Superwoman: Return from Forever Karsta Wor-Ul soared through space in her simple black bodysuit, the older woman's white hair flowing with her movements in the void. She reached the asteroid as planned and braced herself, choosing the most stable spot, then began to push as planned. Her muscles ached and pain flared behind her eyes, but she persevered until she heard a signal in the simple ear peace she wore. "Thank you, Karsta," the voice said to her in their alien speech, "you have deflected the path of the asteroid and saved our world." 'What a strange species,' Karsta found herself thinking wryly as she soared back to her temporary home base, high above the surface of the world. Centuries ago Karsta, along with a group of other Kryptonian army deserters, had committed crimes against a number of alien species. She had ended up on Earth living as Kristen Wells when her past finally caught up with her, and she and Superman had defeated the hunters chasing her. Deciding to finally face her past Karsta willingly surrendered to the authorities, only to find a most unusual judge. The species involved believed in redemption and compensation, leading him to order Karsta to use her Kryptonian abilities to try and balance the scales for the crimes she had committed. Karsta dropped through the atmosphere to the combination prison and residence that she lived in, a floating complex apart from the major cities of Tau-Lentra, and landed gracefully, walking through the archway into her home. "Computer," she asked in Interlac, "any new problems I need to be aware of?" "Reports are trickling in of a new Warworld," the computer reported to her emotionlessly, "destination and power level unknown." "Warworld?!" Karsta stiffened in surprise. Warworld was a threat that even Karsta had heard of while traveling in space, a massive construct that was packed to the top with weapons and alien warriors itching to do battle. Ruled over by the powerful warlord Mongul it had cut a swath across space until Superman and his allies had succeeded in defeating them. "Contact the Green Lantern of our sector 2813," Karsta ordered briskly as she pulled out her battle gear, "see if you can get conformation." "Sending subspace message now," the computer paused a moment, "I am unable to detect presence of ring or Green Lantern." "Rao..." Karsta cursed softly, her grim thoughts racing. "Contact the planetary council for me," she ordered the computer as she pulled on the blue bodysuit, secured her weapons belt then shrugged on a red vest, "I think I'm going to have to see them." Not long after that Karsta found herself before the planetary council of the trading hub she protected, summarizing the potential threat and outlining possible responses. "We can try to hide," she said, "I can go investigate or we can mobilize every ship we can and try to stop it." Alyx of Rann frowned, the brown haired young woman studying her intently before she asked, "And which would you suggest?" "Option two or three," Karsta said coolly, "hiding won't work, especially if this thing is taking out Green Lanterns." S'one of Dryad tilted his rock like head to the side as he pointed out, "Our ships are not military craft, we would be of little use in battle." Karsta shrugged slightly, "Any help would be appreciated." The cloaked Durlan shook his head, "Wee can't strip our defenses!" "What defenses?" the Colulan named Van Dex said to them all dryly, "We barely have anything in place to protect the planet." "I'm sorry," Alyx met her eyes with real regret, "we cannot release ships to help stop Warworld." She paused, "Are you certain you need to...?" "Warworld is a threat to this world too," Karsta said to them seriously, "I wouldn't be keeping up my vow to protect this planet if I didn't try to stop it." "Then we'll vote on releasing you from planetary defense," S'one said gravely. The vote was quickly taken and by a margin of seven votes to three Karsta was given permission to leave their world. "Good luck," the Durlan said quietly as Karsta left. "Thanks," Karsta replied, "I'll need it." With that Karsta soared away, barely pausing to take in the world she had guarded for so long. Blue-green seas shimmered in the sunlight as she raced through blue skies, the mountains nearby her home looking wild and untamed. Karsta noted with some satisfaction that the AI of her home had already prepped her Kryptonian shuttle for launch, the crystal craft pointed skyward. Flying through the gateway into her home she called, "Do you have a path or destination for Warworld?" "The energy wake have been back tracked," the computer responded primly, "and a course has been extrapolated from the data." "Where to?" Karsta asked seriously. "Sol-3," the computer replied, "the planet Terrans call Earth." Krysta stiffened, then nodded slightly. "I was almost expecting that," she admitted grimly. She looked thoughtful, "Load the anti-Daxamite guns on my shuttle, just in case." "Understood," the computer replied. Packing some extra clothes away in her satchel Karsta slung it up over her shoulder, then looked around her small rooms. Satisfied she had what she needed she headed to the door, "Shut the place down for awhile, I don't know when I'll be back." "Acknowledged," the computer answered, "good luck, Karsta Wor-Ul." Within moments Karsta was off, the silvery crystal ship carrying her out of the atmosphere and into space far faster than she could have flown. From the edge of the planet's gravity they raced through the debris belt and out into the region beyond the major gravitational pull of any nearby olanets, after which she activated the first space jump. From one system to another she jumped, retracing her steps until Karsta reached the edge of the inner Solar System. Donning a small breather device Karsta popped up the top of her shuttle, eagerly standing in the pure light of Earth's yellow sun. Already she could feel it charging her body, filling her up with a strength far greater than the power she gained from the weaker light of the orange sun she had last charged up under. Karsta's ships sensors showed Warworld moving slowly through the Solar System, giving her several options. She could risk a small warp jump ahead of them, try to slip around or finally just try to barge straight through them. While a frontal attack was tempting, caution might serve her best... A flare of light was the only warning she got as twin figures soared in, nearly raming her ship as they fired off twin bolts of heat vision. Racing away from her craft Karsta floated in the void, eyes narrowed as the girls swept in again "Old crone," a green haired and buxom woman frowned as she demanded over the radio implanted in Karsta's breathing unit, "what are you doing in this solar system?" "That depends," Karsta answered coolly, "are you two from Warworld?" The brown haired girl sniffed, unaware the noise didn't carry in space as she said disdainfully, "We are the warrior elite of Warworld, surrender or be destroyed." "Well, elite," Karsta replied, "I'm..." she hesitated then used her Earth name, "Kirsten Wells, and I'm the last surviving soldier of the Kryptonian Empire." "Wha..." the green haired girl looked startled. Whipping around her gun far faster than the girls had moved Karsta added as she fired, "And I've taken on tougher things than you before breakfast." The energy bolts from the anti-daxamite weapon cut through the energy fields that generated the girls invulnerability, stunning them as Karsta moved in. With lethal efficiency she broke one's neck, gunning the other girl down as she tried to flee. Slinging her gun back Karsta searched the bodies then slung them out and away from the Sun, depriving them of any possible healing from the power of the Sun. 'I doubt Kal-El would approve,' she mused as she collected her spare weapons and donned them, 'but I'm not a hero, I'm a warrior.' With a flick of a few switches Karsta sent her ship off on a stable orbit, one she could track via a certain broadcast frequency. With a bit of regret she left her ship behind and soared off, following the trail of destruction. Parts of the surface of Mars had been bodily torn up for fuel, and there were wide gaps in Saturn's rings as well as in the asteroid belt. 'They must have expended incredible amounts of fuel to get here,' Karsta thought, 'their reactors must be starving,' As Karsta flew Warworld grew larger and larger, filling the view in front of her as she caught up to the massive ship. Dodging and weaving through defensive fire she rammed down into the surface, bouncing up as she hit the armored skin. "Well, time to crack a egg," Karsta muttered as she pulled out a Neutron grenade and activated it, tossing it seconds before it detonated blasting a massive hole in the armor. Women rushed to fill the gap, weapons ready as they saw the old women casually drop into the outer section of armor and open fire with her unusual guns. "Surrender, woman," a bulky, orange haired woman demanded. "Never," Karsta blasted away, felling the women left and right as she added, "come, and see how a kryptonian wages war!" To be continued... Notes: Karsta Wor-Ul aka Kristen Wells was introduced in the storyline "The Third Kryptonian" in the issues leading up to 669.
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