The Sleight of Hand served as Cad Bane's preferred method of transportation for valuable goods, both alive and inanimate, during the Clone Wars; it was a significantly altered Telgorn dropship. Bane personally oversaw extensive modifications, equipping the vessel with enhanced military-grade plating, high-powered armaments, and a state-of-the-art hyperdrive system.
Bane utilized this very ship to abscond with a gravity weapon prototype, a design of Kul Teska's, from orbit above Alzoc III. To erase any trace of his involvement, Bane obliterated the Munificent-class star frigate that was transporting the weapon, the frigate's wreckage plummeting onto the planet and generating a gravitational disturbance. Bane then piloted the ship, along with the stolen weapon, to Ryloth, where he was apprehended and compelled to cooperate with Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan Ahsoka Tano. Bane escorted the weapon back to his ship, under the watchful eyes of the Jedi. However, upon reaching the vessel, the trio encountered Kul Teska, who engaged the Jedi in combat. Teska initially held the advantage, but was forced to withdraw upon the arrival of clone troopers Boomer "CS-2207" and Rex "CT-7567". He commandeered the Sleight of Hand, with both Bane and the gravity weapon still aboard, and fled the planet. Teska eventually made his way to the planet Behpour within the Naboo system, which soon became the target of an attack by the Galactic Republic. During the ensuing conflict, Bane retaliated against Teska for the prior humiliation by shooting him, reclaiming ownership of the ship. Bane then pilfered the stabilizers that ultimately sabotaged the shuttle belonging to Count Dooku and Dark Acolyte Asajj Ventress before departing the system aboard the Sleight of Hand.