Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi awaken in a prison cell at the Weequay pirate compound on Florrum. They've been drugged and are tethered together, along with Count Dooku, by a charged line. The pirates have tossed aside any notions of alliance and are greedily seeking to triple their pay for three hostages.

Hondo Ohnaka and Turk Falso discuss their incoming ransom, eager to get a shipment of spice from the Republic. Turk still feels that the Separatists would have offered a bigger payout, but Hondo is certain the Separatists would have simply dispatched their droid army to wipe out the pirates. Ohnaka leaves Turk in charge of getting the ransom from the Republic diplomatic envoy when they arrive.

Turk wants to follow his own plans: he orders another pirate to intercept the Republic shuttle and bring it down with the spice shipment intact. Turk plans to tell Hondo that the ship and its valuable cargo were destroyed while he steals the ransom.

On Coruscant, the holographic form of Senator Kharrus checks in with Chancellor Palpatine, Yoda and Mace Windu. Kharrus is about to arrive at Florrum with the junior diplomatic representative, Jar Jar Binks. They have yet to make contact with the Jedi, but will once they've landed. The Republic shuttle enters the atmosphere of Florrum, and Kharrus and Jar Jar are advised to take their seats. Jar Jar, though, has difficulty unhitching the restraints.

A disc-shaped pirate ship drops in behind the shuttle and opens fire, carrying out Turk's dirty work. The shuttle swerves to avoid getting blasted. Inside the shuttle, Jar Jar is thrown to and fro. A missile impacts with the shuttle and it drops from the sky, slamming violently to the ground.

Meanwhile, at the pirate compound, Dooku uses the Force to lift a discarded plate of food toward his cell door. He maneuvers a carelessly left behind knife into the key slot, tripping the door open. Dooku and the two Jedi are free.

The shuttle has crashed in the Doshar fields, a stretch of desert with smoldering sulfuric geysers. Herds of burly skalders -- four-legged burly creatures with thick hides -- wander the flats. The clone troopers and Jar Jar emerge from the wrecked craft. The pilots and Senator Kharrus have died, leaving Jar Jar in command.

Back at the pirate base, Turk's henchman reports his success to his master. Though he has shot down the shuttle, he did not collect the spice. The cowardly henchman believed there to be Republic survivors, and he didn't want to risk a fight. Turk is furious. He gathers a gang of six bikers, and they speed off into the wastes on their heavy speeder bikes.

Dooku, Obi-Wan and Anakin sneak through the pirate compound, having to stay close due to their shackles. The crafty Kowakian Pilf Mukmuk spots them as they make their way towards the hangar. The Jedi open a door only to stumble upon seven slacking pirate guards. More pirates summoned by Pilf rush in from behind. The Jedi escapees are now surrounded.

Dooku and the Jedi are once again placed in a cell, as a frustrated Ohnaka tries to figure out what to do with the troublesome prisoners. He places a guard outside their cell at all times. Obi-Wan tries to use the Force to trick the guard's mind, even though there's not enough mind there to work with. Still, he convinces the guard to open the cell and then wander away.

At the crash-site, Jar Jar has buried Senator Kharrus under a grave of rocks, while Clone Commander Stone oversees his troops in trying to repair the shuttle's homing beacon. The clones advise leaving the Doshar fields, as the geysers are spitting out corrosive acid. Jar Jar observes that the movement of the skalders coincides with the eruption of the geysers.

Turk Falso's raiding party arrives on their speeders. The pirates open fire, and the clones form a circle around Jar Jar. The pirates cut the clones off from the shuttle. With little cover, the clones are sitting ducks, but Jar Jar leads the way to a geyser crater where they find refuge. The pirates ignore the clones, thinking them as good as broiled, and instead concentrate on raiding the shuttle wreck for the spice.

The clones don't feel confident in Jar Jar's choice of shelter, but he points out that they'll be safe as long as the skalders are still grouped outside. When they run, it means the geyser is about to explode. The clones and Jar Jar climb out of the crevice just before it erupts with acid. They return to the shuttle wreck to find the ransom stolen.

With the pirates on speeder bikes, it doesn't seem like the clones will be able to catch up, until Jar Jar suggests an alternative: riding the skalders. The skalders catch up with the thieves and the clones open fire. They blast the bike hauling the crates, knocking the ransom free. The clones reclaim their prize, but Turk Falso escapes.

The Jedi are once again free to sneak around the pirate compound, but an alarm sounds and they need to move quickly. They make it to the outside of the compound and must scale the perimeter wall.

Anakin grabs a nearby pipe and pole-vaults through the air -- not an easy feat while connected to two other men. All three-Force users are vaulted onto the wall's edge, but only Anakin reaches the wall's rim. He's left dangling, with the weight of Obi-Wan and Dooku pulling him down. This makes them easy targets to the sniping pirates.

As the Jedi try to twist and turn to avoid incoming fire, a blaster strike snaps the bond connecting Obi-Wan to Dooku, and Dooku almost falls before Kenobi catches him. It's no use. This escape is botched, and Hondo Ohnaka looms on the wall's edge, looking disappointed in his captives.

At the compound, Turk reports to Ohnaka, lying that the Republic dispatched an army instead of the ransom. Turk advises that Ohnaka counterattack with tanks. Ohnaka is disappointed. He believed the Republic to be more honorable than this. He approves Turk's plan to mount an armored counterassault.

A pirate attack group of three heavy repulsortanks closes in on Jar Jar and the clones. Commander Stone asks Jar Jar to step out of cover and negotiate with the pirates as a Senate Representative. Jar Jar doesn't like this idea, but does it to honor the memory of Senator Kharrus.

Jar Jar stands before the approaching tanks, unarmed and alone. Seeing an opportunity to capture yet another valuable hostage, the Weequays take Jar Jar aboard. Jar Jar clumsily trips up and bumps into a Weequay driver, sending the tank skidding askew and slamming into another vehicle and into the power lines. Taking advantage of this distraction, Commander Stone then leads the clone charge against the tanks.

The battered power lines overload and disrupt, cutting off power to the pirate compound. Kenobi and Anakin's electric torture ceases, and Count Dooku's cell door unlocks. The count strangles the Weequay cell guard with his shackles. In the main hall, Obi-Wan and Anakin call their lightsabers to them and cut their way free. Anakin holds his blade to Ohnaka's throat and uses him as a shield as the other Weequays draw their firearms.

Meanwhile, Turk Falso and his henchman make their way to a waiting starship. Falso stops mid-stride, clutching at his throat as some invisible force strangles him. Suddenly impelled by this unseen influence, the struggling Falso also pulls out his blaster and kills his henchman. Dooku emerges from the shadows, holding Falso in a firm Force grip. He casts aside the pirate's dead body and walks aboard the prepped pirate ship.

With Ohnaka as hostage, the Jedi back their way to their parked vessel. Just then, two pirate repulsortanks arrive, but rather than carrying Weequays, they are filled with clones and Jar Jar. The Republic envoy has finally arrived with the spice, but it's too late. The Jedi sense through the Force the sudden departure of Count Dooku as a pirate saucer lifts off from the compound and disappears into the sky. Their prisoner has escaped.

At Obi-Wan's request, the clones board their ship and fire up its engines. To Anakin and Ohnaka's surprise, Obi-Wan releases the pirate leader. Ohnaka now has nothing the Republic wants, and the Jedi are no longer prisoners. Kenobi wants to end this and leave on even terms. Ohnaka is impressed; the Republic and the Jedi do indeed have a sense of honor.