The cockpit rumbled with the force of the huge engines. The raggedy spaceship could barely stay together as it reached cruising speeds well into lightspeed territory. Arven grinned his death’s head grin, and pulled up hard on the yoke. A quick twist later, he was above the pursuing fleet of police ships. Before the officers knew what was happening, their ships were coming apart around them, rocked by explosions and pierced through by lances of laser light. Arven’s grin widened as the vacuum of space drowned out the screams he knew he would otherwise be hearing. He kept on course to the client, knowing that he, his cargo, and his paycheck were all safe for today.
Black Licorice pulled into the sleek space station’s docking bay, and the doors slammed shut behind it. Another set of doors opened up to the side of the ship, and a man in a gaudy formal outfit, bespectacled with jewelry, approached. “Arven!”, he cheered at the side of the ship, “My boy! Did ya get it?!” The man jumped up and down, unable to contain his excitement. “Yeah, Leeroy, I got it.”, Arven sneered from the top of the ship’s lowering gangplank. “Come on in and have a look.” As soon as the magnets had locked the gangplank into place, Leeroy proceeded. Fending off an extremely aggressive hug, Arven brought Leeroy into the back of the ship and opened up the cargo chamber. Inside, a group of seven large robots stood in a circle, anchored by the tops of their feet to the floor of the cargo bay. Leeroy ran to examine them, but found himself on his haunches thanks to Arven’s right arm blocking his path. “Tut tut, Leeroy. You may want to stay back for a bit. These guys are more special than your precious books led you to believe.” As Leeroy got to his feet, Arven shouted “Release!” into the cargo bay, and the straps around the robots’ feet went into the floor.
The robots began to move in unison, walking toward Arven. They all stopped a few inches away from him. “What is your command?”, the center robot asked. Arven looked them all over. They were all mostly the same, save for the colored ribbons of light that danced across their limbs and faces. Each was about thirty feet tall, with squared shoulders, thin and sleek limbs, and disturbingly humanlike faces, made all the more disturbing by the fact that they all looked alike. “Heed my words, Units!”, Arven shouted up at the robots. His small frame was betrayed by a booming voice that echoed commandingly across the cargo bay. “The man standing next to me is Leeroy, and from this moment on, he is your master!”
The Units turned in unison toward Leeroy, and he groaned nervously. “A-Arven”, he stuttered, “Are you sure they’ll listen to me?” Arven nodded curtly. “I kicked their metal asses with Liberalia and captured them. They have to listen to me. If I tell them to listen to you, they have no choice.” Leeroy nodded, then stepped before Arven to address the robots. “Do you accept human pilots?”, Leeroy asked sheepishly. The middle Unit, its large eyes glowing a calming shade of blue, got down on one knee and placed its open hand on the ground. Leeroy got on the hand, and was conveyed to the Unit’s head. The flat top of its head opened up to reveal a comfortable-looking chair and a range of controls that surrounded it. Leeroy clambered down, crashing to the floor of the Unit’s cockpit in a heap. After taking a few seconds to collect himself, he sat in the chair and gripped the nearest two control sticks. The Unit stood up straight. “That is improper control form, Master Leeroy.”, the Unit said matter-of-factly. “I can teach you. Are you prepared for synchronization?” Sweat pooled on Leeroy’s brow. He had read about this in the ancient texts. His mind and the Unit’s would become one, and he would be in total control. He gulped. “Yes, Unit. Let’s synchronize.” A helmet descended from the now-closed top of the cockpit, and engulfed Leeroy’s vision. The next second, he looked around and was face to face with the other six Units. He looked down, and Arven smiled and waved at him.
Leeroy shook with excitement, and the Unit did the same. He could feel his hands moving over the controls, but had no idea what he was doing. He took a breath to calm himself, then put his right hand in front of his face. In his field of vision, the Unit’s large metallic hand appeared. He made a fist. The Unit did the same. “Wwwwwow!”, he cried, “Arven, get in the red Unit! You have got to try this!” The red Unit, standing next to the Blue one, knelt and held out a hand to receive Arven. He shrugged. “Why the hell not?” He hopped on, and leapt down into the pilot’s chair. “Alright, Unit!”, he shouted, “Let’s get synchronized!” The cockpit closed, and the sync helmet covered Arven’s head. Instantly, he could tell something was different with his Unit. He felt attached to it. “Arven!”, Leeroy shouted, “Your Unit is glowing! What the hell did you do?!” Arven shook his head, and the red Unit did the same. “I-I don’t know!”, he spat out, “But I feel like I belong in this pilot’s chair. Leeroy, take five mil off my pay for this job and gimme this unit!” The blue Unit jumped. “Dude, that’s like half the pay! Are you sure?!” Arven and his unit nodded in unison, then offered Leeroy’s Unit a hand. The two robots shook their giant steel hands to seal the deal.
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