[COLD OPEN — SKYVAULT CITY, NIGHT]
Darkness. Wind moves through what remains of the once-luminous SkyVault. The Gemspire looms — cracked, humming with the final echoes of war.
Suddenly — across the city — a series of sharp, echoing cracks begin.
CRYSTALS SHATTER.
Monuments.
Buildings.
Crystallized civilians.
All begin to fissure, glowing faintly… then splitting apart into glittering dust.
INT. GEMSPIRE THRONE ROOM — SHARD'S FAREWELL
Shard stands at the center of a cracked throne. Dreiva kneels beside him, burned, her strings fading.
Shard: (softly) They were meant to be forever.
He lifts a hand and gazes at the fragments of his empire. He places a glowing gem into Dreiva's hand.
Shard: The dream dies. The silence begins.
He turns toward the city — activates one final projection.
SHARD'S FINAL MESSAGE (broadcast to all screens, all frequencies):
Shard: You have fought. You have bled. And now... you forget. Just as you always have. Remember this: SkyVault was never your sanctuary. It was your cage.
But even cages... crack.
With that, Shard disappears in a pillar of glass light, Dreiva vanishing with him. The Gemspire hums one last time, then collapses into dust.
[INT. VAN HQ — RUINS]
Kael walks through the broken halls. Blood on his armor. He watches the sunrise begin to peek over a shattered skyline.
Kael: (softly) It's over.
Yuna enters, holding Mira's shard. She looks broken. But alive.
Yuna: The proxies… all gone. All of them. Their crystals shattered.
Echo-7: We confirmed the numbers. Over 14,000 civilians. Dead. Permanently.
Tari (weak, on medbed): All that memory… lost.
They sit in silence. No tears. Just grief.
Kael: We saved the city. But it cost everything.
Aurix: Then let's show them what remains still matters.
[SCENE — SKYVAULT MEMORIAL GROUND, ONE WEEK LATER]
Thousands gather. Survivors, children, soldiers. New buildings begin reconstruction. The Vanguard stands at the heart.
A giant memorial statue of Mira, Niko, and those lost stands above.
Crowd begins to chant:
"Oathfire."
"Pulse Bloom."
"Thunderhowl."
"Starbringer."
"Ghostlock."
"Binary Flux."
The names echo. People bow. Some weep.
CIVILIAN: We thought you abandoned us. But you never did.
CHILD: My brother… he died in the crystal. But you gave us peace. Thank you.
Kael steps forward. His voice breaks, but he speaks.
Kael: The Oath isn't words. It's sacrifice. And we carry it forward. For Mira. For Niko. For all of them.
The crowd applauds. Music swells. Echo-7 plays a recording of Mira's last laugh. The city listens.
[EPILOGUE — VAN HQ REBUILDING]
Yuna plants a living vine wall. Echo-7 programs a new AI system. Jax and Tari laugh together, wounded but whole.
Aurix: New threats will come. But today, we honor the fire that endured.
Kael: And tomorrow... we rise again.
[CLOSING SHOT — SKYVAULT FROM ABOVE]
A city once buried in crystal now breathes in light. Dust from the shattered Gemspire swirls in the sky like stars.