Another wave

Inside the depths of space, the floating alien island made its next move. From hundreds of thousands of miles away, it hurled countless dark objects—each one round and twisted, like ominous, misshapen meteorites. They spun in the vacuum, drifting at first but quickly gaining speed as they neared Earth's Pole Star. As they entered the pull of gravity, their paths straightened, and they rocketed downward, each trailing fiery streaks as they tore through the sky.

"Sir, these objects aren't showing up on radar," a technician reported, his voice tense.

Charlie immediately responded, his voice firm. "Send out the alert to all bases—tell them to prepare to intercept."

"Alert sent, sir," Friday replied.

Thanks toCharlie's quick response, Earth's Pole Star military sprang into action. Normally, these strange projectiles would have been invisible to Earth's radar until they were almost too close to react. But even with the warning, intercepting them was a nearly impossible task.

Earth's existing defense systems were only reliable against slow, subsonic missiles. For faster, long-range missiles, interception was only likely in the early stages of their flight. Once these missiles picked up speed and began their final descent at Mach 10 or more, they became much harder to stop. And now, Earth's defenders were facing an even greater challenge: countless objects, all dropping toward different targets at supersonic speeds, raining down like a deadly storm.

"Only 19% of the targets have been intercepted!" a communications officer called out, his voice strained. "The rest are getting through!"

The dark, fiery projectiles hurtled downward like missiles from space, each one aimed with deadly precision. They crashed into military facilities, tearing through buildings, machinery, and defensive installations with the force of bombs. Structures shattered and crumbled under the impacts, and the wreckage erupted in flames. Thanks to the warning, the bases had been mostly evacuated, but key equipment and defenses were destroyed. Turrets, missile silos, and other vital systems lay in ruins, fires consuming what remained.

At one of the targeted bases, soldiers rushed out to inspect the damage, weapons drawn and alert. Moving in tight formation, they cautiously approached the craters left by the fallen objects, peering through the swirling dust and smoke. 

But then, in the shadows, pairs of cold, glowing eyes blinked open.

A strange, guttural noise echoed through the haze. Before the soldiers could react, dark shapes burst from the smoke—Cantel soldiers, moving like shadows, charging forward with terrifying speed.

"Fall back! Everyone, fall back!" the officer yelled, pulling his trigger. His shots rang out, but the bullets barely grazed the aliens' thick, nearly impenetrable hides.

"Alert! Hostile life forms confirmed in the crash sites!" shouted a soldier through his radio. "They're swarming out of the craters!"

Across multiple bases, the story was the same. From each meteor-like projectile, the Cantel soldiers sprang forth, pouring into Earth's facilities like a relentless flood. No one had expected so many of them to fit inside those small, rock-like shells, and now the overwhelmed human forces could barely hold them back.

In the watchtower,Charlie observed the chaotic scene unfolding below, piecing together the enemy's strategy.

"They're using Thanos' tactics," he muttered, remembering the Avengers movie. Thanos had relied on his armies of alien foot soldiers to overwhelm his enemies through close combat. He avoided widespread destruction, preferring to seize resources and territories intact. To accomplish that, he deployed hordes of warriors who could survive impact and fight directly in his enemies' strongholds.

Now, the Cantel forces were doing the same, overwhelming Earth's defenses with a brutal strategy. By dropping in close to key bases, they forced Earth's defenders into close-range combat, where Earth's missile systems and heavy artillery were useless.

At each base, the soldiers tried to adapt, grabbing rifles, grenades, and rocket launchers in a desperate attempt to hold off the charging Cantel. But the aliens were strong and swift, moving like shadows and shrugging off hits that would have taken down any ordinary enemy. With each passing moment, the bases' defenses crumbled further as the Cantel tore through everything in their path.

At one base, a group of soldiers found themselves face-to-face with a horde of Cantel fighters. The aliens moved with unnatural speed, dodging and weaving through the human forces, their claws and limbs tearing through armor and flesh alike. Every time the soldiers seemed to gain a slight advantage, more Cantel surged out of the craters, forcing the humans to retreat again.

Even Earth's strongest defenders were starting to feel the pressure.

In the central base, Special Agent Ivan Petrov and his elite squad fought to keep the Cantel at bay. These were some of Earth's finest warriors, skilled in hand-to-hand combat and highly trained for situations just like this. But here, they faced wave after wave of Cantel fighters, and the sheer numbers were starting to overwhelm them.

"Hold your ground! This is our last line of defense!" Ivan shouted, thrusting his weapon forward as another Cantel soldier lunged at him.

His spear struck the alien with a burst of electricity, sending it flying backward, but more Cantel soldiers closed in, snarling and relentless.

"We can't keep this up much longer!" a soldier yelled, dodging a swipe from an alien's clawed hand. But he wasn't fast enough to avoid a second blow, and the impact sent him crashing to the ground.

"We have no choice!" Ivan shouted, gripping his weapon tightly as he fought off another wave. "We cannot let them through!"

Ivan's team continued to push back, fighting with every ounce of strength and skill they had. But the Cantel soldiers were like ghosts, appearing from the smoke and attacking with inhuman speed. No matter how many they defeated, more appeared to take their place. The human defenders were beginning to lose ground, slowly forced back by the unending assault.

At one point, Felix, another elite agent, managed to land two shots directly to a Cantel's head. The alien barely reacted, only pausing for a moment before charging forward with renewed fury. Felix quickly sidestepped, and just as the Cantel surged past him, another agent's fist shot out, hitting the alien square in the chest and sending it flying.

Felix's eyes darted around the battlefield, his breathing heavy. "Where…where are the Avengers?" he muttered, the exhaustion evident in his voice.

---

In the top-secret conference room back on Earth's Pole Star, Tony Stark's holographic figure stood surrounded by government and military officials, his expression as serious as they had ever seen it.

Suddenly, a report came through the comms—a voice tense with urgency. "New contacts detected! The floating island has deployed additional forces."

Friday's calm but firm voice cut in, her tone steady yet intense. "Sir, the island is launching a second wave of projectiles—hundreds, maybe even thousands. They're inbound, with an estimated time of impact in minutes."

The room fell into a tense silence. This was no minor assault; it was a full-blown invasion, and the scale was unlike anything Earth had faced before.

Stark acted immediately, his hologram snapping into action. "We need every available force on high alert. Direct all forces to intercept the impact sites."

On the watchtower,Charlie monitored the radar intently, tracking the incoming objects. They were descending fast, and Earth's defenses were already stretched thin.

"Friday, make sure every base has updated coordinates. Focus all forces on defending the critical sites,"Charlie ordered.

"It's done, sir," Friday replied, but there was a slight edge to her tone. "But even with all defenses in place, it may not be enough."

Outside, the sky began to darken as the new wave of alien projectiles streaked across the horizon, each one blazing with the fiery glow of atmospheric entry. The ground forces braced themselves, knowing that another wave of chaos was about to descend upon them.