Hondo Ohnaka and his gang first attracted the attention of the Jedi when the pirates captured Count Dooku on the desolate Outer Rim planet Vanqor. One glance at Dooku’s rare, expensive starship told Hondo the count would fetch a healthy ransom. He agreed to transport Dooku to the nearby planet Florrum … for a small fee, of course.

On Vanqor, Dooku revealed himself as a Sith Lord. But Hondo wasn’t intimidated – whatever powers Dooku possessed, he was still hopelessly outnumbered. Hondo knew exactly whom he’d captured and guessed that the Republic would pay a pretty price for its enemy.

Hondo contacted Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, asking for a million credits in spice as ransom. Palpatine dispatched Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi to verify that Hondo’s pirates had Dooku in custody.

Anakin and Obi-Wan confirmed that Hondo was indeed holding Dooku and waited for the ransom to arrive from Coruscant. In the meantime, the two were Hondo’s guests at a raucous pirate banquet – where their drinks were spiked despite taking precautions. They awoke as the pirate’s prisoners.

Hondo intended to honor his deal with the Republic – a million credits in spice would give his criminal aspirations a big boost. But he also saw a chance to collect two more ransoms by selling Skywalker and Kenobi to the Separatists. Why settle for one ransom when he could get three?

To Hondo’s annoyance, the three Force-users kept trying to escape. If only they would cooperate, Hondo would get his credits and they could all go back to being friends. Annoyed that his unique brand of hospitality had been rejected, Hondo tormented the captive Jedi with electric shocks.

An unlikely rescue mounted by Jar Jar Binks and a Republic squad let Anakin and Obi-Wan turn the tables on Hondo. But Dooku had made his own escape, fleeing Florrum in one of Hondo’s ships. To Hondo’s surprise, the Jedi departed without taking revenge on the pirates. But Obi-Wan warned Hondo that Dooku and the Separatists might not be so forgiving.

Anakin, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka Tano ran into Hondo again on Felucia, where the Ohnaka gang sought to rob a farming village of its valuable nysillin spice crop. To stop him, the Jedi joined forces with a band of four mercenaries led by Sugi.

The pirates’ biggest advantage was Hondo’s repulsortank. Anakin raced to disable it, and wound up dueling the pirate boss. The fight was a draw, and Hondo escaped to pursue better business deals elsewhere.

Hondo returned to Florrum, but his past caught up with him when Aurra Sing arrived with Republic hostages and the young bounty hunter Boba Fett in tow. Hondo allowed the two to take refuge with his pirates – he had once had a relationship with Aurra, and respected Boba’s father Jango as an honorable man. But he warned Aurra that he wouldn’t take sides in her quarrel with the Republic.

When Plo Koon and Ahsoka Tano arrived to rescue the hostages, Aurra Sing abandoned Boba and fled. Plo implored Boba to tell him where the hostages were. Boba wasn’t sure what to do, but Hondo counseled him that his father would have revealed the information, seeing it as the honorable thing to do.

Hondo could prove useful to the Republic when it was profitable for him to do so. With Steela Gerrera’s rebels in dire peril on Onderon, Anakin arranged for Hondo to fly in a shipment of powerful Sienar shoulder-launched missiles.

But Hondo then squandered whatever good will he’d garnered on Onderon by hijacking the Jedi training ship Crucible to steal the valuable kyber crystals on board.

Ahsoka dueled Hondo while the younglings aboard the Crucible escaped, but she was captured by Hondo’s pirates. Robbed of his precious crystals, Hondo decided to turn a profit by ransoming the Padawan instead.

Held captive on Florrum, Ahsoka urged Hondo to reconsider: The Republic would not pay a ransom for her, and the Separatists weren’t trustworthy. Hondo told her he had another plan in mind: He knew an underworld figure who’d pay handsomely for a female Jedi – alive or dead.

The Crucible’s younglings decided to rescue Ahsoka, and joined a traveling circus visiting Florrum. Posing as an acrobat troupe called the Animal Instincts, they entertained Hondo, distracting him and freeing Ahsoka.

Hondo sent a party of his pirates to recapture Ahsoka and the younglings, but while they were away General Grievous invaded Florrum, avenging Hondo’s long-ago attempt to hold Dooku for ransom. The cybernetic warlord told Hondo that he and his brigands now had a new master.

The pirates and the Jedi joined forces and freed Hondo. Swinging lightsabers and vibroswords, they attacked Grievous’s forces and broke free – but were pursued by the Separatist warlord himself.

Hondo and Katooni reached a secret hangar where the pirate boss kept a number of ships, including the rebuilt Slave I. Hondo intended to abandon the other Jedi and invited Katooni to join his merry band of pirates, but she refused, reminding Hondo that Ahsoka and the others had trusted him. The pirate boss reluctantly returned to the fight, helping the others escape Grievous.

After his pirate ships joined a Republic task force, Hondo claimed he’d always intended to rescue the younglings, and tried to get Obi-Wan Kenobi to compensate him for his trouble. When Obi-Wan noted his attack on the Crucible, the pirate stormed off in indignation, saying he’d send the Jedi his bill.

Hondo’s gang rebuilt their base on Florrum, but soon ran afoul of a new threat: Darth Maul and Savage Opress. The two bullied a group of Hondo’s pirates into joining them in a rebellion against their boss, then issued Hondo an ultimatum: Serve them or be destroyed.

With the help of the Jedi, Hondo beat back the rebellion, then welcomed the turncoat pirates back into the fold and attacked the two Sith.

The Sith attack was repulsed, though the damage to Hondo’s operation was considerable. The pirate boss swore he’d rebuild – more adventures and opportunities for profit awaited him.