Amir piloted the spaceship into the port of Mos Eisley, the most prosperous city on Tatooine and a popular spaceport for criminals.
After the Empire took power, they stationed an Imperial Administrator here, equipping him with an Imperial Stormtrooper unit outfitted for desert combat.
However, these were mere figureheads. The Imperial Administrator always had to remember that the true ruler was the infamous crime lord Jabba the Hutt.
Amir walked across the sand in a brown robe with a backpack slung over his shoulder. The hood of his cloak shielded his head from the blinding sunlight cast by the two stars above.
Veronica stood beside him, wrapped in the black cloak that Gulina had given her.
Half-buried, dome-shaped houses lined the roadside—the only way to keep the interior cool in the extreme heat.
Despite the scorching temperatures, the streets teemed with vendors selling common and uncommon goods. Their stalls were intertwined with the roots of the black market.
At the corner, Amir saw Imperial stormtroopers wearing "desert white" armor. Their helmets were equipped with filters, and their chest plates contained cooling fans. With emergency supply packs on their backs, the stormtroopers were able to maintain optimal combat readiness in the desert heat.
However, even this optimal combat readiness was somewhat unsatisfactory.
"Are these desert soldiers so dedicated?" Veronica asked, watching the stormtroopers standing guard.
"They shouldn't be. Without superiors checking on them, what's the point of standing guard on an outer-ring planet full of criminals?" Amir, who had studied how to slack off in the Empire, was equally puzzled.
Both of them wrapped themselves more tightly.
Amir opened the display on his wrist guard, which showed a map of Mos Eisley. He walked to another intersection and stopped.
"This is the place, great revolutionary," Amir said with a smile.
"Goodbye," Veronica said, pausing in front of Amir for a moment before turning and walking away. Ahsoka had sent someone to pick her up, and, as of today, she was a member of the Rebellion.
Amir suddenly felt a little sad, but he turned around and started walking, albeit more slowly.
He had no interest in this bustling city. He walked slowly in one direction, occasionally stopping to raise his hand and touch the pendant around his neck.
Through the Kyber crystal, he could feel the Force guiding him forward.
No distance could stop a person's footsteps.
He followed the main road from the scorching afternoon until the light around him began to turn yellow.
At dusk, Amir walked out of the city, where only endless sand dunes and a few scattered houses were in sight. Those houses belonged to farmers. Some of the land outside the city was arable, so farmers built their homes there.
Continuing on, he finally saw a dome protruding from the sand. It was surrounded by relatively flat, sandy ground with a large pit beside it.
The people here had dug out their dwellings in that pit. The walls inside the pit were made of stacked stones, and the large pit itself served as their courtyard.
Amir stopped walking. Walking under the stars for so long had left him thirsty and exhausted.
The small bag he carried didn't contain much water.
He approached the farm, hoping to find something to eat, as well as a place to stay for the night, before continuing on his way in the direction he had sensed at dawn.
"Is anyone there?" Amir called out into the downward-sloping corridor at the entrance.
"Who's there?" a man's voice echoed from below.
"I'm passing through here. Could you give me some water and let me stay the night? I can pay."
A man in a white robe with short black hair peered out and looked up at Amir.
"Take off your hood, stranger," he shouted.
Amir removed his hood, revealing his young face.
"Did you just arrive on Tatooine?" the man asked.
"Yes."
"If you weren't new here, you'd know no one lets strangers stay the night." The man stepped out completely. "Come down."
"Who's there, Uncle Owen? Biggs?" a child's voice called from inside.
"No, it's a traveler. Go back to your room, Luke!" Owen shouted.
Amir froze for a moment. He hadn't expected this farm to belong to Owen Lars, the family who raised Luke Skywalker.
"Are you coming in, or have you changed your mind?" Owen asked Amir.
"Thank you!" Amir followed the corridor into the basement.
"Come with me. There's an empty room, though it's not very clean." Owen opened a small door to reveal a narrow room with a bed inside the small courtyard.
"You can put your things here. I'll prepare some water and food for you." After saying that, Owen walked back.
Amir quickly tidied up and followed him to the living room.
Beru Lars, Owen's wife, carried a tray and placed it on the table.
On the tray was a cup of blue milk and something that looked like dry bread.
Amir thanked her again and began to eat.
As he picked up the blue milk, he couldn't help but marvel at it. He hadn't been able to find milk produced by the Mothans in Coruscant, but today, he finally got to taste some.
"Where are you from?" Owen asked.
Amir didn't intend to hide anything and replied, "Coruscant."
"Then why did you come here? Isn't it better to stay in a comfortable city? If you go any further, there's only sand and Tusken Raiders." Owen was warning Amir about the dangers ahead and urging him to return.
"I'm here to find a man named Kenobi," Amir said after thinking for a moment.
"Kenobi! Do you mean Uncle Ben?" Little Luke ran out of the room.
"Ben?" Amir pretended not to know. Obi-Wan had been using the alias Ben Kenobi and had been quietly protecting Luke for about ten years.
"Yes, Uncle Ben. He lives far away from here, deeper into the dunes," Luke said.
"Could you point it out on the map for me?" Amir opened the holographic map on his wristband.
"Oh, sure. He's right there..." Luke searched the map.
"Luke! I told you to stay in your room," Owen scolded.
"Sorry, Uncle Owen. It's still early, and I don't have anything to do in my room," Luke said, sounding a bit upset.
"It's okay. Let him stay here, Owen," Beru said.
"There's a hill here, and his little house is on the hill's high ground."
Amir looked at the location and couldn't help but think, "No wonder they call you the Highlander!"
-------------------
You can read +100 advance chapters on my Patreon
Patreon(.)com/izan24
TIER 1 you'll get +15 ADVANCE CHAPTERS
TIER 2 you'll get +40 ADVANCE CHAPTERS
TIER 3 you'll get +60 ADVANCE CHAPTERS
TIER 4 you'll get +100 ADVANCE CHAPTERS