel ship must have been destroyed given the damage they had sustained. Vader, however, insisted they were still alive and ordered the search to continue. Shortly after, Piett joined the conference to inform Vader that Emperor Palpatine wished to speak with him. On Vader's orders, he moved the Executor out of the asteroid field to improve transmission clarity.

Admiral Piett conversed with Commodore Rae Sloane, who updated him on her investigation. Sloane's forces had discovered a mynock shot with a hand blaster, indicating the Rebels were still alive. Vader, who had been listening, reprimanded Piett and instructed him to summon bounty hunters. Vader then placed Sloane in command of the Vigilance, an Imperial II-class Star Destroyer originally intended for Piett's nephew. Sloane later commandeered a shuttle from Piett.

To Piett's quiet displeasure, Vader's bounty hunters gathered on the Executor's bridge to aid in the search for the Millennium Falcon. After the Dark Lord spoke with the hunters, including the renowned Boba Fett, Piett reported that the Falcon had been located, thanks to a priority signal from the Avenger. However, the Star Destroyer ultimately lost the craft, and Vader executed its captain, Lorth Needa, for the failure. Immediately after, Piett reported that their scan was complete and there was no sign of the Falcon. Vader demanded that every possible hyperspace destination be calculated, warning Piett against further failure. The Falcon, however, had cleverly hidden on the Avenger's conning tower. While the crew believed they could escape undetected, disguised by garbage dumped before the warship jumped to hyperspace, Fett followed them. The Empire soon discovered they had gone to Bespin, and Vader set a trap for Skywalker. To prevent a potential Rebel escape, Piett's forces, acting on Vader's orders, disabled the Millennium Falcon's hyperdrive.

While Captain Solo was encased in carbonite and handed over to Fett, Skywalker, C-3PO, R2-D2, Organa, Chewbacca, and their new ally Lando Calrissian escaped Cloud City. Piett assured Vader that the Falcon's hyperdrive was disabled. Vader ordered a boarding party to prepare, with their blasters set to stun. When he deemed the moment right, Piett ordered the activation of the tractor beam, but R2-D2 had learned of the disabled hyperdrive and reactivated it. The Rebel freighter jumped to lightspeed, visibly surprising and frightening Piett. Vader, after glancing back at the ship's former location, simply walked away from the viewport and past Piett. Ultimately, Piett avoided his superior's wrath, surviving the incident.

Immediately afterward, Grand Vizier Mas Amedda contacted Piett on behalf of the Emperor via hologram. After Piett confirmed the Millennium Falcon's escape, Amedda informed him that the Emperor wanted Vader to contact him immediately. Piett prepared to relay the Vizier's message, but another officer noticed Vader's shuttle departing the Executor. Piett attempted to hail the shuttle, only to see it jump into hyperspace. Amedda addressed Piett, who cautiously stated that Vader was unavailable. In his throne room at the Imperial Palace on Coruscant, the Emperor laughed upon hearing Piett's response, as the admiral's hologram looked on.

Piett received orders to take the Executor to Jekara in order to oversee the transfer of Han Solo's carbonite-frozen body from the ongoing auction being conducted by Crimson Dawn. While there, the ship detected the arrival of a lone X-wing. Initially, Piett assumed it was connected to the criminal organizations gathered for the auction, expressing his dissatisfaction and hoping Vader would order their elimination once he finished his business on Jekara. Upon confirming the ship's design, Piett correctly identified it as belonging to the Rebellion and ordered a fighter wing to push the X-wing into range of the Executor's tractor beam, hoping to interrogate the pilot, though he didn't rule out destroying the ship.

During the ensuing dogfight, stray shots from the Imperial side struck the Son-tuul Pride War Cruiser Dark Syndicate. This provided the Dark Syndicate with a pretext to attack the Imperial ships, giving the Rebel pilot an opportunity to temporarily escape. Piett then ordered the Executor to fire on the Dark Syndicate, obliterating the War Cruiser with a single volley. Piett commented that he hoped this display would serve as a lesson to the criminal syndicates. He was then informed that Vader was ordering a direct communication link to be established with the Rebel pilot in the X-wing. Piett was surprised by this order and even more confused when he learned that Vader wanted the pilot captured alive. Piett established the comm link as instructed. Shortly after, Piett contacted Vader to inform him that the X-wing was fleeing and requested further orders. Ignoring Vader, Piett contacted the Emperor to inform him of the Hutt attack. The Emperor ordered Piett and the Executor to stand back while Vader eradicated the insurrection. The admiral then relayed the Emperor's message to the Dark Lord. Vader complied, ceasing his pursuit of the pilot to execute the Hutt leadership.

Vader contacted Piett from Governor Tauntaza's flagship above Gabredor III, instructing the admiral to lock onto his position and destroy it within two hours unless he countermanded the order. Vader later contacted Piett from the planet, and the admiral confirmed that he had followed orders and that the Executor was in position. Vader ordered Piett to lock onto his position and fire all of the Star Destroyer's ventral turbolasers immediately. Piett began to object, but Vader used the Force to strangle him into compliance from the planet's surface. Gasping for breath, Piett ordered his men to comply. The Executor fired a direct hit, but failed to inflict any damage, prompting Piett to order the appropriate officer to fire again. Vader contacted Piett once more, who explained that Govenor Tauntaza's facility was shielded and its defenses seemed to be getting stronger.

Admiral Piett contacted the assassin Ochi of Bestoon during a mission to Skako Minor to speak with Commander Sabé. Piett received a response from Dormé, who was impersonating Sabé, and informed her that Darth Vader had requested her presence. Piett again contacted Ochi later during the same mission to inform Vader of a transmission from Skakoan revolutionary Jul Tambor, who had taken Sabé hostage. Upon Vader and Sabé's return to the Executor, Piett informed Vader that three of Tambor's gunships had been identified en route to facilities on the planet's surface, asking the Dark Lord for orders. Vader deferred command to Sabé, who sought to confirm the ships were Tambor's and inquired about the number of life-forms aboard. Piett questioned her about the latter point, indicating the gunships belonged to the enemy. Sabé then ordered Piett to prepare her shuttle, prompting the admiral to respond affirmatively.

Vader later lost control of his Force abilities, tearing a hole in the Executor. Vader was sucked into space, and Sabé subsequently took a shuttle to find him. Piett contacted the Emperor via hologram, apprising him of the situation. The Emperor ordered Piett to find the pair, threatening to make the admiral disappear should he fail in his task.

Piett was on board the Executor when a group of droids brought aboard for repair by Darth Vader fell victim to the Scourge, a malevolent entity targeting Darth Vader in an attempt to control the Force. Rather than killing the surviving crew, the droids pushed them back to the bridge and its adjoining sectors, intending to limit their access to communications so they would call for help and attract Vader. While the crew soon discovered they could not fully contact anyone beyond the ship, the Executor's status became known to the wider Empire, with Grand Vizier Mas Amedda sending Vader and the few droids with him on Mustafar to contain the Scourge. Once Vader crashed into the Executor to fight his way through infected battle droids, Piett was informed of Vader's boarding and the sudden ability to contact him by a bridge officer, allowing the admiral to warn Vader of the droid infection.

With Vader finally aboard, the corrupted droids began to break through the doors to the bridge, intending to kill Piett and the other survivors. Amid the battle for the Executor, as more and more Imperials fell, an Imperial fleet of five Star Destroyers closed in on the Executor in attack formation, which Piett took as a sign that the Empire would destroy the Executor as long as the droid infection remained. He contacted Vader to inform the Sith Lord and accepted Vader's declaration that no one under his command would retreat. When Piett ordered the crew to brace for impact after telling them to divert all available power to the shields, he realized the outside fleet was refusing to fire: as he soon learned from a subordinate, the fleet outside was under the command of his former subordinate Corleque. While it had been many years since he had last been under Piett's command, the now-Admiral Corleque had never forgotten Piett's delayed retreat at the Battle of Comantira and decided to rescue Piett and the others before firing on the Executor.

Informed of two incoming rescue ships by one of his subordinates but unable to contact them, Piett ordered a team to rush out to the hull and use an old flag code to warn their would-be rescuers of the droids. Shortly after the hull team were wiped out by the infected droids, the Scourge spread itself to the would-be rescuers' KX-series security droids and massacred them. However, Vader and his own droids managed to end the Scourge threat aboard the Executor themselves; repairing a command line, Vader's droids issued a fail-safe order that shut down all droids on the Executor, thereby saving the crew and allowing Piett to contact Corleque. As Vader departed aboard his TIE Advanced, Piett was informed that the Scourge had spread to Corleque's flagship and the crew had already lost their command-line. Piett gave Corleque the same four seconds he had delayed the Comantira retreat by; with the Scourge not contained in that time, Piett ordered the fleet to destroy Corleque's Star Destroyer to stop the Scourge from spreading again.

Later, Admiral Piett gathered a group of Imperial officers, including the now-Commander Ciena Ree and her friend Nash Windrider, for a patrol on the outer edge of Hudalla's planetary ring. In private, Piett confided in Commander Ree that there were rebel spies within the planetary ring. He instructed her to ensure that at least one of the pilots escaped into hyperspace. During the dogfight, Ciena and Nash encountered their former fellow cadet Thane Kyrell, who had joined the Rebel Alliance's Corona Squadron. Because she still loved Thane, Ciena made sure that he and most of Corona Squadron escaped into hyperspace. Following the mission, the TIE fighter pilots were reprimanded for failing to destroy all the rebel ships. However, Piett subtly nodded at Ciena to thank her for following his orders. Ciena later discovered that the dogfight was part of an Imperial plan to lure the rebels into a trap at Endor.

Piett eventually achieved the rank of Fleet Admiral, holding a position within Imperial Navy High Command. Arriving at Endor with the Executor ahead of schedule, Piett did not receive praise from either Moff Jerjerrod or Darth Vader. During the Battle of Endor, Piett was in command of the Imperial fleet, receiving direct orders from the Emperor to hold back the Executor and the fleet from directly engaging the Rebel forces. Piett, with a touch of irony, mentioned to a fellow officer that the Emperor had a special plan and the fleet only needed to prevent a Rebel retreat. This plan involved the fully operational superlaser, which swiftly destroyed two Rebel cruisers. However, these orders proved disastrous when the Rebels, in a desperate move, moved their remaining ships into close combat with the Imperial fleet, hoping the Death Star would cease firing to avoid friendly fire.

As the battle intensified, Piett grew anxious and experienced a hallucination of Ozzel, who appeared on the bridge as if being choked to death again. Piett's outburst startled his officers, and he apologized to Romodi before staring down at the forest moon. He mused on waiting for the Empire's victory but was taken aback by the Rebel starfighters' engagement, deeming their maneuvers suicidal. Confident in an eventual Imperial triumph and wary of causing accidental friendly fire, Piett ordered the Executor's batteries to hold their fire. He wondered if Vader would disapprove of his decision and felt the urge to retreat to his quarters but knew the Sith Lord would execute him for cowardice.

When General Han Solo's team, having infiltrated the area undetected in a stolen Imperial shuttle, destroyed the shield generator protecting the second Death Star, the tide of the battle shifted against the Empire. Rebel starfighters began to attack the Executor's superstructure, which was specifically targeted by Rebel admiral Gial Ackbar, a former slave of Firmus' deceased mentor, Governor Tarkin. The Executor suffered a potentially fatal blow when two A-wings destroyed the portside bridge-mounted deflector shield generator, disabling the bridge shields. In response to the escalating threat, Piett commanded all guns on the flagship to "intensify forward firepower."

This order would be his last. Moments later, an RZ-1 A-wing interceptor piloted by Arvel Crynyd was hit by turbolaser fire, sending it spiraling towards the bridge. A subordinate warned Piett that it was too late. Turning to see the fighter hurtling towards him, Piett instinctively, but ineffectually, dove for cover as it crashed into the Executor's bridge, killing Piett and the entire bridge crew. Shortly after, the Executor lost control and crashed into the second Death Star. In his final moments, Piett found a sense of relief and concluded that he had made the right choices.

As the Executor collided with the second Death Star, Admiral Garrick Versio expressed his anger at Piett's incompetence before summoning Inferno Squad to deal with the rebels on the forest moon. Despite the Empire's efforts, the loss of the Executor contributed to the second Death Star's destruction, the Emperor's death, and a temporary Imperial retreat.

Firmus Piett, an ambitious officer, was known for his ability to quickly deflect blame for his errors. Piett had a peculiar habit of delaying certain orders by precisely four seconds. In the case of a retreat order, this allowed those who were lagging behind to catch up with their comrades, preventing them from being left behind. When issuing an order to destroy, it gave those in the path of destruction a brief window to resolve the issue that prompted the order or to escape. However, once those four seconds had elapsed, he would execute the order without hesitation. For example, when his fellow Battle of Comantira veteran Corleque was besieged by the Scourge, Piett granted his Star Destroyer only four additional seconds to contain the droid infection before ordering its destruction.

Piett understood the importance of speaking respectfully when addressing Vader, even advising Corleque to avoid sounding surprised when revealing that Vader had survived the battle for the Executor. However, Vader often spoke bluntly to Piett, ordering him not to "run" during that battle or assuming that the admiral believed he would repeat his mistakes. Piett, for his part, accepted Vader's orders during that battle and was prepared to remain at his post. Following the loss of the Executor at Endor under Piett's command, Admiral Garrick Versio considered him a fool.

Piett was attired in an Imperial officer's uniform, complete with an Imperial kepi command cap. For self-defense, he carried an SE-14r light repeating blaster.

Kenneth Colley portrayed Admiral Piett in both 1980's Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back and 1983's Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi. Piett holds the distinction of being the only Imperial officer portrayed by the same actor to survive more than one film. This contributed to Piett's popularity among fans, who appreciated his unusual longevity. Although his return in Return of the Jedi was not initially planned, fan mail expressing support for the character's return convinced George Lucas to rehire Colley and create new lines of dialogue for him.

Colley recounted that during his audition for the role, The Empire Strikes Back director Irvin Kershner told him, "'I'm looking for someone that would frighten Adolf Hitler!' And he sized me up and down and continued, 'Yes, I think you're it.'" Colley chose not to adopt a singular attitude in his portrayal, instead focusing on evoking the humanity of Piett's character, believing that this approach resonated strongly with audiences.

In Lawrence Kasdan's initial draft for Return of the Jedi, Piett was stationed at Had Abbadon, where two new Death Stars were under construction, rather than being stationed over Endor. Piett accompanies Darth Vader to his communications chamber, where Grand Moff Tiaan Jerjerrod is present, and all surveillance devices are disabled. Later, when the Rebels destroy a communications dish on Had Abbadon, Piett informs Vader that all communications have been disabled. He also informs Vader of the arrival of a large Rebel force. Vader then instructs Piett to take the fleet and defend the Death Stars under construction over the Green Moon. Vader directs Piett to send more troops down to the moon to reinforce the beleaguered General Veers, while Vader plans to take Luke Skywalker to see Emperor Palpatine. Despite these differences, Piett's death remained largely unchanged from the final version of the film.