The Redemption of Krypton

by MrsEener

'The Last Son will return to Krpyton and Redeem it. The son becomes the father, and the father becomes the son.' The saga of how the destruction of Krypton was a desperate act of sabotage in a grand scheme to save the universe.

2. The Sentinal

THE SENTINAL

Eons may have gone by. Or perhaps it had only been a few minutes. Does time possess any significance in the absence of humanoids to perceive it?

Unit 638 had been waiting… watching… silent… still... In high orbit above the shattered planet, it was an inconspicuous presence amid the debris.

What remained of Krypton had made 126 revolutions around the crimson star since Unit 638 was stationed there along with its sibling units. Every revolution marked another year since the planet's demise. But did a 'year' mean anything without humanoids around to experience it? What about the humanoids that had brought Unit 638 and the others here? How much time had they passed through since?

Unit 638 didn't wonder about these things. It was just a machine, a robotic spacecraft. Its onboard computer had no programming enabling it to think about such matters. It was only able to carry out the specific directives its humanoid creators had programmed it with.

Unit 638 was the first among its siblings to detect the crystalline spacecraft.

Incoming Kryptonian spacecraft!

Unit 638's wait was finally over. The systems that had been sleeping for 126 Kryptonian years were brought back online: propulsion, navigation, communication, and defense among others. The unit sent out a message to its creators. "Kryptonian spacecraft arrived. Occupants: one adult male."

Unit 638 waited on standby, systems at the ready. It wasn't long before the Kryptonian craft backed out of orbit and set a course away from the planet. Unit 638 locked its sensors on the craft, fired up its propulsion system, and followed.

The Kryptonian craft outpaced Unit 638. The distance between the two spacefaring objects increased over time. No matter. Unit 638 used the Kryptonian ship's trajectory to calculate its apparent destination, a small yellow star inside a barred spiral galaxy on the other side of the known universe.

Unit 638 transmitted this information to its creators while setting its own trajectory to match that of the other craft. It would arrive at that star later than the Kryptonian. It was not possible to calculate how much later. But it certainly would... arrive.