Before the Storm (comic story)

Before the Storm was a "special prequel comic" released by BBV Productions as a bonus with a bundle of their two then-latest Cyberon audios, the Dracula duology of Curse of the Cyberons and The Weapon and the Warrior. Although acknowledging the Dracula plot point, it was not focused on this phase of the series' timeline, instead illustrating the first day of the Cyberon War. The comic included continuity references to all prior Cyberon releases, and was accompanied by two pages of advertisements for the other entries in the range. There, Cyber-Hunt, Cybergeddon and Cyberon were presented as the "Original Trilogy", while the 2020s releases were described as "the Revival".

It was a combining CGI renders of Cyberon with images of Jo Castleton as Lauren Anderson from the original Cyberon and Zygon films to create a new story.

Publisher's summary
A brand new experimental prequel story comic featuring Lauren Anderson, Box, and the mighty Cyberon empire…

Plot
In 2892, a fleet of Cyberon battle-cruisers is approaching "the area of the three-dimensional continuum designated Earth", intent on starting a Cyberwar to "free" the Earth-people from "the confines of their limited minds and bodies". The ships land across the world, in all major cities, with humanity completely unprepared — except for the immortal shapeshifter Lauren Anderson, who already knows the Cyberons, having fought time-travelling Cyberons centuries ago.

Hurrying through the streets despite the panic, Lauren makes her way to the P.R.O.B.E. Archive, whose passcode she still remembers even though she has not been there in a very long time. She finds it turned into a huge data-centre full of data-banks. Calling out to Box, she gets an instant reply from the ancient artificial intelligence, who greets her as an old friend and explains that she has expanded since last they met, with all the computers around Lauren being part of her.

Elsewhere, the Cyberons' conquest is advancing fast, with Cyberon Cyberleader Five reporting that New York has fallen to mission control. However, Box insists that there is hope. She tells Lauren that her expansion into "a repository for most of the entire history of the Galaxy" has allowed her to learn how to predict the future with relative accuracy. She is not allowed to use that knowledge to alter the course of the Cyberon War, but does share it with Lauren to reassure her that the Cyberons will lose in the end.

According to Box, the War lasts over a century as the Earth Alliance fights the Cyberons "all across the Galaxy… and beyond". For example, in 2963, the Cyberons find their way into the pocket universe of Ecto-Space, though they are repelled by the Mistress. In 2989, the original Cyberon homeworld is destroyed along with the Cyberon King, with Box speculating that Lauren herself may be involved in those events. However, the Cyberons rebuild, adopting an "ancient horror" as their new Cyber-Controller until "it" is launched into the Sun by "the last scion of the Clan Van Helsing" in 2992. Four years of uncertainty follow until the Cyberons regroup under the command of a Cyberleader in 2996. Finally, in 3009, the War ends; Box is unable to foresee the exact circumstances, seeing only blackness there, but she speculates that "it ends the way so many other stories end, when a strange man, a wanderer, (…) visits a little-regarded planet, and saves the day".

Lauren is frightened for Box when she notices that Box's reassurance was "You do not die today" rather than "We". Box grimly confirms that she knows herself to be doomed; the Cyberons will bomb London down to atoms in five hours' time and, with the Internet already down, Box has no means of escaping her fate. Lauren, on the other hand, has time to flee, which Box urges her to do, telling her once again that there is hope. Five hours, this message is repeated as a final radio transmission from London moments before its destruction, but the few humans still in possession of radio receivers do not understand the message.

Characters

 * Cyberon Cyberleader One
 * Cyberon Navigator
 * Lauren Anderson
 * Box
 * Cyberon Cyberleader Five

Continuity

 * The Galaxy is also known as "Stellion's Whorl". (PROSE: Cybergeddon)
 * Lauren Anderson dealt with the Cyberons "a long time ago, as a threat projected backwards in time from an impossible future". (PROSE: Flight of the Cyberons, Cyberon) Her past lovers included "Tom", now long-dead. (PROSE: Cyberon)
 * The Cyberon King and the original Cyberon homeworld are discussed. (PROSE: The Blue Scream of Death)
 * Box's basic programming states that she cannot rewrite history, "not one line". (TV: The Aztecs)
 * In 2963, the Cyberons found their way to Ecto-Space but were "repelled" by the Mistress, whom Box describes as "an old friend". (PROSE: The Choice)
 * After the destruction of the Cyberon King, the Cyberons rebuilt, finding themselves a new Cyberon Controller described as "an ancient horror mounted on a hydraulic exo-suit". (AUDIO: Curse of the Cyberons) After its defeat, a "more conservative" Cyberleader became the new leader. PROSE: Cybergeddon)
 * Box has difficulty witnessing the exact end of the Cyberon War, but believes it will involve "a strange man, a wanderer" visiting "a little-regarded planet and saving the day". She states that when she tries to look into these events, she sees "only blackness". (PROSE: Cyber-Hunt)