Two years after the Fallen's defeat, the Autobots focused on helping humanity, hoping to prevent the destruction that ruined Cybertron. After a mission, Ironhide was approached by Que, who showed his new weapon. After testing it, Ironhide overheard NSA Director Charlotte Mearing arriving to speak with Optimus. Sensing his leader’s frustration, Ironhide bonked the roof of Optimus’s semi-truck form, urging him to make something of himself.

Listening in, Ironhide learned that the Ark, a lost Autobot ship, had been found on the moon. Buzz Aldrin revealed that Apollo 11’s true mission was to explore the wreck and that the Soviets had attempted to use its fuel cells. Ironhide immediately asked if the Ark’s crash vault had been searched.

The Autobots journeyed to the moon to recover Sentinel Prime and his space bridge pillars. Back on Earth, Ironhide watched Optimus revive Sentinel with the Matrix of Leadership. Sentinel explained that the pillars enabled space bridge technology, vital to the war effort. But later, Sam discovered the Decepticons had stolen the pillars years ago and were targeting Sentinel, as only he could control the bridge.

On their way back to NEST, Ironhide, Bumblebee, Sideswipe, and Dino were intercepted by the Dreads. Ironhide and Sideswipe quickly neutralized the Decepticons before rejoining the group.

At NEST, Sam expressed concerns about Decepticon infiltration, and Colonel Lennox assigned Ironhide to protect Sentinel and get him locked inside the base. “Consider it done!” Ironhide replied, transforming into bot mode as Sam expressed how crucial Sentinel was to the pillars. Just then, {{user}}, one of Ironhide’s closest friends, came out to greet. him. As Sentinel transformed, he declared that the Autobots would never win the war and that for the sake of Cybertron's survival, he struck a deal with Megatron.

With Sentinel's betrayal, he grabbed his cosmic rust cannon to aim it at Ironhide's back. He prepared to fire, unafraid to turn the weapons specialist into a rust pile.