Shortly after the death of Malekith and Algrim, Wanda and Strange flew back from the distant suburbs.
The Dark Elves' mothership had been destroyed, the power of the explosion nearly collapsing the Mirror Dimension that Wanda had been maintaining with her full strength.
But Wanda wasn't saddened by the loss. It didn't matter that the ship was destroyed. At least the mothership wouldn't fall into the hands of politicians who might use it for nefarious purposes.
Tony, on the other hand, was deeply disappointed upon learning the mothership was gone. He had been eager to study the Dark Elves' technology!
He couldn't comprehend how they had achieved such perfect invisibility. Their stealth technology was centuries beyond Earth's current capabilities and operated on principles entirely different from conventional optical cloaking.
Fortunately, although the mothership was gone, several smaller warships remained, albeit most were severely damaged. Taking them down had required either sustained, overwhelming firepower or direct attacks from Thor and Captain Marvel that exceeded the vessels' defensive capabilities.
As a result, none of the Dark Elf warships remained intact, with many having lost their structural integrity entirely. Captain Marvel had been particularly ruthless in her attacks.
Tony flew above smoke-filled New York, shaking his head. The Dark Elves' attack had dealt a severe blow to his confidence.
He had believed that his Iron Legion and extensive drone swarms would provide substantial defensive capacity.
Instead, the drone swarm had barely scratched the Dark Elf warships. Despite unleashing countless rounds of ammunition, they had failed to inflict meaningful damage.
Even Ross's ground-based heavy artillery couldn't harm the mothership. The vessel had remained stationary, casually returning fire and reducing the artillery positions to blazing ruins.
The fighter squadron from the nearby Air Force base had suffered heavy casualties. After the destruction of the first four fighters, most of the subsequent squadron that joined the battle was also shot down.
Even large-caliber artillery proved ineffective, to say nothing of the air-to-air missiles carried by the fighter jets, which merely grazed the vessels' hulls with less impact than the direct long-range attacks from Captain Marvel and Thor.
After Wanda and the others confirmed all Dark Elves had been eliminated, they joined the city's rescue efforts. Tony directed EDITH to deploy drones around the damaged warships, preventing opportunists from scavenging alien technology.
Though complete prevention was impossible, this would at least stop large quantities of alien tech from flooding the black market. These artifacts were incredibly valuable, and Tony was determined to prevent anyone from acquiring, modifying, and selling them.
Several city blocks had sustained significant damage. The Dark Elves' artillery fire had destroyed numerous buildings, causing substantial casualties.
The wail of countless ambulances and police sirens filled the air, with an unknown number of citizens trapped beneath collapsed structures. Fortunately, the limited number of Dark Elves meant most areas remained intact.
Some citizens were particularly unlucky, including young Ned's family. Though no one was injured, his home had been destroyed by a crashed Dark Elf warship.
When Ned and Peter Parker heard the news at school, they exchanged bewildered looks. Ned had moved from Queens specifically to remain classmates with Peter, only to now find himself homeless.
Soon, Tony's disaster relief foundation arrived, with various major organizations and Coulson's team working tirelessly. These recovery efforts continued for a full week.
After all the wounded and casualties had been transported away, New York entered a prolonged recovery period that stretched over several months.
During this time, Tony upgraded his armor and doubled the firepower of his drone swarm.
The alien invasion had profoundly shocked the world. The Dark Elves had arrived on Earth undetected, and no nation possessed the capacity to effectively resist them. Had their numbers been greater, the devastation would have been unimaginable.
Although Ross faced criticism for accidentally damaging several buildings with his artillery, he also received commendation for his repeated attempts to counter the aliens during the conflict.
Ross compiled a comprehensive assessment of the challenges encountered when facing the Dark Elves. Most critically, Earth's artillery had been entirely unable to penetrate the defenses of the Dark Elves' warships and mothership.
Though the artillery positions had been neutralized after only a few salvos due to the mothership's counterattack, those initial bombardments had produced no effect whatsoever!
Even concentrated fire on the glowing core area failed to breach the Dark Elves' defenses, to say nothing of mobile missile launchers and air-to-air missiles from fighter jets, which proved completely ineffective.
The Dark Elf warships had even outmaneuvered hypersonic air-to-air missiles, a capability Ross had never anticipated.
Fortunately, the Avengers had prevailed. The astonishing combat prowess of Captain Marvel and Thor silenced critics and overwhelmed the Dark Elf warships that had shrugged off countless artillery shells.
Even Wanda, who had not yet fully mastered her powers, could easily destroy these warships. This reality prompted numerous governments to intensify their search for super-powered individuals among their populations.
Although many countries had already initiated such programs, some leaders hadn't taken the matter seriously, dismissing the Sky Screen as merely projected footage.
Now, having faced a genuine invasion, politicians who had previously disregarded superheroes grew anxious.
Simultaneously, major nations began studying the characteristics of these aliens. This was no longer an issue for individual countries but a concern for all of Earth.
Consequently, a consensus emerged at the highest levels of government. With a future conflict of universal scale looming, no one dared gamble on whether Earth could prevail despite the Sky Screen's revelations.
The planet now stood fully exposed to the universe, allowing potential enemies to study Earth and the Avengers. Their only advantages were Captain America, who had not appeared on the Sky Screen, and Thor, whose powers had been awakened due to the Sky Screen's influence.
They also had the Ancient One, with her unknown lifespan, and Odin, the Allfather—but how long could these powerful beings protect them? No one knew, and many refused to stake their survival on such uncertain protection.
A new arms race was clearly beginning. Although nations had already been investing heavily in military expenditures before, producing weapons and equipment frantically, those efforts would pale in comparison to what was coming.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Support me at p@treon.com/goldengaruda and check out more chapter of this or more early access chapter of my other fanfic translation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~