The sounds of busy Meks and goblins surrounded me as I explored the depths of my mind. I’d tried thinking in silence, and while it had helped me focus, the anomalies in my mind seemed to shrink and fade the farther I strayed from the commotion. I’d then tried thinking while fixing up the suit’s legs, but that required far too much attention, so I settled for a middle ground. Row after row of Rokket skeletons sat before me, most of them sized for Grots. The skeleton was extremely easy to make from my massive pile of steel plates, and were just interesting enough to draw Orky me to the surface, where I could perform my experiments. Rather than sit back and poke Orky me for ideas, I allowed him to take control over most of my physical body, while I stayed firmly in control of the mind. This particular experiment was incredibly difficult, and led to plenty of mishaps, hence the choice to work on Grot equipment, rather than actual Stormboy Rokketz.

With the thinking parts in my control, I was able to focus Orky me on specifics, which allowed me to avoid some of the problems that came with Orky Mek work, such as random Kustomizations, shoddy quality, and constant distractions. Of course, this method left an Ork in control of the actual work, so precision was out of the question. No two Rokketz had the same amount of lateral beams, dimensions, or number of reinforcing horizontal hoops between the lateral structure. Definitely not the best work, but I wasn’t doing everything myself. Not anymore. You see, after I’d given Orky me physical control, he had promptly rounded up a couple dozen Grots, and put them to work on the simpler, more repeatable tasks, such as the reshaping of sheets into the skeletal bars. Seeing the Grots perform useful tasks, and with much of my mental capacity opened up by letting the Orky side take over manual efforts, I was able to seize on the idea, and had gotten Grikkle to gather some forty odd goblins that he vouched were the best Grot engineers in the area. These were seated all around me, ordered to watch my every move as I created the Rokketz. Normally, such a task would be beyond the focus of your average Grot, but once it was mentioned that they would be allowed to make their own Rokketz and form a special team alongside Grikkle, well, let's just say they were extremely willing students.

Taking over long enough to organize Grikkle had taken a toll, however, as I had to supplant Orky me for a short period of time, something that was both tiresome and dangerous. The ball of Orkyness had clawed at my physique when I’d tried shoving it aside, which resulted in a massive headache, part of the reason I’d built so many skeletons, rather than start work on the innards. I was not excited to try such complex work with a headache and with an Ork in control of the manual bits. But when the Rokket skeletons started to stretch close to the triple digits, it was time to move on. Being in control of the mind, it was fairly easy to change focus, but it lead to unforeseen consequences.

‘No, you daft Ork! The damn fuel pipe valves have to be properly sealed!’ Orky me, or Brainless, as I was beginning to call him, had started to move on before completing the finishing touches on the pipes that lead between the fuel tank and the engine, half-way into ordering a Grot to finish the job. This was about showing the Grots how to do this themselves. Making them do it without instruction was completely counterintuitive! That is how you get Ork quality equipment, and I was in no mood for a bunch of Grots flying around in leaky Rokketz. Brainless stumbled a bit as the orders from genetic instructions clashed with those from the brain. He turned from the Rokket, back to the grots, and back again, trying to decide which instructions to follow. My orders eventually won out, but not before confusing the hell out of me and Brainless as body and mind fought for control, worsening on my already substantial headache.

Brainless wrapped up the pipes, but rather than continue with wiring up the engine and welding the plating on, I appealed to the growing hunger in us, and ordered a break. Brainless shouted orders at the Grots, and a couple scampered off in search of food. We sat on a rock and waited, boredom starting to set in. The food arrived before any trouble started, and soon, Brainless was sated, slightly bored, and sleepy. I gently coaxed the body to sleep, and right before we hit the sack, I shoved at the blob of Orkyness that sat lazily atop the metaphorical throne that was control of my body. The ball of physique tumbled from its perch, drowsy and surprised. I tackled it, hitting it over the head with lust, complex riddles, and plenty of children's nursery rhymes. If the battle had taken place in reality, it would resemble something like a wiry teen choking out a massive, overweight baby while forcing it to perform algebra, and whispering a bedtime story in its ear.

The combination of surprise, sleepiness, and the power of confusing human thoughts were enough to put Brainless down, and I was able to assert full control. With a woop, I jumped to my feet, stretching to regain familiarity with my body. Once sure of my control and precision, I turned to the waiting goblins. “Alright, you lot. I’z shown you all how you get fings goin’, now it’z your turn. Grab a Rokket, and get to work! Use dis one as an example, and don’t screw fings up, cause dat Rokketz dah only one you’z gonna get. Break it, you’z gotta fix it yourself.” The crowd literally exploded into action as soon as it was clear I was finished addressing them. Some ran to gather tools, while the clever ones rushed the onlooking goblin ranks, rounding up several lesser Grots and Snotlings as assistants. The wave of greenskins poured over the rows of Rokketz, promethium torches burning and hammers pounding. I stalked down the line, examining each in turn, looking for any that stood out from the rest. It was difficult to distinguish between the genius and the foolish, as any changes they made to the overall design would go untested for a while, so I stuck to focusing on those that followed the example properly.

Most of them failed to follow through with the more delicate portions, and I had little doubt that half of them would fail to maintain stability for long, and some would probably just die before liftoff, but I made no corrections. I wasn’t going to waste time helping the lesser, I was looking to weed them out. Those whose Rokketz failed would be kicked out, with the worst offenders probably ending up dead anyway. I made several markings on the tops of those Rokketz that stood out in quality, which earned me beaming smiles from my tiny minions. Once some of the Rokketz started to get wrapped up, I moved back to the example piece, and started thinking of how to properly organize the Grots to be used as both workers and fighters with minimal resource use and effort. My original intent had been to form the Grots into teams, each assigned to keeping a single Stormboy equipped and fed, but that left them with little use in combat. Grots were great as waves of disposable flesh, but training replacements would be tiresome work, something I just couldn't be bothered with. But having non-combat greenskins in my mob was unthinkable. I wasn't going to waste precious space in my future fleet of vehicles for some little goblin whose only purpose was to keep a Rokket functional. So how to make them useful....

Nothing decent came to mind as I busied myself cranking out the little black boxes that would serve as the Rokket controls. Soon, the goblins started clammering for me to finish the Rokket, so I shelved the thought, and quickly showed the eager goblins how to put in the final touches. I made sure all of them paid close attention to the details of the engines, as they were by far the most complex parts. I explained in detail how each part was supposed to function, heavily embellishing so the greenskins believed it would work as I said, which, according to my limited knowledge of Ork Teknology, would actually work some Warpy magic to make the pieces actually do what they thought they should do. And as I was clearly an expert in such matters, having made incredibly reliable bits of technology that they had all worked with and seen first hand, they believed me utterly, even when I explained that the small metal box filled with thin copper discs and wiring would control the stability of the Rokket, and handle all the input from the controls.

I spent a lot of time going over each bit several times to hammer home the more unusual pieces that were clearly alien to the normal Orky methods. I couldn’t help but worry that it was all going above their heads, and the enthusiastic nodding only helped reinforce the fear. I was asking a lot of the goblins, having them make an entire Rokket by themselves, even if they had a full example to examine and base their own off of. After I couldn’t justify repeating myself anymore, the goblins starting to get bored, I finished the Rokket, and selected a lucky Grot to test it. I couldn’t help but worry as the little creature strapped in, and started up the engine. It was far from the quality I had put into my previous creations, and there was a very real risk of the Rokket malfunctioning. But despite my fears, the greenskin lifted off as smooth as you like, hovering over the adoring crowd, then performing several shaky loops in the air. The crowd exploded in cheers, followed by a mass exodus as they scrambled to finish their own Rokketz.

I watched with amused excitement as they began wiring up the engines, though I had to spend plenty of time cranking out the little black boxes for when they got to the final phase. I had to shoo a few of the faster ones away, making them start adding the plating, as I hadn’t finished enough of the boxes, still making more of the components. Eventually, I made enough parts, and got around to putting them all together, each disappearing from my table as soon as it was put down. Plenty of fights broke out over who got them first, but I ignored them. Goblins will be goblins, after all. And soon enough, the air was filled with dozens of flying greenskins, wooping and screaming as they sailed about the air. More than a few ended up exploding or crashing, but that only added to the excitement and hilarity. Fun was had by all, and life was good. I could get used to living like this.