Hammering Loki was satisfying, but the relentless invasion of the Chitauri showed no signs of slowing down. New York was still in dire straits.
Although the remaining Avengers might occasionally take a break to land another hit on Loki, their primary mission was still to defend the city—there was no room for distraction.
To prevent the situation from worsening, Kagura Hitomi issued orders to the Griffin squad members to support the Avengers fighting on the ground.
Natasha Romanoff and Bucky Barnes rushed to the city center, reinforcing Captain America as he battled the Chitauri forces in the streets.
As skilled human combatants, they were naturally more effective in close-quarters urban warfare.
With some persuasion from Hitomi's puppet doppelgänger, the Hulk had decided to join the fight as Earth's defender.
He partnered with Thor to wreak havoc in the sky, cutting down the Chitauri's aerial reinforcements—while occasionally taking swings at Thor for good measure.
Meanwhile, the newly equipped Hawkeye rapidly maneuvered between buildings using advanced tech, securing strategic high ground to assist Iron Man in luring enemies away.
He also acted as a scout, providing real-time battlefield reports.
With his new gear, Hawkeye was no longer just a marksman—he had become a mobile fortress, a well-placed wedge that made life hell for the Chitauri airships attempting to dominate New York.
As for Kagura Hitomi herself, she acted as the rapid-response unit, equipping the "Full Saber Mode: Banren-Ichi" module, which was specifically designed for prolonged and high-mobility combat.
This gear's unmatched agility and nearly infinite melee capabilities allowed her to swiftly respond to any battlefield crisis, preventing the Chitauri from exploiting weak spots to break through their defenses.
It had to be said—on a battlefield this chaotic, the most reliable weapons were still the ones that didn't need ammunition.
However, continued resistance alone wouldn't resolve the invasion.
A solid, decisive plan had to be formulated while the Avengers held the line.
Fortunately, Hitomi had an advantage—alternative strategies and crucial intelligence.
For some unknown reason, the Chitauri troops would immediately shut down if their mothership lost contact with them.
They collapsed like puppets with their strings cut.
If they wanted to crush the Chitauri's assault, the mothership hovering in deep space was the prime target.
Destroying that ship would end the invasion instantly.
"Cortana, do we have a way to take down the Chitauri mothership?"
As Hitomi zipped between New York's skyscrapers, cutting through any Chitauri soldiers in her path, she continued, "If we take out that mothership, we win."
"Master, according to orbital satellite scans from the Argos project, the mothership is positioned 40,000 kilometers from Earth—well beyond the range of any existing intercontinental missiles."
"We have no viable means of attacking it."
"Ugh. 40,000 kilometers… that's a serious problem."
Frowning, Hitomi altered her route, decapitating another Chitauri soldier along the way.
"Cortana, compile all available data from Rhodes Industries' servers and run a comprehensive algorithm to find a solution."
"I refuse to believe that human civilization will fall today. There has to be a way to end the disaster Loki has brought upon us."
"Command received."
"Initializing algorithm."
"Calculating feasible solutions to destroy the Chitauri mothership."
"Estimated computation time: 57 minutes."
Fifty-seven minutes.
Until then, it was up to the Avengers and Griffin Security to protect the planet.
———————————————————————
The skies above New York were thick with smoke and destruction.
A massive armored Leviathan tore through the cityscape, ripping entire buildings in half.
In his red-and-gold suit, Iron Man flew alongside the behemoth, using his wrist-mounted laser cutter to slice through its defenses.
"Sir, at our current energy consumption rate, we'll run out of power before breaking through its armor."
J.A.R.V.I.S.'s warning forced Tony Stark to reconsider. "Alright, Plan B."
"J.A.R.V.I.S., have you ever heard the story of Jonah and the whale?"
(The Bible story where Jonah was swallowed by a giant fish.)
"I strongly advise against following that example, Mr. Stark."
J.A.R.V.I.S. seemed to understand Stark's plan.
"Entering the creature would cause catastrophic damage to your suit."
"I don't recommend it either."
Just then, another voice chimed in through Stark's comms.
"Sometimes, you should rely on your teammates."
"And you are?"
Stark veered away from the Leviathan's gaping maw.
"Hawkeye. It's an honor to fight alongside Iron Man."
As he spoke, an arrow whizzed past Stark.
"You're using a bow against this thing?!"
A series of beeping sounds followed.
'BOOM—!'
The arrow drilled straight into the Leviathan's mouth and exploded out the top of its skull.
A surge of blue energy erupted in a cross-shaped blast, roasting the armored creature into a charred heap of sizzling meat.
"Okay… I take that back, Legolas."
"You're going to love my support and recon skills, just as much as I love the equipment Miss Kagura made for me."
"Hitomi again? That girl just doesn't quit, does she?"
As if on cue, a white blur shot into the sky, leaping off a building.
Twin silver swords gleamed as they spun like a cyclone, slicing through a Chitauri dropship.
Hitomi's graceful figure landed effortlessly on the side of another building, driving her right-hand blade into a Chitauri soldier trying to climb through a window.
A second later, she folded her left blade, transferring its energy to a built-in charging system—instantly transforming it into an energy pulse pistol.
'Bang—! Bang—! Bang—!'
Three shots rang out, taking down a cluster of Chitauri.
"Alright, she really is aiming for the stars," Stark muttered, leading a squad of pursuing Chitauri into an alleyway, where they promptly crashed due to their poor maneuverability.
"Hitomi! We need a way to end this once and for all—otherwise, we're going to get overwhelmed sooner or later."
"I do have an idea."
Even while fighting, Hitomi monitored Cortana's calculations.
"Remember our long-range microwave power transfer technology? I think we can repurpose it as a high-powered energy cannon."
"That's… an insanely ambitious idea. But how?"
Stark fired a repulsor blast, downing another Chitauri ship.
"Great question. Right now, it's just a theory. The actual execution is still being computed."
Hitomi dove into the streets, activating her acceleration system.
She danced through the battlefield with her twin blades, an elegant force of destruction.
"If we link all fourteen orbital 'Halo' power stations and feed them enough energy, we might be able to fire a high-energy microwave beam 40,000 kilometers—to directly strike their mothership."
"That's an insane amount of power. Not even the Tesseract has that kind of instantaneous output."
"Even if we find a power source, we don't have a launch platform. The Stark Tower reactor would vaporize under that load."
Hitomi glanced toward Stark Tower.
"What if we bypass the tower's regulators and feed the energy directly into the weapon? As long as the output mechanism holds, we can keep ramping up the power."
"…Alright, that's worth a shot."