Battle on Cyber

The Battle on Cyber takes place in Across the Void, Chapter 22. It is the battle that serves as the series finale.

History
Thousand of years ago, in a far-off galaxy within a parallel dimension, a planet was destroyed. As it exploded, pieces of the prisms near its core traveled through a wormhole connecting our galaxies. Along the way, those pieces mingled with other unknown particles, becoming the most radioactive substance they have encountered: astradust. Its initial appearance destroyed entire planets and forever altered the genetic composition of every surviving creature. After the exposure, the galaxy descended into chaos and from years of darkness, the Void were born.

The Void believes that they come from the blackness of space, the void, and are destined to return to it... making all actions meaningless. The Void ships took to space, taking what they wanted and sending the rest back to darkness. Those who didn't join them were returned to space or died of starvation as resources grew more scarce. They were defeated by the Vanguard centuries ago, only to return under the leadership of a Celd called Quandry. He was the only thing keeping them from dissolving into chaos. He presents whatever ideals will appeal to each of his recruits or uses fear as a motivator for his victims. Then, his soldiers are brainwashed and tortured for years until driven to insanity. They believe that the galaxy is their playground as he does. Above all else, they value power and exerting it over others. They take whatever they want and either destroy it for fun or remake it as something far more dangerous. They have no regard for life. For those who feel their lives are out of their control, the Void can be very appealing.

The Void ship, the Sanctum, is a ship so massive that it is rumored to have destroyed entire star systems. They have a section of space called the Graveyard where they keep the destroyed ships that belonged to murdered Marshalls and Vanguard soldiers.

"Together we eradicate the darkness, for it is up to us to keep the stars bright."

- —The Vanguard mantra

The Vanguard was formed to stop the Void from terrorizing the galaxy. They enlisted the help of the Cyber to create astral charges, deadly weaponized versions of astradust, to fight the Void. Once the Void were eradicated, the Vanguard promised to destroy all the remaining astral charges as well as defend the galaxy from any other threats with their Marshalls. The Marshalls made space travel safe and were tasked to supply everyone with enough rations to ensure they never starved again. For centuries, the Vanguard united the worlds under one government and there was peace. However, the Void reappeared less than a decade ago. By the time the Vanguard learned of Quandry, he had amassed a larger and deadlier army than the Marshalls. Tens of thousands of soldiers and Marshalls were sent after the Void but none have returned. As the Vanguard numbers depleted, their ability to offer resources suffered, creating a growing gap between self-sufficient planets and planets in need.

The Vanguard became more spread out than ever trying to fight and contain the Void, unbeknownst to the rest of the galaxy. They feared galaxy-wide panic if anyone knew of the Void's reappearance and did not want to risk more falling under the Void's influence. Because of this, most people consider the Void to be a spooky story that parents use to make their kids go to bed on time.

As the Vanguard fought the Void, the Jura rose from the planets in need. Because the former hid the truth about the Void's return and became unable to deliver aid, the Jura believed that the Vanguard were keeping the resources for themselves. Those that support them believe that they are fighting oppression and are not terrorists. Their leader (codename: The General) became powerful enough to rally even the most fractured Jura forces.

Preparing for Battle
The Vanguard asked the Cyber to help create new astral charges, and the Elaras (parents of Captain Elara, Eos Elara, and Pax Elara) fulfilled their request. However, a few days before the "talks on Cyber" were to take place, the Void attacked and destabilized the charges, causing a leak of astradust that spread for miles. They had to evacuate the planet.

When The Atlas arrives on Cyber, the crew finds the planet deserted. Captain Elara finds a message for him/her left by their parents, and finds the hidden astral charges. Pax is angry that their parents once again have decided their fates, but Captain Elara is not concerned about that. Corvus and Argo volunteer to escort the Atlas' passengers to a safehold, while the three Elara siblings share a final night with their love interests before the Sanctum arrives.

Battle
Captain Elara and crew return to the Atlas to attempt to scare off Quandry and the Sanctum. However, the threat of the astral charges inspire Quandry to attack instead and he becomes determined to find them for his own use. The space battle spills onto Cyber when Quandry and his soldiers land, and Captain Elara and crew must fight to keep him from finding the charges.

Prince Barlow attacks Captain Elara's mind telepathically. If Captain Elara is strong enough, he/she is able to force Barlow back into his own mind and detonate "psychic astral charges" there, killing him. If Captain Elara gives into the pain, Prince Barlow sees a thread of a possible future of Holmes and Zaniah coming to the captain's rescue and instead kills them before they can help. Prince Barlow then escapes.

Before Pax is injured, the General appears and Pax discovers that she is Artemis. Artemis demands Captain Elara give her the astral charges and threatens him/her by destroying a part of the Atlas. Sol admits to knowing Artemis' Jura identity, but sides with Captain Elara against her. Before anything further can happen, Quandry attacks. If Captain Elara saved Aquari in Chapter 20, Aquari appears and saves Vee from being injured. If Captain Elara did not save Aquari, Aquari destroys Vee as she had been tortured and brainwashed to serve the Void.

Meanwhile, Quandry runs and Eos and Oberon pursue him. If Eos decides to stop his pursuit, Oberon continues alone and Quandry kills him and escapes. If Eos decides to help Oberon, they both attack Quandry and Eos kills him by severing his jaw off his face.

The End and Aftermath
Captain Elara has the choice between giving the astral charges to the Jura so they win the war, to the Vanguard so they win the war, to both sides so they come to a truce, or to load the astral charges onto the Atlas and send it flying into the Sanctum.

If Captain Elara chooses the Jura, Eos watches in horror as the Vanguard ships are destroyed. He and Zekei tell Captain Elara that they must run away as the Jura will be hunting them until they kill all the Vanguard. If Captain Elara chooses the Vanguard, Pax is disappointed and tells her sibling that she cannot stay. She thought Captain Elara understood the Jura's plight, but now that they've been destroyed, Pax must find her way on her own without her siblings.

If Captain Elara chooses to give both the Jura and the Vanguard the astral charges, he/she believes that is the only way to achieve peace. The Sanctum is destroyed but the Jura and Vanguard do not attack each other. If Captain Elara decides to sacrifice himself/herself and destroy the Sanctum alone, Captain Elara takes the astral charges on board the Atlas with his/her love interest. Captain Elara then kisses said love interest goodbye, stuns him/her, and places him/her in an escape pod and jettisons it. He/she says goodbye to Eos and Pax, and asks Lyra to make sure the Jura and Vanguard lay down their arms and bring about peace.