In Bikini Atoll's "Little Cybertron" refugee camp, the president and Marissa Faireborn watch newsman Brad Emory reporting on the sudden end to Jazz's live interview. Marissa blames the president for not stopping the G.I. Joe raid that broke the interview up, but the president claims she did all she could. She credits Marissa for the progress being made on the island, and together, the pair watch as a Junkion shuttle takes Wreck-Gar up to the hovering Autobot City. Marissa explains that the Junkion leader is taking the Autobots something that will help them, prompting the president to note that she may have something for them too, and to raise the subject of Marissa "travelling abroad"...

Aboard Autobot City, Wreck-Gar delivers the reconstructed positron core to the Autobots, who are able to use it to finally repair the critically wounded Sideswipe and bring him back online. Warmly welcomed back by his fellow Autobots, Sideswipe is eager to get back to fighting bad guys, but he senses that something isn't right, and spots the silent Arcee, who has been watching over his injured form for months, slip away without saying anything. He follows her and finds her brooding about the fact that Sideswipe's brother Sunstreaker has not shown up for his reawakening despite promising he would. Sideswipe is not particularly fazed by this; he and his brother have always had a troubled relationship, and he long ago stopped caring what Sunstreaker thought about him. Arcee tells him that Sunstreaker's last message mysteriously cut out, and quietly speaks of a brother of her own that she once had in the distant past, who she allowed to die through inaction...

Taking the hint, Sideswipe heads for Cybertron to check on Sunstreaker, accompanied by Arcee. Having been off-world throughout many of the recent societal upheavals on the planet, Sideswipe is set on edge by the state of Iacon and its diverse population, never having expected that this "ugly, dirty" shared Cybertron would be the outcome of the war he spent millions of years fighting. The pair check out Sunstreaker's apartment, but are pounced on by something waiting inside; Sideswipe nearly shoots it until Arcee identifies their "assailant" as Sunstreaker's pet Insecticon, Bob. After apologizing to, and feeding, the hungry little guy, Sideswipe observes some scuff marks on the floor that suggest foul play by the Badgeless. Sideswipe has Bob serve as bloodhound, tracking Sunstreaker's scent, which leads them to a warehouse in the Decepticon ghetto. Before Arcee can stop him, Sideswipe smashes his way through the doors and, thinking he has caught a group of Decepticons in the middle of an energon smuggling operation, opens fire on them all. After wounding most of them, Sideswipe turns his attention to the apparent "ringleader," Soundwave, and starts pummeling him... until Sunstreaker suddenly appears and yells for him to stop!

Sideswipe is confused; is his brother in league with the Decepticons? Sunstreaker explains to his brother that there are no "sides" any more—he had just remained on Cybertron to help with the relief effort following a fire in the Decepticon district. What's more, Arcee knew about it, and the whole "mission" was just a way to help Sideswipe move beyond his wartime attitude by showing him how peace has changed Cybertron, and them all, for the better. At first, Sideswipe agrees to join in and help purely to show up Sunstreaker and prevent him getting one over on him, but as he takes in the thriving city and its populace and the noble goals they are working towards, he comes to understand what Arcee and his brother have been trying to show him. He sincerely thanks Arcee for watching out for him all this time, and looks out over the city, realizing that a world where everyone works together in peace is what he was fighting for all along.

And with that contentment filling his heart... Sideswipe dies.

Arcee and Sunstreaker disconnect from the mnemopathis projector provided by Wreck-Gar, with which they have been able to link their minds to that of the dying Sideswipe, still contained in his stasis tube, never having awoken from his coma. Through the story they have projected into his mind, they have given him the final gift of a peaceful passing, secure in the knowledge that everything he fought for was worth it. Arcee retreats to ruminate, caught up in a mixture of happiness and sadness she is unaccustomed to; Aileron follows her, and tries to reassure her by describing her religion's belief in reincarnation. The atheist Arcee laughs—not a mean-spirited laugh, as Aileron at first interprets it, but a laugh at the idea of how much trouble she would be in if everyone she and Sideswipe had ever killed came back to life. Aileron offers to leave, but Arcee asks her to stay awhile, and, addressing her words to the stars in the sky, bids Sideswipe a final farewell.

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