ADMIRAL PIETT  RPG STATS From: "Star Wars Special Edition Trilogy Sourcebook" by West End Games Submitted by Greg Cameron

Promotion within the ranks of the Imperial Navy is usually slow and almost always political. None of these things held true within the ranks of Lord Vaders 's fleet, however. Promotion within this fleet was largely due to attrition brought on by outright failure and execution.

Vader obviously felt that fear was the greatest motivating factor, but the overall performance of his fleet proved him wrong. In this case, fear was a distracting element, creating fear and tension, leading to mistakes and a series of senseless executions. There was one man, however, who was able to mask and divert the results of his mistakes. He rose to command the entire fleet. This was Admiral Piett, a man who deftly avoided the Dark Lord's wrath several times during his tenure as Admiral of the fleet.

But it was not without some effort that Piett achieved this Pinnacle. His career appeared, on record, to be a nearly flawless one. However, he made many mistakes during his ascent through the positions of command. Being able to cover your mistakes is as much a talent as not making them in the first place. Perhaps, in the eyes of some, discretion is the better part of ability. Starting his career as a commander in a small patrol squadron on the outer rim was not the most auspicious of beginnings for a young officer, but Piett made the best of it. In his tenure there, he amassed a tremendous record of "arrest and suppressions" making his sector one of the most secure in the Empire's wild and often uncontrollable Outer Rim. His military record while in those far sectors was flawless, and soon his reputation reached even the isolated Imperial top brass deep in the Core. They chose him as one of the elite group of commanders gathered to lead the fleet assembled to aid Lord Vader in his search for the rebel base. When his fleet was first formed, Captain (his then rank) Piett's commanding officer was Admiral Griff. Griff's subsequent failure to capture Alliance forces during their evacuation of Yavin 4 brought Admiral Ozzel to command the fleet. At first, most officers in the fleet saw Ozzel as Vader's Equal in power and in the command of the fleet, but Piett knew better. He had heard stories of Vader's Arbitrary "punishments" and he vowed not to become one of the Dark Lord's victims. Piett's initial assignment was to dispatch and conduct information retrieval from the many thousands of probes sent out across the galaxy in search of the Rebel Alliance.

Piett knowing that Ozzel would attempt to lay any blame for mistakes on the heads of the lower officers, namely himself, went directly to Vader with the initial report from the probot in the Hoth System. He knew that the Admiral would ignore the signal, as was his usual response, calling it "reaching for evidence." And so Piett waited until Lord Vader was on the bridge before he approached Ozzel with the news. As expected, Ozzel dismissed the report saying that he wanted "proof, not leads." But with his uncannily acute senses, Lord Vader overheard the conversation, as Piett had planned. The Dark Lord overrode the Admiral's authority and commanded the fleet to set course for the Hoth system.

Piett's scheme had worked to perfection, making Ozzel look bad to Vader, while at the same time making himself look sharp and attentive. When Ozzel ordered the fleet out of hyperspace too close to the Hoth system, allowing the rebels to raise their planetary defense shield, it was his last mistake, Lord Vader immediately and permanently "removed" Ozzel, while at the same time promoting Piett to the rank of Admiral and giving him command of the fleet. Many wonder how Piett survived the Bespin debacle. He had clearly failed to capture the Millennium Falcon before she entered hyperspace, and few have failed Lord Vader and lived. During his tenure as commander of the fleet assembled to find the new rebel base, Vader had left a series of dead officers in his wake. Each had "failed" the Dark Lord in one way or another. Why then did Admiral Piett survive his failure?

Perhaps the confrontation with Skywalker had changed the Dark Lord somehow. Vader had returned to the Star Destroyer unusually silent, his normal aura of menace somewhat lessened. After the Bespin incident, Vader pursued his own interest and Piett was in true command of the fleet. Piett was able to relax and hope that perhaps he would survive his promotion, unlike so many of his predecessors.

His fleet's orders were to keep moving from system to system, using an unpredictable route, in the hope of finding the rebel fleet. The odds of this tactic succeeding were incredibly low and Piett suspected that the Emperor had something else in mind.

Months passed. Eventually, the fleet was called to Endor and ordered to hide on the far side of the forest moon. The rebels attacked. When Piett's fleet moved out from behind the moon, the Rebels' surprise was complete. And when the Death Star went operational, the rebel fleet was clearly doomed.

Or so Piett thought.

Admiral Piett did not shine in this command. The rebels fought with skill and determination. Even with the added strength of the Death Star's superlaser behind it, the Imperial fleet was driven back. When the rebel capital ships actually closed with the Imperial fleet, to limit the usefulness of the Death Star, Piett was already a beaten man.

At the climax of the battle, Piett's flagship, the mighty super Star Destroyer Executor, was destroyed by a ferocious rebel fighter attack. Piett was lost along with his ship.

Admiral Piett (as of the Battle of Hoth)

Type: Imperial Admiral
Dexterity: 3D+2
Blaster 4D+2, dodge 4D
Knowledge 3D+1
Bureaucracy: Immperial fleet 5D+2, Intimidation 5D, Planetary systems 4D+2, tactics: capital ships 6D, tactics: fleets 4D
Mechanical: 3D
Astrogation: 6D, Capital starship piloting 4D+1
Perception: 2D+2
Command: 8D+2 Con :4D
Strength: 2D+1
Stamina: 3D+1
Technical: 3D
Computer programming/repair 4D, security 4D+1
Character Points: 6
Move:10
Equipment: Blater pistol (4D), datapad, comlink.

Admiral Piett (as of the battle of Endor)

Tactics: capital ships 6D+1, tactics: fleets 4D+1, Security 5D

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