Cyber-Wars

The Cyber-Wars, also known as the Great Cyber War, (AUDIO: Last of the Cybermen) was a galactic conflict in which an alliance made a concerted effort to wipe out the Cybermen.

The wars
The reference was made to "Cyber-Wars" occurring by the mid-23rd century, having left Earth financially destroyed in combination with the 22nd century Dalek invasion. (PROSE: Theatre of War). Another reference was made to a war in the early 24th century. (PROSE: The Dimension Riders) In 3286, the earlier Orion War was viewed as part of the Cyber-Wars by Reece Goddard. (WC: Real Time, AUDIO: Real Time)

The most well known of the Cyber-Wars began in 2526, by which point the general population had no knowledge of Cybermen, although various governments intended to sign a pact to unite against the Cyber-race. A force of time-travelling Cybermen from the end of the conflict or later attempted to prevent the war. They tried to destroy the Earth, first with a Cyber-bomb and then by crashing a human freighter into the Earth to prevent the alliance who planned to fight them from forming. Both of these attempts were stopped by the Fifth Doctor. (TV: Earthshock)

It was during the earlier Vogan War that the glittergun was developed. Gold was a major weakness of the Cybermen. The gun could fire gold dust at them. According to the Fourth Doctor, humans discovered that weakness and invented the gun, and that was the end of Cybermen, which disappeared after their attack on Voga at the end of war. According to a Cyber-Leader, if humans had not had the resources of Voga, the Cybermen would have won the war. (TV: Revenge of the Cybermen)

In the end, the Cybermen began upgrading themselves to overcome any weaknesses that could be exploited. The Tiberian spiral galaxy was sacrificed to destroy all of the Cybermen with a bomb. (TV: Nightmare in Silver) This allowed Earth forces to launch a final assault on Telos, during which the planet's surface was bombarded. (AUDIO: Last of the Cybermen)

A large Cyberman fleet escaped the bombardment of Telos and fled to a dwarf planet in the Kuiper Belt. They waited 10 years after the war's conclusion, intending to travel back to the time of the bombardment, defeat the enemy and then launch an attack on Earth, changing the outcome of the conflict in their favour. However, Zoe Heriot and then Findel, managed to take over the mind of the Super Controller. They were able to control the Cyber fleet and had the thousands of ships crash into the planet. This completed the bombardment and destroyed the foundations of the Cyber Empire, ending the war. (AUDIO: Last of the Cybermen)

Aftermath
The wars resulted in near-complete destruction of the Cyber race. Remnant groups of Cybermen fled across the galaxy. These surviving Cybermen learned from the war that humans would always resist them and so they thought it better to destroy them rather than to conquer them. The Sixth Doctor estimated that, with the destruction of the Super Controller, these remnants would be less stable and more prone to emotions, such as revenge. (AUDIO: Last of the Cybermen) One remnant group attempted to retaliate by destroying Voga, the planet of gold, but were destroyed when the Fourth Doctor instructed the Vogans to fire their rocket Skystriker at the Cyber-ship. (TV: Revenge of the Cybermen)

Spacefleet, which came into being during the Cyber-Wars, was used to combat the Daleks in the Second Dalek War which began later in the 26th century. (PROSE: Deceit)

Some of the deactivated Cybersuits ended up in Webley's collection. However, they had similar appearances to the variety of Cybermen created by Cybus Industries and those of the Cyber Legions. (TV: Nightmare in Silver)

Because of the damage done to one of the planets, Hedgewick bought one cheap and set up his own amusement park there; it was said to be the best ever in all of history. However, unknown to all, some of the badly damaged Cybermen were in stasis below the park and many a patron vanished from it to be used as spare parts so the Cybermen could be rebuilt.(TV: Nightmare in Silver)

Despite being brought to the edge of extinction by the conflict, the Cybermen gradually recovered. As late as the 52nd century, fleets such as the Twelfth Cyber Legion represented part of a major Cyber power in space. (TV: A Good Man Goes to War)

1,000 years after the end of the wars, the Cybermen were considered extinct again but the very existence of a single Cyberman was such a threat, it was procedure to blow up any planet one was discovered on. Three million Cybermen began to revive on Hedgewick's world but they were beaten when Emperor Ludens Nimrod Kendrick Cord Longstaff XLI set off a bomb to destroy the planet. (TV: Nightmare in Silver)

Later conflicts
A later war, or wars, with the Cybermen were fought as some point in the far future. All Cyber-Fleets were destroyed by a force led by the Doctor. A Cyber-Leader, obtaining Time Lord technology, travelled back to 1980s Earth and set a trap for the Sixth Doctor. (AUDIO: The Reaping)