Henry Stickmin Oneshots And More!

Valiant Heroes: Part Two

A part two to Valiant Heroes oneshot. How did Charles and Burt die, anyway?

This one is mostly just setting up the story for the actual angst, there isn't much angst here. But there will be.

Have a good day, or night, and I'll catch y'all later!

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A truce between the government and the new Toppat orbital station. Inconceivable, right? The two factions could never work together.

Wrong.

When Sven Svensson, the new and youngest Toppat leader in history, had proposed the idea, his advisors had thought him crazy. They were thieves, not law enforcers! Was he out of his mind?

But Sven had remained firm.

"I'm not saying we have to become law abiding citizens," He'd said. "But we need some sort of protection.
"Yes, up here we're safe from hostile factions. But we're also isolated. If something were to happen to us, we would have no allies, no form of help. A truce would prevent that from happening.
"If I'm wrong, we can always cut ties. But we need to at least try to work with the government, for the safety of everyone on board."

Some more reluctantly than others, everyone had agreed. Young as he was, Sven was still the leader, and he had the final say in things like this.

So now Sven stood at the station landing deck, adjusting his tie nervously. Even though this was his idea, he was having second thoughts. What if he was wrong? What if this didn't work? What if they couldn't reach a consensus? What if-

"Sven," Burt Curtis, Sven's second in command, placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Hmm?" Sven looked at him.

Burt adjusted Sven's collar. "This is going to be fine, you hear? You are not going to be a failure if this doesn't work. If anything, it'll be the government's fault we don't reach an agreement. Not yours."

"Was I thinking out loud?" Sven asked.

"No. But I know you." Burt lightly kissed Sven's forehead. "And I know you're worrying over nothing. You are fully capable of doing this. Anyone who can launch a rocket can do anything."

Sven smiled, but it was still slightly strained. "Thanks."

He didn't have much more time to worry, because a few minutes later, the government ship landed at the dock.

Sven took a deep breath to calm himself, then put on a smile and stepped forward as General Hubert Galeforce stepped out of the ship, along with Henry Stickmin and Charles Calvin.

Sven couldn't stop the bitter taste that rose in his mouth as he saw Charles and Henry. If not for them, dad and pappa would be here and Sven wouldn't have had to take charge.

But he could tolerate their presence for now.

Sven didn't let his smile falter as he made a small bow to Galeforce. The gesture was enough to be respectful without being subservient. "General Galeforce, how kind of you to make it."

"You're Svensson, then?" Galeforce asked.

"Sven Svensson, at your service," Sven said. "And this is my second in command, Burt Curtis. We welcome you to the Toppat station."

"Hi," Was all Burt said. His voice sounded strained, for some reason.

Sven glanced at him, then realized what was wrong.

All three of the government workers had guns.

Burt would completely freeze up if someone held a gun. It didn't matter who it was. Guns that weren't drawn were okay so long as he trusted the person who had it- Sven himself always had a pistol on hand and he was fine.

Burt could probably handle one enemy with a gun. Probably. Maybe. Hopefully. But any more that that? It obviously took a lot of willpower just to speak.

He needs to get out of here, Sven thought. "Would you like to take a tour of the rocket before we get to negotiations?" He asked Galeforce. "I would be willing to show you around."

Galeforce agreed, and as they left, Sven glanced back at Burt and tipped his head to the other exit door. Board room, he mouthed.

Burt nodded, relief evident on his face. He turned and left, and Sven breathed a small sigh of relief. One problem down.

Now he just had to convince Galeforce and the other two to get rid of their weapons before they got to the board room.

~Time Skip~

"Did this take a lot of time to build?" Henry asked, looking around as they walked through the rocket.

Sven nodded. "Absolutely. The original plans were made over thirty years ago. The actual construction only started about five or ten."

"Really? We only heard about it a few months ago," Charles said.

"Well, that's because we did this through mostly legal channels for once. Building a rocket wasn't against the law. None of us actually had a license to launch it, however," Sven explained.

"Who flies this thing?" Henry asked.

"Right now it just floats in orbit," Sven replied. "If there are any course corrections or flying it becomes necessary, that's my job. A few other Toppats also know the controls as well."

"Can I fly it?" Charles asked.

"Not a chance."

Henry looked at the paintings on the wall. "There's a lot of valuable stuff here."

"Henry, I said you could come on this mission if you promised to behave," Galeforce said sternly. "No stealing."

Sven laughed. "You'd have a hard time getting past our security system. Believe me, people have tried."

"Security system?" Henry asked curiously.

"It's complicated," Sven said. "But long story short, for a long time there was kind of chaos in the Clan. The majority of people here are kleptomaniacs and pickpockets, and the stealing problem got out of hand. Unfortunately, the leader did nothing about it."

"Reginald?" Henry guessed.

Sven shook his head. "Before him the leader was a person named Terrence. He was terrible, so we threw him overboard. Anyway, after this stealing problem got out of hand, a few others designed a system. At every doorway there would be a metal detector type thing, and if you had any stolen items, then it would start beeping. Lowered thefts a lot."

"Really?" Henry looked back at the doorway they'd just passed.

"Mhm. Watch." Sven picked up a random gold wristband from one of the conveniently placed tables and walked through the doorway. A beeping sound filled the air. "See? No way to get away with petty theft here."

He tossed the wristband over his shoulder. "Pick still tries almost every day. We almost got to the point of locking him up for a few weeks so he could chill, but he ended up pickpocketing the keys off of Dave. Amusing, but annoying."

"Pick?" Henry asked.

"A nickname," Sven said. "For the single most skilled and annoying kleptomaniac on board. Pick once stole my hat off my head while he was talking to me and I still have no clue how he managed it." He shook his head and stopped just in front of the boardroom door. "I'm going to have to ask you leave your guns here, General."

"Why?" Galeforce asked.

"Confidential reasons," Sven said. He didn't want to advertise Burt's phobia to the world, even to people he'd hopefully be allied with in the near future. "But trust me when I say that this meeting cannot progress unless you take off your weapons."

"..." Galeforce looked hesitant. After all, who would want to be weaponless on a ship filled with enemies- even if they were here under protection? But after a moment he set his pistol on a desk.

Henry and Charles did the same.

Sven smiled with relief. At least now Burt could participate without having to deal with unnecessary fear.

"Alright then," He said, opening the door. "Right this way, General."