Leyla looked around, wracking her brain for a plausible ruse. Unfortunately the logo of the weapons manufacturer was too common an emblem to disguise. Her eyes drifted to the sealable doors. 

“Ok,” she said, walking quickly across the cargo bay to the maintenance shaft and fishing out the nondescript grey duffel bag that held her few possessions. Unzipping it she pulled out a grey black uniform, the kind low level imperial technicians wore. Without ceremony she stripped out of her travelling garments and wiggled into the technician jumpsuit before adding her jacket and one of her two thigh holsters. The resulting ensemble was a combination of the familiar and the exotic, making her look a little more mysterious than she had in her more comfortable spacers garb. She turned to find Cleo looking at her with an unreadable expression.

“What,” she said defensively, “I pulled a scam back on Mechlan, this was my disguise, sort of.” Reaching into her bag she pulled out a standard comlink, checked the frequency and then tossed it to the Zabrak.

“Find somewhere to hide and then lock the bay down like you did when I was in there,” she explained. They didn’t have much time for her to explain the intricacies of the plan, so she had to hope Cleo was fast on his feet.  If not, well shooting it out with a bunch of stormtroopers wasn’t a good idea, but she would do her best.

“If this works you should get a call from their officer, say something Imperial sounding and then open the doors,” she explained as they headed out of the bay towards the main hatch. 

“What do you…” Cleo began but a firm knocking on the exterior hatch interrupted any further conversation.  

“No time, find somewhere to hide,” she implored. Cleo gave her a final skeptical look and then turned and headed down a side passage. Leyla smoothed her jacket, took a deep breath and then stepped to the hatch control, toggling it open when a hiss. Hot dry air rushed in and an Imperial officer in dust stained gray stood flanked by two troopers. A half dozen more white clad soldiers stood at the base of the boarding ramp. As always the sight of stormtroopers, so similar in appearance to the clones she had known in her youth, made Leyla queasy, but she pushed passed it. Speed was important here.  

“Ah, Excellent timing Lieutenant, I’m glad to see that posting to Tatooine hasn’t eroded your efficiency, I only wish I could say the same for our forces on other outer rim worlds,” she told the officer in a brusque professional tone. She reached out her hand and took the startled officers hand, shaking it firmly. She stepped a little closer than she needed to the officer, and while her right hand gestured theatrically, her left hand slipped the comlink from his pocket, adjusted the frequency to the one she had given Cleo, and slipped it back into place. 

“Well, come on in,” she told the officer, turning as though to walk back into the ship.

“Wait just a minute Captain, we are here to inspect this vessel for …”

“Yes, they told me someone would meet me, as I said come on in,” she repeated. The officer arched an eyebrow in bafflement and then gestured his men forward. The Pantoran led the Imperials into the ship and back towards the cargo bay, only to arrive at the sealed partitions Cleo had erected.

“What is the meaning of this,” the officer demanded, regaining his composure somewhat.

“I need to know what are you carrying Captain…”

“Slade,” Leyla provided, turning and standinding straight, hinting at a posture of attention.

“Leyla Slade. As for what I'm carrying, you will have to tell me,” she explained gesturing to the closed partition.
“What do you…” the officer began, glancing at her Imperial clothing and taking in her military bearing. The barrage of contradictory inputs was designed to keep the officer off balance, to make him uncertain enough that when an explanation presented itself he would jump at it.

“This is how it works, you guys give me a cargo, its sealed away until I get where its supposed to go. They pay me not to ask questions,” she explained, spreading her hands slightly to indicate she wanted no part in it.

“Captain Slade, open these hatches immediately,” the officer demanded. Leyla heaved a put upon sigh.

“You guys are the only one with the codes, call your superiors, tell them that Blue Talon has arrived and that  you need the code to verify the cargo,” she explained nodding at the comlink in the officers pocket. The Imperial scowled for a moment and then picked up the comlink.

“Base this is Lieutenant Haben, I have a ship captain down here claiming to be something called Blue Talon, claims that we have codes she needs to unlock her cargo bay? Please advise?”

Leyla nodded and slouched back against the bulkhead, arms folded in a show of unconcern