Finally finished this one. Sola holds Firmus at a low point in my story Unconquerable Souls.
Ozzel had ordered him down to the planet’s surface in order to facilitate the loading and retreat of the army and its equipment. He was rather certain that there ought to be smoother communication and collaboration between the army and the navy for something like this, but as he was only two months into his assignment on Executor, straight from being recruited out of the Axxilan fleet, he didn’t know all the history.
And choosing him of all people to organize a rather gargantuan task, was just another way for the Admiral to see if he could crush Piett.
He tilted his chin.
Not likely. The galaxy had been an unforgiving and challenging place before this assignment—Ozzel wasn’t special.
musewrangler reblogged
Got whacked with the Calvinball because @kraytwriter was feeling violent. 😉
So here we are—-writing the final chapter for I Felt You in My Bones
Piett favored him with an eyebrow raise and then turned, tugging the hem of his jacket and being certain his cap was on straight before he pushed the gently blinking yellow button on the control panel.
“Grand Moff. A great honor,” he said to the life sized blue hologram that flickered into being six feet away.
Tarkin’s skeletal features could have been carved from Praxil granite.
“We’ll dispense with the honor, Captain Piett,” Tarkin said, tones frigid. Piett shouldn’t be surprised that the Moff knew who he was. Few things got past Tarkin. Which was why this conversation they were about to have was so very dangerous.
“I have been informed that you have taken the Rebel Princess into custody. You will immediately place her on a shuttle with your most trusted men and send her to me for interrogation.”
Piett’s gut churned at the horrible anticipation in Tarkin’s voice at that word. But he schooled his own countenance sternly.
“We have her, yes sir. The credit for the capture is due to the Avenger, however, so—”
Tarkin’s lip curled and he waved a long fingered hand. “I’m not here to listen to the details of her capture, Captain. You will follow my order.”
Piett tilted his head gently and blew out through his nose to prepare for his next move.
“Grand Moff. I regret to tell you that I cannot do so. I have been expressly ordered by Lord Vader that he is to interrogate the Princess. I await his return to the ship shortly, in order that that he may do so.”
As bold a lie as Piett had ever told, and one he desperately hoped was true.
Winding up and pitching the ball at @winterinhimring @hollers-and-holmes @lady-merian @laughingphoenixleader @kanerallels @tolkienreader1996 @muse-write @mathmusicninja
Tag! You’re it!
That was some wallop! Paragraphs and paragraphs!
Well, what can I do but return the favour? Have a good old chunk of the next story in A Far, Far Better Thing!
"You think you could bring him back?" Wanda asked, a faint tremor in her voice. "His mental circuitry is very complicated," Shuri said, "and without the Soul Stone I cannot say how much he would remember – if he would even be the same person. But I have the best engineers in the world here. If you and Doctor Strange were to assist me? I think the answer is yes." For a moment, the clouds of grief on Wanda's face cleared, and she looked almost beatific, but only for a moment. Then the shadow fell on her again. "That…that wasn't what I meant to do," she whispered. Bucky stepped in again. Sam wondered when he was going to admit that he was really in charge of the Avengers, not just on a provisional or crisis basis, and what that would look like, but that wasn't the current problem. "Can we have some time to think it over?" he asked. "We all thought he was gone for good, and this is a bit of a shock. The good kind, but still." "Of course," Shuri said. "Take all the time you need. For this, anyway. You still need to bring me that shield!" Bucky and Okoye exchanged wry, amused smiles, and then said their farewells. Wanda stared around the room as though hoping to find the answers to her questions in the sleek holographic screens. Finally she turned back to the rest of the Avengers, who were standing still, in various attitudes of shock or deep thought. "How do I even begin to make a decision like this?" she asked. It was a good question. None of them were completely sure of the answer.
Tagging @musewrangler back, and adding @kraytwriter, who liked this series, @lady-merian, @ladysongmaster, @accidental-spice, @kanerallels, @hollers-and-holmes, @brievel, @screwtornadowarningsimsouthern, @swinging-stars-from-satellites, and anybody who's procrastinating on a WIP right now!
lol ok ok. Whumptober is coming. Have some child Skywalkers and Zev with an injured Captain Piett.
Leia immediately dropped to her knees beside Piett once more and had the horrible device off his head in seconds.
He was shaking a little and she cautiously eased his head back into her lap, stroking the curly hair and wishing she had the power to heal all of him immediately.
“They’re such bastards,” Zev said fiercely, dragging tarp back over to arrange around their Captain again.
Leia raised her eyebrows at him, impressed nonetheless.
“Does your mom let you say that?” she asked.
He grinned.
“Nope. But it’s true and you know it.”
“It is,” Luke agreed. “Bastards.”
Leia rolled her eyes.
“My Mom would destroy these clowns in five minutes if she were here,” Zev continued.
“Do you think they’re looking for you?” Luke asked, grabbing one of their water bottles and offering it to Piett. “Your parents?”
When the man couldn’t hold it steady, her brother surprised her by carefully helping him drink.
“I know they are,” Zev replied confidently.
“They will be,” Piett agreed huskily. “I have heard enough about Myra Veers to know that I might almost pity these smugglers. But then, anyone who takes children deserves to burn in nine hells.”
Luke grinned at him and Piett managed a tired smile back.
“Thank you all,” he said.
They took turns giving the Captain food and water and Zev calmly took Leia’s place to cradle his head while she moved to work on his ankle again. It had happily been a straightforward break and she knew she was getting it.
“How’s that, Captain?” she asked, trying to keep the pride out of her voice. Nobody liked insufferable ego.
He moved the foot experimentally and gave her an impressed look that had Leia feeling warm.
“Amazing, my dear. Still a bit tender, but….I think I could walk on it.”
Leia, however, could sense the rest of the damage. The damage she couldn’t really do anything about. Further, she could tell that Piett planned to do all he could for them until he dropped—-and he fully expected to drop.
“You should rest,” she told him, coming to take over from Zev once more.
Gently tossing the ball at @hollers-and-holmes @oh-great-authoress @chaosgoblinhours @kanerallels @laughingphoenixleader @fandomjumper247 @muse-write @saxifrage-wreath
The warm hand on his arm was something he could trust. Piett knew this even before he was fully awake.
It had been a long time since he’d felt any sort of security and trust like this. Lunders. Lunders had been a reliable soul. But that was over ten years ago now.
He opened his eyes to blink Max’s face into focus. The General was very good with neutral expressions, but Piett had learned to read the man over the past year. Currently, the skin around his eyes was tight as he watched the Captain wake up and the corner of Piett’s mouth curled a little.
“I’m not…dyin’, Max,” he murmured. “Thanks ta you.”
Veers smiled resignedly. “I just…it’s a bit more stressful being on this end of things, Firmus. Hoping the Doctor is right and that you just need time…”
“She’s right,” Piett told him firmly. “Air we close then?”
“Yes,” Veers replied, glancing over his shoulder to the cockpit. “I’ll be needing you to contact the ah…the Wookiees you apparently know in about five minutes.”
“Can I pour you a snifter, General?” Weslan asked as the harried looking aide hurried back, arriving at the same time as a small group of troopers approached with a figure in the middle of them. No, two figures. One rather large—built along the lines of Ellery—and the other very slight indeed.
“Not for this…incident I think,” Veers answered with distaste, but the other officer was as oblivious as ever.
“Captured their commander,” Weslan said, sipping at the whiskey and grimacing at the burn. “Ah that’s the stuff. Figured that perhaps Lord Vader might enjoy disposing of him personally when he arrives.”
Veers stiffened and threw a look over at Travis who shook his head ever so slightly. He’d not known that either. Weslan was the senior General after all and just the sort of person who enjoyed hoarding information to make himself look more important.
The slight figure was shoved with great force to land on the scrub grass before Veers and Weslan. He struggled slowly back to his knees—this task made more difficult with his hands cuffed behind his back.
The bigger prisoner growled at this but didn’t move with the blaster rifles pointed at him.
“I was promised that if I surrendered, my people would be spared,” said the man on his knees, looking up at Veers not Weslan. “If there is any honor left in the Empire, I expect that promise to be kept.”
Weslan snorted in derision and drank again.
“Listen you Rimmer pissant. You threw in your lot with the wrong people. And you will pay the price as all traitors do.”
But Veers was intrigued. This was the one who had held off his forces for two days when he should have been destroyed within hours. He’d clearly run rings around Weslan strategically.
Luke watched the battle anxiously, absolutely sick with fear for Ben. The man in black looked so very scary and he was big and powerful.
Further he had armed soldiers with him. Even if Ben somehow beat the man, he’d be shot immediately.
Luke closed his eyes, trying to reach for the power Ben told him he had. He knew he could feel…something…but he couldn’t touch it. It was like an item on a shelf just out of his reach.
Quite suddenly he felt a surge of alarm and he snapped his eyes open to realize that the small officer was mere feet from him. The one who’d ordered the men not to point their weapons at Luke.
“Hello,” he said cautiously, keeping both hands out where Luke could see them. “I’m not here to hurt you, son.”
Luke scoffed at him.
“Oh yeah? Then what’s going on down there? I should trust people who are trying to kill Ben?”
The man’s lean face took on a resigned look. “Fair point. But I’d like to make sure that you are safe. As you can see—-”
He trailed off and slung his rifle over his head and into his hands. Luke jerked his own gaze to where the man was looking, and to his horror saw streams of black clad troops entering the cavern led by a woman with skin like Fellarian chocolate. But her aura was anything but soothing and warm. She bore a strange and different red blade and didn’t even say anything as she attacked the man fighting Ben from behind.
Piett had a hand to his ear, listening to something and even as Veers watched, his eyes widened and he shot his gaze to the General.
“Sir, Rebel reinforcements are arrivin' from tha Ziln hemisphere…!”
High pitched whines drowned out his voice, but Veers could see for himself.
Row after row of small speeder ships, all adorned in the same bright blue paint, were bearing down on them with fearsome purpose, their guns already ripping up great swathes of dirt as they came.
“Open fire!” Veers roared into comms, and the AT-ATs ranged behind them obeyed his orders.
There were so many.
Even as numerous enemy ships began to smoke or explode in bright flares, more and more were appearing over the horizon.
“Piett…!” he began, but the Captain was on it.
“Callin’ in more TIEs!” he yelled over the din, hunching over his screen and calling out coordinates to those he was speaking to aboard the Destroyers in orbit.
However, it became rapidly apparent that the TIEs weren’t going to arrive in time to prevent their lines from taking a fearsome pounding.
Cautiously, Piett turned his head to look back as the pain began to localize at last in his left ankle.
To his horror, he realized that durasteel teeth were grinding into his flesh in some sort of large animal trap.
But there weren’t large animals on this planet, his ever efficient brain reminded him. Piett always did his research because his tactical nature needed to be as prepared as possible, no matter the situation.
If this hadn’t been set for an animal, than why the kriff…
The answer came in an unpleasant flash.
It was for sentient, two legged beings.
Did…did Lord Vader know he was coming?
How many other delightful surprises were set within this jungle?
He couldn’t ponder that right now. He must focus on the most urgent thing and that was determining how to get out of this trap.
musewrangler reblogged
Congratulations on getting 99 followers, ori'vod!!!!
My request will be Firmus Piett (thanks to @musewrangler completely obsessing me with him and Veers) and the song "The Boxer" by Simon and Garfunkel
In the clearing stands a boxer, and a fighter by his trade
And he carries the reminders
Of ev'ry glove that laid him down
Or cut him til he cried out
In his anger and his shame
'I am leaving, I am leaving'
But the fighter still remains...
Closeups of each picture under the cut
I love the combination of song and picture! Great work!!
Ozzel discovers something and Piett bears the consequences. Happily there are people aboard who won’t stand for it….
Luke deals a Death blow to Tarkin’s project and the Skywalkers are summoned by the Emperor to answer for it
Leia and Piett get some time to talk
Vader lays out his plans and his officers cope with this information.
The Skywalker family straightens some things out with itself and this has a direct impact on Piett’s life—-AGAIN.
Vader arrives on Nar Bo Shalla
Leia considers whether the Force has a dark sense of humor and a rescue is underway.
A clock starts for Piett and the Dark Lord is made aware of the situation