Battle of Greenland
Tony knows he should probably pay attention to the meeting in front of him but he simply can't help himself.
Ever since he placed The Mind Stone on his Gauntlet for safekeeping, he has been feeling goosebumps all over his bare skin. The cosmetic change that The Stone did to his Nanotech Armor was unexpected but also welcomed. Tony simply outgrew Red and Gold and Black and Silver are Rhodey's colors. But Silver looks really hot on him, as Friday keeps telling him.
Speaking about Friday...
That Girl became addicted to Sex. During their flight to Greenland, Tony spend a lot more time in Stasis Pod than out of it. Not that he is complaining. He would be lying if he said that Friday wasn't the best girl in the bed he ever had. He wonders where did she learn so much about sex...
While having sex in "the dream world" is satisfying for both of them, Tony is still a human who likes the physical touch and Friday is a really horny AI. So her own physical body, which will be the exact replica of her "dream world" appearance, is already being developed onboard Pegasus.
The technology became more advanced since Helen Cho created the Vibranium Body that Jarvis currently uses as his own.
The Nanites inside Tony's body also opened up a brand new world in that research area, as well as Starknium did because as it turns out, Starknium is better-manipulating metal than Vibranium, and also better suited to create the perfect human-like body, that will allow Friday feel and function like any other human female would, with the exception of aging or getting sick.
She will also have some other awesome tricks up in her sleeves, but she still refuses to tell Tony what exactly she will be able to do. She just told him that she will be even more badass than she already is.
Tony isn't sure if he should be excited or terrified about that statement.
But it honestly just really turns him on.
Tony finally tore his eyes away from The Mind Stone and looked over at the glowing holographic map of Greenland projected before him. On the hologram, dozens of battlefields with their troops lit up, showcasing what's currently happening under their noses. Tony was sitting on his "throne" with Friday and Jarvis at his sides. Across them stood Rhodey, Hope, Sharon, Scott, and projection of Maria Hill, and other Commanders of the Stark Cruisers and NATO military Generals assigned on this mission.
"As you can see, all battlefronts are being attacked simultaneously." Maria started. "We can't spare any reinforcements to support one without losing another if we don't send other Cruisers into the frontlines, which we already agreed that we wouldn't do."
"It's too much of a high risk." Rhodey supported this idea. "We are here for the long run and this fleet is all we have. We can't risk losing it all in one battle."
"I ask you again to reconsider." A middle-aged General Denmark called Anders advised. "Some of our Men are reporting one of our Jets down for only twelve Chirauri ground forces. Those are not satisfying results."
"Then order your Troops to fall back." Friday spoke up, frowning at General Anders, but addressing them all with a warm tone. "Let Iron Legion finish up this fight. The Legionaries are replaceable, ours men aren't."
"While I agree with your statement, Ms. Stark? Can we address you as Ms. Stark?" The General from Norway named Arne asked, awkwardly looking between Friday and Tony. When Friday nodded Arne continued. "I don't believe the number of Iron Legionaries you send out into the battle can potentially win on their own before the Chitauri Reinformcents, we know are coming from American soil, arrive. Not to mention that the Chitauri Fortress on the North Side of Greenland is tearing all of our combined forces apart."
Anthony.
"All of you are right." Tony finally spoke, rising from his throne and walking around the room with his hands behind his back. "Rhodey is right that we simply cannot send out more Cruisers in this battle without endangering ourselves in the long run, but you are also right that we underestimated the Chitauri hold over Greenland."
“Clearly.” General Andres sarcastically muttered, but everyone ignored him.
Tony stopped pacing around and his eyes flickered blue as the hologram of the map zoomed in on the Chitauri Fortress. "This is the main torn in our asses today. This thing's weaponry even managed to penetrate through one of my Cruiser's energy shields, leaving it vulnerable to Chitauri firepower." Tony's voice then turned dangerously cold. "This Fortress simply needs to be destroyed and it needs to be destroyed yesterday."
"And how do you purpose we do that?" Maria asked, looking over a tablet in her arms. "Ever since our arrival, we've managed to shoot down dozen of Chitauri Howercrafters, Tanks, and even Leviathans, yet whenever we got too close to the Fortress more and more reinforcements came out of nowhere to defend it."
"Not to mention that the whole Fortress is protected by its own Energy Shield, specifically designed to withstand repulsor beams." Jarvis added, looking distant for a moment until he noticed the questioning looks everybody was sending his way. "A few Legionaries managed to penetrate the Chitauri blockade, but their shots bounced off the shield."
"You need to send more Cruisers, or even Pegasus itself into the fight if we are to succeed on this day, Mr. Stark." Anders repeated, giving Tony a firm look. "It's the only way we can liberate Greenland from the enemy."
"How about an alternative solution." Tony gave them all his trademarked smirk. "A single strike team could infiltrate the Fortress with my cloaking technology and sabotaged it from within. As soon as the Fortress is out of commission, I'm willing to send out two more Cruisers into the battlefield."
"And who do you suppose should be on this strike team of yours?" Arne asked, stroking his long beard
"The old squad." Tony answered, looking over at his friends with a grin that just screams trouble. "Iron Man, War Machine, Jarvis, Blackstar, The Wasp, and a new addition Ant-Man. We can sneak past the enemy line and get into the Fortress. Easy in. Easy out." Noticing the looks the Generals exchange, Tony quickly continues. "Friday is more than capable of commanding our forces in my absence. She already does it even when I'm here anyway."
All Generals then looked at Friday for some sort of confirmation, but she just smugly smiles at them and they kinda accept it. It's true. While Tony is a tactical genius who was raised by War Mongers, Friday is a learning, self-aware AI, who once got bored and learned everything she could about Wars and how they are fought. Some could say that she is even better than all of these Generals, who served their countries for decades.
Perks of being an AI.
"Alright." The General from Italy, Roberto spoke for every General present. "We will order our Pilots to fall back and let Iron Legion take the charge until the strike team successfully destroyed the Fortress. We are all counting on you and your team, Mr. Stark. Good luck."
The Projections of the Generals and SHIELD Agents disappeared, leaving only those who are physically present at the bridge in complete silence.
Anthony.
"And how are we going to get to the Fortress without getting spotted?" Hope asked with crossed arms. "You said it yourself in Etherium. Some of the Chitauri can somehow detect your cloaking tech."
"Funny you should mention that." Tony grinned at her and Scott. "Because that's where you two and your fancy tech come in."
"Why do I have a bad feeling about this." Scott whispered to Hope, not taking his eyes from Tony. Hope didn't respond to him, but she couldn't help herself not to feel the same thing.
This is not going to end well...
****
"You know, when I imagined my first mission, wearing this amazing new suit, I never thought that we would be sneaking through a dirty vent while being smaller than ants." Sharon said as they all walked through the vent in the Chitauri Fortress.
Tony took this time to marvel about the Blackstar Armor Mark 1. It's not as heavily armored suit as The War Machine or Iron Man suits. Sharon always preferred hand-to-hand combat and also is a fantastic gymnast, so Tony kept all of this, along with her Extremis enhancements in mind while developing her suit, and created something truly special.
The Suit is painted mostly dark almost black midnight blue, silver, and red with a star-like shaped Arc Reactor in the middle of her chest. Instead of having a faceplate, Sharon's winged helmet has a red visor that covers her eyes and nose. The Helmet also lets Sharon's long blond hair flow freely behind her.
The whole suit was inspired by Vikings shield-maidens and Valkyries from Norse mythology, but Tony purposely made it also kinda look like Rogers's outfit. Hell, he even gave her a hard light energy shield, with a large Star in the middle, along with an earlier version of his energy sword, that was updated to be also able to transform into a double-bladed sword if Sharon chooses to.
The reason why Tony made her suit resemble Captain America a bit was pitty and calculated from his side, but he honestly doesn't give a damn. The Extremis serum inside Sharon's veins already makes her better than Rogers, but that isn't enough for Tony. Thanks to this resemblance, the public will now compare Sharon with Rogers and Tony will make sure that she is received much better than him, and in time... Captain America will be forgotten, outshined by Blackstar's light and fame.
Perfect revenge for a man out of time.
Unsurprisingly, Tony's plan worked marvelously. The Chitauri Seekers are looking for man-sized cloaked figures, not Ant-Sized. The Fortress is pretty small, considering how many weapons it houses, but then again, they did build it in only a few days, if they actually build it and didn't just bring it already build from Space.
"I have counted 54 Chitauri Troopers in this commanding center area." Jarvis informed them as they all rounded up around the vent's exit. "I will take those close to the Alarm, so we can continue our mission stealthy."
"Let's see how good this new Hammer is." Rhodey commented to himself as he took the War Hammer Mark 2 out of its storage unit on his back, before releasing a heavy defeated sigh. "Dammit, I hate stealth missions... I am the big gun! I make a lot of noise!"
"Yeah, you do." Scott jokingly agreed out loud, making Rhodey roll his eyes. He kinda likes Scott. He is that lovable idiot that every group needs and their group lacked.
"Ready?" Hope questioned, looking at them all for confirmation. When they all nodded, She ejected four Pym Particle Disks out of her gauntlet and counted to five on her fingers with her other hand. "Go!"
All six of them jump from the vents and Hope threw the Pym Disks on Tony, Jarvis, Rhodey, and Sharon, regrowing them to their normal sides, while they immediately attack the shocked and stunned Chitauri Troopers without any mercy.
Just as Jarvis said he would, he went straight for the five Chitauri troopers near the alarm, slicing the three of them in half by using the Arc Reactor Beam from his forehead, while also grabbing the two of them by their throats and snapping their necks. A trooper aims his gun at Jarvis, but before he can fire, Rhodey uses his war hammer to punch it away from him, before using his other hand to burry his fist inside his chest, killing him instantly.
Rhodey then threw the dead body to the ground, as Sharon leaped over his back, and used her hard light shield to slam into two Chitauri Troopers, who were running at Rhodey, knocking them to the ground, before igniting her double-bladed energy sword and using it to decapitate them on the spot.
Scott is less violent with his enemies, and since he doesnt have any melee weapon, he just keeps distracting them long enough for Hope to kill them in a less brutal way than the others, but still gruesome enough, as one of her stingers shoots one of the Chitauri straight threw the eye on their fullest setting.
Tony on the other hand completely cut loose, using two of his energy swords and slashing through everything that got in his way. The Chitauri actually tried to run, after they saw Tony slash a few arms, legs, and other body parts off from their comrades, but there was no escape from Iron Man's bloodlust.
The doors to the Central Room opened and a completely oblivious Chitauri trooper stepped inside the room, looking over his tablet. Rhodey, Sharon, Jarvis, Hope, and Scott all froze, staring at the Alien, who finally noticed what was happening in the room, and tried to reach for his gun. Unfortunately for him, Tony didn't freeze like his teammates. Instead, he hid behind the Alien and when the time came, he grabbed him from behind and slit his throat, splattering even more blood all over his silver suit and face.
"We are done here." Tony said with an emotionless voice, dropping the dead body to the ground. "J? Do you have any idea how we can turn that shield down or better yet destroy this whole Fortress?"
"I think that won't be necessary, Sir." Jarvis responded as moved over to the control terminal. "I believe we can simply turn this whole Fortress on the remaining Chitauri Forces inside and then simply turn it off with a flip of a single button." Jarvis pointed at the button, with a smug expression on his face. "Should I?"
"Go ahead, J." Tony nodded, sitting down on the ground glancing at the bloodied room and the dead corpses around them.
Anthony.
Tony shook his head and licked his lips, grimacing at the taste of the Chitauri blood. Jarvis presses the button and the whole Fortress makes a loud hissing noise as firepower and screams ring from outside the room. After a few moments, everything goes quiet and the whole Fortress depowers and shuts down.
"Nice job." Friday praised over the comms. "Our forces are moving in to finish the remaining Chitauri Forces as we speak. Get back on board Pegasus, I have already ordered a warm meal for you all."
"On our way." Tony replayed back to her, as Rhodey helped him back to his feet and they all moved to the exit.
Anthony.
Tony froze and looked around the room and found nothing. Rhodey noticed Tony's weird facial expression and frowned. "You okay, Tones?" He asked with concern clear in his voice.
"Yeah." Tony muttered, still looking around the room. "I just thought that I heard something..." He shook his head again and smiled. "Let's get out of here. I have a date tonight."
Rhodey chuckled and was going to say something, but then a sudden explosion from outside, followed by a loud crash interrupted him, and they all quickly hurried outside to see what the hell is going on.
****
"Friday? What the hell was that?!" Tony demanded into the comms as they finally got outside the Fortress.
"I don't know!" Friday responded with dread in her voice. "Something just one shot of one of our completely functional Cruisers." Her voice then turned sad and remorseful. "There are no survivors on board... It was the Cruised 7 under command of Agent Gabe..."
"Dammit..." Tony quietly cursed under his nose. He knew that he would lose some of his people, it's just part of the War, but hearing it... "Find whoever fired that shot, Fri. I want his head." He hissed before taking a deep breath. "Send out Hacksaws and Scrappers, round up all of the human survivors of Greenland, and get them onboard our Cruisers. Give them medical attention, food, anything they need."
"Already on it." Friday responded.
"Why would The Chitauri be interested in Greenland so much?" Tony wondered out loud. "This country has nothing to offer them. Not even a lot of human victims. There is something else going on in here."
Anthony.
"What?!" Tony snapped, making all of the others jump a bit at the sudden rise of his voice.
"Are you feeling alright, Sir?" Jarvis asked with concern all over his face. "You seem a bit distracted today. Perhaps you should-"
Jarvis was cut off by a loud, angry roar, coming from over the Sea behind them. A Leviathan starts to emerge from the water but all of them immediately notice that it looks different from the others, bigger, stronger, more demonic. As it gets closer to the surface, more and more of its underbelly is revealed, shocking them all as they see skinny white arms and armored legs.
"They have a Godzilla on their side?!" Scott exclaimed with clear panic all over his face. "We need to get out of here before it eats us!"
"Friday?" Rhodey called out while the others stared at the beast that was quickly approaching their location. "Shoot it down."
The Cruisers in front of them start firing at the Alpha Leviathan, but the beast just took it all without stopping in its way. When more heavy artillery started raining hellfire on it, an energy shield formed around it, bouncing away every bullet, missile, or repulsor blast as if it was nothing.
"It isn't working..." Hope pointed out with a slightly panicked tone. "We need to get out of here!"
Anthony.
"What?!" Tony snapped again, his eyes blazing electric blue as he looked around them with frustration on his face.
"I said that we need to get out of here!" Hope repeated, already turning around to fly back to Pegasus.
"Not you." Tony shook his head. "Somebody just called my name."
"You are tripping, man." Rhodey resorted, pushing Tony to move. "Hope is right. We need to get out of here before that thing gets here!"
Anthony.
"I'm not tripping!" Tony moved out of Rhodey's reach. "Something just said my name again!"
"Sir." Jarvis softly spoke up. "Nobody here said your name, but Colonel Rhodes and Ms. Van Dyne are right. We need-"
Use my power, Anthony.
"Hush." Tony waved his hand at Jarvis, who immediately fell silent. Tony then raised his right hand to his face and stared at The Mind Stone in his Gauntlet. "It's you, isn't it? You are the one speaking to me."
Yes. We can save your friends, Anthony. Together.
"And how do I know I can trust you?" Tony asked, narrowing his eyes at the Stone, ignoring the way the others, except Jarvis, were looking at him as if he went crazy.
Because you are my Champion. My Safekeeper. My Chosen One.
For some strange reason, Tony believed every word that Stone just said. Seeing as the Alpha Leviathan isn't stopping and their weapons aren't really doing any damage, Tony does the only thing he can. He accepts the additional power from stone and The Mind Stone shined brightly on his Gauntlet, releasing its yellow energy all over his armor, as his hands, the Arc Reactor, and also his eyes also started to glow the same yellow color.
Without even using the thrusters on his Suit, Tony levitated into the air, not taking his eyes from the enemy. "Finish the evacuation quickly! I will try to hold him off for as long as I will be able to." He told his friends without looking at them and immediately launched straight at the Leviathan Alpha, slamming into its head and actually pushing it a few steps back.
"We should probably do what he said and then quickly get back onboard Pegasus." Rhodey muttered as all they watched Tony fight against the Chitauri Version of Godzilla on his own.
****
"What the fuck is he thinking he is doing?!" Friday exploded as soon as they got on the bridge, rage radiating off her like an exploding star. "Engaging that thing on his own! Has he lost his mind? What the fuck is he thinking?!"
"We have no idea!" Sharon responded in the same tone. "He just said that something was calling his name and then he went all glowy and shot in the skies!"
"It was The Mind Stone, Sir spoke about." Jarvis stated, observing the battle outside. "It was The Mind Stone that spoke to him. That yellow energy that is surrounding his armor and leaking from his eyes is clearly coming out from The Mind Stone on his Gauntlet."
"That's not possible." Rhodey shook his head, as he also moved to observe the battle. "Vision lived with that Stone inside his head for 2 years and he never claimed that it was speaking to him!"
"Vision never wanted to learn more about the Stone..." Friday frowned, taking a calming breath as she also looked outside with worry on her face "He was scared of its power. Tony on the other hand, clearly isn't scared of using it to its full potential. But he should be scared. A lot."
"Why?" Scott questioned. "I mean... He looks like he is handling that Godzilla thing on his own pretty well. What could a Stone possibly do to him? Look at him! He is freaking amazing!"
"Ah, this is every girl's dream. Her current guy fanboying about her ex..." Hope sarcastically muttered to herself, shaking her head. "How did this become my life?"
"That Stone is an Alien Artefact and according to Thor, who is an actual God by the way. One of the most powerful weapons of mass destruction in the entire fucking galaxy! Friday hissed with a dangerously low voice before she took a deep breath and smiled. "And I never said that he should be afraid of that stupid Stone. It will be me who will kick his ass..."
Yikes... Nobody on the bridge suddenly wanted to be in Tony's shoes.
****
Tony flies backwards as The Alpha managed to smack him with his massive ugly white hand. There is one thing Tony learned during The Avengers Civil War while fighting against Ant-Man in his giant form. The bigger they are the slower they are. Here it isn't any different. The Alpha might be durable, strong, and scary, but he is also laughably slow as hell. The reason Tony got hit in the first place is his own stupidy.
The Alpha tries to hit Tony with his massive palm again, but Tony easily moves out of the way, firing energy beams at its back, while also flying around it and slamming into its chest, making it release a grunt of pain and take a few steps backward. This might be hurting The Beast, but it isn't doing any lasting damage.
Don't be afraid. Use as much power of my power as you need.
"I need to find a weak spot." Tony muttered, quickly scanning the beast with his eyes and locating nothing. "Dammit. Stupid Alien bitches...."
If I might recommend something. Go for the obvious one. His mouth.
"That... actually makes sense." Tony took a quick glance at the Stone inside his gauntlet and when it shined even brighter for a second at him, he made his choice. He flew higher into the air until he was hovering directly above The Alpha and released all the energy he could master from his Unibeam directly into its open mouth.
The Unibeam combined with the power of The Mind Stone released a massive beam of yellow energy that shattered the energy beam around Alpha and went right inside its big ugly mouth and straight out of its skull and into the ground below it.
Fortunately, Greenland doesn't have as many locals as the other countries, so the evacuation of remaining surviving civilians was relatively quick. Unfortunately? They won't have any place to return to after this...
The energy beam completely annihilated the Alpha Leviathan but also seriously messed up the foundation of Greenland, which Tony suspects isn't so bad, considering he still doesn't know what The Chitauri wanted with the icy country. Plus, he can give all the survivors a place at Etherium, so they will be fine.
Nice job, my Chosen One.
"This is weird." Tony tiredly commented, hovering in the air while his eyes were trying to close from exhaustion on their own. "I have so many questions...”
We will talk at another time. You should rest, taking that much of my Energy would kill a normal human being. I don't recommend doing it again.
"I won't. And you can bet your yellow ass that we will talk..." Tony whispered as exhaustion finally won and he fell into the water below him.