The crystal structure standing before me was impossible to ignore—like a magical castle born from ice itself.
"Is this what we came here to find?" I asked aloud, tilting my head up at the towering spires.
"Yes," Lara replied softly in my ear.
"What exactly is it?" I asked, pretending I didn't already have an answer in my heart.
"You will know once you enter it, Kal," she said. "I have already disabled the security protocols. Just walk straight in."
"Alright," I nodded, stepping forward.
Every breath I exhaled fogged in the air. The cold here was real—biting, absolute—yet I felt none of it. I wasn't sure whether that was because of the suit or my own Kryptonian physiology. For a moment, I even wondered what the actual temperature was in this frozen wasteland.
I stopped my wondering and reached out, placing my fingers against the crystal wall.
At my touch, the massive crystal surface rippled downward, melting seamlessly into the ice below. An arcing gate formed in front of me.
I stepped inside.
The interior was vast—an enormous crystalline cavern bathed in refracted sunlight, glowing from thousands of angles at once. Light scattered through the walls, the floor, the ceiling, turning the entire place into a radiant frozen structure. With my X-ray vision, I could already tell this was only one of many massive halls branching throughout the structure—and not all of them were empty.
The moment I crossed the threshold, the crystals behind me rose again, sealing the entrance completely.
At the same time, my suit liquefied, breaking apart into glowing red dust that gathered beside me and reformed into Lara's familiar figure.
"Walk to the command center in the middle," she said, pointing toward a raised crystalline table at the heart of the chamber.
Only now did I realize—I still didn't feel the cold, even with the suit undone. Either my body was naturally resisting it… or this entire structure regulated its own environment.
I nodded, and we both approached the crystal table. Dozens of crystalline shards were already embedded across its surface, each one faintly glowing. And at the very center—
There was a large, unmistakable empty slot.
"Now insert the Black Sunstone you carry," Lara said, her fingers brushing lightly across the crystal table. "It is a command key. It will activate the command center."
"A command key, huh…" I muttered.
Reaching into my pocket, I took out the black crystal and carefully pressed it into the hollow at the center.
The moment it touched the socket, it was pulled in as if by magnetism.
The entire table flared with brilliant light.
"Kal-El… my son."
The unfamiliar male voice made me turn sharply.
A man now stood beside the crystal table.
The man had black hair and blue eyes, a calm, dignified face, and a lean build. He wore a regal white outfit marked with the same S symbol on his chest.
"Huh?" I muttered in disbelief. For a moment, it felt like I was staring at a future version of myself reflected in a mirror.
"This… is your father, Kal. Jor-El," Lara said gently from beside me.
I had already suspected it. Just like Mother, he didn't appear on my X-ray vision at all—and their attire shared the same Kryptonian design.
"Hello… Father," I said, the word feeling strange on my tongue — and painfully reminding me of Pa.
"I am glad you are alive and well, my son," Jor-El said with a faint nod. "But seeing that you are already eight Earth years old, and have only now activated the Fortress… I must assume our plans were altered by unforeseen events."
He turned toward Lara.
"Yes," she replied, resting a hand on my shoulder. "My consciousness matrix failed to activate upon arrival. If not for Kal's bio-signature awakening me, I would still be dormant. And beyond that… I have sensed no other Kryptonian vessels on this world."
"Hm… I can't sense them either. It must be connected to Krypton's destruction," Jor-El said thoughtfully. "I will need to access your memory logs to analyze what went wrong."
It felt strange watching them interact. My mother was warm, emotional—just like before. But this man… my new father… he felt different. Too serious. Too calm.
I hadn't expected a hug like the one Lara gave me, but still receiving just a smile for seeing his son after so long was definitely odd.
"Wait…" I cut in, stopping their discussion. "Can you both explain to me what is actually going on here first?"
"Oh, of course, baby," Lara said with a gentle smile. "You must have so many questions."
"You may ask them freely, Kal," Jor-El said calmly. "I will explain everything to the best of my ability."
"Okay… then for starters," I said, gesturing around us, "what exactly is this crystal palace?"
"This," Jor-El replied, lifting his palm, "is Frontier Outpost: Fortress–Theta-9."
A projection burst into existence above the table—a scaled-down hologram of the massive crystal structure we were standing in, rotating slowly in the air. The name Fortress–Theta-9 shimmered beneath it.
I stared at it in stunned silence. This must be some kind of advanced holography.
"It was deployed to the planet you call Earth during Krypton's Expansion Era," Jor-El continued, as the projection shifted to show a crystal structure descending upon the Arctic region of the planet. "Approximately two hundred and fifty thousand Earth years ago."
"So this thing landed here when humans were still living in caves?" I asked incredulously. "Then why was it sent here at all? And how is it still working? Was it just… lying dormant this whole time?"
My mind was already spinning with questions. Even the way he named it—Fortress–Theta-9—made it sound like one among many.
Lara gently clasped my shoulders.
"How about we tell you about your home planet first?" she said softly. "You deserve to know where you truly come from."
"Yes," Jor-El nodded. "It would be best to give you that foundation before explaining the Frontier Outposts. Please—take a seat."
At his gesture, a chair formed beside the crystal command center, rising smoothly from the floor—pure white crystal shaped into a simple, elegant seat.
I took a slow breath and sat down. It was surprisingly comfortable. Lara stood behind me, her fingers moving slowly through my hair in a soothing rhythm.
"Krypton," Jor-El began, "was a planet that orbited a red supergiant star known as Rao. It existed in the Andromeda Galaxy, approximately two and a half million light-years from Earth."
The space above us shifted, transforming into a vivid projection: a massive red star burning in the void, and a dusty red planet turning slowly in its orbit.
"That… that's my home planet?" I asked quietly, staring at it.
"Yes," Jor-El said. "Krypton was a harsh world. It shared some similarities with Earth, but the differences were far greater. It was nearly three times the size of Earth, far denser, with almost five times Earth's gravity. Even its natural life—its flora and fauna—evolved to be far more severe."
The projection zoomed in, the planet expanding until its surface filled the air above us.
"Cool" I muttered as the projection was so much more wonderful. Even Google Earth couldn't show Earth in such clarity.
"For tens of thousands of years, Kryptonians struggled against their world," Jor-El continued. "Krypton's environment nearly wiped us out. But through science and technology, we subdued it. Our true age of advancement began approximately four hundred thousand Earth years ago."
As he spoke, the barren surface transformed—vast crystal structures spread across the planet, cities rising like living sculptures from the ground.
"Wow…" I breathed, unable to take my eyes off it.
"Krypton was beautiful, Kal," Lara whispered behind me.
The projection shifted again—now showing sprawling crystal cities beneath alien skies.
"Our skies were never only blue," she continued softly. "At dawn they turned silver. At dusk, violet. Two moons would rise together, and their light would fracture through the crystal spires of our cities, until the entire world shimmered like a living jewel."
"It's really beautiful," I said honestly, unable to look away.
"Not just the cities," Lara continued, her voice thick with emotion. "The whole planet was extraordinary. Our mountains were taller than anything on Earth—their roots pierced deep into the mantle. Waterfalls fell for miles without breaking, turning to mist before ever touching the ground. The oceans were darker than Earth's… richer with life."
Scene after scene flowed past as she spoke—crimson seas, towering ranges, radiant skies.
"I wish you could have seen it with your own eyes," she whispered, her fingers gently caressing my hair.
"So… if we Kryptonians were that advanced," I asked quietly, "how did it all end so suddenly? How did Krypton explode?"
"A concise answer," Jor-El said gravely, "is that Krypton was destroyed by our attempt to overexploit its planetary core—and the result was catastrophic."
The immense planet in the projection trembled… then burst apart in a silent, horrifying explosion.
"Shit…" I muttered, stunned.
"It was the arrogance of the Science League," Lara said bitterly. "They were in charge of the project. Even when your father and I showed them undeniable proof of what would happen, they dismissed us. Ignored us. Continued anyway." She exhaled sharply. "If they had listened… things could have been very different."
"The Science League?" I asked.
"They were the highest governing authority of Krypton," Jor-El replied. "The greatest minds of our world served within it. Lara and I were members as well. But they branded our warnings as alarmist superstition… and buried our evidence under politics and pride."
"After trying everything we could," Lara continued softly, "we realized there was no hope of convincing them. So we made a different choice—we decided that Krypton's legacy would not die with the planet."
"You were that legacy, Kal," Jor-El said with a faint, proud smile. "The first naturally born child in centuries. We planned to send you—and your cousin—away before the end. You were meant to rebuild Krypton without its flaws."
"My… cousin?" I repeated, stunned.
Kara.
He was talking about Supergirl. And by sending both of us, did he mean what I think he meant?
"She is not here, Kal," Lara said with a quiet sigh. "It seems that even with all our planning… fate still found a way to twist things."
I clenched my fists. "If you could send me and my cousin away—then why didn't you both come with us?" I asked, my voice low. "Why stay behind?"
"That…" Lara pulled me into her arms, holding my head against her chest. Her voice trembled. "We wanted to, Kal. More than anything. But we couldn't."
"Couldn't?" I pulled back slightly, confused. "What—was there not enough room in the pod?" I tried to joke weakly.
"No," Jor-El said evenly. "Space was never the problem. We were physically bound to Krypton by genetic locks—biological fail-safes that made leaving the planet impossible."
"Genetic… locks?" I repeated, completely stunned.
"Yes," Lara said softly. "As much as Krypton was our home… it was also our prison." She lowered her gaze. "If we had tried to leave the planet with you—before even escaping the atmosphere—we would have suffered total neural collapse. Brain death."
My chest tightened. "Why?" I asked, horrified. "Why would something like that be placed on you? Because you warned the Science League about Krypton's destruction?"
"No, Kal," Jor-El replied. "These locks were not placed only on Lara and me. They existed in every Kryptonian born from the Genetic Chambers."
The air above us shimmered. A massive, plant-like structure unfolded in light—towering incubation pods, organic and crystalline at once.
"Then who did this?" I asked. "And why?"
"It was not done by an enemy," Lara said quietly. "It was done by ourselves—or rather, by our ancestors."
"Our… ancestors?" I muttered in disbelief.
"Yes," Jor-El continued. "During the Kryptonian Expansion Age, when Krypton set out to conquer other worlds and entire star systems. Population control became doctrine. Individual choice was deemed inefficient. Genetic Chambers were created to design Kryptonians for predetermined roles."
The projection shifted—countless crystal ships leaving Krypton in orderly waves.
"Our House of El was assigned the role of scientists," Jor-El said. "Others were bred for war, governance, architecture, exploration. Krypton became efficient… and in doing so, it became rigid."
"We expanded rapidly," Lara said, her voice darkening. "Our Sunstone technology allowed us to claim entire systems with ease. It made us arrogant."
"And that arrogance," Jor-El added, "nearly wiped us out."
"Wiped you out… how?" I asked.
"Our expansion drew opposition," Jor-El said. "Not only from the worlds we subjugated, but from cosmic guardians who saw our methods as a threat to balance. Conflicts escalated. Wars multiplied. And to fight them, Krypton grew even more ruthless.This fortress was one such frontier outpost—sent ahead for a war yet to come."
Above us, the projection shifted. Massive crystal warships filled the void. From their cores, smaller crystal constructs were launched—multiplying rapidly, tearing through enemy fleets, even cracking moons apart as they expanded like living weapons.
"It was a brutal age," Lara whispered, pulling my head gently to her chest.
"But it all came to nothing," Jor-El continued. "We eventually faced foes we could not defeat. Our losses grew too great—population, resources, entire fleets erased. Pride turned to fear. And the newly formed Science League made a final decision."
The image above shifted again—Krypton's ships destroyed.
"They ended the wars," Jor-El said coldly. "Abandoned all expansion, abandoned all spacecrafts. Sealed themselves on Krypton. And to ensure that no Kryptonian could ever leave again—so that our enemies could never trace us back to our home—they implanted genetic locks into every newborn."
"So no one would even dream of revenge," he finished.
"I know this is too much for you to bear, Kal," Lara said softly, her hand tightening in my hair. "But you deserved to know. Krypton's history… is drenched in blood."
My jaw had gone slack as I stared wide-eyed at the figures now filling the hologram.
On one side there were beings, aliens, clad in green and black, glowing emerald rings blazing at their fists. Even without symbols, I recognized them instantly.
The Green Lantern Corps.
They were capturing crystal ships inside massive green constructs, restraining entire fleets at once.
But on the other side—
Human looking men and women in clean white clothes flew through space with monstrous speed. They didn't fire weapons. They didn't need to.
They became the weapons.
They tore through crystal warships with their bodies alone—ripping them apart, destroying fleets in seconds.
My blood ran cold.
I recognized them too.
"They're…" I whispered.
Viltrumites.
***
[CKLance has redeemed an Extra Chapter this week]