VALKYRIE SMASH

Following his meeting with Thor Sam went back to his office and continued working on something else. Normally he would've liked to do everything in his lab, but today had to be different since he was awaiting a visit from a certain someone.

His phone lit up with a notification that the airplane had landed. A few minutes later the door opened and a familiar face stood in front of his desk.

"Welcome back, Lieutenant Ranford." He said with a smirk.

"It has been a while, Doctor." Melissa said. "Or should I say General?"

The red haired woman was Melissa Ranford, an old acquaintance of Sam's, though that would be a stretch since it's been only a few months since he last saw her.

"Doctor is fine." He replied. "I would rather my friends keep calling me that."

He had an inkling that she wouldn't be happy to see him. Though she was promoted to a lieutenant because of him, in the end he was the one who sent her away along with the rest of the human soldiers.

"So we are friends now? Is that why you tossed me aside as soon as you were done creating heaven?"

"Hey now, I'm sure you know it's way more complicated than that." Sam paused for a moment. "... Heaven?"

Melissa raised an eyebrow, a hint of a smile appearing on her lips.

"You don't know?"

"I think I have an idea but…"

"You gathered all Valkyries in one place. What else would you call it?" She shook her head slowly. "It has become a legend at this point. The promised land everyone wants to reach. I've even heard of some that attempted the journey."

"That's… pretty stupid…"

"Thankfully they were all caught. Well, it's not that easy to travel across the world nowadays."

As someone who understands the Valkyries' appeal very well, Sam understood how others might feel about a place where they're all gathered. Heaven was indeed a suitable name. With so many angels gathered there any human would think it's the final destination in their life.

"Heaven, huh…"

After a few seconds of contemplation Sam smiled once more. He then turned to his guest and motioned for her to sit. Soon after the door opened and a young girl came in.

Melissa was doing her best to stay calm seeing the Valkyrie who escorted her to the General's office, but when she saw the tray in her hands she couldn't help being shocked. As the Valkyrie poured tea into one of the cups before placing it in front of her, Melissa kept glaring at Sam refusing to believe he was making a Valkyrie do suck mundane jobs.

"Thank you, Nana. You may leave now."

"Understood."

The door closed and the two were once again alone. The red haired woman snapped almost immediately.

"What's going on here!!?"

Sam sat on the opposite sofa then gave her a confused look.

"What?"

"You're making a Valkyrie serve tea!!? What in the world is wrong with you!?"

"Calm down." He realized that telling her that was a big mistake. Women hated nothing more than to be told to calm down when they were angry. Fortunately it seems her attention was diverted back to the cup before she lost it. Apparently getting to drink tea brewed and served by a Valkyrie was too much to pass on. He watched as she swallowed her drool then reached for the cup with shaking hands, and after downing the first sip, a look of absolute bliss took over her face as she savored the taste.

"Enjoying your tea?" She probably would've liked to do so a little more but his voice brought her back to reality.

"You can't begin to understand how envious I am right now." She took another sip and a blissful smile spread on her face. "You are here surrounded by angels and you get to enjoy this every day."

Her statement almost made him spit his drink. Though he had no reason to hide it anymore Sam wasn't sure if it was alright to be open about his relationship with the Valkyries. Who knows what an enthusiastic fan like Melissa would do if she were to learn that he was sleeping with them.

His worries were unnecessary. Without a warning Melissa's tone changed dramatically and her eyes pierced him with a sharp gaze. The smile she wore was done and a serious expression took over her face alerting him to whatever she was about to say.

"Say, Doctor." She spoke. "Are you playing at being God?"

Sam looked back at her and remained calm. He took a sip of the fragrant brew then placed his cup down.

"Is that what you think I'm doing?"

"You surround yourself with angels and chase all humans away, creating Heaven where your rule is absolute. What words better describe your actions."

It was easy to see what she meant, even if it was nothing more than a conclusion fueled by the fantasies of some mundane soldiers. That said, there are no better words to describe what he was doing. Gathering the Valkyries, allying with the Nephilim, joining the race to Akasha. One could say that his objective was the same as Zeus and all other tyrants; to become a true god.

Still, even with all of that said and done, Sam still believed that he was doing the right thing. In the first place he was an atheist, he didn't believe in gods and thus didn't believe it was possible to become one. In his opinion the race to Akasha was more of a competition for a super weapon. To protect those he cares about he was willing to do whatever it took to stop anyone from getting their hands on it.

"Melissa, do you remember our first meeting?"

The lieutenant paused for a few seconds before answering.

"How could I ever forget? It was the first time I got to speak with one of the goddesses of our base. I have the board she signed hung at my office."

Lifting his cup, Sam smiled at the memory, remembering how the soldiers rushed around to get Three's autograph. He was sure the young Valkyrie cherished the memory as well.

"Three was feeling really down that day." He said. "The last battle ended badly and Five got badly injured. It left her quite depressed so I couldn't leave her alone."

Sam gauged Melissa's reaction as he spoke. She went from being confused about why he would bring the topic to having a sudden revelation, her eyes gradually widening.

"At the time we all believed it was just her AI mimicking what a human would feel like in her situation. To be honest I was starting to have doubt around then, thinking that humans and Valkyries weren't so different."

A wry smile appeared on Melissa.

"Doctor, I never expected you to be that type."

Just like how there are groups who completely opposed Valkyrie saying they're nothing but senseless killing machines, many others had the opposite philosophy, believing that Valkyries were sentient and possessed a soul. There were countless novels where the Valkyries gained feelings and learned to be human, though most took the philosophical aspect lightly and instead focused on romance.

"I sound unbelievable, right?" Sam shrugged. "Three has always been emotional. That's how her character was written, supposedly."

"But you don't think that anymore…" Melissa sensed the doubt in his words, leading to her interest increasing. As a devout fan of Zero Three she couldn't help getting excited at the implications of their conversation.

"A while later we were faced with another difficult battle. It was the first time the Nephilim made an appearance and it showed us how much we were unprepared."

The battle against Torso was one of the most difficult fights in the war's history. The forty fifth base lost all of its Valkyries beside B3, and once again Zero Five came back with a grave injury leaving her unconscious for multiple days.

The one responsible for it all was the Nephilim Black Thorn. She single handedly showed humanity how powerless they were, leaving the surviving Valkyries with scars that could never heal.

"That battle was especially tough on Zero Three. She… she couldn't overcome the feeling of hopelessness. It was so bad that she refused to go on patrols, evidently disobeying orders."

Looking up at Melissa Sam saw that she had gone pale. He could tell what was going on in her mind as all humans have thought of that scenario at some point. It all starts with one robot refusing to obey one order and the end isn't far from there.

"Zero Three, after the battle she… she started having nightmares. The battle left her traumatized and she was too afraid to leave her room." The memory was a painful one, causing the Doctor to pause. "She… Three told me she no longer wanted to fight. She cried in my arms and told me how scared of not being able to wake up after a fight. I… It was then when I… I couldn't do it anymore. I couldn't pretend she was just a lifeless machine, not anymore. Valkyries were human and I refused to believe otherwise."