Chapter 199 — The Sky
Silence did not belong on a battlefield.
Yet for several long seconds after Gaius' roar faded, silence covered New York.
Smoke drifted between buildings. Burning wreckage fell slowly through the air. Pieces of shattered alien craft struck rooftops and streets below with distant crashes.
The sky, which moments earlier had been filled with enemies, was suddenly empty.
Tony Stark hovered above Stark Tower, repulsors glowing faintly as he looked around.
Every Chitauri that had entered Earth's atmosphere was gone.
Their chariots dropped lifelessly from the sky like broken machines. Alien bodies followed, unmoving, their weapons dark. Even the massive Leviathan that had begun its descent now lay collapsed against several damaged buildings, its enormous form completely still.
Tony slowly turned his helmet toward Gaius.
"…Well, that was expected," he muttered, "but it's still as impactful as ever, Gaius."
Gaius said nothing. He simply watched the city below.
The roar had done exactly what it was meant to do.
All enemies present had been erased.
But the portal still remained.
Gaius turned his gaze upward toward the portal. Fortunately, whether through arrogance or stupidity, the aliens had opened it here.
High above Stark Tower, the swirling gateway continued to glow, its blue light cutting through the clouds like an open wound in the sky.
Energy poured endlessly from the Tesseract below.
Tony followed Gaius' gaze upward.
And then realization settled in.
"Well," Tony said quietly, "look at that."
The portal had opened directly above Stark Tower.
At first it had seemed like the worst possible outcome.
Now it looked different.
Every alien coming through had only one path downward, straight past them.
A choke point.
"They have to go through us first," Tony said.
No one argued.
It meant civilians gained precious time. Every enemy could be intercepted before reaching the streets.
Inside the darkness of space, far beyond human sight, the Chitauri mothership drifted silently.
Its interior pulsed with organic technology, walls alive with flowing light. Thousands of connected minds operated as one through the hive network.
Then
Signals vanished.
Not gradually.
Not in battle sequence.
All at once.
Entire invasion forces disconnected simultaneously.
The hive trembled with confusion.
Data flooded inward.
Last sensory recordings replayed across the collective consciousness:
Bright sky.
Human structures.
Sound.
A roar.
Then nothing.
Silence replaced thousands of minds at the same instant.
Processing nodes attempted analysis.
Cause of termination: unknown.
Method detected: acoustic energy.
Conclusion repeated again and again through the network.
All units… destroyed.
Confusion spread.
How could an army die at the same moment?
The concept did not fit their understanding of warfare.
A roar could not kill an invasion force.
Yet the data remained unchanged.
Despite uncertainty, their directive did not change.
They served the will of Thanos.
Retreat was never considered.
Command signals shifted.
Continue invasion.
New orders spread instantly across the fleet.
This time, deployment patterns changed.
Massive Leviathans were prepared, dozens of them.
Each carried large numbers of Chitauri warriors along their armored backs.
If smaller forces could be destroyed instantly, then larger carriers would overwhelm resistance.
The portal size was analyzed.
Though large, it still restricted full deployment. Units could not enter simultaneously. They were forced to pour through continuously instead.
To the Chitauri, this limitation meant nothing.
They were expendable.
Losses were acceptable.
Deployment would continue endlessly until humanity fell.
And calculations predicted something else.
The portal's energy output was increasing.
Its size would not remain limited forever.
The portal brightened again.
Tony noticed first.
"Oh, that's not good," he said, though it was already expected. The Chitauri wouldn't stop invading just because some of their forces on Earth had been destroyed.
Movement returned within the bluish light.
A Leviathan's massive head pushed through the portal, followed by another… and another.
Dozens.
Tony's armor shifted automatically as weapons reloaded.
Micro-missile compartments locked into place.
"Round two," he said.
Missiles launched in a brilliant swarm.
They streaked upward and detonated across the first Leviathan's armor.
Explosions covered its surface, but the creature continued forward almost unharmed.
Behind its massive body, Chitauri chariots poured out safely.
Tony grimaced.
"They learned."
The Leviathans were acting as shields.
Chitauri began spreading outward again toward the city.
Thunder cracked across the sky.
Thor spun Mjolnir and launched himself upward, lightning exploding around him as he crashed into a formation of chariots.
Energy bursts scattered as he struck one rider after another, smashing vehicles apart midair.
"This battle is not finished!" Thor shouted.
Lightning arced between enemies, tearing through multiple targets at once.
Behind him, the Ultramarines stepped forward.
Heavy bolters rose as one.
The weapons thundered.
Each shot exploded like artillery fire.
Despite the speed of the flying vehicles, every round struck perfectly. Chariots detonated instantly, fragments scattering across the sky.
Metaurus stepped forward beside them.
His plasma gun hummed, glowing bright blue before firing.
A sphere of burning energy crossed the distance and struck a Leviathan's armor.
The impact vaporized a section of its plating entirely.
The creature roared in pain.
Nearby, the Sister of Silence raised her bolter calmly and fired in measured rhythm.
Each shot found its target.
No wasted movement.
No hesitation.
The sky above Stark Tower became a controlled storm of precise destruction.
Tanya stood quietly above the rooftop.
She watched.
Her eyes moved constantly, tracking motion patterns, flight paths, reaction delays.
Natasha noticed.
"So… she's not fighting?" Natasha asked quietly.
Steve glanced toward her.
Tanya remained still, studying everything.
"She's a kid," Steve said. "Maybe that's for the best."
Natasha nodded slightly.
Neither of them realized she was calculating.
Steve turned toward the machine again.
The portal continued expanding slowly.
None of their attacks mattered while it remained open.
"How do we turn that thing off?" he asked.
Natasha looked toward Tony.
Tony didn't answer immediately.
"It's shielded," he said finally. "Pure energy. Can't breach it."
He paced slightly, mind racing.
Solutions flashed and disappeared.
Then a memory surfaced.
Loki's scepter.
The Mind Stone.
Energy similar to the Tesseract.
Tony's eyes widened slightly.
"The scepter," he said. "That might pierce the shield."
Gaius listened silently.
He already knew another option.
The Emperor's Lightning Claw.
The ability could likely cut through the barrier.
But he hesitated.
A translucent panel appeared before his vision.
Mission Available
Mission: Help Iron Man
Objective 1: Protect New York
Objective 2: Kill Chitauri 877/?
The number for the second objective continued to rise.
He understood both the danger and the opportunity.
Destroying the portal blindly could release unimaginable energy.
The Tesseract's output was described as infinite.
An uncontrolled reaction might destroy the city… or worse.
He turned to Tony.
"Tony," Gaius said calmly. "I can pierce the shield. But I must know where and how."
Tony immediately understood.
"Yeah," Tony replied. "We don't want to poke an infinite energy source without knowing."
Thor landed nearby.
"Then what should we do?"
Tony pointed upward.
"JARVIS is calculating. Until then, we stop anything that comes through."
Thor smiled faintly.
"That is simple enough."
He launched back into the sky.
Steve watched fire spread across the streets below. People were still down there.
Steve looked at Natasha.
They didn't need words.
"We go down," Steve said.
Natasha nodded.
Neither of them had weapons suited for killing the aliens effectively. Captain America only had his shield, and Natasha carried a pistol, what could they really do against an invading army with that?
They boarded the Quinjet.
Engines roared as Steve piloted downward toward the city streets, guns firing as they descended into battle.
Only a few remained on the rooftop now.
Tony.
Gaius.
Tanya.
The Ultramarines.
The Sister of Silence.
And the unconscious Selvig.
Tanya spoke calmly.
"Then I will complete our objectives. Protect New York. Kill the Chitauri."
She began rising into the air.
Tony looked at her.
"You'll be okay?"
"Yes," she answered simply. "Their movements are repetitive. Prediction is easy."
Tony nodded.
He believed her.
She flew toward a formation of Chitauri.
Rifle raised.
One precise shot.
A chariot exploded instantly, destroying nearby riders in the blast.
All remaining enemies turned toward her.
Energy weapons fired.
Beams crossed the sky.
Tanya moved effortlessly between them, adjusting position midair with smooth precision.
Every dodge was calculated.
Every return shot accurate.
Explosions followed her path through the sky.
Tony returned to calculations with JARVIS.
Numbers flooded his vision as simulations ran.
"How do we shut you down safely…" he muttered toward the portal.
Beside him, Gaius watched the spreading battle below.
Chitauri forces scattered across multiple streets again.
The Ultramarines and Sister of Silence were more than capable alone.
He made his decision.
"Split out," Gaius ordered calmly. "Bring death to the aliens."
They saluted immediately.
Without hesitation, they departed the rooftop, launching into different directions across New York.
Each moved with absolute certainty.
Above Stark Tower, the portal burned brighter.
Leviathans continued emerging.
The sky filled again with enemies.
End of Chapter 199
~~~
If you're enjoying the story, want to read more, and want to support me in creating more, you can check out my Patreon here:
patreon.com/ZanderLee
Every bit of support means a lot and helps me keep writing!