In 20 BBY, the bounty hunter known as Moralo Eval devised a scheme. This plan centered around the abduction of Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, with the intention of delivering him to Count Dooku, the leader of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Under the pretense of a competition showcasing talent, Dooku and Eval gathered the most accomplished bounty hunters from across the galaxy for a special tournament. This event was staged on Serenno, Dooku's home planet, and served as a recruitment ground for a team composed of the tournament's victors. This team, with Cad Bane at its helm and including Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi (disguised as Rako Hardeen), launched an assault on Palpatine during the 847th Festival of Light. The festival was being held in Theed, the capital city of Naboo. However, their attempt was thwarted when Dooku discerned the Jedi's trap. Dooku's failure to extract them from the planet led to their apprehension. With the perceived threat neutralized, Palpatine dismissed his security detail from Naboo, thus enabling Dooku to confront Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker. Ultimately, the scheme unraveled due to the intervention of Skywalker and Kenobi, compelling Dooku to flee Naboo.
Back in 20 BBY, the bounty hunter Moralo Eval, who was then in the service of Count Dooku (the leader of the Confederacy of Independent Systems and a Sith Lord, conceived a strategy. This strategy aimed to kidnap Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, intending to deliver a significant blow to the Galactic Republic. The plan hinged on infiltrating the Chancellor's security detail during his visit to the annual Festival of Light on Naboo, his home planet. It necessitated a skilled and discreet group to execute. To this end, Dooku and Eval handpicked some of the most proficient bounty hunters in the galaxy, including Cad Bane. They invited them to Dooku's palace on Serenno, where they would undergo testing within a complex, maze-like contraption designed by Eval, known as the Box. This maze incorporated various trials and challenges, intended to assess the candidates' ability to push their mission to the limits. However, before he could finish the Box, Eval was apprehended by the police on Devon and sentenced to imprisonment in the maximum security section of the Republic Judiciary Central Detention Center on Coruscant, the capital planet.
While Eval was imprisoned, he started spreading information about his and Dooku's plan to other inmates. Eventually, word reached the Jedi High Council, who decided to investigate the matter independently of the Republic. To gain more insight into the conspiracy, the Council secretly hired the renowned sniper Rako Hardeen to kill Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. Hardeen seemingly succeeded by shooting him in front of his former Padawan and Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and his student Ahsoka Tano. While the Order held a proper funeral for Kenobi, he had actually faked his death as part of the plan. He disguised himself as Hardeen to infiltrate the Judiciary Center and befriend Eval in order to investigate his claims. Accordingly, he was "arrested" by Master Mace Windu, while the real Hardeen was kept in the Jedi Temple. He was then transferred to the Judiciary Center's maximum security wing, where he successfully befriended Eval as planned. Soon after, Cad Bane also arranged to be arrested and transferred to the Center to free Eval and bring him to Serenno to oversee the tests, which were about to begin. In a subsequent riot caused by Bossk, Bane, Eval, and "Hardeen" successfully escaped the complex and made their way to Serenno, following a brief altercation with Skywalker and Tano in Orondia. There, they met with Dooku at his palace.
Upon their arrival, the tests commenced, with bounty hunters like Embo and Derrown successfully completing most objectives, while others perished within the machine. Five bounty hunters emerged as survivors of the Box: Cad Bane, "Rako Hardeen," Embo, Twazzi, and Derrown. However, despite promising Eval that he would lead the operation, Dooku ultimately assigned Bane to lead the team, much to Eval's dismay. The team then secretly journeyed to Naboo, where the 847th Festival of Light was scheduled to take place with the Chancellor in attendance.
Knowing the bounty hunter's intentions, but lacking specific details of their plan from Kenobi, the Jedi Council focused on the security measures for the Festival to ensure the Chancellor's protection during the event. Grand Master Yoda and Jedi Master Mace Windu personally presided over a security briefing. The briefing included Masters Shaak Ti, Plo Koon, Eeth Koth, Kit Fisto, Ki-Adi-Mundi, Adi Gallia, and Saesee Tiin, as well as Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and Padawan Ahsoka Tano, held the day before the Festival at the Jedi Temple. During the meeting, Windu presented the Senate Guard's preparations for the Festival, including armed sentries at all entrances and the ray shield to be installed on the stage during the Chancellor's speech.
Meanwhile, the bounty hunters met with Dooku on Naboo, where they eliminated the workers at a Gian heavy patrol speeder hangar near the palace to establish their base. Cad Bane distributed holo-maps to the hunters, outlining their routes and instructions for the next day, along with Holographic disguise matrixes and voice disguisers for those going undercover. The hunters were not privy to the complete plan, instead relying on the holo-maps for each step and receiving further instructions upon successful completion. Derrown was tasked with penetrating the ray shield to grant access to the others, while Eval would serve as the getaway driver with Twazzi, Bane, and Embo disguised as guards. In case of discovery and engagement with the Chancellor's escort, Hardeen was to provide cover fire from a tower overlooking the stage, pre-selected by Bane, using a sniper rifle. For added safety, his rifle was loaded with stun rounds to prevent accidental harm to the Chancellor.
Chancellor Palpatine arrived on Naboo aboard a T-6 shuttle, accompanied by Vice Chair of the Senate Mas Amedda, Jedi Windu, Skywalker, Tano, and two clone shock troopers. His ship landed in the prestigious Landing Plaza in Theed, the capital, where he was greeted by Queen Neeyutnee, Naboo Senator Padmé Amidala, and Governor Sio Bibble, all under the watchful eye of Palace Guard soldiers. Palpatine expressed his gratitude for the warm welcome, but also voiced his weariness of the Jedi's constant protection. Despite his reservations, Skywalker further reinforced the Royal Palace security, fearing it was an ideal target, and assigned Ahsoka Tano to personally monitor Senator Amidala, the Queen, and her staff.
"Hardeen" reached his sniper position on the tower just as Windu was giving final instructions to the Chancellor's Senate Commando protection unit. He contacted Windu for the first time in days, surprising the Master who was concerned for his well-being, and revealed the assassins' finalized plan, including the disguised infiltrators. This prompted Windu to order a double-check of all attendants' identities during the evening event. Until this point, the Chancellor's protection believed that the attack against him would occur inside the Palace.
The 847th Festival commenced with the arrival of the Chancellor, accompanied by the Vice Chair and Naboo government representatives, at the festival plaza. The plaza was surrounded by repulsor platforms filled with Theed citizens. Also present were Senators Bail Organa of Alderaan, Zinn Paulness of the Council of Neutral Systems, and Lott Dod of the Trade Federation; the latter was secretly Cad Bane in disguise. As Palpatine began his opening speech commemorating Naboo's entry into the Galactic Republic, Derrown checked in with Senate Guard SG-1984 to copy his voice, then joined the unit on stage. Using his electrostatic tentacles, Derrown overloaded one of the ray shield generators, disabling the shield. Hardeen spotted him and urged Skywalker to intervene. The explosion injured Palpatine, forcing Windu to order two Senate Guards, secretly Twazzi and Embo, to evacuate him on a nearby Gian speeder. Simultaneously, Skywalker was electrocuted by Derrown, and Tano evacuated the palace staff.
Amidst the chaos, Twazzi and Embo used a disguise matrix to make the injured chancellor look like a Senate Guard. Twazzi then impersonated the Chancellor to be evacuated by Embo. The real Palpatine was dragged by Cad Bane, still disguised as Senator Dod, to Moralo Eval's speeder. Windu and Skywalker rushed to save the fake Palpatine. Following a brief altercation, they neutralized Embo, but the fake Palpatine/Twazzi attacked them instead. While the duo bought them time, Eval and Bane escaped the plaza with an unconscious Palpatine.
With Embo and Twazzi in custody and Derrown injured, Palpatine's shock troopers and Senate Guards remained unaware of the real Chancellor's location. Windu instructed "Rako Hardeen" to follow the bounty hunters' getaway vehicle. Hardeen did so, reaching them at the Theed plasma refinery just as they realized they had been double-crossed. Dooku, who was supposed to meet them there to take them off-world with the Chancellor, had failed to appear. As the hunters contemplated their next move, Hardeen engaged them, knocking them out one by one, just as Windu and Skywalker arrived with two shock troopers to take them into custody.
After his rescue and recovery, Palpatine arranged his departure from Naboo the next day aboard a Venator-class Star Destroyer, accompanied by the full security force, which he chose to recall from Naboo despite Windu's disagreement. Obi-Wan revealed the entire plan to Anakin, causing him to rage at the lies told by the Jedi Council and his mentor and close friend. Angered and betrayed, Anakin questioned Kenobi on whether the Council even knew the whole truth themselves.
Kenobi, joining the security force on the Destroyer, was debriefed by Windu, who asked if it was time to return to the transformation chamber to revert to Obi-Wan. Kenobi considered the offer but quickly realized something was amiss. He returned to the tower from which he had operated the night of the Festival and searched his rifle case, finding a comlink in passive transmission mode hidden inside. Realizing that Dooku had been listening to his conversations with Windu all along, he rushed back to the Royal Palace, where Palpatine was strolling with Anakin to the Banquet organized by the Naboo Queen and Senators to bid him farewell before his departure. Although Anakin questioned the idea because Amidala had not mentioned it, Palpatine suggested it was intended as a surprise.
The Banquet was actually a trap set by Dooku to kidnap the Chancellor himself, exploiting the absence of his security force. He awaited Palpatine inside the Banquet Hall, accompanied by two IG-100 MagnaGuards, who attacked Anakin as soon as they entered. Although Anakin destroyed them and urged Palpatine to escape, a third droid was stationed outside, preventing the Chancellor from leaving, while Dooku engaged the Jedi in a lightsaber duel. Dooku quickly gained the upper hand and struck Anakin with a burst of Force lightning, knocking him unconscious and escaping with the Chancellor in custody.
Kenobi arrived just in time to catch up with Dooku and his droid bodyguard as they were forcing Palpatine aboard a Sheathipede-class Type B shuttle. Together, they rescued the Chancellor and destroyed his droid, although Dooku escaped, taunting Skywalker for his lack of skill. The Palace Guard quickly arrived with Senator Amidala, and together with the Jedi, they secured the Chancellor and took him back inside the palace to rejoin his security force.