Kal-El's Starcraft was a small, pre-programmed starship designed and built by Jor-El to carry his infant son Kal-El to Earth.
History[]
Kryptonian Civil War[]
During Krypton's civil war, Jor-El built the starcraft to transport his son to a new world. His wife, Lara Lor-Van, settled that Earth would be the most ideal environment for their son to be nurtured, with Jor-El in agreement. She uploaded the planet's coordinates to the ship's matrix, then began its launch sequence.[1]
Attack on the House of El Citadel[]
As the ship began its launch sequence, Jor-El bonded the genetic information within the Kryptonian growth codex to Kal-El's cells and placed the House of El command key into the ship, sealing his son inside in preparation for his journey. As the ship prepared to launch, General Dru-Zod invaded the House of El citadel, intending to retrieve the Codex as a part of his ongoing coup d'état, and ordered Kal-El's starcraft to be deactivated so that he and his loyalists may rebuild Krypton anew. However, Jor-El refused, defeating Zod as he attempted to forcefully halt the ship launch. Pleading with Lara, Zod stated that the Codex was vital for Krypton's survival. Unfazed in her decision to save her son, Lara launched the ship, causing Zod to cry out in fury and murder Jor-El, who was distracted by the sight of his son's departure.[1]
Charging out of the Citadel, Zod ordered his men to shoot the craft down, but at that moment, the Sapphire Guards arrived, shooting down Zod's ship and arresting the Sword of Rao, allowing the young Kryptonian to escape.[1]
Arrival on Earth[]
The starcraft emerged from the Phantom Zone near Saturn on its course to Earth, flying past the Moon in the process. It landed undetected in the rural town of Smallville, Kansas, where it was found by Jonathan and Martha Kent. Kal-El was adopted by the Kents, who gave him the name Clark Kent, and hid the starcraft in the tack room of their barn on the family's farm.[1][2]
Learning the truth[]
When Clark was 13, Jonathan decided to divulge to Clark his origins by revealing the Kryptonian ship he and his wife found him in to him from under the floor of the barn, proving Clark is an alien. He hugged Clark and said he will always be his son, but Clark owed it to himself to discover who he really is and the reason he was sent to Earth.[1]
Twenty years later, Zod and his loyalists went to the Kent farm in search of the ship, believing it held the Growth Codex; however, Faora-Ul was unable to find it within the craft.[1]
Jor-El came up with a plan to defeat Zod by colliding the Phantom Drive of Clark's ship with Black Zero’s. This would create an unstable Phantom energy singularity, which would suck all of Zod's forces back into the Phantom Zone. Lois, with the help of Colonel Hardy, got Clark's ship aboard a C-17, and used the craft's engine against the gravity beam, causing it to become unstable and created a singularity that sucked everything inside, including the Black Zero and the plane that Hardy and the ship were on.[1]
Revelation of Clark's Heritage to Him[]
When Clark was thirteen, the school bus he was on fell off of a bridge into a river, and he single-handedly pulled it out without hesitation. His actions caused some religious hysteria amongst the parents of some of the children that had been present, most notably Pete Ross's mother Helen Ross. This made Clark feel like an outcast, leading him to question the reasons behind the differences between him and all of his peers. Realizing that it was finally time to reveal the truth to his son, Jonathan took Clark into a secret basement under the barn, which had contained the starcraft he arrived in all of these years, and clearing any doubts, Jonathan confirmed that Clark was in fact an extraterrestrial, much to the latter's shock.[1]
Discovered by Zod[]
Twenty years later, Zod and the surviving members of the Sword of Rao came to Earth after receiving a distress signal from a crashed scout ship that Clark had inadvertently activated when placing the command key from his starcraft into the ship's control panel. After Clark willingly surrendered to him, Zod and his loyalists went to the Kent Farm in search of the starcraft, believing it held the Growth Codex, though Faora-Ul was unable to find it within the craft, greatly angering Zod. Shortly thereafter, however, Jax-Ur used a sample of Clark's blood to determine that the Codex's genetic information was in fact inside Clark himself, bonded with all of his cells.[1]
Portal to the Phantom Zone[]
After Lois Lane plugged the House of El Command Key into the Black Zero's control panel, Jor-El appeared and explained a viable plan to Lois on how defeat Zod and his men, and she in turn explained it to Clark: Collide his starcraft's Phantom Drive with the Black Zero's to create an unstable energy singularity which would suck all of Zod's forces back into the Phantom Zone. Clark and Lois brought the starcraft to the Edwards Air Force Base and explained the plan to General Calvin Swanwick, Colonel Nathan Hardy, and Dr. Emil Hamilton. They then put the ship aboard a C-17 as a makeshift bomb.
When the plane finally came in close proximity to Black Zero, Lois tried to active the starcraft's Phantom Drive by inserting Clark's Command Key, but it wasn't accepted by the starcraft. Unable to put it in, Lois was blown out, as Faora came to stop the plane and thus undermine the plan.
Fortunately, Hamilton managed to realize just in time that the starcraft's panel needed to be turned and successfully inserted the key, activating the Phantom Drive, while Hardy crashed the plane into Black Zero, opening up the singularity, sending everything nearby into the Phantom Zone. Ultimately, while the plan was successfully executed (with only Zod remaining on Earth), it came at the cost of Hardy and Hamilton's lives, with only Lois escaping the singularity's pull due to Superman's timely intervention.[1]
Alternate Universes[]
Flashpoint[]
In this universe, the pod was unfortunately intercepted by General Zod, who was attempting to seize the growth codex imbued within Kal-El.[3]