Ragnarok Heralds.

"We lost… the second base?" 

Sam was shocked to the point of speechlessness, his face going several shades paler.

"Surely you've seen footage of it before, right?" Alice said. "Jörmungandr."

"The giant sea serpent…"

"Yes. Three days ago it suddenly left the North Atlantic Ocean and invaded France. The second base was preparing for such an attack for years, with seven Valkyries being stationed there, however after a ruthless battle they were all wiped out."

"But you said-"

"Jörmungandr was heavily damaged." The commander interrupted. "Reinforcements arrived late but they were able to finish it off."

Sam had to take a few seconds to let the news sink in. Jörmungandr was one of the five S-class Calamities that brought the end of the world, erasing entire countries in a single night killing billions soon after their appearance. The devastation they brought earned them the title of the Ragnarok Heralds; messengers who brought about the apocalypse. 

Those existences had the ability to wipe the planet clean of humans. The only reason humanity survived was that, after their first emergence, the Heralds stepped back and did nothing, giving the survivors time to gather and the Resistance a chance to form.

Taking one down was a big win for humanity. However, the thought of those logic-defying monsters being on the move again rang countless alarm bells in the heads of those still sane enough to understand the implications.

"What about the others?" Sam asked, his voice slightly shaking. 

"The other four didn't change their movement pattern neither before nor after Jörmungandr," Alice said, sounding quite a bit relieved. "We are still safe for the time being, but just like with the second base, we don't know for sure. It would be idiotic to think things will stay the way they are."

The forty sixth base is located in what was once called South Africa. The region didn't have many Calamities lurking around and the base didn't experience any direct attacks ever since it was established. In addition to that, they were as far away from the Heralds as one could get. Nevertheless, no one believed they were completely safe. The way Calamities operated and the patterns of their actions were a mystery; no one knew where and when they would make their next move making it likely that any place in the world was a target.

Jörmungandr was the sole reason why Western Europe was left untouched for a long while. Now that it has been defeated the Resistance will finally be able to reclaim two continents, reshaping the frontline so it would encompass the entire western coastline of both Europe and Africa. It was a huge win indeed.

That said, losing seven Valkyries was a hefty blow to humanity. The weapons weren't something that could be mass-produced on demand and it took quite some time for a new batch to come out. Seven of them being destroyed along with the second Resistance base will surely leave a scar that won't heal for quite a while.

"Seven are gone, huh…" Sam lowered his gaze, bringing out a mental map of the current locations of the Ragnarok Heralds. 

'Fenrir and Niddhog are still in the same areas in Russia and East Asia, while Jotnar and Fafnir reside in South and North America respectively...'

The latter two weren't much of a concern at the moment as the sea stood in their way, though no one knew whether it was actually blocking them or they just didn't want to cross it. It's one of the reasons each of the bases along the western African coast has only five Valkyries at most.

Fenrir and Niddhog are a much bigger headache since their territories are directly connected to the ones controlled by humans. The bases on that side of the frontline have up to ten Valkyries and are situated close to each other in preparation for when the monstrosities resume the war.

"I would say seven is a cheap price to pay for such a victory," Alice said, crossing her fingers with her elbows on the desk. "Though the amount of human casualties leaves much to be desired, what concerns me the most isn't our losses."

Sam could only raise an eyebrow at her statement, not understanding where she was going with that. The white haired woman gazed at him for a while before sighing. 

"Four of the seven Valkyries in the second base are from the same generation as Zero Three." She said, observing Sam's reaction carefully. "Having read the report you sent out, something immediately caught my attention."

Zero Three wasn't just the youngest Valkyrie in terms of appearance. She was also from the latest generation that had been produced three years ago. One of the characteristics members of this generation shared was their more realistic proportions, in addition to all of them looking and acting like teenage girls. 

"You said she has been especially rude in recent days." Alice looked at the paper with the report before glancing up at the Doctor. "To tell you the truth, during my last visit to the headquarters, I heard rumors of this happening in other bases where those units were stationed. The second was one of them."

"That… doesn't sound very good…" Sam commented, the feeling he got when Zero Three lost her temper coming back much stronger.

"It's said that they're just behaving according to their personalities and that alone shouldn't affect their combat abilities. Still, many share your concern that they have been crossing the line recently. Now that four of them have been lost it's only a matter of time before fingers get pointed at the others."

"Well, the reply I received made it sound like I'm the crazy one." 

Sam looked back on everything that had happened. The small argument he had with the young Valkyrie scared him quite a bit. It also led to her having a fight with Nine who rarely ever gets angry. The two reconciled afterwards so he had concluded that it was just the young one being a little rebellious.

"Though I understand where you're coming from, I don't think there is any problem with the Valkyries," Sam said, recalling Zero Three's determination as she promised him that she would survive. "Yesterday Zero Three came and apologized for what she said. I think we just don't know how to interact with the AIs properly. Odin created them a certain way for a reason so maybe the way we treat them is reflected in how they behave around us."

A hint of annoyance appeared on Alice's face as she leaned on the back of her seat.

"Odin, huh? I don't know what that idiot was thinking when making those weapons. I mean, couldn't he make them more efficient instead of… that?"

"Well, it's difficult to guess what goes on in the mind of a genius."

Sam couldn't help but roll his eyes at his own statement, same as what Alice had just done. Everyone knew why the Valkyries were created that way. There was no need to read the secret files to make a guess.

"Anyways, even if it's just a rumor, we can't just ignore the potential danger we might find ourselves in." Straightening her back, the commander took a paper and slid it toward the doctor. "That's why I have a little job for you."

Reading through the document, Sam's eyes slowly widened. It might've appeared he was once again shocked to the point of speechlessness, seeing his raised eyebrows and how he covered his mouth, but the truth was that he didn't want his childhood friend to notice the grin that had crept onto his face. It seems that his luck has yet to run out.