Superman: The Ark of Krypton
Chapter 111
by
Jason Richard
The red sun tanks and Superman held the Kryptonians back, but just barely. Each red sun blast sending Kryptonians flying and kicking up sand when they landed. On top of them each time they got hit they lost a lot of yellow sun energy, making hard to power up. Meanwhile, they had trouble destroying more than one or two tanks with Superman intercepting most of their laser fire. If they could take care of Superman then they could start destroying the tanks, but they clearly didn't have enough firepower. That would have to change.
"Ursa," said Zod, firing even as a red sun blast held him back. "I have a mission for you. I want you to get to get out of that portal, go to a remote location, absorb as much power as you can, and then throw Superman into the red sun blasts from those tanks."
"Sounds lovely," said Ursa. "But how do you suggest I get past those tanks?"
"Like this," said Zod, before screaming as loud as possible. "Follow my lead!"
And Zod shot downwards, letting a hundred other Kryptonians do the same. The blasts kicked up a dust cloud that rose up several feet high. Ursa, in the cloud, managed to sneak out of the portal and park herself between the tanks where the red sun weapon's cameras couldn't see her. As he weaved her way through, keeping her head down to avoid detection, she let the yellow sun energy fill her up and bided her time.
Superman, when the dust cloud hit, was surprised by this change in tactic. He used X-Ray vision to see through it but had expected the entire army to do something. With his incredible eyesight and hearing focused on all of these other Kryptonians he missed Ursa and found himself wondering what that dust cloud had been for.
It was after a minute of knocking away more laser blasts that he noticed she was gone. That couldn't be good. He tried using x-ray vision on the rest of the battle but quickly discovered that most of the tanks were lined with lead. On the one hand, it made sense. The Kryptonians would eventually have x-ray vision, and they wouldn't want the enemy to know how those worked, but that still meant that Superman couldn't see through the tanks.
Giving Ursa plenty of places to hide from his gaze.
…
Kara typed faster than she'd ever typed before. Brainiac upgraded the system to try and keep up with her speed, but she still had to wait a moment as the Kryptonian systems caught up with her inputs. It helped that she was working fast. They were close to finding a way to close the Phantom Zone, but they couldn't stop there. They had to make sure it was locked and only they possessed the key.
"Come on Kal-El," Kara said to herself. "You just need to hold out for a little while longer."
"I have observed Kal-El for some time," said Brainiac. "Do you worry about him. He had a 93.33333% success rate in his missions, and the remaining 6.677777% only accounts for public property. Not one person has died under his watch."
Kara cracked a smile at that.
…
Superman flew down to one of the tanks and spoke to it. Each one of them had been outfitted with a communicator in case Superman needed to talk to the people controlling them remotely.
"I think there's a Kryptonian hiding out here in the tanks," said Superman. "But with the lead in these things, I can't be sure. Keep an eye out!"
"Understood," said General Lane through the speaker as Superman flew back off.
Ursa, meanwhile, had hidden under a tank and would fly between then when she felt she could do so undetected. It was tempting to stay still and just let that energy fill her up. Even the good mood she's had perpetually in the Phantom Zone was nothing compared to the energy filling her up now. Still, she couldn't just let her comrades down, so she flew from tank to tank when the cameras weren't looking and made her way to the back of the line.
Soon she'd have enough energy to counterattack with the tanks focused on the army. It wouldn't be long now.
…
"I think that does it," said Kara, looking over the data one more time. "Yes, that should do it."
The result of Kara and Brainiac's work was designed for a device that could close the Phantom Zone and keep it closed. They'd have to get close to the portal that was open now, but it would work.
"It was good work," said Brainiac. "I have trouble understanding how you managed to come up with this solution. My calculations, running through every possible energy transference, would have taken twenty-two years, three months, fifteen days, nineteen hours, four minutes and three seconds to come up with this solution."
"It wasn't that much," said Kara. "I just had to get creative."
"Creativity?" inquired Brainiac. "This is a concept I've never fully understood."
"I guess you wouldn't," Kara shrugged. "Anyway, how long will it take to build."
"About thirty minutes," said Brainiac. "Kal-El will have to hold out on his own."
Kara heard that then looked at her hands, her X-Ray vision showing the bones underneath. Maybe her cousin wouldn't have to fight alone after all. Brainiac, meanwhile, thought a few things over as well, his processors hanging for an oddly long about of time on the word, 'creativity.'
…
Lex Luthor watched from behind the bulletproof glass as hundreds of slender robot tendrils ran the operation on John Corbyn, turning him into the ultimate cyborg warrior. Luthor could see the Kryptonite already powering the machines embedded in Corbyn's flesh. He smiled evilly. It wouldn't be long now.
…
As Ursa snuck from tank to tank she felt like she went just a little faster each time. Soon she was going so fast she felt she could pass in front of the many cameras the tanks were armed with and wouldn't be noticed. She didn't press her luck, though, and stayed careful.
That is until she reached the end of the line, then she ran at full speed, a line of dust forming behind her. She thought she was home free. She could find a place to hide, gain full power, then blast a line for the rest of the Kryptonians to break through.
Unfortunately for her she hadn't quite mastered her new powers and didn't notice someone else spot her. That was Lois Lane, who watched from a distance high up in a helicopter. Superman may have been distracted by a variety of sounds and sights, but Lois just happened to be in the right position to spot Ursa speeding away.
And she knew she had to tell someone about this.