The Black Lion - For Earth! (Patreon)

Nick Fury, crashed Helicarrier – Atlantic Ocean.

“I want eyes on New York immediately! I do not care about excuses, an alien fleet is invading and the world needs us, all agents are to prepare with high-caliber weapons, whatever we can salvage from the armory and get ready to be transported to the city,” the director ordered with determination and fury.

Everyone around nodded at Fury’s firm words and rushed to carry out his orders, while Maria Hill walked toward him with a frown.

“I cannot believe the Council tried to stop you from sending reinforcements to New York,” she said, her tone filled with confusion and anger like never before.

Fury simply snorted at Hill’s stupidity, this type of action was in line with the Council.

“It does not matter now, we need to help New York, but I do not know what the hell is happening, I cannot take action without being aware of the situation!” the director snapped, frustrated and furious in equal parts.

Hill was about to respond, when Romanov and Barton made their presence known.

Clint was no longer in his tactical armor, but in some kind of technological suit of purple and black color, in his hand he carried a kind of energy bow that looked powerful and terrifying in equal measure.

Hawkeye looked furious, like few times before.

“I can give you a status of the situation, the city is under attack, a massive alien ship is besieging the city, the Rock and the Black District, thanks to Harrison, have planetary energy shields powerful enough to withstand the assault, while the AATIS cannons that we installed in secret have allowed us to maintain a security perimeter,” Natasha said, while using her omni-tool to display real-time images of the city.

“Oh shit,” Fury muttered, looking at the images in disbelief.

The Rock and the Black District, covered by a kind of energy dome, while massive plasma cannons and swarms of drones fought against ships clearly of Kree construction.

And to Fury’s satisfaction, the Kree were getting their asses kicked.

Dozens of warships shot down, the drones wreaking havoc on the landing crafts and not to mention the damage that the New York police were causing with those brand-new weapons that pierced alien soldiers as if they were paper.

“What the hell are those weapons?” Hill asked, looking with amazement and envy at how…effective they were against the enemy.

Natasha answered casually.

“They are the new LAS-energy weapons that Harrison created for space exploration, cute, right?” Natasha said while insistently checking her omni-tool, as if she were waiting for a message.

Hill looked at the weapons with hunger in her eyes and said.

“Those weapons would be of great help for our agents.”

Fury looked at her in disbelief, but remained silent, a courtesy Barton did not have, the archer snorted at the woman’s audacity, but before he could say anything, Natasha intervened sharply.

“Take a picture, because those weapons will never go on sale, they will be exclusive to Evans Technologies and Harrison’s efforts to colonize the solar system,” said the redhead, enjoying Hill’s look of shock and disbelief.

Fury intervened before things got out of control.

“We know the Council of Lionesses has a plan for this situation, SHIELD does not have an adequate response capacity and I am sure all my agents will want to help in the invasion, tell us what to do,” said the bald man, to the evident surprise of Hill, Coulson and the rest of the agents present in the improvised command center in the remains of the Helicarrier.

Natasha looked at him for quite some time in total silence, until with a sigh she answered.

“The mothership is using some object of immense power to generate a kind of barrier around the planet, nothing can enter, nor leave, Harrison is on stand by, with the armies of Jotunheim and Asgard prepared and ready to assist the city, but we must bring down the barrier to achieve that,” Natasha said, sharing the report that Jean had given through the psionic network they all shared.

Those words were music to Fury, they had a plan of action, after all.

Hill, upon hearing those words, could not help but ask.

“Asgard? From the New Mexico incident? Why would they help us?” she asked in confusion.

Natasha simply shrugged, still focused on her omni-tool and said.

“Because Harry is considered the King of Earth.”

At those words, everyone present looked at Widow in disbelief, including Fury, who simply raised an eyebrow.

Hill, unsurprisingly, took it as an insult.

“King of Earth? I have met arrogant people, but that is ridiculous!” the agent snapped.

Widow’s response? A shrug.

“You are free to travel to Jotunheim, where the Council of Yggdrasil is taking place, and question his title, Hill, that is where he is, securing a military alliance for the defense of the planet,” said Widow with a frown, growing increasingly annoyed with the agent’s foolish comments.

Hill opened her mouth, ready to keep arguing, but Fury intervened.

“I assume you have a plan to deal with that ship,” said the director with certainty, sighing in relief when Natasha nodded softly.

“I do, Clint and I will infiltrate the ship with a small team, our mission will be simple, disable the shields long enough for the AATIS to tear that damn ship apart.”

Whispers of approval and hope began to spread throughout the improvised command center, but there was something in the plan that did not sit right with Nick.

“How will you get close enough? I know the Raven has a stealth mode, but those are too many enemy ships,” he said with some concern.

Natasha did not answer, she simply smiled and activated her omni-tool.

“Everything ready, Fleet Master?” she asked, with an enigmatic smile in her voice.

At those words, everyone in the command center fell silent, having no idea what Black Widow was referring to.

At least, until a voice answered, a familiar one to Nick.

“This is the Fleet Master, ready and standing by for emergence, beginning sequence.”

Nick looked at Natasha in disbelief upon hearing those words.

“I recognize that voice, it was Steve’s voice, what is happening Natasha? What emergence was he talking about? What does he mean with that nonsense of Fleet Master?”

Nick Fury’s bad habit of wanting to know everything was killing him, because for the first time in a long time…

He had no idea what the hell was happening.

Natasha did not bother to respond, still clearly angry about the whole Pegasus project situation, and instead focused completely on Barton.

“With your new toys and a regiment of drones and sentinels we should not have any problems with the aliens, are you ready?”

“I was born ready, I had friends in that facility, today they will be avenged,” said the archer, his face full of determination and his eyes hungry for vengeance.

Fury frowned and was about to speak, when it happened.

The few remaining alarms in the half-destroyed control room began to activate.

“What the hell is happening now?” the director asked.

“Massive energy anomalies, sir, near us, at least three dozen, with… oh shit!” said the agent, stunned, as if he could not believe what he was seeing.

“Finish your report, Agent Bryce!” Fury snapped, his hands tense, this whole damn situation was overwhelming him.

“One… one more energy source, titanic, it has more power… than the entire planet…” he whispered, completely stunned by what he was reading.

Fury stared in disbelief, what he was seeing had to be a damn sensor error, there was no way that reading was real, an object in the middle of nowhere? With that amount of energy? They would have detected it instantly, it was simply impossible that…

“BOOOOOOOOOM!”

A powerful explosion shook not only the ocean, but the entire Helicarrier, causing several agents to fall to the ground and forcing Fury to grab onto the command chair to avoid doing the same.

And then, he saw them, at the same time that the short-range radios began to go crazy.

“MNS Zeus of the First Fleet of Terra reporting for duty.”

“MNS Poseidon ready to depart, emergence successful.”

“MNS Hades, prepared and ready.”

Fury, Hill, Coulson and the rest of the agents present watched, completely stunned, as a war fleet of spacefaring ships, clearly of human origin, emerged from the depths of the damn ocean.

There were at least thirty, with recently named Zeus, Poseidon and Hades being the largest and most terrifying of the fleet, made of black metal with emerald paint, all of them bearing a symbol unknown to Fury, but that after this day, would be known worldwide.

The image of Earth, surrounded by a kind of tree, an elegant and powerful symbol with a very clear message.

These ships did not serve the United States or any country.

These ships served the Black Lion and no one else.

“A human fleet…?” Hill whispered, completely stunned

And as if the presence of the warships was not enough…

“This is Fleet Master Steve Rogers, aboard the Olympus Station, good to see you Nick, enjoy the show,” said the voice of his old friend.

And a moment later, the ocean itself seemed to split open like an egg, at the same time that a monstrous station emerged from the depths, it was enormous, composed of a central cylindrical structure surrounded by two rings, at least ten kilometers in length and judging by Bryce’s readings.

Armed to the teeth.

Natasha walked toward the stunned Nick and with perverse satisfaction said.

“The First Fleet of Midgard, designed by Harrison to defend the Earth. Fleet Master Steve will provide the distraction we need, send your agents into the fight Nick, this war is just beginning,” said the redhead, while gesturing toward Barton, both leaving the command center and returning to the Raven.

Although to be honest, Fury did not pay them the slightest attention, his face and that of his entire team remained stunned at the sight of a human fleet, prepared and ready to fight.

“All systems are green, prepare the short-jump engine toward the lower atmosphere of New York, right beneath the anomaly and remember, those sons of bitches showed no mercy to our people, let us grant them the same courtesy,” Rogers said with determination.

The next thing Fury saw was how, one by one, the ships of the fleet simply disappeared almost instantly, evidently using technology different and vastly superior to the engines of the Minotaurs.

“There it goes, the hope of Earth, born from the mind of a twenty-two-year-old young man,” said Coulson, his tone filled with emotion and absolute respect.

Now they had a chance to fight, and they would take it.

“All agents prepare to deploy, we will defend the city at all costs!” Fury ordered, as he focused once again on providing as much support as possible to the First Fleet.

“Did you like the surprise Nick?” Steve’s voice asked, amusement more than clear in his tone.

Fury snorted and replied.

“You are a lucky bastard, you know that? That toy of yours is much bigger than mine,” said the bald man with amusement, drawing a loud laugh from the Fleet Master.

“We will make them pay Nick, you have my word, Rogers out.”

And without another word, the entire station simply disappeared, having jumped just like the ships of the fleet.

Fury simply looked into the void and whispered.

“Good luck, old friend,” at the same time that he gave a salute toward the place where the station had been moments ago.

A gesture that was repeated by almost all the agents present, with one exception.

Agent Hill, who did not look moved or excited.

But worried.

The reason? Unknown.

At least for now.

James Potter, close to New York.

“This looks bad, James,” Sirius said at his side, clad in the enchanted tactical armor that had been prepared for him.

“I agree with Sirius, the Sparrow is a stealth ship, but with so many hostiles in the city someone will detect us,” said Remus, dressed the same way as Sirius.

Lord Potter simply rolled his eyes, and replied.

“Relax, we have time, Harrison’s shield is holding the assault and those terrifying cannons are keeping the invaders occupied,” he said, pointing toward the image of the alien fleet being massacred by the plasma fire of the AATIS.

“I have to admit, your son is a crazy little genius, those things are monstrously terrifying,” Sirius said cautiously, grimacing as he watched one of the AATIS destroy another Kree ship.

“Yes, but the rest of the city is being massacred, the planetary shield is only over Harrison’s properties, a lot of people are dying,” Remus said cautiously.

Sirius made a gesture of indifference, but James agreed with the brown-haired man.

“Then we must hurry,” he said, watching as green flashes appeared on the outskirts of the city.

The fleet had arrived.

“The cavalry has arrived,” Sirius said.

“And it looks like they arrived angry,” Remus said, watching as Harrison’s ships began to punish the surprised Kree.

James observed with satisfaction, magnetic accelerators, plasma cannons, orbital lasers, javelin missiles, the fleet was attacking with everything it had, while the Olympus Station had begun to provide ground support to the city.

“That is our distraction, come on, target the biggest and ugliest ship of them all,” James ordered.

“Oh this fight is going to be incredible!” Sirius exclaimed, his face showing his desire to spill blood.

Like all Blacks, really.

James activated his omni-tool and said.

“Red 1, this is Gold 1 in position and en route to the target.”

Seconds later, Natasha’s voice, one of the most beautiful and dangerous women his son had, responded.

“Copy Gold 1, we will enter from the other side, we are in contact.”

James cut the communication and without taking his eyes off the screens ordered.

“Release the Dragon drones, I need a hole in that ship ASAP.”

Sirius nodded, while from the fuselage, half a hundred explosive drones were released and launched directly toward the alien mothership, exploding with enough force to create a small opening, large enough for the Sparrow to enter with difficulty.

“Prepare yourselves, and remember, no mercy,” he ordered, putting on his helmet.

Remus activated his mutation and transformed into his monstrous form, while Sirius’ arms filled with black flames, eager to devour everything in their path.

James nodded to himself, he would not fail his son, not again.

He would find the artifact and deactivate it.

The fate of Earth was at stake.

They had no time to lose.