Chapter Nine: Jetfire
They waited for the closing announcement and then continued to wait. An hour after closing, Frenzy signalled that the guards were making their rounds on the far side, away from where they needed to be. It's the perfect time for the group to make their move, so they do.
As Zelda emerged from her position behind the large, wooden board that served as a makeshift barrier, she brushed a few strands of hair from her face and looked up at her companions. With a slight nod and an encouraging smile, she gestured for Mikaela, Leo, and Simmons to move ahead of her, indicating that she wanted a moment alone with Frenzy.
"We'll catch up in a moment," Zelda assured when Mikaela questioned her. She felt Frenzy's questioning gaze, but he didn't protest.
"Make it quick. We have twenty minutes before their patrol gets them into the main hanger," Simmons warned.
"We're right behind you," Zelda nodded.
After a moment, the trio hurry off, vanishing around a corner.
"So?" Frenzy questioned.
"I'll do it," she said quietly
Frenzy stared at her, his eyes wide as a momentary wave of confusion washed over him. For an instant, it was clear he was lost trying to piece together what she meant. Then, the realisation dawned on him, and his expression shifted dramatically—his brows furrowed, and his mouth parted in disbelief. "You—" he started, the words hanging heavily in the air. He didn't finish and he didn't need to.
Zelda swallowed thickly. "Guide me?"
Frenzy took her by the elbows, and Zelda returned the gesture by grabbing his holoform's elbows. "It's instinct. Nothing more to it. Imagine cutting it," he explained slowly.
"Will he feel it?" she whispered, tears burning her eyes.
Frenzy hesitated a beat. "I…for me, it was only a moment of pain and then I was gone. But he's…he might not even be aware in his state."
"Okay."
The stark honesty washed over her like a balm, even amid the heaviness of the situation. Zelda's mind drifted back to Optimus—the weight of his words echoing in her thoughts, urging her to sever the invisible tether that connected them and not worry about him, to trust him.
In that moment, she felt her resolve solidify, a fragile yet unyielding strength taking root. With a deep sigh, Zelda closed her eyes tightly, delicately tracing the dim, partly frayed thread that linked her to Optimus. In her mind's eye, she envisioned a pair of scissors and the swift, decisive snip.
It was an instinctive, gut-wrenching reaction, a sudden tug at her heart that felt as if someone had reached in and pulled the very breath from her lungs. Waves of dizziness surged over her, blurring her vision and causing the room to tilt dangerously as her mind raced to process the broken bond. Panic fluttered in her chest at the void, and she struggled to find her footing, desperately grasping Frenzy's elbows for support as the world around her spiralled.
"I've got ya," he breathed, bringing Zelda close and scoping her up into his holoform's arms. "I've got you. Give it a moment."
Zelda whimpered, burying her face into the fabric of his hoodie. "We gotta catch up."
"Don't even like givin' yourself a minute, do ya?" Frenzy said with a short, disbelieving laugh. But he didn't protest, moving swiftly but gently as he carried her bridle style toward the hanger where the Blackbird was being kept.
"Is she alright?" Leo questioned.
Zelda grunted and raised her head, squinting against the overhead lights. She felt marginally better, actually. A weight she hadn't known was there had been lifted from her chest, letting her breathe easier.
"Just a bit weak," Frenzy waved off and set Zelda down on her feet at her silent request. She wavered but held firm, feeling a well of strength that had eluded her for days.
"So, this is our guy," Simmons said, hands on his hips as he stared up at the Blackbird. "Hasn't got one of those insignias you guys have."
"That's 'cause he's been here longer than the war probably," Frenzy remarked. "Or he was a neutral that fled. Either way, he's our ticket to findin' out what those old scripts mean."
Zelda swallowed, gently squeezing Frenzy's arm in a silent thank you and hopped over the railing. "A simple zap of power should just wake him up, right?"
"Uh…yeah," Frenzy confirmed. "He's just in stasis, probably from about the time he took on this alt-mode."
If Zelda had her history correct, the original Blackbird flew for the first time in nineteen-sixty-four and was decommissioned sometime around the mid-nineteen-seventies, going on to be displayed here at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. That meant this was the first Blackbird. She wondered if the creators knew about the Cybertronian and if they worked with him to create its specs.
Zelda lifted her right hand, the smooth surface of her prosthetic softly clinking against the metal of the Blackbird. She felt a magnetic pull as she finally made contact with the Cybertronian before her. In that moment, a surge of energy coursed through her, and Zelda could sense the vibrant life that lay dormant within the Seeker's slumbering form. With a gentle yet purposeful flick of the AllSpark's power, she initiated the awakening, sending a subtle jolt that flickered through his circuitry and ignited the dormant spark of life within him.
It was an alarm clock, essentially.
And it was instant.
The Blackbird's frame began unfolding and breaking apart as the Seeker emitted a sharp yelp, piercing the silence like a bird's cry. The group scattered, backing away as the Cybertronian awakened violently.
He was tall, was Zelda's first impression. Very, very tall. Taller than Optimus, even slouched over as he was.
The frontal shell of the Blackbird covered his forehead. Along his cheeks were protrusions like whiskers, and his beard resembled sheets of metal that clinked together as he swayed. Turbines formed his thighs, and his legs were digitigrade, similar to those of a cat, but with talons of a bird. His wings sat higher on his back, flaring out and giving him a larger presence. His servos had a more humanoid shape but featured three digits and a thumb that tapered to a blunt tip. He used his front landing gear as a walking stick, supporting his weight on it.
The moment his transformation settled, his startled cry churned into a coughing fit as though something thick was lodged in his vents, and he was desperately trying to get it out.
The towering Cybertronian lurched forward, his stumbling movements causing him to collide with nearby display pieces, sending them tumbling aside with a clatter. One sleek plane plummeted to the floor with a cringe-inducing thud. Zelda winced at the sound, instantly calculating the potential dent it might leave in her bank account—granted, it was unlikely to be a significant dent in her saving, but it still stung. Just as she was about to regain her footing, Frenzy barrelled into her, tackling her back to the ground with surprising gentleness.
"Wha—?"
"Give him a moment!" he hissed. Frenzy had ditched the holoform, sprawled across Zelda's back with his frame. He was shielding her, Zelda belatedly realised. Then Frenzy raised his head and spoke in common Cybertronian. "(Yo, old timer, calm the frag down! You're destroying slag the organics consider historic.)"
"(Old timer? I'll show you old timer!)" the Seeker cried with outrage, optics searching for Frenzy, but something popped in his spine, and he near bowed over with a groan of pain.
Zelda gave a sympathetic wince. Waking him up had created a fledgling bond—one akin to what she shared with Megatron, as grim as that realisation was—and Zelda could feel the distant waft of pain he was in. But it seemed that burst of pain was what he needed to get his helm on straight because when he finally found Frenzy, the one cheeky enough to insult him, he paused, his optics squinting at Zelda.
"You…" he spoke with awe as he prodded along their fledgling bond. Zelda returned the poke impulsively. "Now that's unexpected. You're the one that woke me up, ay?"
Deeming it safe, Frenzy finally rolled off her, allowing Zelda to sit up, where she ignored the wave of vertigo that came over her.
"I am," she confirmed nervously, staggering to her feet. "I'm Zelda. What's your designation?"
"Jetfire," he answered proudly, straightening up, only for something to pop in his spine again, and he crowed with pain. "Ah, bugger! After all I've done, this is what I get? Wretched body rusting on me!"
"I do not want to get that old," Frenzy muttered. "I'd wanna be put out of my permanent misery long before then."
Zelda nudged his side because now really wasn't the time for jokes and grim ones at that, considering Frenzy had been dead until yesterday.
"What earth year is it?" Jetfire asked, disgruntled optics taking in his surroundings with low-lying disgust.
"Two thousand and nine," Zelda answered. Simmons, Leo and Mikaela all began to approach now that Jetfire had calmed down. "Please, I need your help."
Zelda rolled up the sleeve of her flesh arm, where she had drawn a few of the script, having thought ahead to this exact situation.
Jetfire only looked at the script once before he burst into a flurry of action. His canon formed and aimed at the set of hanger doors. The blaster whirled, smoked, and fired. The entire hanger shuddered as the doors were blown right off their tracks.
"I knew I was forgetting something!" Jetfire cried and began walking with a pronounced limp toward the now-destroyed hanger doors.
"Wait, wait, wait!" Zelda cried and dogged after him. The others hurried to keep up with her. "Where are you going?!"
"Oh, the museum is going to be very angry. Very angry," Simmons said warily.
They followed Jetfire outside to the graveyard of planes, all in various states of disrepair.
"I have no time to talk. I've got a mission. Tell me, is that civil war still going on? Who's winning?" Jetfire demanded.
Zelda hesitated a beat, unsure how to answer that in truth. "Uh…depends on who you ask honestly."
"I tell you, all that fighting, stupid," Jetfire grumbled.
Jetfire paused to collect himself, nearly stumbling into a decommissioned plane and leaving a distinct handprint in it. Zelda used the chance to try to get Jetfire talking again. "I woke you up because I've been informed you could help me. That you know things that could help us."
"I don't think he knows anything. Honestly, I don't," Leo muttered and got a jab in the side by Mikaela.
Zelda shot Leo a look for the remark before carrying on when she had Jetfire's attention. "The old-style scripts I just showed you? I've been seeing them for months, but I can't read them. Whatever this script is about, it'll lead Megatron and someone called The Fallen to an energy source here on Earth."
Jetfire paused before grimacing with distaste. "The Fallen? I know him, wretched betrayer. He was stripped of his name for his actions against his brethren and other sentient life. He's the original Decepticon. Can't properly describe what an utter horrid mech he is. He'd doom entire worlds if it got him selfish wants."
Frenzy blanched. "Frag, seriously?"
Jetfire pointed down at Zelda. "That script, while I can't read it myself, is called Truth Speak, or the Language of The Primes. It's the reason I'm here on Earth. My mission, me and other old energon Seekers who were old enough to remember who The Fallen is, came here to make sure The Fallen never got his servos on the Matrix." Jetfire lurched, optics wide. "Yes! I remember now, the Dagger's Tip, the three kings! And—and the Matrix!"
Zelda waved her hands, desperately trying to wrap her head around everything Jetfire was spewing. "Okay, wait, slow down. The Dagger's Tip? Matrix? What are you talking about?"
Jetfire pivoted sharply to face the approaching Autobots, his massive frame looming against the backdrop of the plane graveyard. As the Autobots closed the distance forward, engines roaring, Zelda held her breath, bracing for an attack. To her surprise and relief, Jetfire merely observed them, his optics scanning their movements without any hint of aggression.
"Jetfire, please explain! You're not making any sense," Zelda said in frustration.
"It's The Fallen! He's after the Matrix!" Jetfire lashed out, servo dragging Mudflap, who was at the back, closer and ignored his shout of pain. "We're wasting time, enough talk. Hold on!"
A vibration began to thrum in the air, Jetfire's chassis rumbling and shuddering as they worked through decades of stagnation.
"What are you doing?!" Zelda shouted, gasping as wind whipped heavily around them and a blue light emerged from Jetfire's chassis. It felt like the static of incoming lightning. Zelda had only ever felt this within her dreams, bound to Skywarp.
Frenzy beat her to it. "He's warping!"
"He's what?" Mikaela shouted over the racket of dirt being flung about outside Jetfire's radius.
"Stay still, or you'll die!"
"What?" Leo cried and moved, colliding with Mikaela at the worst possible time.
A queasy sense of wrongness unsettled Zelda's sense of direction. Vertigo yanked her sideways, causing every atom of her being to seize and condense. Blinding vibrancy whirled around her in a blur of colour, as endless as the pressure bearing down on her bones. A deafening ringing echoed inside Zelda's skull, and she choked, unable to breathe in the emptiness of the in-between space.
She squeezed her eyes shut in an effort to block out the nausea, but it was pointless; it did nothing to stop her from being thrown this way and that as if whatever was happening couldn't decide how to hurl her about.
It was nothing more than a fraction of a second, and then it was over.
Then she was falling.
A flash of red and silver and Sideswipe was wrapping a servo around her, clutching Zelda close as they continued sailing through the air.
Everyone was scattered.
Sideswipe hit the sand on his pedes but quickly lost his balance and went tumbling head-first. Zelda cried out, shaken as she tucked herself into a ball, clinging to Sideswipe's chassis. Sand went everywhere.
When he finally came to a stop on his back with a groan, Sideswipe unfurled his servo. Zelda heaved, trembling against him as she struggled to gather her breath. His holoform onlined, pulling Zelda into a sitting position and burying her head between her knees.
"Breathe, Zelda," he ordered.
She wheezed, her ribs protesting. Her heart raced, and it was painful. She was struggling. The weight of Optimus's spark might no longer be there, but Zelda had held on too long. Her body was degenerating; it was struggling to function. The nanites and her enhancements were trying their best, and Zelda didn't know which would win in the end.
Amid the chaos, voices rose in a cacophony of shouts and exclamations, each person vying to be heard over the scattered distance they had landed. Panic etched on their faces as they gestured animatedly and struggled to regain their bearings in the bewildering turn of events.
"What the frag was that?!" Sunstreaker bellowed, storming toward Jetfire.
Zelda let out a soft groan as she slowly uncurled herself, feeling the warmth of Sideswipe's presence beneath her. Sideswipe, with a gentle sigh, deactivated his holoform, the shimmering image of his humanoid façade flickering out of existence. He sat up smoothly, his frame casting a comforting shadow around her, and instinctively drew her closer, the warmth between them a soothing balm against the coolness that had made itself at home within Zelda. Despite the shift, he kept her close to his chassis. The hum of his spark loosened the remaining tension in Zelda's shoulders.
"We didn't sign up for no warping!" Skids added, half supporting his twin.
Bumblebee stumbled closer, desperately shaking off the sand. Zelda grimaced, aware of how sand could infiltrate every crevice of the bots.
"That really, really hurt. You're just lucky that we didn't get hurt. People could have gotten killed, okay?" Simmons rambled angrily. Mikaela looked a little singed but unharmed. The same but slightly less singed for Leo.
Wheelie and Frenzy appeared unharmed, and she probed them through the bond for confirmation. Frenzy gave her a thumbs-up, and Wheelie sent a pulse of reassurance. Zelda repeated the gesture for the Autobots, getting silent assurance.
Jetfire scoffed, dragging Zelda's attention back to the Seeker. He waved not only Simmons off but everyone's protest to the warping. "Oh, shut up. I told you I was opening a space bridge. It's the fastest way to travel to Egypt."
Egypt. Of course.
Zelda sighed, rubbing her aching temple. "Okay," she resolved to just…leave the warping behind. "Why are we in Egypt? Could you give a bit more than just Dagger's Tip and Matrix?"
"My mission, and that of several other Seekers, was not to find the key but to keep guard," Jetfire finally began to explain, and relief swept through Zelda. "This planet has been visited by our race many times, but the first was by our earliest ancestors. They were on an exploratory mission to harvest energon, the lifeblood of our race. Without it, we'll all perish, oxidise and rust, like my wretched self! Do you have any idea what it's like to slowly fall apart and die?"
Simmons crossed his arms into an x with annoyance. "Let's not get episodic, okay, old-timer? Beginning. Middle. End. Facts. Details. Condense. Plot. Tell it."
"Our ancestors built a great machine somewhere buried in this desert. It harvests energon by destroying suns." Jetfire cycled his vents, which clunk and sounded full of grime. Zelda gave a sympathetic wince.
"Destroy suns? But solar systems need them, right?" Mikaela asked dumbfounded.
Jetfire nodded. "Whole solar systems are destroyed when their suns are harvested. Habitable planets wither away and die. You see, in the beginning, there were Thirteen Primes, the first of our kind created by Primus. They set out into the universe, seeking distant suns to harvest. But The Primes set out with one rule: never destroy a planet with life. A great sun was discovered in a far-off galaxy, a sun powerful enough to supply energon to Cybertron and its denizens for vorns to come. That sun was your one."
"But what about the energon on Cybertron?" Mudflaps interrupted in confusion.
Jetfire pointed at him. "They were infantile. The Primes were the first. They were created. They were never kindled. One moment they did not exist, and the next, they did. The first of our kind were, and those that immediately followed were the same. Primus and the AllSpark physically created them from Primus's body. They knew plenty but also knew little. Like the fact that there was energon beneath Cybertron's surface."
Zelda was learning so much and she wanted to know even more. But there wasn't time.
"When they arrived, it was not until they began constructing the machine that they discovered the extent of life on Earth. The Primes here on planet knew that the machine must be destroyed and that they would move onto another sun, but one tried to defy this rule. He was stripped of his Primehood and his name was forevermore The Fallen," Jetfire regaled, something heavy in his presence. "For whatever reason, he despised the early human race, and he wanted to kill you all by turning on that machine. The only way to activate it is with the Matrix of Leadership."
Matrix of Leadership. That was slightly more significant than something just called the Matrix.
Jetfire continued: "A great battle took place over possession of the Matrix. The Fallen was stronger than his fellow six Primes here on Earth, so they had no choice but to steal and hide the Matrix from him. In the ultimate sacrifice, the remaining Prime used his deceased brothers' frames to seal the Matrix away in a tomb made of their very own bodies, a tomb we cannot find. Somewhere, buried in this desert, that deadly machine and the tomb remain. The Fallen knows where it is, and if he finds the tomb of the Primes, your world will be no more."
"Okay," Mikaela breathed. "So how do we stop him?"
"Only a Prime can defeat the Fallen."
Zelda's heart rose to her throat. "I—we can—our Prime is a little…out of commission at the moment, but I can—" she stumbled over her words.
"Optimus was murdered by Megatron while trying to protect Zelda," Sunstreaker explained further. He stepped closer, arms crossed. He still looked unamused by Jetfire's actions, but he had been grumpy ever since she allowed Frenzy to join them.
"Ay," Jetfire perked up. "So there is a Prime! That's excellent news because without a Prime, it's impossible. Not just anyone can stop The Fallen."
Zelda took a measured breath, rubbing her face and stuffing her guilt and grief down. "So…we find this Matrix and destroy the machine."
"Yes! I have faith that's the reason you've been seeing this script for months!" Jetfire grinned and pointed a digit at her. "You might harbour the AllSpark, but I'm old enough to know the depths behind the myths that spoke of when Primera and Primus came together to create Cybertron and Cybertronians. I have no doubt you're seeing all this because it's wanted of you. The Matrix is a subdivision of the AllSpark. Its existence was born from the AllSpark alongside the Original Thirteen. The Matrix is likely calling out to reunite with you."
Jetfire spoke so excitedly. So awed. The awe resonated through the others, too.
"Wait—you mean, I'm seeing the script because of Primus Primus?" Zelda stuttered, staring at him in awe. There was so much in what Jetfire had said but that one specific part caught her attention the most. Sideswipe's digits curled around her, holding her more firmly as that knowledge shook her. Yet Jetfire's words held an unmistakable quality to them that made the reveal feel less surprising than Zelda expected—merely a sense of…familiarity.
"Perhaps, perhaps not. Only you can be the one to know for sure," Jetfire shrugged. "But the AllSpark and Primus are intricately intertwined, their connection reaching far beyond the limits of mortal understanding."
"So then how do we get to the Matrix before the Decepticons get to Zelda?" Bumblebee questioned.
Jetfire tapped his temple as he turned back to Zelda with a pointed look. "Follow your mind, your map, your symbols. The Three Kings will reveal the doorway when dawn alights the Dagger's Tip."
In the far distance, an ominous sound echoed through the air—a whooshing and whirling that sent shivers down the spines of those present. Jetfire stood tall, his metallic frame glinting in the morning sunrise. The Autobots around him exchanged anxious glances.
"Go, I'll handle this lot. Gotta work off this rust!" Jetfire said gleefully.
Amidst the frantic movement of everyone moving to begin fleeing the area, Zelda's gaze was drawn to the Seeker. She observed him intently, noting the way his form effortlessly shifted into his alt-mode despite the decades of stasis. With a powerful thrum, the sleek, black silhouette of the Blackbird emerged, its contours glistening in the dim light as it effortlessly took to the sky.
As Jetfire ascended, she couldn't help but feel a pang of admiration for the grace and precision of his transformation, even at the urgency of the situation.
Sideswipe held her tightly against his chassis as he ran. Bumblebee was carrying Leo and Simmons. Sunstreaker had Mikaela on his shoulder while Frenzy and Wheelie were hitching a ride with Skids. Their alt-modes were ineffective on this type of soft surface, so they had to run.
Primus, what did you sign me up for? She silently bemoaned.