''''What...''''


    In the surveince room, Alice watched in horror as three red dots moved on the map disyed on thergest screen. Their trajectory was clear showing that the forty sixth base is their target.


    The rest of the division as well. Panic started to ensue as the three remaining Ragnarok Heralds headed their way, and as if that alone wasn''t bad enough, new Cmities started popping out one after the other heading in the same direction.


    Seeing the sea of red dots closing in on the same point, it became clear that the final assault has began.


    ''''Send word to other bases!'''' Alice ordered in hermanding tone. ''''We took one of them down and will do the same with the rest! Buy us as much time as you can, humanity will prevail in this war!!!''''


    The soldiers were awestruck by the confidence theirmander spoke with. They had just learned that their side had struck down one of the Heralds in one attack, and though they didn''t get the time to celebrate that victory, the fact that they had the power to do it gave them all the hope they needed.


    The Doctor had made good on his word and made a weapon that leveled the ying field. If a few hours are all he needs to ensure that theye out on top then they would stop at nothing to secure them for him.


    With the headquarters gone the third Resistance base took over coordinating between the all of the others. With this possibly being thest stand every avable Valkyrie was made to head straight toward the enemy with slowing them down as their goal.


    Twenty nine were sent to face Fenrir, the great ck wolf whopletely wiped out the twenty forth and fifth bases. A total of forty Valkyries were delegated to Niddhog who led thergest armying from the east. The remaining sixty three were sent to intercept Fafnir, the obsidian dragon that brought down the United States in a single night.


    The remaining eighteen were gathered in the living room of Valkyrie residence in the forty sixth base. They had been gathered by the base''s physician, Sam Sanderson, for what he deemed an important announcement.


    Sitting on the couch at the center were the base''s designated Valkyries, Zero Three, Zero five and Nine. Just like the others they woreplicated expressions; a mix of fear, anger and determination, having epted the fact that this might be theirst battle.


    ''''I gathered you all to reveal something important and to ask for a favor.'''' Sam said, looking over the crowd of beautiful women.


    Most of them were in tightbat suits that stimted his desire, but now was not the time to get aroused. He turned his sight to his personal Valkyries, specifically Zero Three, remembering the day she cried in his arms after having a terrifying dream.


    ''''Some of you might have noticed it already, but you are no longer the same Valkyries as before.'''' Sam took a deep breath, suddenly feeling a lot more pressure than before. ''''The fact that you ignored the order to defend the headquarters, instead prioritizing your own safety and survival, means that you lost something that made you the weapons we relied on in this war.''''


    As if to confirm what he said, several Valkyries averted their gazes, their lips tightly pursed and their brows furrowed. They must''ve realized it as well, that they were no longer the same lifeless weapons as before.


    ''''But don''t be mistaken. That isn''t necessarily a bad thing.'''' Sam said, drawing their attention to him once again. ''''You thoughts are no longer restrained, neither are your feelings. That allows you to make your own decisions, your own choices. We created you to fight this war in our stead, you never had a say in that. But now you do, and I won''t me you if you make the decision to abandon this war.''''


    Silence made its presence as Sam waited for someone to speak. It wasn''t an easy thing toprehend; their powers, stunning looks and eternal youth aside, there was no easy way to tell if Valkyries are any different from normal humans.


    He didn''t need to perform a Turing test to know that much. His interactions with those three over the time he worked as their physician made it difficult to write them off as nothing but advanced AI, and when he started to get intimate with them, feeling their affection and the happiness that came from having them by his side, he had no choice but to admit to himself that they were the same as humans and that they deserved to be treated as such.


    Sam might not be the most honest person out there, nor is he a good man by any means, however he has a strong conviction, and now that he has decided that the Valkyries deserve a choice had no intention on pressuring them into something they didn''t want.


    ''''Haaa... I kept my mouth shut and listened all the way but...'''' as the atmosphere in the room grew heavier, one of the Valkyries finally spoke. ''''What are you even talking about, old man?''''


    Hearing the way she addressed him with, Five, Nine and Miku turned her way with re, only Three shrunk in her ce reminded of the way she used to behave toward him.


    The Valkyrie met their gazes with a stern look. She seemed a little different from the rest. Valkyries in general had feminine looks and mannerism, however this one had a bit of a wild appearance, with short gray hair and sharp ruby eyes that enhanced the annoyed gaze she directed at Sam. Her height was average, neither as short as the young ones or tall like the mature ones, but what might be the strangest thing about her was how average the size of her chest was, making her seem out of ce when the others are either t like a board or packing some serious badonkers.


    ''''You say we can now make our own choices, and that we can choose not to fight.'''' Gritting her teeth, her brows inched closer as her anger grew. ''''But do we, really?''''


    Sam remained silent, understanding what the pale Valkyrie was getting at.


    ''''The enemy ising for us all, whether it''s human or Valkyrie. And since your kind can''t do shit about them the ones who have to stop them are us.''''


    She took a step forward, walking toward Sam as she spoke. The others moved aside making way for her, but his four personal Valkyries stood protectively in front of him silently warning her to stay away.


    ''''How about youe out and just say it?'''' Crossing her arms, she met Sam''s eyes and said what should''ve been obvious. ''''Either we go out and fight or do nothing and die. In the end there isn''t much of a choice for us, is there?''''


    ''''... Correct.'''' Sam admitted, refusing to avert his gaze.


    ''''Then stop pretending like we do!''''


    ''''Calm down, CS. The man does have a point.''''


    A certain young Valkyrie stepped in to defuse the pale one''s anger. Though her braided hair made it a bit difficult to recognize at first, Sam remembered her the moment he saw her Asian features.


    ''''Nino. You''re siding with them now?'''' The pale one said.


    ''''I''m simply saying that he makes some sense.'''' The Japanese dole spoke in a voice that seemed to hide a lot of pain and doubt. ''''Before we had no say in whether we fight or not. We were nothing but tools for the humans to extend their sorry lives.'''' Shifting her gaze back to Sam, she continued. ''''However it will be different from now on. We will be fighting for our own sake from now on. For our own survival. Not because humans ordered us to, but because it''s what we have to do.''''


    Silence took over once more as the Valkyries contemted the wordsing from one of their own.


    ''''Still... going out there just to get destroyed...'''' CS grumbled, her clenched fists trembling.


    The others seemed to share her thoughts, only his personal Valkyries seemed to be determined to throw away their lives. Though she didn''t share the blind trust they had in that man, there was one Valkyrie that didn''t appear to be conflicted like the rest.


    ''''That might not necessarily be the case.'''' Nino said, her eyes still locked onto the Doctor. ''''Therge explosion from before. That wasn''t the Cmities doing, right?''''


    Though many of them had noticed that the second sun was way too far for it to be an enemy attack, it never urred to the Valkyries that the one responsible for it was among them all along.


    Motioning for his protective harem to stand down, Sam took w deep breath and looked over the crowd once more.


    ''''I have found a way that enables us to use the same powers as the Nephilim.''''


    ? Many of them had their eyes wide at those news, however they all realized that there is a catch to something like that.


    ''''It requires a modified heart for it to be possible, but sadly the materials we currently have aren''t enough to create a new one for each of you.'''' Pausing for a moment, Sam looked at his personal Valkyries one more time before saying the solution he came up with. ''''In order to increase the number our only choice would be to modify your own hearts. Though I''ve managed to make it work with a spare one, I have no guarantee that the same will be true for the ones inside of you.''''


    Things would''ve been much simpler if the Valkyrie blue prints didn''t turn out to be fake. Since he had no idea on how their AI, their minds, work, Sam couldn''t possibly guess how it would react to an essential part of them being tempered with.


    Even if there are no problems and the hearts proved to activate normally, the Valkyries would then have to learn how to create the symbols on their own, which would be a much moreplicated task than extending the force field to cover their weapons.


    ''''If... if you need someone to try it... then I volunteer to be the first.''''


    The one to speak drawing everyone''s attention to her was Zero Three. Ignoring the others she stepped forward and looked Sam in the eyes, her golden irises brimming with determination.


    ''''I''m done being afraid.''''