Prince Lucas left the administration building dejectedly. He had hoped to learn of the Jedi's wherabouts using local municipal records. However, after careful research and inquiry, he was unable to find any useful information. He continued toward a repair shop at the edge of town, where his vehicle, and comrades were waiting. Nonchalantly, he noticed a lone mechanic tinkering with a landspeeder in the shop.
"Have you learned anything?" inquired Erin.
"Unfortunately, no. Most of the records here haven't been updated in a while, and the ones I found were of no use. One of the administrators recommended another settlement"
"I would advise against it." interrupted Trev. "I overheard the locals mention an increased Imperial presence in the region"
Luke paused before responding. "How strong"
"We heard that troops from the local garrison have been making general inquiries. Also, there has been reports of an additional star destroyer in the airspace"
This was bad, thought the prince. It was clearly Vader's handywork. He knew he could not risk staying on this world longer than necessary, yet he felt so close to his goal! As he was pondering this development, a young girl riding a swoop bike sped past them, and headed toward the mechanic.
"Hey Fixer!" said the girl.
The mechanic turned away from his work, and embraced the young girl.
After a few moments of personal chatter, a fragment of the conversation caught the Prince's ear.
"…heard that too. I don't know why either. I just heard someone attacked her, or something"
"Is she okay"
"Yeah, I guess Old Ben scared them away with his magic tricks"
"Old Ben? You mean Kenobi? What was he doing there"
"Beats me. Probably scrounging for parts. Oh. Hey, why don't you stop by later? I just got that shipment of parts from Mos Epsa. I want to try them out tomorrow"
"Okay. I'll stop by later." she said, and kissed him again.
After the girl left, Luke approached the young man. As he did, Trev cautiously followed him to understand his intentions.
"Excuse me, 'Fixer', is it?" "Um yes?" said Fixer looking up at the stranger.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't help overhear your conversation. You had mentioned something about an 'Old Ben' who used 'magic tricks"
"Yeah. What about it"
"He… sounds like someone I'm looking for. An… an old friend of my father's. Could you please tell me a bit more about him?" said Luke as he handed him some credits.
"Oh! Thanks!" said Fixer. "I don't know him all that well. He's been around here as long as I can remember. Kind of a strange one, from what I hear. Mainly keeps to himself, rarely comes to town"
"Where could we find him"
"Well.." he said, showing Luke a crude map of the local area on a nearby wall, "I'm told he has a dwelling somewhere south of here, on some hills in the Dune sea area. I couldn't tell you more though." "Thank you." said Luke as he headed back towards his vehicle with Trev.
"Your highness, this is absurd! We don't even know if this 'Ben Kenobi' is even the same person"
"He could be a relative! Either way, it's the only solid lead we have." said the prince as he entered the vehicle.
Before the group left the small town, Erin sent a confirmation signal back to the ship to indicate all was well.
The signal was relayed by the relay unit that Artoo was monitoring. As it was sent to the ship, the commander sent a reply message, indicating that the signal was received.
Unknown to the crewmen, a probe droid slowly rose above a nearby crag, observed the spaceship, and beamed this information to its masters.