Weeks passed. Clark was kept constantly busy as he checked on the progress of each of the public works committees. He worked alongside the farming committee most days, building greenhouses and planting seeds. It felt good, he noted, to have his hands in soil again. Ever since he'd taken on the Superman persona, he hadn't had much time to work on his parents' farm. It was strangely freeing to felt the dirt under his nails and to be giving his committee lessons in farming. He felt a definite moment of pride when one of the makeshift greenhouses produced the first small sprouts. He ordered the committee to begin seeding the fields that had been set aside for the farms. He met with Ching whenever he could, but the man had no news on what Lord Nor and the House of Zod might be planning. Clark began to nearly hope that perhaps Nor wouldn't challenge him.
Nights were the roughest time for Clark. He spent hours every night staring out of the windows at the distant Earth, clutching Lois' ring, sending out his thoughts to her. He wondered desperately if she could hear his messages, although he knew it was unlikely. He slept in a reclining chair, leaving the bed to Zara. The sore necks that he often woke up with were worth it, in his mind. When he dreamed, he dreamed of Lois. He looked forward to those dreams, for then he could feel her touching him, could taste her in the softness of her lips as she kissed him, could see her eyes sparkling with the love she had for him, could hear the laughter that melted his heart, could smell the sweet perfume that was purely her. Waking from those dreams were the worst parts of his days.
The fourth week since his arrival on New Krypton dawned. Clark was jerked from his dreams as an explosion ripped through the air outside of the palace. The walls shook from the force of the impact. Clark was instantly on his feet and at the window. From his vantage point, he couldn't see what was happening. He was out the door in the next instant, running through the palace halls. As he ran, he met up with Ching. Ching looked relieved to have found Clark.
"Lord Kal-El," Ching called out breathlessly.
"What's going on, Ching?"
"It's Lord Nor. He's gathered an army in secret. I don't know how. He's declared war. The city and palace are under fire."
Clark swore under his breath as they raced to the War Chamber, where the military was standing by, awaiting orders. They reached it in minutes. Clark reached the doors first, threw them open, and strode into the room. His face was flushed from the effort of running and his breath was a little short. He could not hide the fact that he'd been running. He did not care. There were more important things at the moment. He quickly greeted the men standing in the room.
A translucent hologram of a map hung in the middle of the room. Clark stepped up to it, looking at the red areas where the city had sustained damage. A series of red, blinking dots crawled across the map - Nor's troops. The green were his own troops.
Clark addressed his top military officials and found himself quickly briefed on the situation outside of the palace walls. He gave a few orders on troop placement and defensive lines, but acknowledged that his men knew the tactical side of war better than he did. He assured them that he trusted their judgments.
"Open the palace doors to anyone that is hurt or displaced. Get the physicians here now to tend to anyone who needs them. Keep a tight guard. Use the main receiving hall. That should be big enough night now. Don't allow anyone to leave that hall. Get search teams out there to look for any dead or wounded." He turned to Ching. "Come with me. You and I are going out there."
Ching's face blanched. "What? I mean..." he tried to cover his mistake in how he had addressed Clark.
Clark cut him off. "I need to do this, Ching."
Ching lowered his voice as the military leaders scattered in every direction to carry out their Lord's wishes. "You aren't Superman here. You can be hurt or killed here."
"I am not going to hide behind these walls while my people risk their lives for me," Clark hissed. "Maybe I can confront Nor and stop this before it gets any worse."
Ching said nothing and led Clark to what Clark could only describe as a giant hanger with military vehicles. Ching chose an armored, green jeep. They strapped in and sped away. Clark blinked as they came out into the sunlight. Already the day was growing bright. He'd marveled in the past few weeks how the red sun was so like Earth's yellow one, in terms of the heat and light it gave off. Only as it rose and set did it throw any sort of red light. Still, the effects on his powers was devastating. Clark felt naked without them, even after a month.
They entered the city. Clark kept his eyes forward, watching as his troops picked through rubble from collapsed homes. Anger swelled in him. He would make Lord Nor pay for his crimes.
"Stop here," Clark instructed as they came to a decimated row of homes. There was a crying woman picking through the debris.
Ching stopped the vehicle and Clark bolted out the door. He ran to the pile of broken stone, plaster, and imported wood.
"My boys were in there," the woman wailed.
"Stand back," he told her.
Clark began to dig. He grunted with effort as he moved aside wood and stone, sheer adrenaline fueling his strength. Ching appeared at his side.
"Dig," Clark instructed him as he tossed aside a beam of heavy wood.
In minutes, they had cleared away the rubble. In a pocket beneath, the woman's two small boys had been trapped. The older of the two was no more than five years old and the younger was about a year old. Clark eased himself into the pocket, murmuring soothing words to the frightened children. He dropped into the hole beside them. The older boy protectively held his little brother to him.
"It's okay," Clark said softly, not wanting to further frighten the children. "I'm here to help." He knelt down in the debris and held his arms open. "Come on. Let me get you two out of here. Please?"
The older boy looked at him for a moment, deciding. Then, slowly, he nodded, blue eyes wide from the terror of the ordeal.
"It's okay," Clark repeated. "I'm going to take your brother out of here first and then I'll come back for you. Is that okay?"
The boy nodded and loosed his grip on his brother. Clark picked up the younger of the two, pressing the little one to his chest with one hand and using the other to grab handholds. Carefully, he climbed back out. Ching grabbed his arm and helped him as he reached the top of the hole. He handed the child to his mother and then went back in. He helped the older boy climb onto his back. The child clung to him tightly. Clark pulled himself out of the hole once more, then knelt so the boy could hop off of his back.
"Thank you, Lord Kal-El," the woman said. "You saved my children's lives."
Clark smiled at her and gave her a reassuring touch on the shoulder. "There is help waiting at the palace. Take your boys there. Have the doctors look them over, just to be sure."
He waved over a passing military vehicle and instructed the driver to take the woman and her boys to the palace. He turned and got back into the jeep, Ching on his tail. Clark sat back in his seat, troubled. Ching looked at him.
"Don't say it, Ching," Clark said softly. "I had to help. It's what I do."
Ching's mouth quirked up into a smile. "Actually, I was going to congratulate you on a job well done."
Clark smiled. "Thanks. Let's keep moving. There may be others in trouble. And if you see any of Nor's troops, I want you to stop."
Ching put the vehicle into gear. "It is well that the people of Earth call you a hero," he said as he drove.
Clark shook his head. "I've never looked at myself that way. I just...help...if I can."
Ching chuckled. "You are a hero, Kal-El. You do what's right even when it pains you to."
They drove on in silence. The day wore on. Clark stopped a few times to direct people to the makeshift shelter in the palace. He aided his troops in three more rescues. The early sunset was coming on when they began to finally head back to the palace. They rounded a corner and Ching jammed on the brakes. A small group of Nor's renegade troops stood facing off with small squadron of Clark's troops. They hadn't been noticed, it seemed. Ching started to slowly reverse the vehicle.
"No. Stop," Clark said.
The jeep halted. Clark threw the door open. He could see a few of his men stealthily circling Nor's men. He slowly advanced, placing each step carefully so as not to make a noise. He signaled to his own men. The group made a tightening noose around Nor's men. There were five in all. All were armed to the teeth. Four held some strange form of machine gun that Clark didn't recognize. One massive man held a rocket launcher. He was easily taller and broader than Clark. Clark motioned silently to his troops. With a sudden shout, Clark and his men sprang towards the renegades. Clark threw himself at the man with the rocket launcher. He'd played football in college and knew how to tackle a man. Taken by surprise, the man went down easily. Clark tried to wrest the weapon from his hands, but the big man's grip was like steel. The man regained his composure and began to fight back. Clark was out muscled and the man gained his footing. Clark hung on to the grip he had on the rocket launcher. He did not have a chance to spare a look at how the rest of his men were doing.
The man he fought wrenched the rocket launcher from Clark's fingers. He swung the weapon like a club. Clark had barely time enough to avoid being struck in the head. On the second swing, he made a grab for the weapon once more. When he missed, he used his momentum to try and tackle the man again. This time, the man stayed standing. He grabbed Clark by the collar of his suit and lifted him, bringing him within an inch of his face. A murderous smile broke out on the man's dirt streaked face. Clark kicked, bringing his knee forcibly into the man's groin. A look of pain shot across the renegade's face and he threw Clark like a ragdoll. As the man sunk to his knees, Clark struck the hard packed ground. His head connected sharply with a rock.
For a moment, Clark was stunned. His head ached. He gingerly touched the temple that had hit the rock and felt the wet warmth of blood. He pulled his hand away and inspected the red, sticky red fluid that now covered his fingertips. He'd bled before, of course, when Kryptonite stripped him of his protective aura or when his powers had been transferred to Lois for a few days. The sight of blood always unnerved him. To see his own always terrified him.
His troops had subdued the group of Nor's renegades. They were bound hand and foot with glowing white bands of energy. Clark knew that the bonds were as strong as any chain, though he didn't quite understand how the science of it worked. Nor's men were still trying to struggle, but the military kept them secured. Their weapons were in the back of a topless jeep. Clark peered at the weapons with disgust, his hand still pressed to his head.
"See what you can find out about Nor's plans," he instructed one of the generals. "I want to know everything. Where his base is. How many more men he's got. What sort of weapons he has. But mostly, I want Nor. Find him and bring him to me."
"Yes, my Lord."
"Are you all right?" Ching asked and Clark pulled his hand from his head again. He was still bleeding.
"Fine," Clark replied.
"You are bleeding," Ching observed.
"I'll live. It's just a minor scratch. And I'll probably have a headache for a while. Let's get back."
Ching put the jeep into gear once more. They sped towards the palace. Word of Clark's deeds that day preceded him. As soon as he stepped foot into the palace, physicians were at his side, checking him over. They refused to leave his side until he finally let them see to his wounds. Aside from the cut on his head, he'd managed to scrape his hands and knees. At last, they were satisfied that he was in no immediate danger and he was able to slip back to his private chambers to eat and sleep.
Two days of uneasy peace followed. Clark was troubled. The men they had captured had refused to divulge any information on Nor or his whereabouts. The military scouts had turned up nothing. Clark spent his hours in meeting after meeting. Two of the experimental farms had been razed to the ground.
On the third day, the fighting broke out anew. Once again, Clark and Ching hopped into their jeep and headed into the fray. As they were finishing up the arrest of three more renegades, Jen Mai approached Clark. He pulled him off to one side.
"Lord Kal-El, I have news. I have followed General Zod to Lord Nor's base. Come with me and I will take you to him."
Clark hesitated a moment. He still had a bad feeling about Jen Mai. But what if he was wrong? What if the man truly could offer him Nor's location? After a long moment, he nodded.
"Okay, Jen Mai. Take us to him."
He called for Ching and the group of ten soldiers that were in the area. A convoy was soon arranged. Clark and Jen Mai rode with Ching. Jen Mai instructed them as they drove through the city. Before long, they were stopped in front of an ordinary looking home. They disembarked from their vehicles. The surrounding area was quiet. The hairs on the back of Clark's neck stood up. Uneasiness roiled in his stomach. Something wasn't right.
The attack happened quickly and from every direction. Clark's men were outnumbered. Clark managed to knock out a few of the attackers but then something hit him on the back of the head. The world went black and he knew no more.
