Dear Vector Prime: There's another version of the Beast Wars conflict, where Optimus Primal and Megatron were merely new forms of the original Autobot and Decepticon leaders, commanding a vast army of soldiers in a war took place on a present-day or future version of a human-populated Earth with cities, where many familiar faces had vastly different personalities. But we only know a little bit about the beginning of that conflict. What became of that conflict, those warriors, and that reality?
Dear Bestial Bountifier,
Indeed, I suppose that the time has come for me to share more tales about this incarnation of the Beast Wars. There is so much that could be said—from the time the assassin Waspinator felled Optimus Primal, forcing his upgrade into a new simian form, or how the nefarious Megatron unleashed a wave of cloned prehistoric monsters on the populace of Earth, or his successful duplication of the Matrix's power, creating the Matrix of Conquest—but your question specifically asks of the ultimate fate of this reality and its people, so I will endeavor to concentrate on that.
The climax of the conflict occurred in its third year, when Megatron upgraded his warriors with the Transmetal 2 technology developed by Primacron, assisted by the scientist Reptillion. This turned out to be a trap, designed to place the Predacons under Primacron's control. The Maximals developed their own version of the technology to match the Predacons', and in doing so, opened themselves up to Primacron's influence as well. It was only by tapping into the fundamental bestial nature of their alt modes that both sides were able to thwart Primacron and Reptillion's machinations, freeing themselves.
Primacron was not about to let himself be undone, however. He used the remains of Unicron's head—still floating in Cybertron's orbit—to create a fearsome weapon known as the Grand Mal, unleashing destruction across Cybertron and Earth alike. The situation grew more grave when Primacron used its abilities to take control of the then-long-dormant Fortress Maximus. Not even an alliance between Maximals and Predacons proved enough to stop this juggernaut, and it seemed that all was lost. It was only when Optimus Primal and Megatron combined the powers of their double matrices—upgrading themselves into Optimal Optimus and a new, Predacon incarnation of Galvatron—that they were able to bring an end to Primacron and Unicron's mutual legacy.
In the wake of this final battle, Optimus Primal and Galvatron both passed their Matrices onto their subordinates, Cheetor and Cicadacon, having grown tired of fighting. Megatron led a group of Predacons into deep space, while Cicadacon guided the remaining Predacons on Cybertron under the banner of the Tripredacus Council. Cheetor took a new alt mode and mantle as Leo Primal, and formed a new Maximal High Council to help him lead. An unsteady peace between both sides has held ever since.
