cap said:
That doesn’t make sense. If they had gone to a place where ships can be hired (Mos Eisley on Tatooine, or a similar place), Tarkin would have gone, “That must be where the Rebel base is! Destroy that planet!”?

Of course. And it would have sucked for Mos Eisley on Tatooine, or a similar place! You do realize everyone working under Darth Vader has to be slightly dumber than Vader, and judging by what an absolute retard Anakin was it has got to be a challenge for them to find people meeting that criteria. I suppose then that Tarkin, while he seems a pretty intelligent guy, must be one of the finest idiots they could find in the galaxy, and beyond a doubt the sort of fellow who blow up Tantooine with the simple comment, "Well, these rrrrrrebels have certainly done a convincing job of disguising themselves as a simple spaceport filled with the typical aliens and traders. Glad the Prrrrincessss was foolish enough to lead us hear, rrrather than seeking out a waypoint to abandon our transmitter first. Gunners! You may fire when ready!"

G E Predator said:
"if Leia know that the Falcon was being tracked, wouldn't she have tried to find and disarm the homing beacon?" Again, another simple answer: Han Solo would not allow anyone to mess with his ship in anyway for whatever reason.

ROTFL! I like this predator guy.