Krypton was once the shining jewel of the Andromeda Galaxy, the central hub of trade and a force for peace and prosperity spreading across galaxies. They are one of the oldest species alive and through time they have grown more and more advanced, the thriving home world housing the ruling family, the House of Ak, a name recognisable to galaxies across the universe having first united the kryptonians, then growing the species into what its current might. That was before the latest celebration of Rao, a period of 8 days where the two moons of krypton would together eclipse, and as they passed the return of Rao's light was said to bring great blessings to the people, bringing wealth and prosperity to the planet's inhabitants.

The day had grown in meaning over 10,000 years ago when the House of Ak first united the planet, their final stand taking place during the eclipse and Rao's light dawning a new era for the planet as a whole. What that meant was that all kryptonians, no matter their misgivings, would unite under the light of Rao during the eclipse that only occurred every 130 years, for many a once in a lifetime opportunity. The often bustling cities of Krypton were practically bursting at the seams with the ingress of kryptonians from the far reaches of their empire, all coming together to celebrate the sacred days.

It was known to few what the following days would bring, as Krypton was definitely reborn during the eclipse, only not for the better by any means. The house of Ak gathered alongside their fellow kryptonians on the flattened peak of Krypton's tallest mountain, kneeling with everyone else as the light of Rao was first obscured, many eager for the celebrations that were sure to follow. Given the sacred nature of the event, no weapons were brought to the summit and the royal family were able to relax, knowing that no kryptonian would risk the wrath of Rao by acting in violence during this period.

The House of Ak had remained small for the past 4500 years as the concept of natural conception was left behind for the favoured methods of Krypton, involving the generation of children that only required DNA samples from the parents if desired. With infant mortality rates reduced to zero and genetic disorders eradicated, the house like many others saw little reason for expansion, and as such a single heir was born to each ruler. The latest heir was already well known to the populace of Krypton, as while children were rapidly educated in their culture, alongside their accelerated biological growth, by the age of 4, Hol-Ak, heir of Krypton was already challenging the leading scientists and engineers of the thriving empire. At 13 Hol-Ak had already led projects that evolved space travel, developing gateways that could be placed at the far reaches of galaxies, effectively allowing ships to be flung between them, cutting travel times to a small fraction of what they were and greatly reducing danger. This had both generated great wealth and popularity for the House of Ak and the Kryptonians as a whole, as such making Hol-Ak a celebrity amidst the greater populace.

One of the few opportunities where Hol-Ak could be drawn away from his research was religious festivities, with none being as important as the eclipse, as such many of the amassed crowd were eager to greet the young prince. First though Hol-Ak was eager to introduce his latest partner Jor-El, with whom he was researching alternate power sources with, to his parents. Their research had shown great promise as they looked into a foreign power source that seemed to spread across the universe that could potentially power the entire empire without issue.

Hal-Ak and Selim-Ak, otherwise known as Lord and lady Krypton, were obviously the centre of most attendees attention, yet their primary focus was their son. The parents adored their son and were extremely proud of what he had achieved on behalf of their House, and having heard a great deal about the latest project fascinating their child, they were also eager to meet the Jor-El they had heard so much about. The House of El was renowned for greatness, with scientist, doctors and even judges to their name, as such the House of Ak had stood on good grounds with the fellow family, though with the demanding lives of the royal house, they had little time to spend raising their child, and had little time left to meet others.

As such they were quick to follow their son as he led the way through the adoring crowd to meet with Jor-El and his family. Reaching them at last Hol-Ak was quick to make introductions.

"Father, this is Jor-El, he has been working with me on my latest project." Hol-Ak stated proudly given the esteem the scientist he was working with held.

Hal-Ak chuckled at his son's rather unnecessary introduction, "It is a pleasure Jor-El, I have heard much about you from my son, I must say I am rather impressed with the work you are doing." He held out his hand to the other man with a bright smile on his face.

"The pleasure is all mine my lord, the chance to work with the young prince has been the opportunity of a lifetime. What we have achieved already astounds even me and it seems as if we are just scratching the surface." Jor-El responded, bowing his head as he greeted the monarch.

"If I may, I would like to introduce my wife, Lara-El, along with my brother Zor-El and his wife, Alura-El." He said, gesturing to each of the group that he was with as he made the introductions, each nodding their greetings to the pair.

Alura spoke up after they'd each been introduced, "I was impressed by your work with the Havanians, to have brokered peace with them is a wonderous feat." To which Hal-Ak waved off the complement with a smile, "I was just glad that we could reach a peace, with their vicinity to the gateway in that area further feuding with neighbouring planets could have seriously destabilised trade in sector 2814."

Alura nodded in agreement before turning to Hol-Ak, "I must apologise for Kara's absence, she was excited to see you again but after having recently recovered from a fever after our visit to Tamaran, she needed all the rest she could get, she would have watched the eclipse from her room at home."

Hol-Ak visibly deflated for a moment, shoulders sagging before his parents lessons kicked in and he straightened up with a slight smile on his face, the change was only momentary but his parents and the representatives of El noticed, "It is a shame, I enjoyed my most recent conversation with Kara about the stars, her drive for adventure and discovery is a pleasure to embrace." Hol-Ak responded politely, disheartened that his only true friend couldn't make it tonight, making the following festivities seem dull compared to how he had imagined them.

Selim chuckled as she patted her son's shoulder, he was so often busy with his work that he took too few opportunities to embrace life, it was such a pleasure for her to watch him laugh and smile in the time he spent with Kara. Between the expeditions the family went on together to manage different sections of the empire, and all the work Hol-Ak did, he rarely got to see his best friend, but their adoration for one another was plain to see, and while Kara did meet many others in her more regular schooling, she was just as attached to her friend as he was to her.

"I'm sure Hol will be able to entertain himself for the evening, though her absence will be felt keenly no doubt." Hol-Ak blushed and sent a short glare to his mother who smirked, "Your work has been exemplary as well Alura, I saw the most recent case you presided over, without your keen judgement the empire would surely suffer." Alura smiled at the praise from her friend.

They too found little time to spend with one another, but after their children had met at another gathering in celebration of Rao, they had kept in touch. Jor-El chimed back in, noticing the surrounding crowd awaiting the attention of their monarch. "We mustn't keep you any longer my lord. If you would like we could watch over the young prince for the evening." He offered, with Hol looking up at his father with pleading eyes, hungering to continue discussion into his research with the scientist.

With a smile to his son, Hal-Ak patted his shoulder, "We must speak again soon Jor-El, it has been a delight, but duty calls. I'm sure Hol-Ak would enjoy your company for the evening, perhaps we might get another opportunity to talk before the night is over."

Jor-El nodded his agreement with the sentiment, and shook the monarch's hand again, leading Hol over to an area further away, along with the rest of his family, in order to avoid the more crowded area. The pair immediately engaging in a discussion regarding their research, "Jor, as I was pondering our work this morning I had an interesting thought. This energy that we have detected across the universe, we hypothesised that exists in everything, but didn't occur purely. I believe that we may be able to detect it within places of extremely high energy, such as lightning, or even solar flares. Talking to Kelex, in sector 2734 there is a planet that experiences an almost constant lightning storm, perhaps if we observe such a raw form of energy we may be able to derive something new about this energy source." Hol-Ak discussed his latest thoughts excitedly.

"You know we were going to take a break for the eclipse Hol." Jor said with a laugh as he knew there was nothing that would stop Hol's drive to finish his projects.

Hol's only response was to question whether Jor was up for the expedition, to which the scientist responded in the affirmative after a pleading glance towards his wife. With a grin Hol continued to discuss the execution of his idea with Jor, attempting to refine it into an exact plan, Zor-El joining in as he gave his own perspective, being an experienced scientist himself.

Meanwhile, Alura and Lara were standing a short distance away, "I knew that Kara had, had a few meetings with the prince but I didn't realise they were such close friends. If I was to have seen things correctly it seems as though there is more to it than that?" Lara questioned her sister-in-law.

Alura smiled, "I think your right, it seems as though the pair are as close as can be, it is only my hope that they don't grow apart."

Lara's grin widened, "Kara was always amazing, but can you imagine her being the queen of Krypton, it would be an amazing day, the pair of them, with Kara's drive for adventure and the prince's talents, Jor says that he is the most brilliant scientist he has worked alongside, and he is only 13, we could be looking at a new age for Krypton."

Alura smiled at the thought, believing that they would make a great pair, "Let's not get ahead of ourselves, they are both young, but it would be a brilliant future, wouldn't it?" Lara nodded with a joyous gleam to her eyes as she looked at the eager young prince talking with her husband.

Festivities continued for some time with the summit being serenaded with melodious music and some of the best cuisine from the universe being served, alongside the best drinks from across the empire. The king and queen were busy all evening, talking with the many guests that were in attendance, many with their own ideas and opinions that they sought to put before the monarch.

It was only shortly over an hour before the festivities would break away that the joyous laughter and merriment was broken by a pained wail and chaos descended. From the entrance burst a dozen or so soldiers, armed to the teeth, the species unknown under the heavy armour they were. Quickly they were tearing the crowd to shreds with advanced weapons, there was nothing that the guests could do to protect themselves. Hol-Ak knew no help would come in time, his only desire was to get to his parents but as he turned to run to them Jor picked him up and ran with his family for the kitchens that were nearby, the only other exit to the space. Hol wanted to scream and command Jor to let go but his mouth was covered by Jor's hand, and he had no escape. An explosion caused by a shot from one of the invaders weapons tore apart the wall behind them, showering the group in debris.

This was Hol's chance, taking a two pronged fork off of a platter than had tumbled to the floor in the chaos, the young prince was able to weave through the frantic crowd. Leaping on the back of one of the invaders that was facing away from him, he stabbed the makeshift weapon through a gap in the armour's neck, green blood pouring forth as the attacker collapsed to the ground almost immediately. Now armed with the aliens large almost cannon like weapon, Hol pushed forward, with the aliens not expecting any resistance, he was able to take our a further 4 with the weapon before an explosion went off right behind him, throwing him to the ground in a daze.

Scrambling to his feet as dust from the rubble obscured his vision and made it difficult to breathe, Hol half-stumbled, half-ran to where he knew his parents to be. Reaching the spot, Hol glanced around him in fear before noticing something off to his side, still somewhat obscured by the haze filled air. Reaching out he turned whatever it was over only to see his parent both laid there, staring lifelessly at the ceiling, with a wail of grief, Hol picked up the weapon he'd thrown aside as he turned his mother's body over and turned towards where the remaining intruders were.

Other guests had acquired the weapons of the other downed intruders and together they defeated the rest of them, but their mission seems to have been successful as without the rulers of Krypton the empire would be destabilised, the last hope for the survival of the empire as it was now laid with the survival of Hol. Sending a look of desperation towards Jor-El who stood beside him with a weapon in hand, having immediately moved to protect the prince, Jor answered the unasked question.

"They couldn't have breached the security of this room, let alone that surrounding Krypton without aid. We can't know where you will be safe." Jor was heartbroken for the loss his friend had suffered but knew there was more at stake.

Nodding in agreement, Hol fled with Jor through the kitchens, joined by the other member's of the House of El, all who had stood against the invaders alongside him. "I cannot stay with you; it would put your family in jeopardy. We must hope that whoever initiated this act wanted to take over as cleanly as possible. If you aren't seen standing by me you shouldn't be a target."

Alura immediately disagreed, having grown close to Hol through his friendship with her daughter and caring for his deeply, "We must protect you, if not for our duty to our king than because you are as good as family to us."

Hol shook his head, "You must think of Kara, she would be put in danger as well, all of you would be. I will find a way to survive."

The members of El knew he was correct but couldn't stand by and do nothing. It was then that Jor had an idea, "Our research facility is completely off the books, as is our corroboration, if you can make it to the labs then you can stay safe down there, meanwhile we can gather a proper resistance on your behalf."

Knowing it was the best option for the time being, Hol nodded his assent, and the group boarded the flying vehicle that was often used for transport around Krypton, rocketing off towards the lab where he may be safe.

The group had made their escape safely, and despite their reluctance to do so, had left Hol in the safety of the lab. In the following hours the perpetrator became obvious to them, but they had to hand credit to General Zod, his position as the leader of the military placed him beyond reproach and his seizing of control only seemed logical.

Hol was reported to be dead along with his parents, an image of their bodies being shared in all the gore he had found them in, under the guise of motivating resistance against the perpetrators, but ultimately only securing Zod's control. Hol, along with the House of El, made the decision to lay low and wait for a more opportune moment when Zod had played his whole hand and they could develop an effective response. Unfortunately, there was no one that they could be sure they could trust and as such they had no assistance outside the House.

Kara was distraught upon the parents return as she saw the announcement that her closest friend was slaughtered alongside his parents, and Alura made the difficult decision not to tell her otherwise as it would be too great a risk for her should the wrong person discover the truth.

Days passed agonisingly slow, and for the first time in his life, Hol couldn't be distracted by his research and as such did little else but watch the face of the man responsible for taking his parents life parade his control over Krypton before everyone. It had been almost a month since the attack and Hol had missed the unveiling of Rao's light, trapped in the ground as he was and thought it was only fitting given the bleakness of his current situation.

As he attempted to distract himself with his work he made a horrifying discovery that he couldn't believe until he checked it thrice. Upon Jor's arrival to check on Hol he fell to the floor when he realised the fate they had been condemned to. To secure his power Zod had positioned the Daxamites as the aggressors in this conflict, even though whilst relations hadn't been positive, they hadn't gone to war with their sister planet in over a millennia. In response, Zod unveiled a weapon they would use to turn the planet to ash effectively positioning himself to be the hero in this story with nothing left of Daxam to dispute his claim.

Zod though was nothing but a soldier and had no idea what the weapon would truly do. Having been recovered in a recent war they had put end to, the weapon had been returned to Krypton as a relic of the disaster that had been prevented. The weapon was fundamentally floored as its method of harvesting the planets core for power would cause the core to implode, taking the entire planet with it.

Whilst it had never been fired, Hol had analysed the weapon upon its return and identified its flaws and knew that once it had begun the process of firing, the fate was unavoidable. Krypton was doomed. Hol could do nothing to save his people, just as he had failed to save his parents. Jor finally spoke up in a hoarse whisper, "Lara is pregnant."

It was a simple statement, but Hol knew the full extent of what it meant. Pregnancy had been outlawed, with 100% effective birth control methods being provided to everyone on Krypton, as a result of the alternate method that ensured 0% infant mortality rates. Lara and Jor had decided to go against this, and Hol would never have done anything against it, but there was no way out now, the child would barely be born before the world would end. How could Rao deliver a fate so cruel to anyone, Hol couldn't understand.

"Then we must find a way to save the child." Hol's answer left no room for rebuke, he would make sure the child would escape the doom of krypton, even if it was the last thing he would do, which seemed likely.

"How? Zod has the planet in an iron fist, and there is no way to breach the atmosphere without being shot down. If you reveal yourself you'll be painted as a clone or some other device of Daxam's creation and killed before we can act."

"I have an idea, but I don't know how many people we will be able to evacuate." Hol said, "We can create a gateway on the surface that can slingshot survivors out of the atmosphere during the destruction of the planet when the defence system will fail."

"The pods would have to be small as we cannot construct a large gateway in the time and with the materials we have." Jor responded.

"So we'll have to make multiple, we can make 4 in this time, I'm sure. You, Lara, and your child can escape, and you can take Kara with you." Hol said, his voice breaking slightly as he mentioned Kara, the thought of her dying cutting him deeply.

"What of everyone else, you, Zor, Alura?" Jor said pleadingly.

"We do not have materials or time to make more pods, We cannot save everyone, but we'll do all we can." Hol explained.

Jor nodded his agreement, but he was loyal to the royal family, just as most kryptonians were, he would make sure Hol went with his wife, child, and Kara.

The pair immediately got to work, designing a gateway on the scale they were working on would require an almost entirely new solution, especially given they had to design and build as many pods as they could as well.

Jor spent most of his time in the lab alongside Hol, meanwhile Zor scoured all information available for a viable planet to escape to. Lara and Alura spent as much time as they could together with Kara, trying to keep up the guise of siding with Zod as they were repeatedly investigated. The whole processes only causing Kara more grief as her life was torn apart at the loss of Hol and she was subjected to investigations of her life again and again for seemingly no reason.

Hol barely slept, knowing that every moment counted and even 1 mistake could destroy their last hope. Monitoring the progress of the weapons drain on the core, he knew that they would be cutting it close.

The days were soon coming to a close, the timer Hol had running on the screen on the wall showing only 10 days left. He had just received news of the birth of Kal-El, a happy, healthy baby boy, this only served to drive him harder. He had finished creating the gateway a month ago and was finishing the third pod now, each pod only being able to hold a single person in stasis unfortunately, limiting the number of people he could protect. He wished stasis wasn't necessary or that there was another work around, but to travel through the gateway stasis had to be activated within 5 minutes of launch maximum lest the passengers brain be scrambled entirely by the feedback that the unrefined system they had been able to construct caused.

As the days ticked by, Hol didn't get a moments sleep, he felt that he had failed his parents and Krypton as a whole, it was his hope that with each person he saved he might feel less pain than he currently does, that maybe when he soon met his parents in Rao's light that he might find peace.

Jor arrived with the rest of his family on the final morning of Krypton with a heavy heart, today everything would change, he had accepted his death but even with he and Hol's best efforts there simply wasn't enough equipment to make the fourth pod and they couldn't recover what they needed in time. They had known this for a few days now and he had discussed it with his wife, as painful as it would be they would give their lives in a heartbeat for their prince, and with even less hesitancy than that for Hol, the young child that they had come to love who had saved their son and niece already.

Alura and Zor had also discussed what was to happen and agreed wholeheartedly with them. The family had prepared well once the time came, each had created an imprint of themselves that their children could talk to, along with other technology that may serve them well that was loaded into the pod. Zor had discovered the planet that they would travel to, Earth, it had a species that they would disguise well in, along with a yellow sun, something that was known to give kryptonians great power, the ability only going unused due to kryptonians' dedication to Rao and the light of the red dwarf star. It was decided that the children would be safe there, leaving only the task of telling Kara and convincing Hol to go himself.

As they made it into the lab, Alura, Lara holding Kal to her chest, and Zor, took Kara to the side to explain things to her, Jor meanwhile went to Hol in his mechanics lab where he was labouring over the last pod desperately.

As Alura told Kara what was hoping the young girl was in tears, clutching to her mother and father, begging them to come with her. It took some time, but they managed to explain to the still distraught girl what was happening and why. Kara was stronger than many gave her credit for, and she understood that it was her job to take care of Kal, her parents having explained why they couldn't accompany her. It may not all have sunk in, but Kara would do anything to protect her beloved cousin who she had clung to closely since the loss of Hol.

Jor physically had to pull Hol away from the pod, the young prince desperate to save another life, even though it was impossible.

"Hol, you have saved three people already, you have saved Krypton's future, you must understand the amazing feat you have achieved, not focus on what couldn't have been achieved."

Hol stared at the unfinished pod in agony as he broke down for the first time since he saw his parents mangled bodies. Jor held onto him tightly trying to soothe the prince.

"W-What about Kal? He needs his parents. H-How do we decide who goes?" Hol said, looking up at Jor in despair. This was the first time since Jor had met Hol that he had really seemed any younger than him, in all but appearance Hol had always seemed like an adult. He was amazed that believing that he was to die in a matter of hours Hol's focus was still on those that he could save.

"The decision had already been made." Jor answered simply to which Hol though he meant to stay himself given the solemn look in his eyes. Hol responded by clutching Jor in a tighter embrace wishing he had saved the man before him as well.

"Lara will take good care of Kara and Kal; the House of El will go on for many more eons." Hol said pulling himself together and backing away from their embrace.

"Lara is not going either. We discussed this, and decided that you will be going. You are our prince, and it is the sworn duty of all kryptonians to serve the House of Ak." Jor stated bluntly.

Hol shook his head vehemently, "NO! You are correct, I am your prince, and it is my command that Lara go to Earth, Kal cannot be without his mother. I shall not let Krypton suffer alone; it is my duty as prince to stand by Krypton until its last breath."

Jor knew that he had to convince Hol to go, he had to be the one to activate the gate, and he wouldn't if he meant for Lara to go in his stead. "Even being born naturally, the genetically engineered genes of Lara and I have been passed down to Kal, with his accelerated growth, he is independent enough to survive with Kara and you."

He saw that Hol was still going to object so he interrupted, "You were right though, it is your duty to stand by Krypton until its last breath, and that breath lives on through Kal and Kara, so you must go to Earth with them." Jor would never have though to command his king, but he told himself that this was to save his life and he must do whatever it takes, even if he has to attack him.

"I-I... I can't leave, how could I survive knowing what has become of my people." Hol said in a broken voice.

"You will because you are stronger than you give yourself credit for. If it weren't for your actions, everyone on the summit would have died. If it weren't for your mind we wouldn't have known of the fate of Krypton until escape was impossible. If it weren't for your skills we would never have had the equipment for escape available. You have saved Krypton's future, now you must go with it." Jor finished, knowing this was all he had, otherwise he'd have to find a way to do this by force, nothing would stop him from saving Hol, the child was family to the House of El.

It was obvious that Hol was struggling with the decision until he sagged in defeat and embraced Jor another time, "I will not fail you, I swear this on my life. I am no longer the king of Krypton, I have lost that title, but I am the guardian of the House of El, I will do anything in my power to protect Kal and Kara, this I swear to you."

Hol spoke the ancient rights that was used to swear guardians to the many ruling houses Krypton had before it was divided. This was a binding rite that would mean the guardian would serve the household as a protector of those mentioned for either their entire life or until their protected passed into Rao's light.

Jor was amazed by the gesture of absolute devotion, such an oath hadn't been sworn in many millennia. He knew in his heart one day Hol would be known as king of Krypton again, but knowing that he would protect his son and niece gave him peace, there was practically nothing Hol couldn't do should he set his mind to it.

Returning to the large lab at the top of the facility where the roof would open for their escape, Jor prepared himself for what was to come. As they emerged from the entryway, Kara's gaze shot to Hol's immediately, staring him right in the eyes as if drawn by something. In such a horrifying time, Kara's face lit up in a grin as she raced to Hol and embraced him in a tight hug, crying into his shoulder in both joy and despair.

Hol swung them in a circle in order to not be knocked over by the force of the collision, returning the tight embrace. These past months had been the longest period between seeing Kara since he had met here so many years ago and he missed her dearly. Stroking the back of her head, Hol soothed her, knowing they didn't have long left, as was accentuated by the shaking of the ground beneath their feet as the first signs of Krypton's imminent destruction was felt.

Setting Kara down on her feet they turned to the others, Kara refusing to let go of his arm as she looked around in fear. The shaking stopped in what would be one last respite before the end and Hol took the opportunity to leap into action. First he helped load Kal into the first pod, each positioned in a row on the track to be launched. He stepped back to allow Lara and Jor to make their tearful goodbyes to their son, holding Kara's shaking form to his side as her parents came up behind them and put their hands on their shoulders.

Walking over to the console, Hol entered the commands to launch the first craft, the cockpit closing as Jor, and Lara stepped back. The complex metallic ring at the end of the rails, where they pointed upwards, lit up in a blue-purple glow, brightest on the edges and fading towards the centre where the colouration was barely noticeable. The ceiling opened up with small bits of debris scattering across the floor, the pod then lit up and Kal was seen shutting his bright blue eyes as he entered stasis, everything was going according to plan.

The pod then shot forward into the ring where it disappeared from sight, having been launched at such incredible speeds it was barely noticeable. Hol instead followed in on the device in front of him, watching as it escaped the atmosphere and was quickly on its way towards Earth unimpeded. Informing the others of the pods success Jor let out a relieved sigh and Lara embraced Hol tightly whispering a thank you.

Kara knew she was next and turned to her parents, she wanted to scream about how unfair it all was, plead for her parents to join her, but she knew what would happen, what had to happen. She embraced them both tightly.

"We love you Kara, we wish you all the best in your life. Make sure to be happy, you are going to see us in Rao's light a long time from now and when you do I want to hear all your amazing stories." Alura said, fighting off the tears that were forming in her eyes. Zor passed on a similar sentiment as Alura place her necklace around Kara's neck, telling her that it would remind her of them and Krypton.

Kara hugged Uncle Jor and Aunt Lara before turning to Hol. "You are coming too right?" She said unsure of herself as her voice wavered. Hol hesitated for a moment before glancing at the others, turning back to Kara he answered, "Of course, I'll be right behind you. I'll always be there to protect you, I promise."

Kara smiled tearily as she hugged him, mumbling into his shirt, "you better. I promise too always be there for you too." As she broke away she kissed his cheek softly and got into her pod after embracing her parents one more time.

Hol pushed down the blush rising in his cheeks and prepared the next launch. The ground started to rumble again, and he quickly got the pod launched just as the shaking began again, the pod closing quickly and shooting off into the air, Hol giving Kara a last meaningful look as he pushed aside his own emotions and gave her a heart-warming smile that she returned.

Turning to the others he saw their resolute stances; none would be convinced to take his place. He gave each a tight hug as they passed on their sentiments of love. He had become as much their child as their own children were and he loved them all as well.

"You're an amazing young man Hol, one day I'm sure you will be an amazing leader as well, just like your mother and father. Know that we all love you and we will meet you in Rao's light when the time comes. Have a happy life, make sure you live life for yourself, there's more than just research and work out there." Jor said softly as he embraced Hol lovingly.

Alura repeated the gesture before stepping back and pulling her wedding band off her wrist, "I know it's tradition to make your own marriage bands, I've seen the way you and Kara are together, and I know things might change, but if the time comes and you and Kara are truly in love, you can give her this one as well. If not then it's a way to remember us by, but you should know, we love you, and no one could be better for our beloved daughter than you." Hol was embarrassed at first, but he couldn't deny that he cared more for Kara than anything or anyone in the universe.

He was touched by the sentiment as he placed the band in his pocket, embracing each of the adults one more time before climbing into his pod. Using the control panel in his own pod, he activated his launch sequence, the cockpit closing, and the pod being launched rapidly through the atmosphere. Before he knew it Krypton was fading in his background, only for him to see it explode as the core collapsed, a beam firing from the surface in its last moment, hitting Daxam slightly off centre, causing it to explode into millions of pieces in a huge shockwave, rather than being reduced to dust as it should have been.

Pushing past the oppressive not in his chest, he knew he didn't have long before he needed to enter stasis, he checked the two pods ahead of him, Kal was well on course, but when he looked at Kara's pod, it had been knocked off course by the shockwave from Daxam's explosion. He didn't have full control over Kara's pod with the limited time he had to construct them both, as such all he could do was program his own to follow Kara. He could hope that Kal would be okay on Earth, they had identified that it should be safe, but he'd have to follow Kara to wherever she ended up, the pods should eventually redirect to Earth, but they are limited in terms of how they adjust their course. Setting his own pod to follow Kara's, before activating the stasis with only moments to spare, his last thought as he could feel the head splitting migraine begin that should he not enter stasis would render him braindead being, Wherever you go, whatever you face, I will keep my promise Kara, I'll always be there for you.

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That's it for now, might leave this as a One-Shot concept piece unless there is any interest in me continuing this.

I was struggling to continue my other works but wanted to write something so I ran with this idea I had sitting around half-formed.

If there are any errors corrections are welcome so feel free to leave a comment, any advice or feedback is also welcome.

If you have any ideas of where you want this to head or what you think will happen please feel free to share.

Thank you for reading and I'll see you next time :)