Prophet Motive represents the eleventh story arc featured in the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic comic book saga.
Hierogryph chose to travel to Metellos 3, a Core World renowned for auctioning off planets to the highest bidder. It was Hierogryph's intention to defraud the market, managed by the criminal Raff Syndicate. Carrick, conversely, yearned to reunite with his family and informed the Snivvian that he would meet them on Metellos 3. Jarael and Rohlan Dyre joined Hierogryph as his accomplices. Subsequently, the Snivvian dispatched Slyssk to Coruscant with instructions to acquire a new mode of transportation. To Hierogryph's dismay, the Trandoshan returned with a run-down gem miner named the Hot Prospect. As punishment for Slyssk's incompetence, Hierogryph tasked the Trandoshan with cleaning and restoring the vessel. Upon arriving at Metellos 3, Hierogryph adopted the persona of "Professor Gryphomarn" and sought out Cipiter, a Chev serving under Nunk Plaarvin, the Chevin overseeing operations on Metellos 3. Upon meeting Cipiter, "Gryphomarn" innocently inquired about the local affairs until the Hot Prospect appeared on the scene. Hierogryph pretended to be repulsed by its unsightly appearance, but he was aware of its cargo: Jarael, disguised as "Captain Brackel," and Dyre. The pair made a grand entrance into the auction room, weapons drawn, and confronted Cipiter. They asserted that they had recently returned from Italbos, a world recently auctioned on Metellos 3. "Brackel" proclaimed that Dyre, in disguise, was a native of the world, which, contrary to popular belief, was inhabited and settled. Feigning indignation, Hierogryph loudly announced that he would represent the pair in their inevitable legal battle with the businessmen of Metellos 3, much to Cipiter's annoyance. The Snivvian proposed a new auction to purchase the world from the existing Italbosi, and Jarael asserted that the original resource projections for Italbos were significantly underestimated. As the buyers grew enthusiastic, Cipiter adjourned the auction until midday the following day. Retreating to their quarters, Hierogryph, Dyre, and Jarael observed from a strategic vantage point as Cipiter received a private reprimand from Plaarvin. Subsequently, the group devised a plan to collect the funds from Italbos' auction the next day, transport them to the Hot Prospect, and escape Metellos 3. Upon reaching their spacious quarters, they discovered that the lights were off. Dyre eventually realized that they had company: Plaarvin's security force, armed with energy bolas. As he and Jarael fought them off, Hierogryph fled, only to be confronted by a group of Sentinel droids. Dyre and Jarael were subdued, but just as Hierogryph was thrown out of a window and into Metellos 3's atmospheric void, Carrick arrived and neutralized the attackers. Despite his intervention, Dyre and Jarael were captured and brought before Plaarvin. Hierogryph and Carrick covertly followed them and discovered that they were being taken to the "Negotiating Room." Plaarvin, his guards, and their captives boarded a dustskimmer, preventing Hierogryph and Carrick from pursuing them further. Consequently, the Snivvian decided that they would have to utilize the Hot Prospect. After Hierogryph provided Carrick with a brief tour of his new ship, he was questioned by the Human about the morality of defrauding honest traders. However, Hierogryph reminded him that Plaarvin was employed by the Raff Syndicate. Slyssk overheard this and became concerned, as he had previously worked for the Raffs and knew that the only thing that people within the Syndicate feared were other members of the Syndicate. The Chevin had both Jarael and Demagol suspended in an observation tower constructed with glass designed to magnify and intensify Metellos's already potent sunlight, with the intent to incinerate anyone within the room. Abandoned to their fates by Nunk and his slaves, the companions watched as the sun began to emerge from the edge of the observatory's lens. As the heat intensified, Demagol confided in Jarael his suspicion that she possessed Force sensitivity. Having witnessed her spar with numerous Jedi, he urged her to reach out with the Force and break the chains that bound them. Despite her initial protest that she lacked the power, Jarael made her best attempt to invoke the Force to break the chain and both her and the impostor Mandalorian believed she had broke it herself. Zayne and Hierogryph then proceeded to the Negotiating Room, which was, in reality, a large solar observatory. Forcing their way into one of the lower levels, Carrick dispatched Plaarvin's sentinel droids before Hierogryph berated the Chevin for disrupting a Syndicate operation. Slyssk, disguised 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 assess how easily Plaarvin's operation could be defrauded. Slyssk then accused Plaarvin of either incompetence or embezzling profits. The Chevin then began to blame his Chev servants, but Hierogryph interrupted him, claiming that the Syndicate desired to meet with him on Jebble. Plaarvin, unaware of the recent nuclear attack on Jebble, complied and prepared to depart Metellos 3, leaving Cipiter in charge of the operation. The Chev recalled Jebble's recent bombardment, but Hierogryph swiftly pointed out that he was now free to manage the trading on Metellos 3 independently. Dyre and Jarael, who had been suspended in the solar observatory's tower to be killed, managed to escape thanks to Jarael's newfound affinity to the Force. Carrick proceeded to inform the traders of the truth about Italbos, but the buyers were indifferent, as they were more convinced by Hierogryph's earlier story. They purchased the planet, resulting in a substantial profit for the Snivvian and his makeshift team.