Using a rocket-pack, a space-suited Obi-Wan Kenobi boards a Separatist frigate. Inside the ship, he sneaks past inattentive battle droids, making his way to the detention center. He finds the cell he's looking for: the one holding Anakin Skywalker.

Kenobi hands Anakin his lightsaber and the two bicker about why Anakin didn't need his weapon. He was purposely captured by the Separatists, unarmed, to be drawn aboard this ship. Anakin has confirmed that it is the flagship of Count Dooku.

The Jedi make their way to Dooku's quarters, where they find the Sith Lord serenely meditating in a cross-legged pose. Skywalker and Kenobi ignite their lightsabers, but Dooku does not budge.

Suddenly, the ship starts to rock. It is being hit by enemy fire from a Republic destroyer that has entered the area. It's the Resolute, and aboard its bridge, Captain Rex and Ahsoka Tano command the assault.

The Separatist ship is outgunned and targeted for boarding. Anakin orders Dooku to surrender, but the Sith Lord instead trips a trap door open and vanishes through an escape hatch. Anakin impulsively dives through the open hatch to give chase, while Obi-Wan sets off toward the hangar in a bid to head Dooku off at the pass.

Anakin loses sight of Dooku, and the Count twists his way into the hangar, where he promptly boards his solar sailer. Kenobi arrives at the hangar just in time to see the exotic vessel slide through the magcon field, flanked by vulture starfighter escorts. Obi-Wan races aboard a Neimoidian shuttle, and is quickly joined by Anakin who emerges in the hangar. The ungainly transport pulls away from the frigate, chasing down the fleeing Sith Lord.

A blast from the shuttle's cannons clips Dooku's sailer, and its flight path begins to curve toward the nearby planet of Vanqor. The vulture escorts turn around to harry the shuttle. One of the vultures collides with the shuttle's wing. Now both hunter and hunted are diving toward the planet.

Both crippled ships crash not far from each other. The overcast planet is marked by smoky crystalline formations. Kenobi and Skywalker emerge from their crashed shuttle, and spot the similarly downed sailer. Cautiously approaching the craft, they find it abandoned, but affixed with a homing beacon calling for help. Anakin destroys the beacon with his lightsaber while Obi-Wan surmises that Dooku isn't going anywhere and can't be far.

The Jedi start their search in nearby caves. They sense much life inside, including the unmistakable presence of Count Dooku. Using their lightsabers for illumination, the Jedi search the alien interior, but are nearly covered by a cascade of crashing stalactites. Elsewhere in the shadows, Count Dooku grins at his handiwork. He uses the Force to pull Anakin Skywalker's lightsaber from the debris. Adding it to his belt, Dooku triumphantly walks out of the cave, and uses the Force to collapse its entrance.

Dooku returns to his sailer to find that it is joined by a massive saucer-shaped ship of unknown origin. A party of over a dozen Weequay pirates loots the Neimoidian shuttle and sailer. The pirate leader, Hondo Ohnaka, spots the confident Dooku striding toward the landing area. Ohnaka does not seem intimidated by Dooku's stately manner. He's instead covetously eyeing the sailer, realizing the wealth of this stranger.

Meanwhile, inside the cave, Anakin uses the Force to create a shelter from the falling rocks. Skywalker instinctively reaches for his lightsaber, but it is not there. Kenobi casually emerges from the shadows, dusting himself off, not seeming any worse for wear. He chastises Skywalker for once again losing his lightsaber. But Kenobi loses a bit of his airs when he attempts to ignite his own weapon, which has been damaged in the cave-in.

Something stirs in the darkness; an angry gundark suddenly drops from the cave ceiling, lunging toward the Jedi! The beast chases Anakin while Kenobi fiddles with his damaged weapon. Obi-Wan belatedly uses the Force to pelt the gundark with rocks. Anakin joins in, and the beast is repelled.

Ohnaka, playing the helpful type, offers Dooku transport to the nearest planet, Florrum, six parsecs away. Dooku accepts, concealing his lightsabers from the pirates. Ohnaka orders his men to return to the ship; they are heading home with their new "guest." When the Weequay craft arrives at Florrum. Dooku realizes his lightsabers have been snatched by the pick-pocketing talons of Pilf Mukmuk, a green-furred Kowakian monkey lizard loyal to Ohnaka.

Dooku is unarmed, and surrounded by dozens of pirates. Over thirty rifles point at Dooku's back as Ohnaka relishes in his prize: the leader of the clanker army, in his possession! He hopes to ransom the Sith Lord to the Republic.

Inside the Vanqor cave, Anakin and Obi-Wan continue using the Force to build a barricade between them and the gundark. A collapse of rock opens a fissure in the cave, and noxious green gas begins filling the cavern. The Jedi try to dig their way out of the collapsed opening, but the gas is overwhelming them.

They collapse just as the cavern entrance explodes from outside. Ahsoka Tano and her clone forces have blasted the cave open. They also take care of the angry gundark by collapsing the entrance once more.

On Coruscant, Chancellor Palpatine and his staff review a holographic message from Hondo Ohnaka. The Weequay pirate chief makes his demands: a million credits worth of spice delivered by an unarmed diplomatic ship. Padmé Amidala realizes that this may be their only chance to get Dooku. She suggests that the Republic dispatch two Jedi to confirm Dooku's capture. Ohnaka agrees, if the Jedi arrive unarmed.

Ohnaka graciously greets the Jedi, Obi-Wan and Anakin. Ohnaka goes on about the great battle that saw Dooku defeated, inflating the tale of his pirates' performance. Anakin isn't listening -- he's surprised to spot his lightsaber in the claws of a Kowakian monkey-lizard.

Ohnaka arranges a meeting between the Jedi and Dooku, so the Republic can confirm the count's capture. Suspended splayed in a containment field is the count. Kenobi and Skywalker grin at the Sith Lord's turn of misfortune. Dooku remains defiant, confident that he won't remain a captive for long. He also chides the Jedi for their naivety, for he warns them that the devious Weequay may overstep themselves and target the Jedi next.

At the Weequay party, revelry abounds, with drunkenness, food, dancing and merriment. Kenobi and Skywalker are still on their guard, but Hondo insists they have a drink. It is tradition. Skywalker still doesn't understand how these pirates could have pulled off the capture of Dooku, but Obi-Wan asks him to not question such an unexpected gift.