Disclaimer: I hope you read this cause I'm only saying it once. I DON'T OWN SHIT except for Cretin.

This is another one of those random-pet-accumulation-on/in-Imperial-facility fics.

Captain's Pet

Chapter 1 - It's Beautiful Morning

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beebeep! Beebeep! Beebeep! Bee-wha-CRUNCH!

Shuffle, shuffle…clink!

The harsh light of the overhead fixture filled the room revealing a pale arm extending from the large comforter burrito near the right edge of the king-sized bed. The milky appendage was lying across what appeared to be a small pile of plastic shrapnel but was in fact the remains of the once functioning alarm clock. A single dark colored eye peered out from beneath the covers; annoyed by the fact that he could no longer see what time it was. 'What a start to a great morning,' Captain Piett thought with a heavy sigh as he disentangled himself from the blanket.

The captain didn't even bother making his bed before he meandered over to the refresher in nothing but his boxers to begin his morning routine. On the way there he glanced around at the devastation that was his quarters. He paused briefly to stare in wonder when he spotted his undershirt from the day before dangling from one of the wall lamps above his dresser, 'I'm thankful no one has decided to pay me a visit yet.'

Piett made it to the bathroom then he remembered he put his watch in the top drawer to the sink. He pulled it out and saw that it was only 0410 (AN: That's 4:10 AM in standard time) which made him feel somewhat relieved since that gave him little less than two and half hours to do as needed. The captain finished off the morning ritual with a shower and quick shave. He left the shower, with a puffy black towel around his waist, as he continued to muss-dry his earth brown hair with a smaller town on his way to the closet. That was until he failed to pay attention to the path he was taking and the state of disarray his room was in.

The captain yelped as he lost balance and face-planted the floor of his quarters while the towel he had been using to dry his hair with landed on his head. He grumbled a couple of curses under his breath before he climbed back onto his feet. Piett looked back to see that the offending object was only his left boot. He was about to forget about it so he could get his clothes out of the closet when he saw something sticking out of the top of it. As he picked up the boot he plucked out the object and turned it over in his hand. However, he decided it could wait until he had finished dressing so he set it down on his desk for later.

Piett pulled a clean undershirt, top shirt and jacket from the closet then set them on the disheveled bed went over to his dresser and snatched up a clean pair of trousers with a pair of black cotton boxers. After he got dressed he went around picking up his dirty clothing from wherever he had chosen to throw it and deposited into the laundry chute. Then he finished up with making his bed before going back into the refresher to get his watch. As he put it on he glanced up to check himself in the mirror and noticed that he had forgotten his bar and cylinders.

After about fifteen minutes of searching the room to no avail, did it dawn on him that he probably sent them down the chute with the jacket he wore yesterday. 'Duh... Why didn't that occur to me sooner?' he pondered silently with an irritated frown on his face. He thought about grabbing his hat and gloves but he dismissed it feeling it more important to find his rank bar if not his security cylinders.

(AN: I'm sure you've noticed the lack of dialogue. You've got to remember that it's only 4 something in the morning and I don't know a whole lot of people who are really talkative at such an ungodly hour. If they are… They probably need to be tranquilized.)

Captain Piett was thankful that it was still early enough that most of the other occupants of the ship were still fast asleep leaving the hallway deserted. He quickly made his way to the turbo lift and depressed the button for Deck 58 - Custodial Level. The doors closed and the car shot down to the specified deck without any stops. 'Why does this feel almost too good to be true?' he pondered slightly paranoid but quickly shook the feeling as he got to the laundry room.

Luckily he didn't need his codes to get in so he simply slipped into the room and once he saw that it was deserted as well he looked around for the cart. Or so it seemed deserted until one the workers down there came up behind him and asked what he wanted. He nearly jumped out of his skin but managed to contain himself as he turned around to face the worker. "I'm looking for my jacket. I had forgotten to take my rank bar and cylinders off of it," he informed the man as the irritated frown returned to his face.

"Oh," he grinned almost sadistically and pointed to the huge cart in the very back of the room. 'No huge is a very bad understatement. That thing's almost as big as a shuttle!' the captain stared at it in horrified awe. "There's a ladder on the other side. Good luck," the worker patted him on the shoulder and left.

It can't be that far under the pile, he thought as he climbed up the ladder. When he got to the top three rungs of it he peered from the edge to the small pile of garments, consisting of about two or three, as the very bottom of the cart. "Great. Just what need to get my morning started. A small wall climbing expedition into the dirty clothing cart," the captain grumbled as he grew even more irritated. He looked around for a rope or something of the sort so he could tie himself to the ladder so as to not get stuck at the bottom of the large laundry cart. The captain then saw some twine coiled up in the right corner behind the cart.

Piett slid down the ladder, grabbed the twine and as he stood up again he noticed a set of tongs sitting on top of one of the folding counters. The captain tied one end of the twine to the back of his belt. He put the rest of the roll on his arm before grabbing the tongs and climbing to the top of the ladder once more. Captain Piett then put the tongs in his mouth so he could tie the other end of the twine to the top rung of the ladder. After making sure it was secure, he grabbed the tongs out of his mouth and then leapt over the edge, into the cart. However, the rope was too short and because it was tied to his belt it gave a sharp jolt to his stomach before coming to a stop only a meter away from where he needed to be.

The captain grasped one of the jackets with the tongs and pulled it to him. He put the tongs back in his mouth so he could use both hands to turn over the garment. Piett immediately spotted the bar and security cylinders. He casually plucked them from the semi-coarse material dropped the jacket and pinned everything where it needed to be. Then the captain pulled himself out of the bin with the rope. Quickly, he untied the rope from himself and the ladder then descended from it to the deck. After he put everything back he took a quick look at his watch. 0520. (AN: That's 5:20 AM) "What the fuck? It's already been an hour?" he sighed in frustration before leaving for the turbo lift.