Absolute Salvation

The planet Ilnolmed, which orbited the red star Rao, was a prosperous scientific community that had their techno-organic machinery intertwined with the populous plant life. It was an idyllic world, until the invasion of parasitic aliens that consumed the minds of the humanoid populace and leaving the remainder open to collection. The peaceful world was torn piece-by-piece by the head invader’s flagship, until a single chunk of Ilnolmed, containing the largest city on the planet called Kandor, remained and was hauled away. As the other Ilnolmas were left to die, the remaining populace was turned into test subjects for the experiments of S’Tar-Ro, the master of the parasites. The piece of the planet was affixed to the Mosaic, an artificial world made from pieces of other planets, which would be home of enslaved alien species for S’Tar-Ro to use as he saw fit. One of the most brilliant scientists of the captured Ilnolmas, Jor-El, helped organize a resistance movement against their captor and his tyrannical race, succeeding in coordinating the sabotage of the teleportation relays that linked Mosaic to S’Tar-Ro’s bastion. The warships of the race attacked the Mosaic, but the stratagems of Jor-El and the fighting skill of other species allowed the resistance to capture the ships and relieve them of their pilots, despite the lack of resources. Many were killed in the battle, including Jor-El’s wife Lar-El, along with his brother Zor-El and his wife. Taking his infant niece Kara-El into his arms, he led the starships piloted by the escaping Mosaic prisoners to a safe solar system. Unfortunately, S’Tar-Ro activated the self-destruct system of the artificial sun that Mosaic orbited, destroying that planet and all of the escapees… except two.
Jor-El’s and Kara-El’s starship drifted through space, lifeless, until it crash landed on Earth. They survived the crash, and were left to wander the Kansas fields at night until Jor-El collapsed and was found by a woman. She nursed them back to health at her farmhouse and introduced herself to Jor-El as Martha Clark. Jor-El, quickly learning English from hearing her speak, explained his situation to her. She though he was crazy and started calling the police, out of concern for the baby girl, but when Jor-El stepped outside during the day, they both realized that he gained superhuman abilities from exposure to the light of the yellow sun that Earth orbits. Martha realized that he was telling the truth and agreed to keep it secret. Over the first months of his stay, Jor-El was able to perfectly craft the human identity of Johnathan Kent, a farmer that just moved to Overland Park, KS. His relationship with Martha grew into romance, and they were soon enough married. They later had a son they named Clark Kent; John wanted his son to appreciate his Ilnolman heritage, so he was secretly named Kal-El. In 2001, when Clark was 3 years old and his cousin Kara 4, John’s ability to hear distant radio signals (one of his many superhuman powers he kept secret) picked up on reports of two airplanes hijacked by terrorists. He realized the danger, but knew if he revealed his powers, his family could be threatened. Martha gave him his Ilnolman clothing, which was now adorned with a pull-over mask that she had sewn on, revealing that she figured the world would one day need his abilities. Using the power of flight, Jor-El sped towards the flight path of the first hijacked plane, which was on a collision course with the World Trade Center in New York City, NY. He was able to catch the planes and lower them safely to the city streets; he then flew to Washington DC, to stop two more hijacked planes from crashing into the White House and the Pentagon. After constructing a device to disguise his face and altering his new costume, John Kent swore his allegiance to the United States Government, revealing his civilian identity to the President, who dubbed him… Superman!

Notes:
* Ilnolmed is the new name for Krypton, because the actual element Krypton (a non-toxic asphyxiate gas) will replace the fictional Kryptonite as the weakness of all Ilnolmas, including Superman.
* Think of Ilnolmed as: the city from ‘Blade Runner’ meets Pandora from ‘Avatar’.
* Mosaic’s artificial sun was blue, which wouldn’t have given Jor-El his powers as a yellow sun would.
* Instead of the fictional cities of Metropolis and Smallville, they are replaced with real-life counterparts New York City, NY and Overland Park, KS. The same will happen to other fictional DC cities.
* Instead of the Daily Planet, it’s just the New York Times.
* Superman’s powers are electromagnetic in nature, but closely resemble classic Superman abilities. Enhanced strength and durability comes from an electromagnetic aura, his brain can subconsciously interface with computers and radio signals, flight comes from a revved-up magnetic aura that is opposite Earth’s, and laser-vision is amplification of magnetic energy emanating from his eyes.
* Being young, Kara has yet to develop her full potential for her powers, and Clark may develop them even slower due to being half-human.
*Jor-El's facial augmentor, the golden diamond belt buckle, gives him blonde hair and bright red eyes. He normally has black hair and blue eyes.
*The S with the star burst next to it is based on the Ilnolman symbol for J, as in Jor-El.
* Superman’s allegiance to the US Government, which had him serving as basically a new nuclear deterrent, will be severed due to a betrayal involving military contractor Lionel Luthor. Jor-El then forms a secret strike force of meta-talented benefactors; one of its members jokingly refers to this team as “The Justice League”.