Barely two minutes had passed between the powerful beam of light causing the explosion at Stark Tower and the start of Noah and Tony's rescue operation. During this time, the portal fully opened, and after the first Chitauri warrior on a flying chariot emerged, countless more soldiers began pouring out, all looking identical, as if created from the same template.
Noah and Tony watched as the Chitauri warriors, upon arriving on Earth, swooped down towards the ground with piercing cries. They started firing their energy weapons at buildings and fleeing people.
"What the hell is this?!" Tony cursed, firing an orange repulsor beam at one of the chariots.
Three figures were on this chariot—a pilot and two gunners with energy cannons. This was the standard configuration for Chitauri troops. They were strapped to the chariot with chains for stability. But as they swooped down towards the ground, Tony's orange laser pierced right through their chariot, causing a mid-air explosion.
Noah once again conjured a wind wall, intercepting the enemy's energy projectiles. Some Chitauri soldiers, not understanding the nature of the barrier, crashed into it at full speed as if hitting a solid wall, their chariots exploding in fiery bursts.
Meanwhile, the portal in the sky continued to expand, and even more soldiers poured out.
"Jarvis, what's happening inside the tower?" Tony asked, looking at the hordes of enemies.
"Sir, I've detected a change in the large arc reactor's energy signature," the AI replied. "It seems the invaders are using its energy to power some kind of device."
"Jarvis, can you shut down the reactor?" Tony asked.
"I've already cut off the power, sir, but it had no effect," came the reply. Even after the reactor was deactivated, the blue beam continued to shoot into the sky, powering the portal.
"It looks like I'll have to go inside and deal with this myself," Tony said. To close the portal and stop the invasion, he needed to disable the device emitting the blue beam. But right now, he had another task—repelling the enemy's advance, as they were already approaching the city.
Tony activated the thrusters on his Destroyer armor and rushed towards the Chitauri soldiers closing in on the buildings. The armor not only possessed powerful energy attacks, but was also incredibly durable and deadly in close combat. The heavy plating and spiked knuckles were a testament to its destructive power.
Flying with a bright orange trail in his wake, he crashed into a group of soldiers diving towards the city. The Chitauri raised their wrist-mounted energy cannons and began firing at Tony. Their weapons glowed with blue light, and a dense stream of projectiles hurtled towards him.
Tony increased his speed even further, closing in on the wave of projectiles. In his standard Mark VI armor, he would have tried to evade, but in the Destroyer armor, he decided to test its durability. The blue flashes of the projectiles exploded against the armor's surface like blooming blue flowers, but the armor remained unscathed. A moment later, he emerged from the cloud of explosions and slammed into the soldiers.
His metal fist, covered in spikes, struck a Chitauri warrior directly in its skull-like face. The impact shattered the creature's head, splattering blue blood and helmet fragments. The headless body, still tethered to its chariot by a chain at its waist, hung limply in the air.
After quickly dispatching one enemy, he intercepted another soldier's weapon aimed at him. Crushing the cannon in his hand, he triggered an energy explosion between them. The chariot lost control, and the soldier was torn to pieces. Then, brushing off the debris, he flew on, destroying another pilot along with their chariot.
Meanwhile, Noah, after deploying his wind wall, sliced several Chitauri soldiers apart with air blades. Looking down, he noticed that the events at the tower had attracted a lot of attention. Residents in the immediate vicinity had already been evacuated, but those unaware of what was happening headed towards the tower, assuming some new invention was being demonstrated.
The first wave of Chitauri was repelled, but the people on the ground quickly realized that this wasn't a movie. The falling debris of the enemy chariots made it clear that New York was under attack. Panic set in, and people started running for cover.
Police officers patrolling nearby also rushed to the scene. Receiving numerous calls for help, they arrived to find chaos, aerial battles, and explosions. Faced with such a situation, they realized this was clearly a matter for the military, not the police.
As Noah hovered in the air, his armor activated its missile launchers, unleashing dozens of Hextech micro-missiles. Each missile annihilated an entire group of flying soldiers. Having cleared the sky of enemies, he used the pause to check his mission panel.