"Not quite - she looks like this ..." Aleena said, and then pulled up the image on her datapad.

"Have you seen her or know what happened to her her and her ship?" Aleena gestured towards where the starfighter had been parked.

The first Jawa still seemed mesmerized by Aleena, and seemed to be..cooing to itself <Nice lady.. she helped..>. The second Jawa shivered from a chill running down it's spine, <Nice lady gone..Shadow-man fought her, crushed ship...>

"Crushed the ship - with her still in it?!?" Aleena was horrified.

The first Jawa shook himself out of his mesmerized state in reaction to Aleena, <No.. but he took her...> he pointed to a rock outcropping in the near distance. <Ship hidden there, Shadow left.. not seen either since..> The second chimed in.

"So she hid the ship there, fought the 'Shadow-Man' here, he won, and then he took her away?" Aleena tried to clarify.

<No, his ship hidden.. Nice Ladies there..> The Jawa pointed to the scrap yard.

<Not much left.. Whatever was useful was salvaged> The other added meekly, <People poor, use whatever is left behind... Empire keep most things here.>

<We got to Nice Lady's ship before incinerator..> he indicated the debris trail. <Collecting whats left.>

"May we examine what's left of the 'Nice Lady's' ship, please?" Aleena asked. "We might find some vital clues to help us, like an astromech."

<Nice Lady's droid?> The Jawa perked up, < Droid not in ship..>

<Is it available for purchase?>

"Where is the droid now, who has it?" Aleena asked. "We can discuss options after we see it, maybe."

The Jawa shrugged, <Droid disappeared the night the Shadow came, not seen since.>

The second nodded, <We looked.. Droid sneaky.>

"Was it an astromech, or another kind of droid?" Aleena wondered out loud as she checked the file on the datapad in hope of finding that piece of information.

<Short Astromech.. dark red with black trim..> The Jawa told them.

<Looked like a C1 model.. or a variant.> the other confirmed.

"And did the Shadow guy fly off in his ship when he left, or is it still over there?" Aleena asked as she made notes on her datapad.

<Gone.. Haven't seen again>

<Didn't see then, either> The second swatted the first's arm. <Shadow was sneaky ..Landed when sun set, left before dawn.. And no one wants to talk about it..>

<Shadow was Scary..> The first agreed.

"Alright, can you tell us anything about the scrapyard and the guy over there?" Aleena continued with a subtle gesture towards the old human building a swoop bike by the scrapyard's gate.

The Jawas turn to look at the salvage yard. <That's Duncan. He makes things work, from things that don't get scrapped on orders from Empire.>

Aleena turned to look at the others.

"Can you think of anything else that we need to ask them?"

Cadena shakes her head, "I think you covered it. It is unfortunate that we will not be able to recover Gala. We are not equipped to track 'Shadow.' Let's talk to Duncan, find a ship, and go about our original task."

Sienna looks at her sister in surprise, "You can't give up that easily! I bet Shadow is the key to this, finding him will probably lead us to the artifact."

"I'm not giving up. I am aware of that potential, but if it is the case, we can find him by finding the artifact. If he isn't, then what? Our task is to retrieve the artifact. Do you have any idea for tracking Shadow down?"

Sienna looks at her indignantly. "You can't just give up on her. And if you find out later on that in order to find the artifact you need to track Shadow, then we will have lost time when we could have gone straight away. And actually, I do have an idea. Sort of. I'm still working on it."

Cadena shakes her head again, "Be realistic, Sienna." She looks to the others, expecting them to back her up.

Aleena pondered a moment.

"Information from the scrapyard first, both Gala-related and new transportation options for us. Then maybe we could investigate where Shadow's ship was parked," she finally said. "I must admit, I'm still not sure if Gala is alive or not, and whether or not Shadow's ship is still there - the Jawas were unclear. Anyway, once we've gathered more information, maybe I could perform a Seeking to find Gala."

Barda just shrugged.

"I've no opinion, one way or another. Unless someone wants to split the party?" Barda asked.

Sienna nods, "Yes, let's go ahead and split up, we'll cover more ground that way and won't have to worry about wasting time."

Cadena rubs the back of her neck at the base of her skull and says, "Well, while Sienna works on her 'idea' and Allena talks to Duncan, Barda, you and I should investigate the site of Shadow's ship. The two of us are more equipped to handle any dangers that come up. Crash stays here."

"Because our pilot should have input on which ship we choose." Sienna adds diplomatically. "Aleena, I'll come with you. Might be able to help."

Crash looked between the women, Uh, sure.. I think I can be helpful with that. He looked towards the outcrop in the distance. I will probably be more safe in a scrapyard then investigating some shadow man..

Unless you're mistaken as belonging there... Cadena thinks.

"Then let's waste no time." Cadena says. She immediately begins running towards the outcropping, moving quickly and smoothly. As she reaches the rougher area, she doesn't slow down but begins weaving as she nimbly steps around obstacles and rushes through the brush seemingly untouched, moving like a fish through water. Sienna watches her sister wistfully and sighs, That looks like fun... "Better start now, Barda. My sister isn't known for heeding calls to 'wait up.' Not that I've had to try, I'm as fast as she is." And far more agile. I make her look like a rancor by comparison.

Cadena's experience from solo "expeditions" in Dathomir's outback serves her well and she moves intuitively, hardly having to think about where to step as she blazes on, opening the gap between herself and Barda. She looks to the outcropping as she feels a surge of power rising in her chest, the surge that comes when she gets such a singular focus it starts to block out all other considerations. A thought flashes through her mind that perhaps she should slow down, but the thought is quickly banished and she puts on another burst of speed, harnessing the power instead.

"Hey, wait up for me!" Barda called after Cadena's figure. "Drat, but she's a show-off! Not all of us are rural ty---aaaay!" She yelped as her ankle suddenly gave way underneath her and she had to make a very awkward hop to one side to prevent a sprained ankle.

Just great. Less than a day on this planet, and I'm already at risk from the wilderness, she grumbled mentally to herself. There was a reason why I was glad to get off-planet for my training, and it wasn't for the chance to visit new and dangerous rural landscapes!

Barda twirled her ankle experimentally, wincing a bit, but her basic first aid training indicated that she could just "walk it off". Slowly.

As the pair approach the outcropping, they find that it is a massive formation of granite, most of it worn smooth over hundreds of years of wind and sand. Small trees that found purchase in the crevices and spaces between boulders where sand and soil had accumulated struggled to grow.. On the leeward side, the granite is angled upward at a steep angle, its edges still sharp despite it's age. Over all the perfect formation to hide a ship behind, from a fighter to a large freighter.