If someone were to observe the planet at that moment, they would see an almost desolate image at first glance.
All of Earth's inhabitants, absolutely all of them, were in safe locations, built over years for situations like this.
Had this happened long ago, people would have been gripped by fear. However, nowadays they simply talk and have fun, as if they were on vacation for a few days.
"Alright, five of spades, I win!" announced a man who had just prevailed in a card game.
"If Billy were with us, it would be more fun," a mother sighed, observing the warm atmosphere of the shelter, which was not very different from a massive underground hotel.
Of course, the reason for being underground was really just space efficiency. In truth, the defenses of these places were far from being limited to tons of earth over their heads. Even on the surface, these shelters would be nearly impenetrable.
At the woman's sigh, many around her nodded. Although they were grateful to be protected, not everyone was satisfied with the distribution system. While most families had remained together, many others were separated for complex reasons and sent to different shelters.
"I just hope Billy is okay and doesn't feel alone," the mother sighed again.
Through the security cameras, Billy watched the scene and chuckled softly before switching the image to Earth as seen from space.
The truth was that most of the reasons for these separations were just excuses, and many of these supposed "separated" individuals belonged to various agencies that would directly participate in the defense during the invasion.
Of course, S.H.I.E.L.D. and the other organizations were not naive enough to do it in an obvious way. That was why they truly did divide some families, with undercover agents being only a minority.
Turning his attention back to the screen, Billy observed the ships surrounding the planet. His eyes showed surprise for a second before quickly calming.
People on Earth could also see the scene through televisions and other screens.
The sky, once blue, was now almost completely black due to the enormous number of massive spacecraft covering it, barely letting sunlight through.
At that moment, both those watching from the shelters and Billy, from the monitoring rooms, went on alert when they saw the ships begin to move, after remaining stationary in space for more than half a day.
As soon as he noticed it, Billy looked away from the general image and focused on the screens full of data surrounding him.
He was not alone. In the room there were hundreds of other people, each in their own cubicle, doing the same job. However, the soundproofing prevented them from hearing what the others were saying.
While analyzing the data, Billy began to describe the situation to his superiors through the communicator.
"Ships B-5 to C-9 suddenly increasing their energy concentration. Probable concentrated energy attack. Estimated direction, zone 26."
...
At the same time, in another room, Fury was sitting at a large round table. Maria Hill, just behind him, relayed everything he needed to know.
"Ninety eight percent match. Energy attack on zone 26 with almost total probability."
Hearing this, Fury looked at everyone seated in the circle, stopping especially on the man dressed in blue and red, with a cape.
"I'll handle it," Strange said immediately, communicating with Wong at the same time.
At Kamar-Taj, Wong repeated Strange's orders word for word in front of thousands of sorcerers, who began to act immediately.
Before the eyes of everyone, both on Earth and in space, a massive blue beam of energy was fired at full speed toward the planet.
At the same time, Earth revealed its shield, until then invisible. It moved like waves, not liquid but like crystal shifting at great speed toward the beam.
The impact was direct. The sound of glass shattering was heard across the entire planet.
However, the shield remained intact, though with visible cracks spreading from the point of impact toward the surrounding area.
Thanos's army smiled at this, thinking it would not hold much longer, and began preparing to fire again.
…
"Sir, zone 81."
…
"Zone 12."
…
"Zone 45."
…
Thus they continued for more than twenty minutes. Somehow, the shield, which seemed to crack with each impact, remained the same as after the first blow. In fact, each time a point was attacked, it cracked, but the previous cracks disappeared completely.
Finally, Thanos's men noticed that something was off and began to investigate. After another ten minutes, they obtained results and presented them to him.
"Lord Thanos, the energy of the beams does not expand or disperse upon impact. It seems to be transported elsewhere. Additionally, the cracks in the shield are all exactly the same, which suggests they are not cracks at all but a pattern generated during that transport."
Hearing this, Thanos's face grew even darker than usual.
"The Mirror Dimension," he said with anger.
"How much energy remains in the cannons?" he asked.
The soldier he addressed trembled before answering.
"O-only nine percent, sir."
"It is not enough. If I want to destroy the Mirror Dimension, I need more energy."
Saying that, he rose from his throne. His footsteps echoed throughout the ship as he advanced through the corridors, and every soldier he passed moved aside with respect and fear.
Thanos could not help but miss his children, who, despite everything, had treated him with something akin to affection.
He finally arrived at the control room of the main weapon. The enormous cannon had an entire control chamber dedicated to it, and in the center there was a cylindrical opening. Thanos stopped in front of it and placed his right hand, wearing the gauntlet.
The cannon began to emit violet energy before firing toward Earth.
The power of the beam was unlike anything before. It was so strong that the entire ship shook, and the weapon was left completely unusable after that single shot.
The Earth's shield moved again, concentrating on the impact.
But this time it was different.
At first, the effect was similar to previous times, but the cracks began to spread across the entire shield at an alarming speed, until it finally shattered completely. A violet shockwave was released, making even Thanos's ships tremble.
"Use the remaining nine percent," Thanos ordered, watching the soldiers.
However, with the main cannons destroyed and most ships lacking sufficient energy, only a few prepared to fire upon Earth, now left unprotected.
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(just delete the hyphen)
80 power stones = 1 extra chapter (cumulative)