AN: This story assumes that Lena was born a few years before Kara, which, of course, is incorrect
There are a few italicized words in Kryptonian, written in English letters and following the Doyle conventions which I researched (I know, I'm a mega nerd) on
Chapter 1: Wishing on a Star
Lena Luthor was only fourteen when doom came to Earth. Vast core-drilling operations had brought untold riches to the wealthy, including her family, but ultimately brought ruin to them all. Her adoptive parents were blind to anything besides their balance sheets and bottom lines, so the task of trying to end the Danger fell to her father's estranged brother, Leonard Luthor. Before the inception of the Danger, Leonard has always doted on Lena and her brother Lex (in a way their parents never did), but as Leonard and his conspiracy-minded friends caught wind of the impending catastrophe, and the self-serving small spaceships being built by the wealthy to avoid it, he grew more distant, the gleam of joy in his eyes replaced by a cold glare.
Oh, how her father had ranted when Leonard gave his first speech about the Danger, how he had blustered when Leonard led revolutionaries against his brother's industries, how he had raved when Leonard turned his captured factories towards producing spaceships for all.
Of course, that all paled in comparison to the tirade he launched into as Leonard held him and Lillian at gunpoint, while he motioned for Lena and Lex to take the pods meant for their parents and escape. Lex complied with barely a backward glance, but Lena had to give her uncle a final embrace, had to fight back tears when she saw his eyes briefly go back to the way they once were.
"Don't worry Lee, I'll make it out somehow. There's still a few months left. I just need to make sure that you two are safe. Lord knows you and Lex deserve those pods far more than these two ever did," he said, gesturing with his gun towards the icy countenance of Lillian and the red, still-muttering visage of Lionel.
Lex turned back for a moment to address Leonard. "But Uncle, where will we go? None of the colonies will accept us because of our parents, and the stations of the rich will be closed to us because of you. We are caught in the middle, victims of circumstance."
Leonard's gaze softened once more. "I'm truly sorry for you both. I think the best thing you could do would be to head for a faraway colony, land somewhere deserted, and adopt false identities once you reach a city. You can use the radios in the pods to let me know where you land, and I'll try and find you once I escape."
He looked towards the pod bay door suddenly. "I hear more of these two's lackeys coming. I think my boys and I can stave them off, but it'd be best if you two left now.
Lena wanted to say more, in case this was the last time she'd ever see her uncle or her parents, but Lex grabbed her by the arm and led her to the pods. "No time to look back Lee. Uncle's right, we have to leave."
They quickly strapped themselves in and set the navigation system for New Tibet, one of the farthest of Earth's colonies. Lena looked back one last time before the cryosleep system kicked in, seeing the familiar sight of Lionel yelling, Lillian coldly muttering, and Leonard doing a mixture of both, perhaps for the last time. As she felt her eyelids start to close, Lex spoke to her through the radio.
"Don't worry, sister of mine. We're Luthors. We'll find a way."
She wanted to pour her heart out to Lex in that moment, but sleep was coming fast, so she decided that could wait. "See you on New Tibet."
They never would.
Kara Zor-El loved to look at the stars. She just couldn't get over the fact that each of those tiny pinpricks of light in the universe's cloak of darkness was actually a sun, each one similar to their own Rao, yet each unique in its own way. And most of those stars had planets, and lots of those planets had life! She had met aliens of course, since Krypton was a relatively important power on the galactic scale, but she couldn't help thinking of how amazing it would be to discover some uncontacted race, to be the first to welcome them into the galactic community.
This was the reason that she secretly wanted to join the Military Guild like Aunt Astra. Her father wanted her to follow him into the Science Guild, her mother wanted her to join with the Justice Guild, but she wasn't convinced. She loved the sciences, and she had an interest in justice, but nothing spoke to her more than becoming an Explorer with the Military Guild. Maybe she would ask Aunt Astra for an introduction to the Head Explorer in a few years, once she was done with Second School and on her Year of Rao, before she chose her Guild.
She didn't know that her wish, to introduce a new race to Kryptonian culture and form a new bond between Krypton and elsewhere, would be coming true, sooner than she thought.
Kara would've gazed upwards all night if she could, but Kelex arrived and informed her that her parents wished to see her, interrupting her musings. She reluctantly left the balcony of her relatively large Argo City house and headed inside. She found her mother and father sitting on opposite sides of their large dining table, and she groaned inwardly. They never sat like that unless they were about to give her a lecture.
Zor-El cleared his throat and began. "Kara dearest, your mother and I are very proud of you being one of the few Guildless children, as we have tried to emphasize to you many times before."
Most Kryptonians were given their guild assignment at birth by the probability matrix which governed many aspects of Kryptonian life, but Kara was one of the few children whose ideal task could not be determined by the artificial sentience. As such, she was Guildless, a mark of skill which was considered to be bestowed directly by Rao. That meant that after Second School, she would take a Year of Rao, in which she wandered the planet as an ascetic, giving thanks to Rao at as many holy places as she could, then return home and choose her Guild.
Zor-El continued. "We understand that you may choose any Guild you wish after you spend your year praising Rao. However, Alura and I would like you to accompany us to a few more of our respective Guilds' various functions, so that you may achieve a deeper understanding of the current position of the House of El. Alura is presiding over the judgement of a number of Finance Guild leaders next duhv-cycle, and I shall be giving a seminar on the principles behind my cold fusion vehicle at the Atomic City Science Guild soon thereafter. We expect you to attend both. El Mayarah."
With that her father stood to leave their dining hall, but not before ruffling her hair for a moment as he passed. Kara sighed. She'd never understand her father. He was almost always a straight-laced man of science, somewhat cold and distant, but he always knew how to make her feel just a little bit better. Nine days out of ten, he didn't crack so much as a grin, but Kara loved those rare days when she brought a wide smile to his normally stoic face.
Alura, still clad in her blue raiment of High Justice, strode over to her daughter and sat on the floor nearby, motioning for Kara to do the same.
"Kara, there's another matter that we need to discuss with you, but Zor decided to leave this one to me. He had a conference to rush off to."
She took a deep breath.
"Kara, you know, of course, that our probability matrix is responsible for assigning us to our Guilds, finding compatible mates for us of equivalent ability and taste, and creating our offspring so as to eliminate genetic deficiencies."
"Yes, I do know a good deal about that," Kara responded somewhat snippily. She wasn't entirely convinced that the probability matrix was worthwhile. Sure, it was nice to eradicate some disease, but what about love, the courtship and companionship in the Old Poems? Of course, her parents loved each other now, but they surely hadn't when Zor first put the lesser Bracelet of El around Alura's wrist. Kara couldn't help it, she was a hopeless romantic, though no one had experienced true romance on Krypton in generations.
Alura pressed on. "Kara, your father and I went a few days ago to begin the process to determine your ideal mate with the matrix. That's what I'd like to talk to you about. It takes a few years for the matrix to determine the exact person you're most compatible with, but it was able to provide a few guidelines after this first session."
Her expression softened. "Inah, daughter, I know not how you will take this news, but…"
She was interrupted by an alert signal. Kara watched as Uncle Non appeared on the vid-com and began to hurriedly talk to Alura.
"High Justice, we've detected some sort of medium metallic object headed towards Argo City. We've scanned it thoroughly and it does not appear to be any sort of weapon. In fact, we're detecting a single faint lifeform signature. Its trajectory should bring it down in Ra-Thon Park, relatively close to your dwelling, in fact. The Governor-General and Assembly Chief are both offworld as of now, so the decision falls to you. How should we proceed?"
Alura thought for a moment, then gave what would prove to be one of the most important pronouncements Kara was ever able to witness. "Let it be. In fact, send a gravity manipulator to give it a safe landing."
She waited until Non saluted in acknowledgement, then signed off of the vid-com, grabbing Kara by the hand and heading for the door. Kara felt slightly confused.
"Where are we going, mother?"
Alura smiled knowingly. "Your father isn't the only one with an aptitude for the sciences, inah. The probability matrix actually let me choose between Science and Justice, did you know that?"
With that, they headed towards the expected touchdown location of this object, maintaining a safe distance of course. A few minutes after they arrived, the vaguely spherical object hurtled down through the atmosphere towards them, but it slowed noticeably as the gravity drone engaged, coming to a halt lightly near the statue of Ra-Thon the Wise.
Kara rushed over to examine it, marveling at the strange, somewhat clunky, clearly alien design. Alura let her, since Non's monitors had already declared it safe.
About a minute later however, Kara gasped in surprise. Not half a minute later, Alura followed suit.
Kara gasped because she had reached the far side of the pod and found a window, through which she spied the most beautiful being she had ever gazed upon, a girl around her own age with skin as pale as moonlight and hair the color of the blackest night, both rarities on Krypton, where Rao tended to brown skin and bleach hair. Her eyes were closed as if in dreamless sleep. She just seemed so…peaceful.
Alura gasped slightly later because a chunk of the pod, which had evidently come off during reentry, fell from the top of one of Ra-Thon's mountain-trees, where it had evidently been lodged for a short time, and impacted with the gravity drone with a thundering crunch.
Ordinarily, this would not be a huge issue. The drone would simply vent all its gravitons if it was damaged, so that it would not cause destruction with improper gravity use, and then attempt to self-repair. It had been proven long ago that graviton radiation was not harmful to most sapient life, so very rarely was anyone harmed in a gravity drone accident.
This was a rare occasion. The burst of gravitons reacted in some strange manner with one or another of the systems on the strange pod, causing an eruption of some new form of energy.
Alura could do nothing but gasp as her only daughter, the future of the House of El, was engulfed in a sphere of orange energy which radiated from the pod.