Hey guys!! New story, I hope you like it! I started the new chapter for Behind Blue Optics but I'm having a lot of trouble writing it...so sorry! I'm thinking about maybe giving it the axe and just doing this story and Dark Lust. Not sure yet!! Hopefully, you enjoy this story. There is a new o.c.!! I love Starfire but I felt like I needed to make a new one for this, so please love her!!

Review please!!

Please note: Anything in italics is a thought! And obviously anything in "quotations" is being spoken.

Today was peaceful. Something I wasn't used to around here. As of late the Autobot Headquarters was chaotic due to the ongoing war between the Autobots and Decepticons. I had finally finished my training with Ironhide, our weapons specialist and Ratchet had given me a look over just the other night. It was difficult but definitely well worth it. I never thought I would be a soldier but seeing the destruction that's been done to Cybertron; I felt I needed to help my planet. I didn't want Earth to share the same fate as Cybertron. Megatron and the Decepticons need to be stopped.

I looked out the window of my quarters when I heard a knock at my door. "Come in…" I didn't bother turning around. I heard heavy footsteps enter my quarters. It was silent for a moment. I decided to turn around before the silence got any more awkward. Sunstreaker raised a brow. "Astra…you okay?"

I nodded and smiled up at him. "Yeah, everything's fine. I was just taking in the day. It's so nice out." Sunny nodded and walked over to the window and peeked out. "Yeah… for once…" He stood there for a minute more before adding, "Ironhide would like to see you." I turned and met Sunny's gaze and raised an optic ridge. "For…?"

Sunny looked me up and down before answering. "Well you need weapons…unless you plan on killing cons with your bare hands." He paused for second. "…I wouldn't recommend it though." We both shared a laugh. Sunstreaker turned on his heel and lead me out of my quarters and down to the training area of the base. I was a bit smaller than Sunny so it usually wasn't hard to keep up with his pace but today was a bit different. He was almost running to the training area. As I tried desperately to keep pace with him I let my mind wander. I thought about the possible weapons that Ironhide would fit me with. Cannons? Guns? Maybe large blades like Sunny's twin, Sideswipe, had. There were a number of things that I could come out of the training area wearing.

Before I knew it, we hit the training area. Ironhide was training some more new recruits. I looked up and down at the large black mech. Even after training with him for the past month or so, he was still intimidating to look at and I wondered if I would ever feel comfortable standing around him. I looked up at Sunny, who was standing next to me. "Hide…" Ironhide turned slightly and stared at the two of us. He lifted a large hand and motioned for us to come forward. I was a bit hesitant to move. For some reason I felt like he was going to yell at me. Like I was a human child about to get punished.

I looked up at the tall mech. He had to be about 22 ft. I was only 13.7 ft tall. I was little compared to a lot of the other bots. I reached his mid section, which was a bit awkward considering I was at optic level with his cod piece. I raised my optic ridges and tried to focus on the weapons that I was about to get and not on his…mechhood. "All right, I want to give you at least two guns. You're fire power was very impressive. Not to mention your intelligence and speed. For a femme you are very powerful." I wasn't sure if I was supposed to take that as a compliment or take it as an insult to the other femmes. "However, you're not very strong…probably because you're a femme." I rolled my optics. "You're endurance is another thing…" His voice deep, rough voice trailed off.

I kept my gaze on him, optic ridges still raised. I had a bit of a pissed off look to my faceplates. "…Uh…anyways, back to your weapons…I'll give you a gun for your left arm. It's pretty high powered but I'm confident that you'll do wonders with it." He looked down at me and examined my armor. "Maybe I'll give you another gun for your right arm." He looked closer at my frame and nodded. "Double the firepower…more deadly." He seemed to be talking more to himself than me at this point.

He began to walk away and beckoned me to his side. "This should only take a few minutes." We left the training area and walked into another hangar on the base. It looked as if it was strictly used for weapon placement. I was amazed at all the weapons we had lying in there. Walking through the hangar to the section with the guns, I noticed a section of miscellaneous weapons that looked as if they had already been used in battle. I pointed over at them when we had stopped walking. "What are those for…?" Ironhide was busy looking through his inventory for the right guns. He looked over his massive shoulders quickly then got back to work. "Those are actually weapons that we picked off of some dead cons. We figured they might come in handy at some point." I made an 'hmm' sound and went back to waiting for Ironhide to get me my new weapons.

"Ah, here you are." He turned around and had two large guns in his hands. I followed him out of the hangar and walked to back to the training area. It was time to get my weapons installed. I hopped up onto a recharge berth. "….Will this hurt?" The hint of worry was present in my vocal processors. There was no way to hide it.

Ironhide walked over to the berth and looked down at me, as Ratchet came to stand next to him. He looked over to Ratchet, then Jolt who had also joined. "We'll have to work on that courage next." I sighed, letting air escape from my air intakes. Ratchet let out a slight chuckle before telling Jolt to help him attach the guns. Thankfully it only took about 5 minutes and it was painless. Being a soldier, I had to get over my fear of getting hurt. Like Ironhide said, we're going to have to work on my courage. I wasn't afraid to fight for what was right but I was afraid of getting killed. And let's be honest, how many bots aren't afraid to die? Besides Ironhide.

"You're good Astra. You can go back to your quarters or … hit on some mechs." Jolt winked at me as I hopped off the recharge berth. I had to let out a laugh as I began to walk back to my sleeping quarters. Jolt was a bit older than me but he was sexy, there was no way I could deny that. In fact, Ironhide and Ratchet weren't so bad to look at either. Ironhide had a sparkmate though, so he was off limits. I wasn't too sure about Ratchet but I knew he was a lot older than I was. Come to think of it, I wasn't sure about Jolt either. I had never really seen him with a femme, except for a few times but they more like friends than lovers.

I began to think of some of the other mechs, wondering how many of them actually had mates. Sunstreaker was always on the prowl, while his twin was a bit more relaxed. Sideswipe let the femmes flock to him. Wheeljack and Preceptor were also older than me and as far as I knew Perceptor was looking for a mate, as well as Wheeljack. Wheeljack wanted to find a femme that liked a lot of the same things he liked. So she basically had to be slightly out of her mind. Perceptor just wanted to find happiness. Perceptor really wasn't my type though. Hot Rod was a bit too brash and arrogant for me. He was gorgeous but too self absorbed, like Sunstreaker. Prowl was a nice mech. He was quiet, definitely not arrogant and he was good looking as well. Skids and Mudflap were definitely out of the question. They were very close to me in age but they were stupid. Very stupid. Not to mention irritating at times.

I sighed and punched in the code to my quarters. "Astra!" I heard the familiar voice of Arcee approaching me. I smiled at her as I stood in my open doorway. "Hey Arcee. What's going on?" She shrugged and leaned up against the wall. "Not much. Nice weapons." She smiled up at me. "Did you check your rankings yet?" I was so caught up in my mech obsessions that I had completely forgotten to check my CPU for the latest rankings. I shook my head at her. "Ah…well you could always check them later. Come down to the lounge for a bit."

I peeked into my room for a split second. It was gorgeous out and I didn't really want to spend it hanging out in my quarters. I followed Arcee into the lounge and I saw a few familiar faceplates. Sunstreaker and his twin were standing near the door, trying to get a peek at the new femme recruits that Ironhide was still busy training. Chromia and Flare-up were sitting down on the couch talking.

There was another mech that was sitting across from Chromia but I couldn't place his name. I had seen him quite a few times while we were still stationed on Cybertron but one day he just disappeared. Or so I thought. I never learned his name. I had only seen him because Optimus wanted to get any survivors he could find to safety. I wasn't a soldier so I didn't get to hang around him. I was kept in a separate part of the Autobot Headquarters.

I looked over at Arcee and pointed at him inconspicuously. She brought her mouth plates up to my audio processors and whispered, "His name is Bumblebee. He's a scout and guardian. He was the one guarding Sam Witwicky." When I got to Earth, I was briefed and learned of Sam and learned how badly the cons wanted to get to him.

I whispered back to her. "So why isn't he with Sam…?" My voice trailed off. I was highly confused. The decepticons hadn't been defeated so that must have meant that Sam still required protection. I raised an optic ridge and tried not to stare at the tantalizing mech. I had just learned his name and I was already intrigued. Granted, I had a bit of a crush on him prior to him coming to Earth but I hadn't seen him in so long and his form had change a bit. His alt was a 2010 Yellow Camaro with black racing stripes. I was used to seeing his Cybertronian form. However, it was difficult not to stare at his flawless, lean form. He had very long, lean legs and his chest plate was well defined. He was quite the sight. He always was.

"Well Sam is in college and he didn't want Bee there making a big fuss over him or making a big scene of any kind. Optimus told him to come back to Diego Garcia for a bit and if Sam ever needed something Bee could open a space bridge and get to him. Bumblebee cares for Sam a lot. He has such a brotherly relationship with him." Arcee smiled at her statement and glanced over at Bumblebee. My gaze followed her and I was staring again. Bumblebee was looking at paperwork before looking up and meeting my curious optics. I quickly turned my head and looked at Arcee. I had to change the subject. "So…what are we gonna do?"

Arcee turned her faceplates to look up at me. She raised her optic ridges and gave me a suspicious look before answering. "…Well I wanted to stick around here and talk to the girls. Have you met Chromia and Flare-up yet?"

"Oh yes, Ironhide introduced me to them a few days after I began training. They seem really sweet." I looked over the couch and saw the two femmes laughing about something. Chromia was a lot like Ironhide. She had a hard exterior and she wasn't afraid to show it. Of course humans and robots, allies or enemies, underestimated her and she used that to her advantage. Once bots or humans saw how ruthless she really was, they quickly learned to back off.

Arcee and I walked over to the large couch and plopped down. "Hey ladies." Arcee greeted her two most trusted friends. She crossed her legs then patted the seat next to her. I was a bit hesitant to sit down at first but I had to remember that I had already met them and that they wouldn't bite. Had to work on my courage, as Ironhide said. I couldn't continue to be a nervous femme. I wasn't always nervous though. My nerves only stemmed from the on-going war. I was constantly on edge. Any type of yelling or screaming automatically got me anxious. I needed to learn how to control it.

"Hey Arcee." They greeted her simultaneously. They turned their attention from Arcee to me. I felt like the new girl in school, trying to make friends. "Astra correct?" Chromia looked down at me and gave me a polite smile, which looked a bit intimidating. I merely nodded up at her.

"Nice to see you again, Astra." Flare-up smiled at me as well. It was nice that they were trying to make me feel as comfortable as possible but it wasn't helping. That was probably due to the fact that Bumblebee had been keeping his optics on me since we shared an awkward stare. I glanced out of the corner of my optics, trying to focus on Bumblebee. From what I saw he was still looking at me. If a robot could blush, I would have been bright red about now. Then again, he might not have noticed I was blushing considering my new alt. mode was a red Maserati GranTurismo. My paint job probably would have saved my aft if I was able to blush.

The girls began talking about the mechs and interfacing. Chromia spoke of what a wonderful lover Ironhide could be. I almost snorted out a laugh but I withheld. To be honest, I wasn't too into the conversation; I was more interested in the mech that had been staring me down. I tried to ignore him so I wasn't really sure if he was still looking or not. I was curious and still very intrigued so I decided to glance over at the couch he was sitting on and noticed that he was gone. I looked around the room but he was gone. Nowhere to found…in the lounge anyways. I had no choice so I turned back to the girls and got lost in their numerous conversations.

It was starting to get late so I said goodnight to the girls and started walking back to my quarters for some well needed recharging. I heard bots talking from inside their rooms; unfortunately some of them had to share because we were low on space. Luckily, I didn't have to share with anyone.

I kept my head down as I walked, not really paying attention. I had gotten some paperwork from Optimus and I was looking it over. Every few seconds I would glance up to make sure I wasn't going to walk into a wall but that was about it. I turned a corner and SMACK! I had hit something and I had hit it hard. I began to stumble backwards as my papers scattered onto the floor.

A large arm wrapped itself around my waist before I tumbled backwards and hit the ground. I looked up and my optics met the gaze of the yellow mech from the lounge. As I stared at him, I froze. I felt like a high school girl who was in the grasp of her crush.

He stared down at me and slowly began to help me straighten up. "You all right?" He raised an optic ridge as he continued to stare down at me. I nodded up at him. I was still frozen but I broke my gaze. I couldn't stare at him like some sort of love sick puppy dog. I didn't even know him. I only know his name and what his mission had been. As I looked down at the ground I noticed all my papers on the floor. I let air out of my air intakes and bent down to start picking them up. I felt his gaze on me and then I saw his large shadow grow closer to the ground.

"I see Optimus is getting you ready for battle." He stood up and handed over the papers. I took them and tried to put them back in order but I was so distracted I really wasn't sure what order I was sticking them in. "Yeah he is…" My voice was mousy and insecure.

"You nervous?" I finally brought my gaze back up to him. Was he asking if I was nervous about talking to him or if I was nervous about going into battle? Either way…I figured out the safest answer. "Yeah, a little."

He raised an optic ridge again and let out a hefty laugh. "Not very talkative huh?" He winked at me and I felt like I was going to pass out. I never acted this way around a mech before. What the frag was my problem?

"Oh no…I'm sorry…I'm usually more talkative I'm just a tad bit…" My voice began to trail off. "…perturbed." He nodded down at me. He looked a little put off, like he did something wrong. "I'm sorry."

Crap. "Oh no…it's…" I let out a nervous laugh. How was I going to recover from this? "…It's not you..." Yes it is. This mech is making you nervous for no reason. You're acting like a hormonal young femme. "I'm just a little stressed out, I guess."

He nodded again. "I could always help ya out with stress. I know some good stress relievers." He leaned up against the wall. He didn't wink, so he was probably being genuinely kind. I had to wonder though, what type of stress relievers?

"Oh? What kind?" I was interested in knowing, I just hope he didn't think I wanted to drop down and interface with him right then and there. Most mechs were known to flirt this way but he didn't seem like he was flirting. Or maybe he was. My CPU was so messed up; I wasn't sure what I was thinking.

"You could always go for a drive. Go into the forest and let off some steam." He shrugged. "I've knocked down a tree or two." He let out another hearty laugh. "But seriously, if you ever need to talk or just want to go for a drive, you could always come and find me…" He made a slight face like he made some sort of stupid rookie mistake. "…Or maybe it would be easier to catch me on the comlink." There goes that hearty, sexy laugh.

"Oh…well you don't even know me…and you want me to tell you all of my problems?" I tried to make my voice sound sexy and teasing. I smirked up at him and a smile broke across his face plates. "Not to mention, I don't even know who you are…" That was such a lie. I knew exactly who he was but he didn't need to know that.

He looked down at the floor for a second then slowly brought his head back up to look me in the optics, a smile still plastered across his face. "Well then maybe we should get to know each other." He winked again and I thought I was going to hit the floor. I don't think a mech has ever flirted with me that fast, especially not one I had been crushing on in the past. I usually got hit on by the loser mechs. The mechs that really didn't have a purpose. And if they did have a purpose, like joining the war effort, they were usually annoying and just wanted to interface.

I smiled up at him; I couldn't hide my excitement too much longer. However, I tried to keep my cool until I got back to my quarters. "Sounds like a plan." My voice came out as a sultry sex goddesses would. Hopefully that would send his spark quivering.

"Tomorrow then?" He continued to leaned against the wall, looking like a sexy Cybertronian statue. I merely nodded in agreement. "Yes, tomorrow." He smiled at me and said goodnight and went on his way; around the corner and down the hall.

I felt like I had been holding my breath or something. I heaved a long sigh, letting a lot of air out of my intakes. I walked into my quarters and plopped onto my recharge berth and thought about the days events. I had been on Earth for a little over a month and I already had a date with a mech. Could you even consider 'relieving stress' a date? Oh well. I dimmed my optic and closed my optic shutters and drifted off into a well deserved stasis.

So...you read it...now tell me what you think! I was up ALL night writing this because I wanted it to be really good. I really love it and I'm hoping you guys do too. I really hope this story doesn't sound mary-sue(ish). You guys know I'm not a mary-sue fan, so I tried to keep this as 'real' as possible!

Now....REVIEW!! Please? *hugs & kisses!!*