Chapter 4: Behind Enemy Lines
"I'll do it." Kara said. Clark and Alex looked like they were about to protest, but Kara continued, "I know more about Brainiac than all of you. I have more of an idea of what dangers I'll be facing. It's the smartest way to do this and you guys know it."
"I agree." The Flash said, "As far as I can tell the only way you guys have to get into space right now is Kara's pod, and only she can fly it for a mission like this. Ray could go to the ship himself, but none of us are from this Earth and Kara's right. No one knows Brainiac better."
"Grey says that it's the wisest course of action." Firestorm added.
"Alright then. Get yourself ready for the mission Supergirl. You'll be leaving in a half hour." J'onn said earning a surprised look from Clark and an angry look from Alex.
"Director. Can I speak with you?" Alex asked and J'onn and she walked off. Kara moved over to her pod, making sure everything was in order. While doing this she listened in on what Alex and J'onn were saying. She was so focused she did not notice that Winn and James were trying to get her attention until James put his hand on her shoulder. "Sorry guys I was listening in to J'onn and Alex's conversation." Kara sighed, "Alex is worried for me."
"To be honest we are too." James said looking a bit ashamed of himself.
"Kara you told everyone how dangerous this guy is. It feels kinda like you're purposely putting yourself in this situation to make sure no one else gets hurt." Winn says.
Kara sighs again, "You're right Winn. That's my job, any hero's job, make sure no one else gets hurt. I promised my mother, father, aunt and uncle that I would protect Kal-El, and he protects the Earth. Therefore, it is also my duty to protect the Earth. I never break a promise." Before Winn or James could say anything Lucy announced that the mission would be starting soon. Kara gave her two friends each a hug before climbing into the pod.
It was a bit smaller in the pod than Kara could remember. Granted she was only thirteen when she last was in it. "Supergirl do you read?" Alex's voice rang in her ear.
"Loud and clear Agent Danvers." Kara replied, "I promise I'll come back Alex" The hangar door opened and Kara flew the pod up into the sky.
"We've sent the location of Brainiac's ship to your pod." Alex told her.
"I've received the location and I'm heading there now." Kara replied.
Back on Earth
"This is absolutely incredible." The Atom marveled at the alien technology the DEO had, "I didn't think half of this stuff was possible."
"All this stuff probably exists on some distant planet in our dimension as well." Professor Stein reasoned since Firestorm had separated. As most of the Earth One heroes were marveling at all the shiny new things that existed on SuperEarth, the Flash and the Green Arrow were working with the DEO on Kara's mission. Flash saw the worry in Alex's eyes and took off his mask. "You know she can do this, right?" Barry asked her.
"I do." Alex sighed, "I'm still worried though. What if something happens? We're lucky that the ship is near a yellow star or else she wouldn't even have her powers."
"Most of us don't have powers." Oliver interjected with his hood down and taking mask off, "The Atom just has a fancy suit. White Canary was trained by assassins. Black Canary has a choker that helps her emit a sonic scream. When separated, Firestorm can't do anything. Even me, I'm just a guy with a bow, some arrows and lots of money. Yet we still manage to do this job. Last I check most DEO employees don't have powers either. It's not the super powers that make the hero or the mission successful. It's the hero themselves and there is no one here who is more of a hero than Supergirl. I may have known her for only a short time, but I can tell she's the best person for this job."
Ollie's words made Alex feel a bit better, she was still worried it's what sisters do, but she trusted Kara's ability as a hero to be able to make the mission a success. Plus she promise and Kara never breaks a promise. Then Kara's voice came over the loud speaker again, "I've arrived at the location. The ship is here, I'm going in."
On Brainiac's ship
Kara stepped out of the pod into the ominous metal ship, a ship she had not seen for decades and hoped she would not see again. Taking a deep breath she looked around and picked a direction to start walking in. Using her super hearing and x-ray vision she kept an eye out for any signs of life. She tried to make sure the camera in the crest on her chest had a decent view of what was going on at all times.
Following the hall down as far as she could, Kara came to an open doorway. As she entered the lights tuned on and she froze is shock. There was a collection of millions of small bottles in the room placed like planets in space and in each bottle was a tiny city. Kara flew to where Krypton should be and found a bottle labeled "Kandor, Krypton". Inside she saw an exact replica of Kandor, but it was not a replica, it was Kandor itself. Tear started forming in Kara's eyes. They had been saved from Krypton's fate, but were imprisoned by a knowledge hoarder.
"Are you guys seeing this?" Kara asked the people still in the DEO.
"Yeah." Alex replied, "Is that…is that really Kandor?"
"I think it is. I see people in there. Alex. Real live people. Other Kryptonians!" Kara could no longer hide her excitement. This meant she and Clark were no longer alone and best of all Thara Ak-Var, her best friend, was still alive. She wondered if the people in there knew of Krypton's fate.
Kara's train of thought was interrupted by a mechanical voice saying, "Intruder! Surrender yourself or die!" She turned around to see an army of bots surrounding her.
"Get out of there Kara!" Alex yelled in her ear. Kara panicked and used her heat vision on the bots, destroying a few, but those were quickly replaced. Then a green man in metal armor with three red dots in a triangle on his head walked in, Brainiac himself. "Kryptonian, I do not know how you have escaped my grasp for such a long time, but now I have you. The world you have been taking refuge in will have to be destroyed as well, they have Kryptonian knowledge. Too bad they planet itself is too primitive to have any new science knowledge, I do love that. Oh well, adding a new culture to my archives will suffice."
"No!" Kara exclaimed in anger, "I will not let you touch my home!"
Brainiac laughed, "You're home was destroyed long ago Kryptonian. You should have stayed there and died with it. I would have left Earth alone for a few more centuries." In a fit of anger Kara launched herself at Brainiac, not hearing her sister trying to calm her down.
Brainiac raised a gun, pointed at Kara and fired. All she could hear as the world went black was Alex screaming her name.
