After a frustrating lack of progress in the search for Luke Skywalker and the Rebels, Captain Piett told Darth Vader of an intriguing lead: A probe droid had spotted massive power generators on the ice world of Hoth.

Admiral Ozzel dismissed the probe droid's sighting as an uncharted settlement or smugglers' base, and was furious with Piett for undermining his authority in front of Vader.

When the Executor arrived at Hoth, the Rebels had prepared their defenses. Vader blamed Ozzel for coming out of hyperspace too close to the system, and strangled him. Captain Piett was now Admiral Piett.

Piett commanded the Imperial squadron at Hoth, and supervised its pursuit of the Millennium Falcon. But the chase was interrupted when the Emperor ordered Vader to make contact with him -- a message the nervous admiral was quick to convey.

Vader hired bounty hunters to assist in the search for the Falcon, and even allowed them aboard the Executor's bridge to receive their orders. As a proud Navy officer, Piett was horrified to see such scum aboard an Imperial flagship.

After the Falcon escaped her pursuers, Piett grimly told Vader that the freighter could now be on the other side of the galaxy. Vader ordered the hunt to continue, sternly warning Piett not to fail him again.

The Executor caught up with the Falcon at Bespin, but her crew managed to escape capture once again. Piett was certain his failure amounted to a death sentence, but Vader marched off the bridge, apparently lost in his own dark thoughts.

At Endor, the Executor intercepted an Imperial shuttle using an older recognition code -- and secretly carrying Luke Skywalker and Rebel saboteurs. Piett prepared to hold the shuttle, but Vader told him to let it go. The Sith Lord would handle its crew himself.

With the Rebel fleet trapped between the second Death Star and Piett's Imperial task force, the admiral had a chance for a huge victory over the Empire's enemies. But the Emperor commanded Piett to hold his position, merely keeping the Rebels pinned in place.

Desperate to escape the Imperial trap, Admiral Ackbar attacked the Imperial warships, concentrating his efforts on Piett's Super Star Destroyer. A Rebel fighter crashed into the Executor's bridge, sending her tumbling out of control and ending Piett's life.