Optimus Prime led the recovery team into the Second Chance, finding everything layered in a deep layer of ice and snow. Hot Rod decided to clear it away by using his flamethrowers, the others rolling their optics as they continued on.

Once they reached the bridge, Quatrei and Scourpuss led the team, analyzing the control panels to see if they had power. "These control panels should have a reserve power supply," she stated. "But the activator lever is frozen shut, I'll need something very powerful to break it free."

She turned to Optimus, who stepped forward and slammed his fist against the panel. Instantly the layer of ice was broken, and the lever was able to be opened. As lights came on across the ship, the ice began to thaw. Hot Rod stepped into the bridge, noticing two frozen figures laying on the floor.

"Arcee! Kup!" he yelled, using his leg rockets to bring himself to the fallen figures. "Guys, we need to get them back to the Exodus now!"

His cry caught the other's attention, and they noticed the bots laying on the ground; one had teal and dark green panels with a "cap" on his head, and the other was white and pink with blue stripes on the edge of her head.

"Optimus Prime to Mountrek," the leader spoke into his comm. "Requesting immediate ground bridge."

Chapter 11: Mentorship

As the two inert Autobots were warmed up by Evac, Hot Rod sat anxiously in the corner.

"I don't understand, what are mentors?" asked Matt.

"When a new Cybertronian is forged, a mentor is assigned to them," explained Quatrei, a few holographic displays pulled up around her. "They help educate us on the world and our place in it, and care for us until we're self-sufficient."

The human nodded as he heard this, his mouth pressed into a line. "So that Kup, he's like Hot Rod's father."

"In a way, yes," she replied.

"We had an argument before he left Cybertron," said Hot Rod, one of the first things he'd said since returning. "I don't remember what it was. Maybe I'd loaded a stasis pod wrong… I don't want those to be our last words."

Optimus stepped forward, placing a hand on the younger Autobot's shoulder. "Hot Rod, even if they are, I'm sure Kup still cares for you very much."

Hot Rod shrugged, heading for his quarters. As he left, Arcee's optics began to flicker, two yellow lights coming on as she bolted upright.

"Gauge!" she cried, before noticing her surroundings. "Where am I?"

"Earth, third planet from the local star, in the galaxy locally referred to as the Milky Way," responded Evac, looking over her vitals. "You were frozen for several vorns, please be still while I check your vitals."

Arcee did so, her optics eventually falling on Optimus. "Arcee, are you feeling alright?"

"Permission to speak freely, sir?"

"Granted."

"I think I'm freaking out. One breem, we're approaching a space bridge with no issue. Next, I'm… here, in the future. Tell me, Prime, is Gauge okay?"

"I'm afraid I'm as in the dark as you, Arcee. I've only awoken a month before you, and we have no way of contacting Cybertron."

"Gauge?" Arcee jumped, staring at the bronze face of the neutral. Their voice sounded almost garbled, as though it was trying to filter through layers of static.

"Gauge was a newly-forged, created just a few cycles before the launch of the Exodus," she explained. "I was assigned to be her mentor. When I volunteered for the Second Chance crew, I had to leave her with my partner Greenlight." Her optics then lowered thoughtfully. "I've been gone for vorns. Do you think she still remembers me?"

"If you wanna be sad, then go find Hot Rod and you can be sad together," commented Evac.

The pink Autobot blinked, confused. "Hot Rod?" she repeated, before heading for the crew quarters.

Hot Rod lay against his recharge slab, staring up at the ceiling. What would he do if Kup didn't survive? For all their disagreements, he hoped he'd never find out.

"Hot Rod, huh?" He perked up at that voice, looking to see Arcee standing in his doorway. "Did you visit the lame names office before coming here?"

"Oh no," laughed Hot Rod, springing up and embracing the other Autobot. "You're okay!"

"It'll take more than a bit of ice to deactivate me," she replied, giving his arm a playful slug. "You look great."

"Thanks. Since you made it, do you think…" He glanced down, as though afraid finishing his thought would make it not come true.

Arcee placed a hand on Hot Rod's shoulder. "Evac said you were worried. Is it about Kup?" She earned a nod in response. "Look, he's a survivor. Has to be, if he wanted to mentor bots as cool as we are. Not even the last war could bump him off, I'm sure he'll be fine before we know it." Looking down, Arcee continued. "Did you see Gauge and Greenlight before you left Cybertron?"

"I did. They were doing okay, but they missed you." Hot Rod's expression became more playful. "Greenlight always spoke so highly of you, I figured she was talking about someone else."

"Be nice," scolded Arcee, although her tone was still playful. "Keep acting like that, you're gonna stay single the rest of your life."

Solon walked up to the headquarter's main computer, pondering just how he'd go about finding what he wanted to know.

"Okay, let's see…" he said to himself, pulling out a keypad designed for his small human hands. "Access Starscream's log."

"Access denied," the computer responded. "Vocal confirmation by command-level Decepticon required."

Solon sighed, placing a hand to his throat before screeching out "This is Air Commander Starscream demanding access to my personal audio logs!"

"Vocal confirmation satisfactory. Providing access to audio log."

Solon looked through the logs, coming upon one of the earliest ones, which was almost twelve years ago. It was simply titled "Acquisition." Playing the log, he stood back and watched it begin.

"Log date, 1st Cycle 984, 2nd Chord, Arc 1-03. While finding a spot to hide the Prevalent, we stumbled upon a small dwelling of locals in the mountain ranges. Plunder and I took great joy in turning the shack to splinters, but we discovered a survivor." The human could feel the hairs on his neck standing up. "Plunder wanted to destroy the thing, but I saw-I see potential in it. Plunder has been dealt with for his attempted misdeeds, and the young one is mine. It appears to be in a sleep state, I shall try to interrogate it tomorrow. Chopblock and Beater are no longer permitted to reference Plunder. End log."

As the audio log ended, Solon took a step back. He'd been taken? And who was Plunder? He'd never heard that name before.

So confused was he, he didn't notice the shadow looking overhead until the footsteps practically shook the ground. Turning, he saw Starscream glaring down at him.

"Would you care to explain why you were snooping through my personal log?" the seeker demanded.

"I… I had a question, I wanted answered," Solon stammered. "Uh… how did you find Earth?"

Starscream blinked, kneeling down so he wasn't completely towering over his charge. "The Prevalent discovered an alien probe in deep space," he answered, a compartment in his arm opening. "Inside, we discovered navigational data to the probe's planet of origin."

Starscream reached into the compartment, pulling out a golden record. Solon started at it, feeling that it was familiar somehow.

"Whoa," was all he said.

"When we found this planet, our scanners discovered quite the cache of Energon, so we landed here in order to stockpile as much as we could." The seeker reached a finger down, lifting up Solon's head. "That's when I found you. Lost, abandoned, with nowhere to call home. I couldn't bear to leave you alone, so I took you in and became your mentor. Does that answer your question?"

"Yes."

"Yes, what?"

"Yes, Starscream, you answered my question."

"Good. Now get out of here, and don't look through my things again!"

Solon nodded, scampering out of the chamber and not slowing down until he was out of sight. As he stepped past the CR chamber, he continued thinking about what he had learned. If Starscream had lied to him about how he came to being, then what else could he have lied about? Were those people he met in the city his parents? If he understood the puzzling Cybertronian calendar right, Starscream's log took place around the same time Daisuke and Lorraine lost their child.

What did it all mean?

In the Second Chance, Quatrei and Scourpuss were looking over the ship's systems. The ground bridge opened up, with Arcee stepping through.

"Quatrei, right?" she began, stepping up to the console. "We met at the Kratron Academy."

"She probably doesn't remember," remarked Scourpuss.

"I do!" defended Quatrei. "Your name's Arcee. Don't mean to pry, but you look different."

"I spent some time off-world, and discovered I felt better called 'she.' Anyway, the Second Chance has long-range comms to Cybertron, but I'm not sure if the systems are intact. Have you switched on the ship's computer yet?"

"Neither of us can find the switch."

Arcee felt a hand along the central console, eventually finding said switch. Exerting some effort, she flipped it open, the console turning on.

"Prisoner Examination Network Interface online," a sultry voice stated. "Awaiting input."

"PENI, it's Arcee, command code E17. What's the status of the long-range communications array?"

"The system is intact, but the temperatures are preventing the systems from coming online."

"If we had Hot Rod and his flames, he'd be able to thaw out the comms," remarked Quatrei. "But he seems worked up over that other mech. Kup, was it?"

"Our mentor," answered Arcee, looking out at the frozen landscape. "They had an argument before leaving Cybertron, and Roddy's just worried he might not survive being frozen, and that'll be their last conversation."

It was Scourpuss who spoke next. "I never got along that great with my mentor," she stated. "I always thought she was a bit of a hardass, like Kup, but now I just miss her. Hopefully Hot Rod gets to have some more time with his."

Hot Rod hovered over Kup's stationary form, his body thawed and internal temperatures rising back to optimal levels. But his vitals were still the same. Everyone else was either maintaining the Second Chance, or out scouting for Energon. Evac had gone to one of his medical hideaways for supplies, Matt went to see Anna, and the civilian was in stasis, leaving the two alone.

"Receiving transmission from the Second Chance," announced T-AI. "It's from PENI. She says 'hi.'"

"I think that's for you," remarked Hot Rod, keeping a close optic on the medical readouts.

"His condition has not worsened," the computer continued. "Unless his life signs reach the yellow zone, Kup is in no immediate danger."

"I know he's not! I can see the readings, you know! But if I keep seeing no progress one way or another, I might go mad." He held his head in his hands, right as he heard a metallic groan beside him. Kup was moving. "Kup? Kup, it's Hot Rod."

He took one of the elder's hands in his own; it gave a gentle squeeze back as Kup's optics finally came online. "Hot Rod?" he murmured, before his vision cleared. "Oh. Pick that one yourself, did'ja?"

"Kup!" he flung himself around the mech. "You're alright!"

Despite his surprise, Kup returned the embrace. "'Course I am. It'll take more than… whatever that was to bump me off." As they broke apart, he looked around. "Now, where the heck are we?"

Alexander Summers had just settled into his armchair, ready to turn on that afternoon's football game when his phone rang. Picking it up, he discovered it was Matt calling him. Setting the remote down, he answered the call. "Hiya, Matt, what's up?"

"Nothing much, dad. Just some stuff with the Autobots."

"Right. Those tin cans keeping you safe?"

"Of course. Anyway, dad, I, uh… I just wanted to see how you were doing."

"Thanks, Matt. Why don't you come over, watch the game with me?"

"Can't, I'm taking Anna home. But I'll definitely be there next time! Talk to ya later." Matt hung up after that.

Alexander was about to set back down when there was a knock at the door. Grunting in annoyance he stood up, opening it up to find an African American man in a nice suit on the other side.

"Good evening, mister Summers," he began. "Agent Branson of Sector Seven. I'd like to ask you some questions about an incident at the dam in mid-June."

"Hmm? Oh, go ahead."

"Where were you when the accident happened?"

"Yeah, I was at my office, hanging up my supplies when we heard lights were going out in town. Got a call from our supervisor, one of the generators had failed. Apparently someone hadn't been doing proper maintenance."

Brandon nodded, his expression unchanging. "And would your colleagues agree with that statement?"

"Yeah, I don't see why they wouldn't. I mean, a dam's a pretty big place. Heh, hard to tell what's going on in other dam areas."

Branson chuckled, although it seemed more out of formality than any humor. "Clever. Thank you for your cooperation, mister Summers. Let me know if you have another… mysterious power outage." He placed a card in Alexander's shirt pocket, then turned and walked back to his vehicle.

Alexander stood, unsure of what to think about what just happened, before shrugging and walking back to his chair.

Not sure where the idea for Hot Rod and Arcee being siblings came from, but Kup being Hot Rod's mentor was a thing since chapter 1. We also get some setup for a few future storylines, which will play out eventually. That's all I gotta say for this one, I'll see y'all next time.

Next time: While Starscream is away, his followers attempt to take power from Megatron.