"Still searching. I need a little more time!" Jazz had been operating the instrument on his arm the entire time, and he replied tensely.
"I found him! Optimus Prime really is here! But how do we get inside?"
Bella volunteered, "I'll go in and scout for you. Wait here."
***
By now, Optimus Prime had been imprisoned by the Decepticons for more than two years. His bold declaration from back then, when, full of confidence and vigor, he had set out with the AllSpark for an unknown star system, still seemed to echo in memory. But when he passed Titan, The Fallen, who had been hiding there, intercepted him.
Facing a combined attack from The Fallen, Starscream, Sideways, Grindor, and Devastator, he had no chance at all. At the final moment, he could only destroy the AllSpark.
Over the past two years, The Fallen ordered Starscream to collect fragments of the AllSpark and used them to create a batch of brand-new Decepticons, but he never killed Optimus Prime.
Without Megatron to lead the Decepticons, without Soundwave providing intelligence, and with only a half-hearted Starscream at hand, The Fallen had not enjoyed these past two years either. Everyone had their own area of expertise. The Fallen usually served as a spiritual adviser, a role more akin to a spiritual leader. Having to mediate Decepticon disputes every day had left even him thoroughly fed up.
As one of Cybertron's Thirteen Primes, The Fallen was older than many stars.
Transformers did not possess infinite lifespans. They also aged and died. The Fallen was very old, old enough that the energy inside him was nearly exhausted and death was already beckoning.
If he wanted to extend his life, he had to activate the Star Harvester the Primes had left on Earth and convert the Sun's energy into energy blocks that a Spark could absorb.
But activating the Star Harvester required the Matrix of Leadership. Unfortunately for him, the other Primes had buried the Matrix in a small pocket of space within Earth. He could not find that space, so he could only turn his attention to Optimus Prime.
The Fallen could never have imagined that, in one timeline, his foolish colleagues would hand the most important Matrix of Leadership in their entire race to a hot-tempered human for the reason that he was "heroic and fearless, unafraid of sacrifice."
They believed that human had a spirit of self-sacrifice. In reality, hundreds or thousands of soldiers had died on that battlefield, yet the sacrifices of those soldiers were simply ignored by The Fallen's foolish colleagues.
It was absurd! Who could have imagined events developing this way? What did this "heroic and fearless, unafraid of sacrifice" human have to do with the Autobots, the Decepticons, or Cybertron's war? Are you serious? Had Earth recognized him as its leader, or had the Autobots recognized him as theirs? Eeny, meeny, miny, moe—you just picked someone at random, didn't you?
In The Fallen's view, only Optimus Prime had any chance of obtaining the Matrix of Leadership from those ancient Primes. Only Optimus had the qualifications and could earn their recognition. Even Megatron was not qualified. That was why The Fallen had never killed Optimus Prime during these two years.
For two years, he had tried every method to tempt Optimus Prime into retrieving the Matrix of Leadership for him. Optimus was just as stubborn. Go ahead and kill me if you can. You want me to submit? Impossible!
The Fallen could only resort to a scheme. He needed Optimus Prime to willingly bring out the Matrix of Leadership.
For that reason, he lured Arcee to Earth and drew the Autobots to Titan. To make the trap even more convincing, he had left his base first.
***
Optimus Prime regretted everything. He felt he had failed the people of Earth. Because of his own recklessness, humanity would face an unimaginable catastrophe.
He was blaming himself when he suddenly heard someone calling to him from near his feet. The voice was very soft and very small.
He looked down and saw Bella waving at him. "Hey, are you all right? Are you hurt? Jazz and the others came with me to rescue you!"
Optimus Prime knew fewer Earthlings than he had fingers on one hand. More specifically, they were all members of Charlie's family.
Of course he recognized Bella. She was wearing a red cloak now, but there was no mistaking her face.
Optimus Prime handled the combat, diplomacy, and internal affairs of his entire faction all by himself, and he was extremely intelligent. Without showing any reaction, he quietly looked around.
Two Decepticons stood guard twenty meters (about 65.6 feet) away.
He did not speak. Instead, a laser shot from his eyes and wrote a line of English on the floor.
"I am badly injured. It will be difficult for me to fight my way out of here."
Bella waved lightly to show that it was no problem. Two years ago, she couldn't teleport, so Optimus Prime did not understand her current abilities.
In many situations, being able to teleport and not being able to teleport were two completely different things. She wasn't Doctor Strange with his lousy stamina. Teleporting from Titan back to Earth was no problem at all. There would be none of that absurd situation where he could not teleport in Infinity War but suddenly could in Endgame.
"Wait here. I'll be right back."
Bella hurried out of the Decepticon base and went back to discuss the situation with Jazz and the others.
There were hundreds or thousands of Decepticons inside the base. Forget three Autobots—even bringing every Autobot here probably would not be enough to win!
Bella said, "Let's use the same old method we used to kill Megatron last time: create a diversion! Make as much chaos as possible and give me an opening. The messier the better. I'll take Optimus Prime back to Earth, then come back for you!"
The diversion tactic was certainly old, but old did not mean ineffective. Once the fighting began and lasers started flying everywhere, Bella really could not withstand many hits. She would quietly handle the rescue while the three Autobots drew the enemy's fire.
Jazz thumped his chest. "It doesn't matter if we die. If there isn't enough time, don't worry about us. Please make sure you rescue Optimus Prime. He is the hope of every race."
"Sure, sure." Bella nodded somewhat perfunctorily.
Fifteen minutes later, the three Autobots launched their assault.
Ironhide charged at the front with two huge guns in his hands. Every enemy within a one-hundred-and-twenty-degree arc before him was inside his field of fire.
The Decepticons on Titan had all been created during the past two years. They had never experienced war and had never imagined an enemy would appear.
Caught completely off guard, the first dozen or so Decepticons were killed before they could even draw their guns.
With a tremendous boom, Ratchet detonated the explosives they had planted beforehand. In an instant, the entire base was alerted.
Large numbers of Decepticons rushed out of the underground base, while Ironhide and the other two charged straight inside with an air of absolute determination.
***
Earth, Egypt, beneath the Pyramid of Khufu.
"Master! The Autobots have entered the base," Starscream said to The Fallen, who was seated inside a life-support device.
The Fallen was extremely weak. He slowly said, "Let them rescue Optimus Prime. Make the performance convincing. Also, mobilize our allies and create some trouble for the humans."
Starscream gave a fawning smile. "The Sero are nothing but tools. They don't deserve to be called allies of the Decepticons."
The Fallen could not be bothered arguing with him. He closed his eyes and waved a hand, leaving Starscream to handle it himself.