The battlefield was chaos. Dust and ash choked the air, the ground littered with rubble and the broken remains of Thanos's forces. The Avengers and their allies stood bloodied, exhausted, but still fighting. Above them, the Sanctuary II loomed like a metal god, its cannons glowing with deadly light as it rained fire down upon them.

Then, in an instant, the barrage stopped. The cannons went dark, their hum fading into an eerie silence. The sudden quiet was almost deafening. One by one, heads turned skyward as the massive cannons began to pivot, their barrels angling away from the battlefield.

Tony's eyes narrowed behind his helmet. High above, a streak of light tore through the clouds, brilliant and blinding, moving faster than anything they'd seen before.