Earth: 31st Century- 3021

Her mind remained clouded even as her body healed and became stronger. Flashes of memory came in and out of focus like wisps of water vapor in the desert outside her grandfather's home in the plains of Rao. She remembers feeling anger, confusion, dread, and sorrow. She remembers a woman with short red hair, a worthy opponent, an even more worthy protector for her little one. "You love her." The woman says as the memory flashes in her now awake mind. "That's how I know your heart isn't in this." She remembers feeling defeated and helpless as the woman asks for her help, asks her to become the hero rather than the villain, to join sides with her little one. Perhaps things would have been different if it hadn't been the Martian who'd shown up in that moment, if it had been her little one to landed behind them. Perhaps in that moment if she had been able to look upon the face of her beloved niece, to be reminded of her once cherished sister, Astra would have chosen a different path.

She was too lost in the darkness. A darkness planted in her soul decades ago on a now dead planet. Slapping away the, what did humans call it, the olive branch, Alex Danvers offered her Astra accepted her fate when she attacked the Martian. The physical pain of the kryptonite sword was excruciating and yet the pain was almost welcoming. She had turned against, fought against, the very reason her heart had once beat, the only person who had brought her nothing but joy and happiness, the one person who still looked at her with untainted love in their eyes. "As your enemy." Her own voice rasped as she looked into those tear filled El blue eyes. No, her little one corrected, "As my family."

Tears burned at Astra's golden brown eyes so she closed them as tight as she could until the feeling pasted. She took deep breaths, and gripped the edge of the medical bed firmly until her emotions were under control. She opened her eyes at the sound of approaching footsteps. Three days ago Astra had awoken in a medical bay, one that looked as if it belonged on Krypton rather than Earth, but the way her body felt confirmed she was on Earth and that she was alive. The doctor had explained to her that several days before she regained full consciousness Astra had been found in her pod which seemed to have crash landed in the mountains. The doctor had asked her about the fresh scars on her chest and back, which caused Astra to run her fingers along the red welt between her breasts. When she didn't respond the doctor didn't push. He simply gave her a look that said he'd seen far to many scares like hers, and that he understood.

The footsteps grew closer and Astra tensed. She was expecting the DEO, or worse, that tiny little man who had tortured her in front of Kara. To torture your enemy was one thing, but to do it in front of her little one, that was unforgivable and General Lane had better hope their paths never crossed again. When the door opened and the doctor walked in with only his nurse, Astra did her best not to look to surprised. Perhaps they needed to release her before she could be taken into custody.

"There isn't much more we can do for you here Ms. Doe." The doctor said gently. Astra hadn't given her name so they'd taken to calling her Ms. Doe. She didn't understand why they insisted on calling her a female Earth deer, but honestly, humans were odd. "You've been released from the hospital." He held out a data chip of some kind. "These are your emergency refugee funds. They'll help get you through the next few days. There's a refugee center on Marsdin Street and Fifth. They have a room waiting for you. They'll help you get settled in here on Earth."

She was given a set of clothes and a pair of shoes, more information was added to her data chip, and then she was wished good luck and welcomed to Earth. Astra blinked as she stepped out into the bright sunlight outside the hospital. She was still feeling weak and unwell, and more than a little confused. Where was she? How was she even still alive? What in the name of Rao was going on? Nothing around her looked at all familiar, in fact the city she was in looked nothing like the human city she'd grown use too. The architecture of the buildings was vastly different, as were the vehicles, and the very clothes the people wore. Even the people themselves were different. Yes, the majority of the people she passed were human or could pass for human, but there were other races among them as well. She was pretty sure the yellow skinned male working the liquid stimulant cart was an Aellon.

Astra needed to figure out what was happening, where she was, what was going on with Non and his insane Myriad plan, and she needed to know that Kara was safe. Making her way across the street the cart and the Aellon, Astra marched up to him and was about to speak when he spoke first.

"Ahh." He rumbled in a low voice. "You look like the strong black type."

"I need information, Aellon, not your bitter liquid stimulant." Astra barked at him.

The Aellon chuckled. "You must be new to Earth. It's called coffee, and I'll have you know mine is the best around, you won't get no bitter crap from ol' Joe."

Astra growled softly in her throat. "Fine. If I purchase this, coffee, of yours, will you tell me where I can get the information I require?"

The Aellon poured coffee into a paper cup and put a lid and sleeve on the cup before handing it to Astra. "Coffee's on the house, kid. I remember what it felt like to be new to this mudball. Anything you need to know you can find at the library on Grant Avenue. Head four blocks north, then take a right at the old CatCo building. Head two blocks south after that and you can't miss it. It has two giant ass pink cats out front."

Astra blinked, startled by the kindness this man was showing her.

The Aellon laughed, only this time it was laced with the bitter tiredness of someone who'd seen and experienced too much. "Yeah kid, I get it, ain't been a whole lot of nice in the galaxy since those bastard ring jockeys got into it. You wanna pay me for the coffee and info? Pass on the nice, will ya? Stars know we could use it these days"

"Thank you." Astra said softly with an appreciative nod of her head. Then she began walking, thinking about everything the Aellon had said, and absentmindedly sipping the hot drink in her hand. Her body was so depleted of the energy the yellow sun gave it that the effects of the coffee were almost instantaneous. "Oh." She gasped softly and then smiled and hummed approvingly. "I think I like this, coffee."

No matter the planet, no matter the solar system, libraries were a universal concept. Access to them changed from place to place depending on the power structure, but the fundamentals were all the same. Astra walked in and looked around until she gathered her bearings. She watched as a human male walked up to a clear glass display on the wall and pressed his fingertip to it. A map of the building appeared as did words in the human language called English. Astra waited until the man left then walked over and touched the display. She gasped softly as the map appeared with words in Kryptonese. She jerked her hand away and looked around quickly to see if anyone saw. No one seemed to be paying her much attention. She had found this very odd when she'd first awakened. Her image had been all over this planet's media outlets, and yet no one seemed to know who she was.

After checking the map again quickly, Astra made her way to the section of the building where she could access the internet. She found a small private room with an interface and claimed it for her use. The first thing she looked up was the date. No. No, that couldn't be right. It was spring 2016, she remembered configuring Earth's calendar with Krypton's because she wanted to know when Kara's birthday would be on Earth. The date in the bottom corner of the news feed said it was June 1, 3021. A thousands years? How was that even possible? Astra sat back in her chair, her mind wheeling. She had so many questions and looking for the answer just seemed to create more questions. How was she alive? How had she come to be a thousand years into the future? What happened after she was killed? While her mind and heart raced the news feed continued to play in the background and she vaguely picks up on the presenter talking about a war, refugees, and lanterns?

"Unfortunately Saturn saw massive amounts of fighting and was left in devastation." The woman was saying as Astra reached out for the interface to begin another search. "Refugees from Titian, the hardest hit of Saturn's moons, continue to flock to Earth…"

The boy, Alura's nephew, Kal, Astra recalls reading something about his death while researching the planet she had found herself on after Fort Rozz was pulled from the Phantom Zone. A woman named, Lane, Astra growled softly in the back of her throat just thinking of that name, had written about it. Yes. The Death of Superman. It seemed that the last son of the House of El had been killed defeating a Kryptionain beast called Doomsday. Astra shuddered. She remembered studying about those science experiments from hell. They had given her nightmares as a child, nightmares soothed only when Alura would leave her own bed to snuggle close to Astra in hers. It was not surprising that the only way Kal could defeat it was to sacrifice himself to do it. However, Kal El was not dead. Superman was very much alive and active while she was facing off against Kara. How? Continuing her search she came across another article, again written by this Lois Lane, in which Superman speaks of his return. Superman explained that his body went into a kind of biological stasis, shutting down everything but the bare minimum brain activity needed to keep his mind intact. Then he goes on to say that the yellow sun energy stored in his cells began to slowly heal his injuries. It took far longer than it normally would have because his body was relying on just what was stored in him at the moment of his death, because he'd been buried in the ground, away from the sun.

Astra hummed. It could be possible that's what happened to her to some extent, but there had to be more to it. Kal had arrived on Earth as an infant, he had been exposed to Earth's yellow sun for more than two Earth decades. She had only been exposed to it for a year or so. Her body would not have had that kind of reserve. There had to be more to this, and she figured her pod would have more answers. The doctor had said she could claim her pod, that it had been, what was the word? Impounded? So Astra's next search was on how to retrieve it.

She saved the biggest question for last. The one where Astra feared the answer the most. What happened to Supergirl? Astra played the clip of Supergirl's Hope speech several times before moving on to discover that she had defeated Non. Pride welled in her chest. Her brave little one had done what Astra was so sure was impossible. She continued reading down the timeline. Supergirl defeats Daxam Invasion. What the hell were Daxamites doing on Earth? Supergirl suffers massive loss against Reign. Is the Girl of Steel still alive? Astra felt a tightness in her chest. Supergirl defeats the World Killers. Astra's blood turns cold in her veins. Why does that sound so familiar? Why did World Killers tickle something at the back of her mind? Supergirl becomes Superwoman, takes on protege, a new Supergirl is born.

Astra's heart soars. Does Kara have children? A daughter whom she passed on the mantel? Rao, she hopes so. Astra wanted nothing more than to know Kara had people around her who loved her.

Astra wants to know more, wants to know about Kara's life. She should search Kara Danvers and she's about to when she sees a recommended headline, Superwoman's Sacrifice Saves Us All. Astra's heart stops beating as she accesses the headline. Witnesses and survivors talk about seeing other Earths in the sky and how the ground beneath their feet shook as it spit open. Battles raged in nearly every city between heroes and the ones tearing the world apart. In National City where the fight was strongest, it's heroes set into motion their last resort. In the end Earth was saved, but it had cost them Superwoman. Astra watched the moving image of the not Kara Supergirl, battered, bloody, and bruised, her face hidden by a hood, as she carried Superwoman's body in her arms, only to fall to her knees in a silent scream of anguish.

"Kara. No." Astra said in a horse whisper as her eyes once again began to burn with the building up of tears. She bolted from the room, cutting the power just as a video of a dark haired girl in uniform much like Kara's only her top was red and her skirt was blue, stepped up to a podium to speak, the headline beneath her reading, A New Supergirl Rises. Astra was devastated as she fled the library, fighting against her desire to sob, holding her hand against her mouth to keep the wail of pain burning in her chest from passing between her lips. She had thought, had hoped, she would get to see Kara again. Surly under Earth's yellow sun Kryptonians would practically be immortal wouldn't they? But now that hope was gone, crushed by what she had learned. Kara was gone, and she would never get the chance to make amends.

It was dark out when Astra finally checked into the alien refugee shelter. She was so emotionally drained and physically tired that when they asked her name she answered, "Astra."

"Do you have any other names?" The woman had asked. "A surname, or family name, or clan name, or…"

"No." Astra replied. She did of course, she was Astra In-Ze, but she had done nothing but let her family down. She was banished from Krypton a criminal, she was banished from Earth a criminal. No, she had no right to use the name or claim a place in the House of Ze. The woman simply smiled at her and nodded. Then showed her to a small room with a comfortable bed and small private bathroom. She was told that meals were communal and a great way to save the limited funds given to her thanks to a grant program from L-Corp. There were clean pajamas in her room and after a long hot shower Astra collapsed on her bed and fell into a fitful sleep.

The next day she went in search of her pod. Now more than ever she needed to know why she was here, why she was still alive when Kara wasn't. Why in the name of Rao was she speared! Her pod was in a warehouse and the young man showing her the way to it, keeps calling it an escape pod. Astra considers telling him it's a casket, a burial pod, but she doesn't.

"You know, my brother-in-law, he's a bit of a amatuer historian." The young man said. "He thinks this symbol used to mean something."

The young man's eyes were fixed on the House of Ze crest on the pod. Astra tensed. Still no one had recognized her, and she was fine with that. It meant she had not made it into Earth's history. Good. It would be easier to do whatever it was she was going to do, once she figured out what that was, as long as no one knew she'd been a villain. "It's the letter Q." She told him. It wasn't a lie, her family crest looked very much like the letter Q. "If you'll excuse me?"

"Yes of course." The young man said. "You sure you don't want to keep it?"

"I am sure." Astra replied. "I just need to retrieve the stored data and then you can dispose of it."

"I've already added the funds to your chip." He told her. "So, you're all set. Just let me know when you go."

Astra nodded. She waited until she was alone to access the pod's systems and made sure to remove the digital engraving of her house crest before finishing up. These pods were meant for the dead. Facet Jens, Fort Rozz's warden, would jetisin the dead out into space. If you'd been a model prisoner she would allow the pod's automated homing program to take you back to your home planet, if you'd been a pain in her ass she used your pod for target practice. It order for the return home to happen the pod needed sensors and some navigation capability. According to this pod's logs it was knocked off course and instead of taking Astra out into deep space, it took her towards the sun. That must have been what allowed her to heal. Then before she could be over exposed or pulled into the sun all together, an anomaly of some kind opened up and pulled her pod into it. That must have been how she ended up here. The strange anomaly must have pulled her through time somehow.

At least that had answered some of her more practical questions. It still left her with some much bigger ones. Why had her life been spared? Why was she being given a second chance? What was her purpose without Kara? Without Non? Without a mission or a vision, or any of reasons she threw it all way for? Alura. Kara. Her honor. Her House. All lost to her and for what? To save Krypton? To save Earth? In their final weeks together Astra had begun to see the truth. Non was not the man she thought he was. He did not want to save worlds, he wanted to rule them. He was a man who came from nothing, driven mad by his thirst for power. Not that she was laying all her mistakes at Non's feet. She had allowed herself to give in to her darker emotions, the rage, the anger, the grief, and she choose to punish the world, to make it hurt the way she did.

Now what was she to do?

Astra returned to the shetler just in time for the evening meal. She didn't much feel like eating but her body physical demanded food. After getting what she wanted she began to look for a place in the dining area where she could sit and be alone. She spotted a place on the far side of the room and began making her way towards it. As she passed a small round table she noticed a very large, very ugly, very mean sounding alien she was unfamiliar with leaning over the table.

"You don't want that now do ya sweetness." The large ugly alien said, his voice low and gravely. His large mit of hand was outstretched, reaching for something on a food tray.

It wasn't until Astra was several steps away that she could see who the beast was looming over. Two small girls with dark hair, pale skin, and utter fear etched on their faces looked up at the looming idiot. Astra quickly changed directions, making her way over to the girls and the big ugly alien. "Take food from that child's tray and I will take your hand from your arm."

When the big ugly alien stood to his full height he was easily nine feet tall. "Mind your own business, woman."

Astra set her tray down but palmed her fork. "Leave these children eat in piece"

"Or you'll do what?" The ugly one said.

Over the last couple of days Astra could feel her body recharging, could feel her powers returning, but the last thing she wanted to do was show anyone she had powers. Besides, she didn't need powers to defeat this overgrown oaf. She had been trained by the very best the Military Guild had, she was a master at countless number of fighting styles and techniques. She had moves a Zod would be impressed by. Moves that had the big idiot asking her for mercy, a fork pressed to his jugular, and promising to leave the kids alone. Once he limped out of the room like a chastised child, Astra sat across from the actual children. "Are you two alright?"

The older looking of the two girls nodded with wide eyes. "Yes, we're fine, thank you."

The girl had an accent Astra was unfamiliar with. "Why are you here alone? Where are your parents?"

That caused the younger of the two to start to cry. The older one quickly gathered the younger one into her arms and began to sooth her. Once the young one was calmer the older one looked at Astra and answered, "They didn't make it off Titan."

"I'm so sorry." Astra said in a soft regret filled whisper. She quickly offered the younger one the cookie off her own tray. Sweet treats normally worked when Kara was making that face as a small child.

The younger girl looked to the older one as if asking if it was ok to take the cookie. The older one nodded. Then she looked at Astra and said, "Thank you."

Astra's lips ticked as if she were going to smile.

The younger girl nibbled at the cookie and then smiled. She leaned closer to the older girl and spoke in an alien language Astra assumed was the native language used on Saturn's largest moon. Then the older girl looked at Astra and said, "She really likes the strip in your hair."

Astra laughed for the first time in a long time. "Thank you."

"My name is Imra." The older girl said softly. "And this is my sister, Preya."

"It's nice to meet you Imra and Preya." Astra replied. "I am Astra."