The ship launched into the atmosphere as it slowly started to get through the layers of Krypton's sky. The massive evacuation vessel rose steadily, its engines burning bright against the crimson backdrop of our dying world.
I was in my commander's chair on the bridge. Around me stood Jon, Jor, and Faura, their faces reflecting the gravity of what we were witnessing. The bridge was silent except for the hum of the ship's systems and the occasional status report from the crew.
My face held a cold look. A few moments ago, LYRA had told me how the core of Krypton had suddenly started to have a meltdown. It was supposed to happen at least a week later, and that was the worst-case scenario according to our calculations.
I had planned to return back to Krypton with the ship and later evacuate more people. Multiple trips using the Phantom Drive would have allowed us to save hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions of our people. But now, that plan was not going to work anymore.
The core's sudden acceleration meant that Krypton would be destroyed at any moment, not weeks. There would be no second chances, no rescue missions, no hope for anyone we had left behind.
I could have saved so many people. Yet that chance would never come.
My thoughts drifted to my father. He had been a man who was excellent in all fields of life. He never forced me to have a certain view of life, yet always made sure to teach me about everything.
He taught me kindness and ruthlessness at the same time, as that was the way of the Rao Imperial family from the Golden era of Krypton.
"A true leader," he had once told me, "must be willing to make decisions that others cannot. Sometimes that means showing mercy when punishing would be easier. Sometimes it means showing steel when compassion would be easier."
I was not made from any genetic template. Rather, I was born through natural birth, not cloning. Similarly, all the past heads of House Rao and their wives were born through natural birth. We were not given a purpose at birth through genetic programming, but rather chose our own paths in life.
And now, I had a path to choose. The most important decision in the history of our species rested on my shoulders.
In front of me was a holographic screen that showed me the visuals of Krypton. The planet that had been our home for thousands of years was beginning to tear itself apart. I could see cracks starting to emerge on the surface, spreading like a disoriented web across continents and oceans.
As the cracks emerged, Faura's eyes silently shed a few tears. The fearsome warrior who was famous among Dheronians for her ruthlessness and torture skills was shedding tears for her dying world.
This was a woman who had never shown weakness in battle, who had broken enemy soldiers with her bare hands, yet now she wept openly.
Even Jon and Jor's eyes shed a single tear each. These hardened men, veterans of countless conflicts and political struggles, even wars, could not hide their grief at watching their civilization die.
I also felt my eyes getting wet, the moisture building despite my efforts to maintain control. Yet I forced myself not to shed a single tear, even after seeing my home, my culture, my people getting destroyed before my eyes. My chest felt tight, my throat constricted, but I could not break. Not now. Not when my people needed strength.
My eyes were red from the strain, but I said coldly, "LYRA, show this to all the Kryptonians present on the ship."
Jor wanted to say something, probably to argue that showing the destruction would only cause more pain. But seeing that cold look on my face, he remained silent. He understood that this decision was not open for debate.
Throughout the ship, many holographic screens appeared as they showed their home planet's destruction to every passenger aboard. Fifteen thousand souls witnessed the death of their world in real time.
The cracks got bigger and bigger, spreading across Krypton's surface like wounds in living flesh.
And then, it exploded.
The planet that had given birth to our civilization, that had housed billions of lives and countless generations of history, simply ceased to exist. One moment, it was there, wounded but still whole. The next moment, it was nothing but expanding debris and energy.
There were warriors among the refugees, scientists among the refugees, and civilians too, yet this scene brought tears to their eyes equally. The entire ship filled with the sound of quiet weeping, muffled sobs, and whispered prayers.
Kryptonians were always a logical and relatively cold race compared to other species. We prided ourselves on rationality and emotional control. Yet seeing the planet they were born and raised on being destroyed, even they could not help but feel overwhelmed by grief.
Right now, our ship is at a safe distance from Krypton's remains, so the blast did not impact our vessel. The explosion's shockwave passed harmlessly around us, but the psychological impact hit every person aboard.
Now, we truly were the only survivors. Just fifteen thousand out of billions of our population. The once great civilization was nothing more than cosmic dust now, yet we remained.
I let the reality of that sink in for several long moments. Let them see what we had lost. Let them understand the magnitude of what had happened.
After a few seconds of letting the image of their homeworld's destruction settle into their minds, I activated the ship-wide communication system. On the holographic screens throughout the vessel, my image appeared sitting in the commander's chair.
My people were grieving right now, but I could not let this continue.
Grief would not get them anywhere. They needed direction and purpose. I needed to change their despair into determination.
"Greetings, my people," I began, my voice carrying to every corner of the ship. "I am the current head of House Rao and the one who is leading this expedition."
I paused, letting my words sink in. Every person aboard was now listening, their attention focused entirely on me.
"As you just saw, our planet is gone."
I waited for a moment, letting everyone's attention fall completely on me before I continued.
"But that does not mean Krypton is dead."
The statement was bold, even shocking, given what they had just witnessed. I could see confusion and perhaps anger beginning to form on some faces.
"No, Krypton is not a planet or a piece of land. Krypton is where our people, the Kryptonians, reside. These are not my words, but the words of the Founder of Krypton, our God King Rao himself."
Their attention spiked at the mention of Rao.
As logical as we Kryptonians might be, we had one thing that we held in absolute faith, and that was Rao. Our people had even named our sun after him. They believed that our red sun was an incarnation of his divine presence.
Under Lord Rao's rule, our race had been at its absolute peak. But that was billions of years ago, lost in the mists of our ancient history.
"A few hundred thousand years ago from today," I continued, "our race was in rapid decline. At that time, a race known as the Vrangs invaded Krypton, and they defeated us."
This caught their attention differently. Most Kryptonians knew the Vrangs had invaded us at some point in history, but there was not much detail taught about that period in our standard education.
"For a thousand years, we Kryptonians were nothing more than slaves to them."
The shock was visible on their faces. They knew that the Vrangs had invaded us, but they had never been told about the extent of our defeat. They had never learned that their proud race had once been reduced to slavery.
"At that time," I said, "my ancestor and the head of House Rao of that time, Sul-Rao, as you all may know, led our race in a struggle against the Vrangs and eventually defeated them, pushing them off our planet forever."
There was visible shock on their faces.
They knew about Sul-Rao from their history lessons—he was taught as one of the greatest heroes in Kryptonian history. Yet, the revelation about our slavery shocked them to the core.
"Our Founder, God King Rao, the one who created our race, also led our people through an extremely dark time before our Golden Age finally began."
By now, all of them were completely invested in my words. The grief was still there, but so was curiosity.
"The point is that we Kryptonians have gone through many challenges throughout our long history. Time has tested us again and again, and each time we have emerged stronger than before."
I stood up from my chair, letting my full presence fill the screen.
"This is another one of time's tests. And we are going to survive it! We will survive it!. And, we will thrive once again, just as our ancestors did."
My words seemed to have affected them. The gloomy, hopeless expressions were fading.
"I am Kon-Rao, descendant of Emperor Sul-Rao and the final blood of God King Rao himself. I want all of you to put your faith in me, to trust me with your heart and soul. And I will lead all of you like my ancestors had before me and build an empire that surpasses even our prime! That is my promise to you as the heir to the lineage of Rao."
The information shocked many people. Us being the descendants of God King Rao was something that only a few of the most ancient noble houses knew. It had been a carefully guarded secret throughout our existence.
Many doubted my words—it was natural to be skeptical of such claims. Yet I saw something in each and every one of their eyes that I had hoped to see. Hope.
That was exactly what I had been aiming for. The reason I had used the names of my ancestors was that they were renowned people who had been immortalized in the history of Krypton. They were legends whose stories every Kryptonian child learned. And I was not yet a legend.
Many of them knew me since a lot of them were from my territory, yet for them, I was simply the Lord of House Rao. A young noble who had inherited his position through tragedy.
I needed to be more than that. I needed them to see me as worthy of their faith, worthy of leading them into an uncertain future. And in this situation, simply being related to God King Rao did exactly that job.
Now, all of them were much calmer than before. The panic and despair had been replaced by hope.
I stopped the holographic display and turned to look at Jor. Our eyes met, and I could see that he understood what needed to happen next.
"Activate the Phantom Drive," I said simply. "It's time to start a new era."
.....
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