Here comes chapter 4. This chapter does end on a cliff hanger and I do admit is a bit of a filler chapter. The next chapter will follow quick, however, so I hope you can forgive me.

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favorited or followed the story. I appreciate the support and kind words.

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to anything that has to do with Star Wars or its characters.

As always, enjoy.

Piett punched in the correct access code to the hanger doors that started to slide apart on the Accuser. He had come under the pretense of being an inspector from the Emperor, not an entirely unbelievable story. Vader had forged access datapads bearing the Emperor's signat which granted Piett immediate access to any ship in the fleet. They had both reasoned that he would be under less suspicion coming from the Emperor and not from Vader himself. The lieutenant who had cleared him was waiting in the hanger for Piett's ship to land, most likely there to give him a tour of the ship and get the inspection over as soon as possible. Little did the man know of the two squadrons of hand-picked stormtroopers that were waiting to spring forward and overtake any soldiers that were loyal to Nisca.

Neither Vader nor Piett knew how deep the mutiny went and if the ship was entirely on the side of the Captain or if he was working alone. Piett would prefer to merely arrest the captain and hoped that the ship was unaware of his plans to overthrow the Emperor. However, underestimating an advisory was never advisable.

Piett's ship landed easily and the gangplank was lowered to allow the Admiral to descend. Piett was glad to see that only a few officers and troopers were on the greeting committee. Had there been more Piet would have known that the ruse was up and he would have to call his men to take over the ship. As it was he walked down the board with only six troopers to back him.

"Captain Farwell," the lieutenant stepped forward and saluted smartly, using the name Piett had assumed for the mission, "It is an honor to receive any officer from the Emperor. I trust that your visit will be pleasant and that you will find the ship in order." The man was maintaining what appeared to Piett to be a painfully rigid posture. Surely such a straight booked character could not be a part of a coup.

"I do as well Lieutenant, but I must say I am surprised not to see the Captain of the ship here to greet me. Is he otherwise engaged?" Piett questioned.

"Indeed he is sir. We have captured a rebel spy and it is my understanding that the Captain is contacting Lord Vader to inform him that the rebel is in our possession. You will be so kind as to excuse the Captain Lord Vader takes precedence of course."

"Of course, I understand completely."

What little surprise Peitt felt was smothered as quickly as it arose. Both Vader and himself knew that it was Nisca's plan to lure Vader in, using his son as bait. However, Piett did not expect Luke's presence to be common knowledge. It was apparent now that the men who were assigned to lead him through the tour were not aware of the mutiny. This was good, if even the higher ranking officers were oblivious then perhaps Piett's mission would be easier than he had first assumed.

"Shall we begin, lieutenant?"

The Lieutenant saluted and marched off smartly to begin the inspection. Piett walked after him and the click of the stormtroopers boots were his shadows.

The tour was long and boring and Piett had to pretend to be interested in every little detail of what the lieutenant was saying. He turned this over and looked under that, marked things down on his datapad, and hoped he was convincing everyone of his false roll. Despite the elephant of the rogue Captain, Piett had to admit that the ship was well ordered and working as well as any other of the imperial flagships. It was a pity that the whole inspection was a ruse, had it not been the ship would have passed with flying colors. At last, after two hours of inspecting the ship, Piett's examination was complete. They had ended on the bridge of the Accuser, the Captain still nowhere to be seen.

"Very good, lieutenant. I believe that concludes everything I needed to find out. I would like to give my final findings to the Captain himself if he is still not busy with Lord Vader."

"Of course, sir. I will com him and see if he is available."

The Lieutenant stepped to one side to com his commander and Piett was left to himself for the first time after entering the ship. He allowed his gaze to work over the shoulders of the men at work in the lowered pits that lined the main walkaway of the bridge. He was searching for any sign of the high-security cells that were in current use or any unusual activity from the detention block. His familiarity with the workings of this class of ship aided him in quickly seeing that his search was in vain. It confused him. Throughout his entire inspection, he had not been able to see or even get a hint of where the rebel might be stowed away. The detention cells were empty as were the isolation units. He had inspected each one on his tour. The captain had obviously hidden the boy away from the prying eyes and ears of his crew, but where would he be able to hold the boy. He continued to muse and act his part even as he heard the quick clips of the lieutenant footfalls approaching.

"Sir," the man stopped short of the Admiral's heels, "Captain Nisca is most interested in your findings and invites you to wait in his office until he finishes his business. He won't be more than ten minutes."

"I find it disturbing that the captain of this ship has yet to make an appearance, lieutenant. This could deduct from an otherwise polished score."

The lieutenant seemed visibly aggrieved by Piett's words, his brows folding together with worry.

"Again, we would beg the emperor's pardon," he said as he began to lead Piett away from the bridge, "surely he is aware of the situation between Captain Nisca and Lord Vader and will pardon the breach in etiquette."

"I would not presume to depend upon the emperor's good graces and even less upon Lord Vader's," Piett warned, "Little less than perfection is acceptable to the empire."

The lieutenant did not reply other than a curt nod but the color seemed to drain from his face as he stopped in front of the door leading to his commander's office. Punching in a quick code he opened the doors and led Piett inside.

"Please wait here until the captain is able to attend you," the man saluted again and turned quickly out the door, leaving Piett and his half dozen stormtroopers inside the Captain's office alone.

The moment the doors slid quietly back together, Piett sprang into action. He did not know how much time he would have and he would take as much advantage of this opportunity as he could. Signaling one of the troopers to watch the door, Piett rushed over to the Captain's desk and immediately accessed the standard computer that sat there. He easily broke through the security code with a password that Vader had given him. The long series to random numbers and letters had taken over 20 minutes for the captain to memorize, though he was sure he could have committed it to memory quicker if the Dark Lord had not been the one making him recite it back over and over again. They were unsure whether it would be a necessity for Piett, but both had agreed that it was better to be safe than to wish for it and not have it.

The code did its work and the admiral was able to get into the system easily. There he began to search the captain's files. Looking for anything to do with his lord's son. Sweat began to break out upon the admiral's brow as file after file delivered nothing to his search. The captain would be back at any moment and this would be the moment to decide whether or not to simply take over the ship. It was not Vader's wish that something so drastic would happen if it could be helped, but any action was to be taken to get his son.

Suddenly, Piett's eye was drawn to a file buried within a folder. It was not labeled but simply marked with the letter V. Upon opening the folder, Piett found what he was looking for.