Luke had a terrible headache.

This was the first thing that crossed his mind.

The second thing was that he couldn’t feel the Force.

He couldn’t feel the Force.

His eyes snapped open.

An ornate ceiling, gleaming with silver and blood red anusphate was above him. He turned his head to see windows three stories tall, draped in a matching red velvet fabric. He was lying on a comfortable bed, but his hands were trapped in heavy binders behind his back and his shoulders hurt.

Where was Leia?

Mom and Dad?

His breathing increased as his brain caught up to the fact that he was feeling real gravity—not a ship. But he’d been on Yavin—-

And knowledge swept him so powerfully he thought he might throw up.

They were on Coruscant. This style and ornate decor—-this was indicative of the Capitol planet.

And these were Force suppressing binders on his wrists.

Oh kark .

“Zev was captured two days ago,” Piett said in the clinical voice he used on the bridge with Ozzel. “ISB has him. As Captain of the Lady, I have been informed for obvious reasons. He is a known associate of Skywalker and Organa, and as such, they are keen to get information.”

The room felt suffocating.

Veers couldn’t breathe, and wanted to be sick at the same time.

It was true he and Zev had parted ways sharply and painfully over the Empire and the Rebellion his son had turned to. That had been five years ago. While Veers saw the flaws that Zev did, he felt he could do the most good from within.

Zevulon, glowing with the passion of youth, had disagreed firmly. The Empire and everything— everyone —-within it was corrupt past saving. He’d said some very excruciating things to the General. Things that still hurt Veers to think of.

But in this moment—-all he could see were large green eyes in the face of a little boy pleading with him to bring back his mother.

Luke stared blankly at the dark haired girl, his mind trying to process what in the kark she was doing here.

“You…you’re the Princess ,” he stated, and internally kicked himself for that ridiculously obvious statement.

“Yes, well observed,” she hissed, glaring at him and seizing his arm. “Come on!”

She dragged him swiftly toward an innocuous door which led to a small storage area for cleaning droids and supplies. Numerous little lights blinked and cameras swiveled at them curiously. The Princess ignored this.

“What in the hells are you doing here?” he asked her.

“I came for you, you complete nerf ,” she whispered back, eyes narrowed. “When you decided to go haring off to Bespin to find Captain Solo and his friend, I was told to go and save your reckless carcass!”

Veers watched the shuttle touch the deck, and it settled with a heaviness that was quite foreboding.

This sense of his was proved correct as the away team disembarked, their leader exiting last as was his wont.

All of them had the slumped shoulders that meant failure despite Piett’s sincere and quiet thanks for their efforts.

The troops dispersed and the Captain lifted his deeply shadowed eyes to meet Veers’ gaze before he moved to join the General. He was limping and Veers zeroed in on the pressure bandage around his left thigh as Piett reached him.

“It’s not severe,” he said unprompted. “It was a ricochet. But I don’t have time to deal with it as Lord Vader wishes my report right away.”

“Firmus…” Veers began, and his friend sighed as he limped along.

“Please don’t, Max,” he said hoarsely. “I…the thing I really need right now is a stim shot or I don’t think I’ll make it.”

Anakin felt his presence long before he saw his old master. Even here, where the Force swirled in wounded and broken fragments, it was possible to sense that potent, bright power that he knew so well all these years later.

Jedha was an excellent choice of location.

Because it was already a potent Force location, and then of course, because it had been so terribly damaged by the Death Star, only scavengers and criminals came here now. But it would easily mask the fact that two very powerful Force users were using it as a meeting point.

Anakin drew his hood closer around his face to protect himself from the grit and dust in the atmosphere, which was a constant thing. There was also the occasional large piece of debris that still rained down. But Obi-Wan had directed him to an old Imperial outpost which, while abandoned, still functioned to keep the worst of the ravaged planet’s detritus away from them.

Speaking of whom…

He too was hooded, though his tattered robe was brown not black. Anakin could sense Kenobi’s uncertainty, and he could glimpse the flash of silver at his belt every time he took a step.

“However,” Anakin continued, preparing for the tougher part of this conversation. “You were angry.”

“Of course,” she shrugged. “It’s frustrating!”

“Mmm,” he agreed “but you need to know that anger…anger which is not controlled, leads to the Dark Side.”

That snapped the eyes of both twins to his.

“Is…that what happened to you?” Luke asked. He was more curious and open than his sister. He had no qualms asking Anakin questions like this in his quest to know more about his power and history.

“It…is part of what happened,” Anakin replied. “And that is not something I wish to discuss at the moment. You are both…supremely gifted. Perhaps I have not mentioned that enough.”

He could feel someone else shoving at his mind and he sighed internally.

<Perhaps it is time for me to speak to them,> the Lady told him eagerly.

<In due time,> he agreed. <You MAY notice, Lady, that we are having a serious discussion.>

<But you are rather deficient in giving them sufficient fuel, Dark One,> she informed him loftily. < I can help there.>

His young Super Star Destroyer was nearly as frustrating at times, as these near twelve year olds.

<You mean encouragement, Lady?> he asked her dryly.

<Yes, that. The thing you never give my officers.>

Oh they were not discussing this right now.

They had arrived in the Bespin system two days previously, chasing Skywalker from Hoth. Veers had been unconscious and in bacta for two days after they left the planet. He’d heard afterward that Piett had gone to Vader and sought to convince him to take the fleet out of the asteroid field their Sith commander had seen fit to take them into.

Given the mood Vader had been in for months now, Piett’s attempt had been suicidal and it seemed the crew had thought so as well.

Not to mention the little fact that his friend was now the Admiral after Ozzel’s spectacular kark up. And where Veers would normally have applauded such a promotion, he could only see it as a death sentence in their current circumstances.

And if Firmus was putting himself on the line in such a way, then nothing in the galaxy was going to prevent Veers from being right with him and that included the Executor’s chief medical officer.

“Braxten,” he said, not taking his eyes off of Henley, “my uniform. Now . Sidearm as well.”

Veers took a few moments to just breathe in the gozanti, trying to settle his rolling stomach and get a grip on the pain in his head. He knew he was dehydrated—no surprise as he’d not had time to drink much water on this campaign.

Vader had been ruthless —-but he could push as hard as he liked, no Luke Skywalker had appeared. The five day hunt in the blistering heat had cost Veers seventeen men. Eight more were in serious condition from sunstroke.

Not all of them had temperature controlled suits , Veers thought bitterly.

His own uniform was stained many times over with sweat rings and his stubble was itchy after too many days without shaving.

The best that could be said was that Vader hadn’t actively blamed Veers for Skywalker’s absence.

His gift for command was in full evidence as he spoke with various tech crew and junior officers, delegating jobs and taking their reports. Then his eyes lifted and he saw her watching him. His mouth curled a little and he said something to the people in front of him before he bent to a much smaller someone at his side and then both of them approached Sola.

She pulled back into the shadows under the catwalk so they could have some margin of privacy, sadly not enough to snog him unconscious, but she wrapped her arms around him, the hard surface of the dented cuirass digging into her.

“Firmus,” she murmured. “My darling…”

“I know,” he replied, burying his face into her shoulder for all too brief seconds. She could see the flecks of dirt in his hair and the back of his neck.

And that was all they would get for the moment. He lifted his head, ghosting his lips across her cheek as he did so and turned to draw the wide eyed child close to himself.

“This is Matt. Matthew, this is my wife…” he hesitated, hazel eyes a little uncertain as he looked at her.

“Miss Sola works for now,” she told the boy. He was dressed in clothes that were clean but too big for him, and it was clear from his far too solemn expression that he had seen things a child should never have to. She started to piece some things together about her husband’s damaged cuirass and the way this child was clearly quite attached to Firmus.

Ok heads up you all. One of the COOLEST things ever happened recently and I finally have time to tell you about it!

A new reader was commenting on my work and noted that they too had a character named Rilla who was Piett's sister. My curiousity was piqued at this point because I thought---'what are the odds?'

The VERY NEXT COMMENT noted that I had credited the author for the creation of Rilla in their story and then lo---this is the best---THEY WERE THAT AUTHOR.

Guys. This was one of the most formative fan works I read as I was just getting into looking for excellent Piett works. It was not on AO3 or ff.net. I had to find it somewhere on the internet, I don't recall where. It was written back in 1996/7, something like that. I would credit it often in my early work because so many little details they created were canon for me. Rilla Piett [living in their work]. The tiny tree collection. Piett being able to climb trees well. [in their work he came from a very wet, forested planet and thus his skills.] They were writing long before Piett even got a first NAME you all.

So we have been going back and forth chatting and sharing our lore and ideas and it has been so FABULOUS. Here's where it gets even better though----

This author decided that they should brush off that story and PUBLISH IT ON AO3. I am so very thrilled therefore to point you to 'The Adventures of Darth Vader' by OsheenNevoy. This author had a friend who wrote a story at the same time called 'Admiral Piett and the Great Ewok Adventure' and both these works had a massive impact on both my love for the Admiral, but also helped to shape his character in my mind. [credit for that also goes to Malicean and Frodogenic] I URGE you to go read!!

Here's the link for the Ewok Adventure story as well. :D Enjoy!

He was down the ladder with practised speed and running for the place he’d last seen Piett. There were too many bodies, flung about as though by the hand of a tempermental giant.

Veers swallowed the bile as he breathed in the powerful scent of ozone and copper and raw meat.

Please, please, please…

He forced himself not to look at broken bodies far too small to be in the midst of a conflict like this. He tuned out cries and shrieks of agony and loss.

Because he’d just spotted a dust covered Imperial boot—-a boot that moved, thank the Force .

The General dropped to his knees and began to heave at the debris covering his friend. Moments later, Havell joined him, blood trickling from a gash in his cheek and more relief coursed through Veers.

With the big Sergeant’s brawn added to the effort, they freed Piett in no time.

He was wheezing and struggling for breath not only because he’d been flung under the rubble, but also because the back of his cuirass was dented impressively.

“Get a medic over here!” Veers ordered. “Piett. Firmus . Where are you hurt?”