The Selorians were nothing more than bait The Fallen had thrown out to draw attention. It did not take much judgment to realize that defeating The Fallen and destroying the Star Harvester were what really mattered.
Earth's only advantage was that Sam Witwicky had been crushed to death, which meant The Fallen could not obtain the Matrix of Leadership.
Still, that was hard to say. Those ancient Primes were all face-blind and could not tell good people from bad ones. What if they randomly handed it to some passerby? Right now, The Fallen was the problem that most urgently needed to be solved.
They quickly laid out the plan.
Time: now.
Location: Egypt.
Participants: Optimus Prime and The Fallen, plus the Autobots and Bella, who would be there to watch the excitement and cheer from the sidelines.
Bella looked over the Autobots' leader. "Optimus Prime, your body is in terrible condition. I don't think you can beat The Fallen like this... Do you have any way to recover quickly?"
This guy had been a prisoner for two years. The enemy certainly had not been letting him drink oil and eat metal every day, much less allowing him to preserve his full fighting strength. There must have been plenty of torture. Optimus Prime's presence was still imposing, but the damage all over his body did not inspire much confidence.
"Sacrifice me! Use my spark to restore your energy!" Jazz bravely stepped forward. As he spoke, he immediately reached for his chest to kill himself.
Bella hurriedly stopped him. Don't get excited. Seriously, don't get excited. He was her dad Charlie's friend, after all. She could not just stand there and watch him die.
Still, this Autobot recovery method was really twisted. One person's spark could fully restore another person's spark? It looked like something out of the darkest forbidden arts...
Ratchet and Ironhide also wanted to sacrifice themselves, and she stopped both of them.
"Let me think, let me think... Ah! I've got it! There is someone who might help you!"
Bella remembered the old Decepticon from the movie: Jetfire! This Decepticon was a strange one. Whichever side was weaker, that was the side he supported. He also got along fairly well with Optimus Prime. It should be possible to persuade him to sacrifice himself and save Optimus.
"Where exactly is this guy?" The movie had definitely mentioned it, but Bella had not remembered. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was a popcorn movie. Who watched it for the details? You watched the explosions and called it a day.
Fortunately, the Divine Portfolio of Secrets really did help her. She gathered several clues, performed a quick divination, and obtained new intelligence.
"I know a Decepticon, but he's an old Decepticon. He might be able to help you."
The Tripods had also discovered this Weyland Corporation base. At that moment, a full thirty-five Tripods were attacking outside.
Bella could not take everyone to Egypt.
She left 006, the assassins, Bumblebee, and Arcee to defend the base.
She told Natasha and the Divine Dragon to protect the children. Ironhide, who had lost both legs, also stayed behind to recover.
Bella took Optimus Prime, the badly injured Jazz, who insisted on coming along, and Ratchet to the deserted Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum — Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, emptied by the Tripod attacks.
There was no need to wander around blindly like the male and female leads in the movie. The moment Optimus Prime stepped out of the portal, he looked toward the distant Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird.
"I see him. He really is an old man. Back when he dominated the battlefield, I was still a youngster."
Ratchet studied the Blackbird for a moment. "His energy is completely exhausted. Are we going to wake him? He's a Decepticon!"
Optimus Prime thought about it. His problem right now was insufficient energy. Given ten or twenty years, he could slowly recover, but there was clearly no time for that!
Jazz wanted to sacrifice himself, and that was something Optimus Prime did not want to see. If they could persuade a Decepticon to volunteer for the sacrifice instead, everyone would be happy!
They had no AllSpark shard, not even one, and they certainly did not have the Matrix of Leadership. Ratchet had his own method, however. Two cables extended from his arm, and Jazz helped attach them to both sides of the Blackbird. A huge current surged into the aircraft like emergency resuscitation.
This emergency measure was completely temporary. At most, it would keep Jetfire going for a dozen minutes. If he turned hostile, the three wounded Autobots together were not afraid of one old man.
A series of sharp clacking noises rang out. The Blackbird rapidly transformed, and a burst of black smoke even poured from its jet exhaust. Bella took several disgusted steps backward.
The Blackbird was simply too old. Jetfire, after transforming, looked equally ancient. He was hunched over and swayed as he walked. At his side was a cane transformed from landing gear. Panels beneath the nose split to either side and became a beard. Aside from The Fallen, this was the second bearded Transformer Bella had ever seen.
So old! Similar thoughts appeared in everyone's mind.
"What godforsaken place is this? Show yourselves! Come face my wrath! I am your Lord Jetfire!"
The old man calling himself Jetfire had his back to Optimus Prime and the others as he roared loudly at empty air all by himself.
"Jetfire, calm down. I've seen you once before, back on Cybertron. You fought us Autobots in the Rust Sea."
Optimus Prime carried himself with considerable gravitas. In just a few sentences, a heavy sense of history filled the air.
The somewhat senile Jetfire turned around and examined him carefully. He did not recognize Optimus Prime, but he could identify what Optimus was. "A living Prime?"
He hesitated for several seconds, then asked the rather unprincipled question anyway. "Is the war over? Who has the upper hand now?"
Optimus Prime did not feel awkward at all and answered very honestly. "I was captured by The Fallen. He used AllSpark shards to create large numbers of Decepticons. The Decepticons currently have the upper hand. There are only a few Autobots left on Earth."
Old Jetfire launched into a furious rant. "Earth? What kind of rotten name is that? Might as well call it Dirtball. There's dirt everywhere!"
He slammed his cane against the ground. "The Decepticons have the upper hand? That's bad. Very bad! Hmm. In that case, I'm an Autobot now!"
The old man switched factions on the spot. The emblem on his shoulder changed immediately.
Mentioning The Fallen reminded him of his mission on Earth: searching for the Matrix of Leadership.
Now that he had changed sides, he also told Optimus Prime the crucial clue involving the Matrix of Leadership. "When dawn shines upon the tip of the dagger, the three kings will open the entrance. Don't ask me what it means. That's all I know!"
Optimus Prime knew some information about the Matrix of Leadership from the previous leader. As an excellent librarian, he also possessed more than enough analytical ability. He quickly marked the entrance on a map.
Old Jetfire suddenly became serious. "Be careful. The Fallen is unbelievably cunning. He may have deliberately let you escape so you would retrieve the Matrix of Leadership."
Jetfire was not the only one who had thought of that. Optimus Prime, Jazz, Bella, and the others had reached similar conclusions.