Supergirl and all related characters and indicia are owned by DC Comics/Warner Bros. This work of fan fiction is written for pleasure, not profit.
"Summarize the history of the Argo Colony," Kara ordered Brainiac, and Susan blinked.
"Not 'the history of Krypton'?" she asked curiously.
Kara gave Susan a tolerant look. "I'm not from Krypton, Susan," Kara explained patiently. "I'm from Argo. I'm Argoan, not Kryptonian." There was a hint of prickliness in Kara's voice, giving Susan the impression that this was a sensitive subject with her. Still, Susan reflected, she'd never learn if she didn't ask.
"I'm don't understand the difference. Aren't you and Clark the same species?"
Kara took a breath, started to speak, stopped and shook her head. "Let's let Brainiac give its summary, and then I'll answer whatever questions you might have."
"Fair enough," Susan allowed, and turned her attention to the silvery Brainiac sphere.
"On with the show Brainiac," Kara prodded lightly.
The globe of Argo appeared in the air before them, turning slowly.
"Argo was know to Kryptonians since prehistoric times," Brainiac recited. "but was not until the year three thousand two hundred and.."
Kara cut Brainiac off. "Use the Argoan calendar," she said peremptorily.
"...until the year minus four hundred thirteen," Brainiac corrected smoothly, "that the Kandorian scientist Hol-eb turned a telescope upon Argo and saw a disk, suggesting to him that Argo was another world. Over the course of the next four centuries, astronomers would learn that Argo had an atmosphere capable of supporting Kryptonians, as well as oceans and indigenous life."
The scene changed, to a rocket standing on a launch pad. Susan was stunned by the resemblance it bore to a Saturn V. Fire erupted from the rocket's base, and it rose into a clear blue sky.
"In the year zero, Kryptonians from Kandor traveled to Argo for the first time. In the year ninety-seven, a permanent Kandorian base was established. Fifty-nine years later, Kandor, and the other governments of Krypton, recognized the Argo Colony as an independent state, and granted it a seat in the Kryptonian Assembly."
Susan watched as time blurred. Ships of ever increasing size and complexity flew between Krypton and Argo. Enormous space stations blossomed in the skies, and cities spread across Argo's surface.
"In the year five forty seven OTAC..." Susan interrupted.
"Does 'OTAC' mean 'of the Argo Colony'?" she asked.
"Yes," Brainiac confirmed.
"I thought so. You can leave that bit out from now on."
"Very well. In the year five forty seven, the Kryptonian Civil Wars began." A city spread out before them, its towers gleaming in the sunlight. Susan gasped as an artificial sun blazed to life above it.
"The first war began with a surprise attack on Kandor's principal city by terrorists affiliated with the Science Council, a shadowy organization dedicated to the establishment of a global intellocracy. That was not known at the time, however, and Kandor responded by declaring war on it's main rival, the nation of Herantala." The scene changed again, as Brainiac showed a view of Krypton, highlighting the countries in question. More images flowed past, of armies on the march, skies filled with aircraft, burning cities and countless dead.
"Millions perished as the conflict spread to every corner of Krypton. Herantala managed to patch together an alliance against Kandor, and several years later had its enemy on the brink of defeat. It was then that Kandor did as the Science Council hoped it would. Rather than submit, Kandor resolved to take its foes with it into the night." A scene of missiles rising above green fields was followed by a global view, where pinpricks of nuclear fire circled Krypton like beads on a string.
"In the course of the war, Argo was isolated from Krypton as the space fleets of the various Kryptonian states were destroyed, along with the means to replenish them. Lacking an industrial base of its own, Argo fell backward, technologically, as its mother world entered what would come to be known as the Great Darkness. A thousand years would pass before Argo reacquired the means to travel between worlds, and a thousand more before Krypton, now dominated by the Science Council's tyranny, deigned to allow contact with a people they considered genetic inferiors."
Susan's jaw was sagging. What little Superman had said publicly about his birth world had made it sound like a paradise, so what the hell was this? It sounded like Brainiac was reciting Argoan propaganda, and one look at the grim expression on Kara's face suggested that was the case.
"Despite their xenophobia, the Science Council permitted trade, but not breeding, between Kryptonians and Argoans. This attitude of superiority led, eventually, to the dictatorship of General Zod, who, in the year thirty-nine fifty-six, overthrew the pacifistic Argoan government." An image of a fierce looking man appeared. "Zod," Brainiac went on, "an Argoan nationalist, immediately began a build up of Argo's military, in preparation for a 'War of Liberation' against the Science Council. When the Council, in 3965, banished an Argoan citizen to the Phantom Zone for mating with a Kryptonian, Zod declared war. The conflict quickly escalated, to the point where it became apparent that the only possible outcome was mutual annihilation. Realizing this, Zod's own staff overthrew him in turn, and negotiated a cease-fire with Krypton, the terms of which included turning Zod over to the Science Council. Zod, responsible for the deaths of billions, was sentenced to eternity in the Phantom Zone, where he remains, the only person ever so punished."
Susan glanced at Kara, and was stunned to see her scowling in disapproval.
Brainiac went on. "In the years after the war the Science Council, which had been forced to relax it's grip on the Kryptonian populace in order to inspire them to resist Zod, was overthrown as well, and replaced by a popular government."
Kara turned to Susan. "So," she almost snarled, "In the end, Zod got what he wanted." Seeing the shocked look on Susan's face Kara clarified. "Oh, his methods may have been wrong," she allowed, "but his goal was noble."
"Then why wasn't he..?"
"...released from the Phantom Zone?" Kara smiled bitterly. "He CAN'T be. When you send someone into the Zone, you have to fit them with a tracking beacon, so you can find them again. Zod..."
"...was sent in without one, right?" Susan finished. Kara nodded. The horror Susan felt was multifaceted. She had gleaned, from background images, that Zod had butchered millions of his own people, as well as triggering a war that claimed billions more, and here Kara was, insinuating that Zod had gotten a raw deal!
Susan's head spun. This was a side of Kara she had never seen. The notion that Kara had brought emotional baggage about Argo's relationship with its parent world with her was... well, shocking, even though it shouldn't have been. A thought occurred to her.
"So the fact that Clark is Kryptonian..."
Kara smiled. "I don't hate him, Susan. I owe him my life, after all. He was just a baby when his father sent him here. He isn't responsible for what happened in the past." Kara's expression became pained. "Besides, Argo and Krypton are gone. There's no point in perpetuating old grudges anymore. Clark and I are the last of our people. When we die, two great civilizations will become extinct." Tears glistened in Kara's eyes.
"No grudge is worth hurrying that along," she smiled sadly.
Susan stared at Kara, her expression thoughtful.
"What year were you born in?" she asked, after a long silence.
"Forty-two sixty-one," Kara provided.
"Are Argoan years longer or shorter..."
"Longer," Kara interrupted. "One point three nine times as long."
"So," Susan struggled to do the math in her head, "Krypton had manned space flight..."
"Six thousand of your years ago."
A question popped into Susan's head. She didn't want to ask it, more because it would put Kara between a rock and a hard place than because she was afraid of the answer, but she had to know.
"Just...how primitive...are we?"
Kara looked away uncomfortably. "Remember that show on the Discovery Channel, about that tribe in New Guinea?"
Susan did remember. The tribe in question had lived in a remote, isolated valley. They had never seen white men, or modern technology. They were a pure stone age people, and had been stunned by the simplest things, like metal tools, even cloth.
"That bad, huh?"
Kara grimaced. "I'm afraid so," she apologized. "In comparison, anyway. And only technologically."
Susan laid a hand on Kara's shoulder. "Don't apologize. It's like I say about track. No matter how good you think you are, there's always someone better."
Kara relaxed visibly, and Susan made a request.
"Now, I want to know what it was like, waking up here. From your point of view."
