Chapter 5: The Boss Finds Out
A.N. Credit goes to BigMoose01 for the name of this chapter.
Elsewhere, deep in the far reaches of space on the planet Cybertron, Optimus Prime was looking out at the cityscape from a balcony at his residence, a mug of liquid energon in his hand.
"Ah, yes." he sighed happily. "There's nothing more enjoyable than a freshly-brewed cup of energon in the morning."
Just then, he heard someone calling him on his comm.
"Optimus Prime here." Optimus answered.
On the other end was Bumblebee.
"Hey, Optimus, it's me." said Bumblebee.
"Ah, Bumblebee, nice to hear from you." Optimus replied in a rather jolly voice. "How are things back on Earth?"
"Fine." Bumblebee replied. "Although, we are going through a crisis right now."
The mentioning of the word "crisis" immediately caused concern for Optimus.
"And what is this "crisis" you speak of?" Optimus then asked.
"It's like this." said Bumblebee.
Bumblebee then told Optimus everything that had happened, including how Heatwave had chastised Hot Shot. Needless to say, Optimus was angered at the news.
"Well, I never." he said. "I'll be right there."
"Alright." nodded Bumblebee.
Meanwhile, back at the Academy on Earth, Whirl, Hoist, Wedge, and Medix were sitting around in the lounge. Hoist, Wedge, and Medix had learned from Bumblebee and Cody about Hot Shot running away, and they were just about as upset as Whirl was. A barrel of dirty rags stained with oil stood next to them (I think I don't need to explain where those came from).
"I can't believe this happened." sighed Hoist.
"Me neither." said Wedge.
"I agree, this is very devastating." agreed Medix. "Especially on Whirl's behalf."
"That's an understatement." said Hoist. "She just wouldn't stop crying ever since it happened. Uh, no offense, Whirl."
"None taken." replied Whirl.
Just then, Optimus entered the lounge. He had Space-Bridged to the Academy from Cybertron. The other four Recruits were in total surprise when they saw him.
"Optimus Prime?!" they gasped with awe.
"Yes, that's me." replied Optimus.
Whirl, Wedge, Hoist, and Medix went over to Optimus and bowed in front of him in respect as if he was a king.
"We are at your service, Optimus." Medix said.
"Please, please, there is no need for that." Optimus pleaded. "In fact, I'm here because I would like to speak to Heatwave. Where may I find him?"
"He's in his office." Hoist replied.
"Thank you, Hoist." Optimus nodded.
In his office, the aforementioned Rescue Bot leader was working out a lesson plan when Optimus entered.
"Optimus." Heatwave greeted. "Bumblebee told me you were coming."
"And I'm sure he didn't forget to tell you why I was coming." Optimus added.
"No, he did not." sighed Heatwave.
"I must say, Heatwave, I am sorely displeased with your actions." Optimus scolded. "Now, I must admit that Hot Shot is not entirely faultless himself for disobeying you, so I do believe that the circumstances surrounding your actions are somewhat understandable. Still, the way you punished him was extremely unfair. After all, this was only his first offense of direct insubordination."
"I already know what I did was wrong, Optimus." Heatwave confessed. "And I am ashamed of it. In fact, I already want to talk to him and apologize to him for what I've done to him."
"That is very pleasing to hear, Heatwave." Optimus nodded. "However, this will not spare you from any consequence. If you do not find Hot Shot and bring him back here within a week, then I will have no choice but to terminate you as head of Rescue Bots Training Academy."
Heatwave was expectedly horrified at this threat, even more so than when Bumblebee had told him how he was going to break the news about Hot Shot running away and the reason behind it to Optimus in the first place, but like before, decided against arguing with Optimus.
"I understand, sir." Heatwave nodded. "I will do everything I can to locate Hot Shot."
"I expect you to." Optimus said coldly.
Just then, a thought came to Optimus' mind.
"Heatwave, there's something I should probably tell you." he said.
"What is it, sir?" asked Heatwave.
"Well, there's a reason why I chose Hot Shot to come to the Academy." Optimus replied.
"And what is this reason?" Heatwave inquired. "Was it because you knew his family or something?"
"That's just it." said Optimus. "He does not have a family. He's an orphan."
Heatwave's spark sank at the mention of the word "orphan".
"An orphan?" Heatwave asked. "What happened to his parents?"
"Here's what happened." Optimus went on. "During the Great War between the Autobots and the Decepticons, Hot Shot's parents left him in the care of a friend of theirs while trying to escape Cybertron."
Flashback
Cybertron was in complete chaos. Buildings were on fire, and there were Decepticons flying around all over, firing their weapons at any Autobots and/or Neutrals they saw. A yellow redeco of Heatwave and a red redeco of the femme Moonracer were in front of a building far from the warzone, with the femme holding a very young Hot Shot, who was wrapped in a dark red cloth. A mech that was a green, orange, and turquoise redeco of the Autobot Jazz stood in the building's doorway.
"Do we have to do this, Flame?" the femme asked her mate.
"We have to, Tinder." Flame responded. "It's the only chance our son has of surviving this catastrophe."
Tinder sighed, knowing Flame was right, then handed her sparkling to the second mech.
"Don't worry." the mech reassured. "He's in good hands."
"Thank you, Salvo." said Flame.
"Tragically, it would be the last time Flame and Tinder would ever lay their optics upon their sparkling." Optimus narrated. "As they tried to escape aboard an Autobot shuttle, they were spotted by Starscream and his Seekers, and Starscream himself shot them out of the sky. They perished immediately. And to rub salt on the wound, the Decepticons found out about Salvo taking Hot Shot in and raided the part of Cybertron where he resided."
The scene then showed Salvo firing his blaster at a group of Decepticons while a younger Hot Shot cowered in fear. Salvo then turned to him.
"You get as far away from here as you can, you hear me?" he asked. "I'll come back for you! It'll be alright!"
"Y-yes, S-Salvo..." Hot Shot stammered.
With that, Hot Shot transformed into his ATV mode and drove away while the group of Decepticons dragged Salvo away.
End Flashback
"And ever since then, I've been keeping a close eye on Hot Shot." Optimus went on. "A group of Neutrals took him in as a foundling and he stayed with them for a while on a different planet. As time went on, after the war ended and later after me and the other Autobots retook Cybertron from the new Decepticon-affiliated High Council, I continued to watch over him, and then came the time where we decided to build up the ranks of the Rescue Bots. That's when I found Hot Shot and brought him here. Since then, I still have kept an optic on him and watched him grow under your teachings. He's like a son to you and you're like the father he never got the chance to get to know and love."
At this point, Heatwave himself was in tears.
"Wow." he said as he wiped his optics with a rag. "I never knew that about him until now. Now I feel even more guilty than before."
Optimus just nodded solemnly.
"By the way, if you don't mind me asking, what happened to Salvo?" Heatwave then asked.
"Sadly, nobody knows where he is." Optimus replied. "Ever since the day he was captured by the Decepticons, he has never been seen or heard from again, not even after the end of the war."
Heatwave's spark sank even more.
"Well, I must be going now." said Optimus. "Contact me if you succeed in finding Hot Shot."
Optimus then left. Once Optimus was gone, Heatwave decided what had to be done. He called Chase, Boulder, Blades, Cody, Bumblebee, Whirl, Wedge, Hoist, and Medix to the room where the Ground Bridge was.
"Well, well, look who it is." said Grimlock. "It's Mr. "Make Somebody Run Away By Scolding Them Harshly"."
Bumblebee elbowed Grimlock in response.
"Ow!" Grimlock cried. "What was that for?!"
"That wasn't necessary, Grim." Bumblebee replied. "Look, we're all upset with Heatwave for what he did, but you don't see me making comments like that."
"He's got a point there." agreed Blades.
"Oh, right." said Grimlock. "Sorry about that, Heatwave."
"It's fine." said Heatwave. "But there are more important things right now. I called you all here because I need your help to try and locate Hot Shot. I know you might not want to even talk to me after what happened, but I can't do this alone. Will you please help me out here?"
Everyone else thought about this for quite a bit until Bumblebee spoke up.
"Since you put it that way, I'll be happy to help." he said.
The rest of those present agreed.
"I'll call my dad and my siblings and ask if they can join us as well." said Cody as he pulled out his phone.
Heatwave was very pleased.
"Thank you." said Heatwave. "This means a lot."
Later, Cody's father, Charles Burns, commonly known as "Charlie" and/or "Chief Burns", his brothers Kade and Graham Burns, and his sister Dani Burns arrived from Griffin Rock. Since Heatwave was pretty much the reason Hot Shot ran away in the first place, he was given charge.
"Alright, everyone, we know our mission." said Heatwave. "Fan out and search for Hot Shot. Wedge, you and Hoist will go with Boulder and Graham. Whirl, you will go with Blades and Dani. Medix, you will go with Chase, Cody, and Chief Burns. Bumblebee and Grimlock, you're with me and Kade. Are there any questions?"
Nobody responded.
"Good." said Heatwave. "Then let's roll to the rescue!"
With that, the search began, with Blades, Dani, and Whirl searching for Hot Shot from the air and everyone else searching from the ground. They searched and searched all over Milford and Griffin Rock, but there was no sign of Hot Shot in either of those locations. All parties returned to the Academy empty-handed.
"It's no use, Heatwave." Boulder sighed. "Hot Shot's long gone."
Whirl's eyes began filling up again.
"He's gone forever!" Whirl said in a choked-up voice. "We'll never see him again!"
Whirl began to cry, and, like before, Chase comforted her, as did Bumblebee.
"It's going to be okay, Whirl." Bumblebee said as he patted her on the back.
Charlie then noticed the sunset.
"It's getting late." said Charlie. "We better be heading back to Griffin Rock."
With that, after bidding goodbye to the Rescue Bots, the Burnses left for their home, and as the bots went inside, Heatwave looked up at the sky.
"Oh, Hot Shot, where can you be?" he asked.
End of Chapter 5