Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic: Prophet Motive

Prophet Motive is the eleventh story-arc in the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic series of comics.
==Plot summary==
Hierogryph opted to journey to the Core World of Metellos 3, where planets were auctioned off to the highest bidder. There, Hierogryph hoped to scam market, which was run by the criminal Raff Syndicate. Carrick, however, wanted to see his family again, and told the Snivvian he would rendezvous with them on Metellos 3. For accomplices, Hierogryph had Jarael and Rohlan Dyre to aid him. The Snivvian then sent Slyssk to Coruscant to buy a new form of transport, but to Hierogryph's disappointment, the Trandoshan returned with a dilapidated gem miner, the Hot Prospect. As punishment for Slyssk's incompetence, Hierogryph had the Trandoshan set about cleaning and restoring the ship. Reaching Metellos 3, Hierogryph disguised himself as "Professor Gryphomarn," and sought out a Chev, Cipiter, who was in the service of Nunk Plaarvin, the Chevin in charge of operations on Metellos 3. Meeting Cipiter, "Gryphomarn" innocently inquired about the goings on, until the Hot Prospect entered the area. Hierogryph feigned disgust at its unattractive appearance, but he knew what it carried: Jarael, disguised as "Captain Brackel," and Dyre. The pair entered the auction room with great fanfare, weapons drawn, and they confronted Cipiter. The pair then claimed that they had just returned from Italbos, a world recently auctioned on Metellos 3. "Brackel" claimed that the disguised Dyre hailed from the world, which was, contrary to the belief of those present, occupied and settled. Hierogryph, feigning outrage, loudly declared that he would represent the pair in their inevitable legal battle with the businessmen of Metellos 3, much to Cipiter's chagrin. The Snivvian suggested that a new auction take place, in order to purchase the world from the existing Italbosi, and Jarael claimed that the original resource projections for Italbos had been far below what was actually there. As the buyers grew excited at the prospect, Cipiter closed the auction until midday the next day. Moving to their quarters, Hierogryph, Dyre, and Jarael watched from a vantage point as Cipiter was privately reprimanded by Plaarvin. The group then planned to collect the money from Italbos' auction the next day, take it to the Hot Prospect, and flee Metellos 3. Once they reached their spacious quarters, they entered to find that the lights were not lit. Dyre eventually realized that they had company: Plaarvin's security force, armed with energy bolas. As he and Jarael battled them off, Hierogryph fled, only to be confronted by a set of Sentinel droids. Dyre and Jarael were subdued, but just before Hierogryph was pushed out of a window and into Metellos 3's lack of atmosphere, Carrick arrived, and dispatched the attackers. Despite his arrival, Dyre and Jarael were captured, and brought before Plaarvin. Hierogryph and Carrick followed them covertly, and learned that they were being taken to the "Negotiating Room." Plaarvin, his guards, and their captives boarded a dustskimmer, preventing Hierogryph and Carrick from following any further, and so the Snivvian decided that they would have to use the Hot Prospect. After Hierogryph gave Carrick a brief tour of his new ship, he was confronted by the Human about the morality of scamming honest traders, but Hierogryph reminded him that Plaarvin was working for the Raff Syndicate. Slyssk overheard this, and became concerned—he had once worked for the Raffs, and knew that the only thing that people within the Syndicate were afraid of were other people within the Syndicate. The Chevin had both Jarael and Demagol strung up in an observation tower whose glass was meant to magnify and increase the intensity of Metellos's already powerful sunlight and incinerate anyone in the room. Left to their fates by Nunk and his slaves, the companions watched as the sun began clearing the edge of the observatory's lens. As the heat built up, Demagol revealed his suspicion to Jarael that she might be Force sensitive. Having seen her spar with multiple Jedi, he encouraged her to reach out with the Force and break the chains that bound them. Despite an initial protest that she did not have the power, Jarael did her best to call upon the Force to break the chain and both her and the impostor Mandalorian believed she had broke it herself. Zayne and Hierogryph then made their way to the Negotiating Room, which was actually a large solar observatory. Barging their way into one of the lower levels, Carrick dispatched Plaarvin's sentinel droids, before Hierogryph lambasted the Chevin for fouling up a Syndicate operation. Slyssk, in his disguise as a Raff courier, then entered, and began threatening Plaarvin. Hierogryph then informed Cipiter, who was present, that he had been tasked by the Syndicate to see how easy it would be to scam Plaarvin's operation. Slyssk then accused Plaarvin of either being incompetent or skimming profits. The Chevin then began to blame his Chev servants, but Hierogryph cut him off, claiming that the Syndicate wanted to meet with him on Jebble. Plaarvin, not aware of the recent nuclear attack against Jebble, obliged, and prepared to depart Metellos 3, leaving Cipiter to mind the operation. The Chev remembered Jebble's recent bombardment, but Hierogryph quickly pointed out that he was now free to run the trading on Metellos 3 by himself. Dyre and Jarael, who had been hung up in the solar observatory's tower to be killed, were able to escape thanks to Jarael's recently discovered affinity to the Force. Carrick proceeded to tell the traders the truth about Italbos, but the buyers didn't care, as they were more convinced by Hierogryph's earlier story. They bought the planet, resulting in a considerable profit for the Snivvian and his makeshift team.
==Issues==
*Knights of the Old Republic 36
*Knights of the Old Republic 37
==Collections==
*Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Volume 7: Dueling Ambitions
*Star Wars Omnibus: Knights of the Old Republic Volume 2
Prophet Motive