Following Aileron's instructions, Thundercracker and Buster head out to Sanctuary Station to check that all its Decepticon inhabitants are accounted for, to eliminate them as potential suspects in the attack on Cybertron. The pair are welcomed by Cosmos, Sky-Byte, Laserbeak and Buzzsaw, and Cosmos is quick to provide the necessary info: one shuttle is unaccounted for. Cosmos asks Slugslinger if he knows who took it, but Slugslinger says he has no idea...

In a series of ongoing solo interviews looking back on recent events, Slugslinger reveals he knew full well who took the shuttle, but kept it to himself, not wanting to get involved with the ongoing back-and-forth between Cybertron and Earth. Cosmos is of the opposite opinion, believing they should all work together. Needlenose has no desire to see a new war erupt, but worries about his brother, while Sky-Byte composes a poem about what he thinks is the start of a new conflict. Laserbeak cares nothing for Cybertron, having suffered under Functionism, and is glad to have left; Buzzsaw, on the other hand, despite his better judgement, still feels homesick for the planet sometimes and fears for its safety.

Down on Earth, in Mexico, Aileron orders the colonists into action to disarm the humans currently attacking Jazz with Cybertronian weaponry. With emotions already running high among them, the young soldiers prove overly vicious in their efforts, with Slide even opening fire, but they manage to send the humans fleeing without actually harming anyone. Aileron informs Jazz of the recent events on Cybertron, and the fact that they are here to bring him home—something that comes as a surprise to Jazz, since he figured they, like him, were searching for the origin point of the humans' alien weapons. Finding one of their attackers—an aerospace manufacturuer named Mateo Chavez—hiding nearby, Jazz coerces the man into taking them to the suppliers, and Aileron and the colonists go with him.

Several of the armed humans give their own video testimonials. Retired soldier Russell Hathaway believes humans need to work together across all borders to defend themselves against Cybertronians, while civil milita member Patricia Heaton doesn't trust governments to handle the issue and thinks it's up to the individual to arm themselves. College professor Leon Weaver can scarcely comprehend what the world has turned into, but believes in personal preparedness. Chavez doesn't want to fight, but will to protect his family. Ex-Skywatch soldier Lori Ha doesn't like arming civilians, but is willing to put her personal professional training to use, as she doubts the government will handle things correctly. And retiree Earl Howard is all set to go to war and kill him some robots.

Jazz, Aileron, and the colonists are led north by Chavez, openly crashing their way through the US/Mexico border as they go, with Jazz assuring them that they're making the right call regardless of how bad it looks. In a little ghost town, they find the weapon suppliers: two "real Nineties guys" in black suits. Aileron is horrified by Jazz when he appears to stomp one of the men dead... only to watch in shock as the human de-rezzes and fades away upon contact with Jazz's foot, revealed to be a holomatter avatar. Emotions are at war inside Aileron as she watches Jazz rip through the town, uncovering first the cache of weapons, and then the perpetrators: Rumble and Frenzy, whose attempted getaway an angry Aileron blocks. It turns out the two punks have been running guns for months, selling off the excess weaponry from Galvatron's army—not trying to agitate anything, just looking to make a buck. Gimlet threatens the pair with "Autobot justice", but that causes an argument that unravels the whole situation: the pair are Decepticons, and the stolen property belongs to the Decepticons, so Soundwave should have jurisdiction over them, and Autobots passing judgement on Decepticons, well... four-million-year-long wars have been fought o

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