Chapter Text
Rao-Cycle 9984.317-Argo City Spaceport, Krypton.
A thirteen-year-old Kara Zor-El was rushed through the shattered spaceport of Argo City by her parents, Zor-El and Alura, toward the last intact starship.
The air smelled of burning metal and ionized fuel. Emergency sirens wailed overhead, their once orderly tones now reduced to frantic alarms echoing across the ruined launch platforms. Smoke rose in dark pillars against the red kryptonian sky, blotting out the light of Rao.
Kara struggled to keep up as her parents pulled her forwards, her shoes scraping against cracked crystal flooring that had once gleamed at the height of Krypton's glory.
She still couldn't believe this was happening. That her home had been reduced to this.
Five years ago, none of this would have been possible.
Five years ago, Krypton had still stood in its golden age. Its cities had shone like jewels across the planet's surface. Its people had lived without fear and its future had seemed eternal.
Then General Zod decided he wasn't content with protecting Krypton. He wanted to rule it. And the military guild, brave men and women who'd sworn to defend Krypton had followed him and. Nearly all of them. The war that followed hadn't just broken Krypton's government.
It had broken Krypton itself. Now its cities burned, its people were being driven to the brink of extinction from everyone who'd been killed for refusing Zod.
And now its last hope was running through a dying spaceport toward a single waiting starship. Her.
Though Kara still didn't understand how that could be true. She wasn't a soldier or a leader. She was just 13. She still didn't understand why she had to do this in the first place and none of her friends, who were still hidden away in underground shelters.
Another explosion shook the spaceport, the ground trembling beneath her feet. Kara flinched as fragments of crystalline structure shattered from above, crashing onto the launch platform behind them.
Zor-El tightened his grip on her hand but didn't slow down, if anything, he and Alura sped up.
"We're almost there." Zor-El sai, his voice somehow steady despite the chaos all around them.
Ahead, one single starship stood alone at the far end of the platform.
It was smaller than the massive transport vessels that once filled the spaceport, but its hull remained intact, its silver surface reflecting the fires consuming the city behind them. Its engines hummed with restrained power, ready, waiting for her.
Kara slowed.
"No," she said, her voice barely more than a whisper.
Her parents stopped.
Alura knelt down in front of her, placing her hands on her daughter's shoulders.
"Kara," Alura said softly.
"You're coming with me." Kara said it wasn't a question. It was a certainty. It had to be.
Alura's hands tightened slightly.
"We can't." the words hit harder than any explosion.
Kara shook her head. "No, you said we'd face this together."
Zor-El stepped forward, holding something in his hands.
Two crystalline objects.
One glowed with warm, golden light, pulsing gently like a heartbeat. The other shimmered with cool blue energy, its surface alive with faint, shifting symbols that seemed to move with purpose.
Kara stared at them, her breath catching.
She hadn't seen these since she was young.
"The Vael-Rao." Kara whispered.
"And the Thalos-El," Alura said softly.
The golden crystal pulse again, not brighter as if it recognized her presence. Kara felt its warmth even from where she stood, like it was reaching out for her.
"No," Kara said, shaking her head. "These belong in the Hall of Rao."
After all, these were two of the most sacred artifacts on all of Krypton. The Vael-Rao, also known as the Heart of Rao, pulsed with a warm, golden light, its glow steady and alive, as if it possessed a heartbeat of its own. It was more than a relic. According to Kryptonian tradition, it was the living soul of their civilization - the sacred crystal that, in ancient times, chose the one destined not to rule Krypton, but to protect it. It hadn't chosen a bearer in over a thousand years.
Until her.
Besides it shimmered the Thalos-El- the Codex- its cool blue surface alive with shifting glyphs, the recorded knowledge of generations moving like constellations beneath crystal glass. Within it were the sciences of the guilds, the poetry of Rao's temples, the maps of distant stars, the triumphs of Krypton's golden age and the warnings history had tried and failed to teach.
If the Heart of Rao was Krypton's soul, the Codex was its memory.
"These should be in the Hall of Rao." Kara said.
"There is no Hall of Rao anymore. It fell about a week ago." Alura said, shocking Kara, since she'd been cooped up in one of the underground shelters like her friends, kept completely out of the loop of how the war was going.
"What? No, not even Zod would desecrate the sacred place." Kara said, since the Hall of Rao was the most sacred place on Krypton, not even a zealot like Zod would destroy it.
"He destroyed it when he realized that his prize wasn't there. He wants the heart and codex, since with them, he could claim the mantle of Krypton's protector, which to him means its ruler." Zor-El said.
"That's impossible," she said, thinking that she was being given these artifacts for safekeeping, but not understanding why. "The heart and codex choose their bearer."
"Yes," Zor-El said quietly. "But Zod believes power is something that can be taken. Especially if he kills the true chosen bearer."
Kara froze as the pieces suddenly fell into place for her about why the heart and codex seemed to react to her presence and why she was being the one sent away.
"You mean… me?" Kara asked in shock as both relics pulsed in her hands. Reacting to her.
She'd thought that her parents were simply entrusting her with them for safekeeping. But that wasn't it.
"You think I'm the bearer?" Kara asked quietly.
"No, we don't think. We know. We've known since the day you were born, but we weren't going to tell you until you were old enough to shoulder the responsibility, not to mention keep this hidden from the council and everyone else to give you a normal life. But things change. The Heart and Codex both chose you to wield their power." Zor-El sid.
"That doesn't make any sense, I'm not a soldier or a protector or a leader. I'm just a 13 year old." Kara said.
"You were never meant to be a soldier," Alura said softly, kneeling in front of Kara again, placing a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "The protector Krypton was never chosen for their strength."
Kara was confused.
"They were chosen for their heart. And you, my dear Kara, have the heart of the hero." Alura said, right as the spaceport shook with explosions.
"We don't have much time. Kara, you need to get on the ship now. We've managed to get a space bridge working long enough to get you away from here, but the second it turns on, Zod will know and attempt to stop you." Zor-El said.
"No, I don't want to leave without you." Kara said.
"You have to." Alura said.
“We'll always be with you in your heart. But you have to go and preserve Krypton's legacy. The ship's autopilot and space bridge are preset to take you somewhere safe,” Zor-El said.
The small starship opened with a soft mechanical hiss, its ramp extending onto the cracked launch platform.
Kara hesitated for only a moment before reluctantly walking aboard.
The hatch sealed behind her.
Inside the cockpit, Kara turned back toward the viewport just in time to see her parents standing together on the platform below.
Then the engines roared to life.
She quickly took her seat on the bridge as glowing Kryptonian glyphs illuminated across the control panels.
AUTOPILOT ENGAGED.
Ahead of her, the space bridge ignited — a massive vortex of swirling green light tearing open the sky above the spaceport.
The ship accelerated toward it.
Suddenly streaks of energy tore across the sky.
Cannons opened fire.
Blasts slammed into the launch platform and ripped through the air around the starship, forcing Kara to grip the arms of her chair as warning alarms screamed through the cockpit.
She hurriedly strapped herself in.
Another blast flashed past the viewport, narrowly missing the ship as it sped toward the portal.
“Come on… come on…” she whispered.
The vortex grew larger and brighter as the ship hurtled toward it.
More cannon fire followed, striking dangerously close.
Then the ship crossed the threshold.
The green light swallowed everything. A split second later Kara heard and felt a massive shockwave ripple through space behind her.
The space bridge exploded.
The last gateway out of Krypton was gone. And the small ship carrying the last daughter of Krypton disappeared into the void.