The lead Stormtrooper stares at Dex unflinchingly as the human sweats out his tale in the dusty air. Dex is exercising all of the self-control he can muster to not tip his hand, lest the truth be known. Luckily for the scoundrel, he has these types of skills, having gleaned them from countless nights playing cards and hustling for a living. It took a considerable bankroll lost before he learned how to hide the traces of a smile or the mirthful look in his eyes when he had a sure-fire winner of a hand. So many suckers never learned that one. More importantly, however, he learned the keys to a good bluff, able to sound plausible with just the right amount of sincerity, never overdoing it or acting too confident. Nevertheless, in front of the white armored Stormtrooper, his nervous performance is shaky, hastily cobbled together out of desperation. But, somewhere deep down in the gutters of his experience, he's able to dredge up his story which is a cross of circumstance and dumb luck that is just pitiful enough to be the truth, for it could only be luck or the Force that causes the trooper to hand Dex back the manifest.

After handing Dex back his datapads, the Stormtrooper eerily begins repeating what Dex said back to him as if he was under the influence of some kind of spell. "No doubt you would ordinarily purchase your permits and have your client reimburse you. However, I can see by the state of your ship that you have depleted your funds on repairs. Since you are in town until your ship is repaired, I see no reason to quarantine your cargo. I'm sure you have the proper permits in Mos Espa."

The two other Stormtroopers look at each other in confusion, wondering what caused their patrol leader to change his mind, but they are too disciplined to question their superior. The corporal continues after a slight shaking of his head as if to clear out cobwebs, "First Mate, see that you purchase or receive your permits by this time tomorrow when we return. Should you fail to present proper merchant's credentials at that time, we will impound your cargo for violation of the aforementioned code." He then spins on his heels and heads toward the front of the building through the office, signaling for the other two to follow. They dutifully place their rifles at arms and march behind him toward their desert transport.

Once they are gone, Coozer looks over Dex, shaking his head appraisingly. "You silver-tongued son-of-a-bitch. That's a first." He turns and walks off through the dust-filled air with a loud "HA!"

[OOC: Well, it took not only your re-roll Mal, but your force point too, but you managed to talk them into it. Your luck ability is burnt for the day. Mark off your force point on your character sheet too.

Ding. Welcome to level three. Overcoming that encounter puts you at 3k xp. Send me updated character sheets when you have a sec.]