here it is- my very first story which i'm very excited for you all to read! i will try to update this story at least once a week

this takes place around the middle of the war, and just know that some of the characters (optimus/elita/chromia) might be a lil ooc so just bear with me

and without further ado, please read, hopefully enjoy, and maybe write a lil review :))


Chapter 1

Breathe, Elita, breathe.

She walked into the small office, seeing to mechs sitting at their desks, quietly talking to each other, unknown of her presence. Taking in her surroundings, she noticed the broad use of the Autobots insignia painted on the walls. She held her hands to her chest, feeling her very own spark beat hard, fearing it would burst out of her chest.

'You've trained for this, Elita. This is what you wanted, to help the cause. To end this fraggin' war.' she thought to herself as she took a shaky step forward, but soon stepped back.

'I'm about to sign my life away! What about a sparkmate? Will you ever find that here? Or a sparkling? You - we - always wanted a sparkling, but joining the military? That won't get you a sparkling! That'll get you deactivated!' she scolded herself harshly as she closed her optics, breathing deeply.

"May I help you?" She was torn out of her thoughts when she heard a deep, but gentle grab her attention. Looking up, she saw one of the mechs, a red one, looking up at her. "Are you looking for your sparkmate, ma'am?" he asked as she shook her head.

"Oh, n-no. I'm actually here to enlist." She stepped forward to the desk, keeping eye contact with the red mech.

"Really? Hear that, Jazz? Another femme is here to enlist!" The red mech said, excitement clear in his voice. "So, what brings you here? Chasing after a mech?" he asked with a smile as Elita nervously laughed.

"C'mon, Hide! Maybe she wants to help put an end to the war, right?" The sliver mech, Jazz, said as the femme nodded, looking around the office.

"Y-Yeah, I'm really tired of this war, and I just want to help." she said with confidence in her voice as the red mech gestured for her to sit in the chair a few feet away from his desk.

"Just need some background tests and questions, about health, if that's okay?" She nodded her head, scooting her chair closer to his desk. "You've never had rusting, cybonic plague, or any illnesses that are spreadable, have you?" The mech asked as Jazz snickered, looking at his computer.

"Oh, Ironhide, always one with the ladies." The silver mech said as Elita chuckled lightly, shaking her head.

"No, I've never had any sickness or illness." she said, Ironhide typing in into the computer.

"Your name, age, district which you came from, and any combat skills i.e. where you trained."

"Uh, Elita-One, fourth district of Iacon City, and I-I trained at an academy within the Cybertronian Elite Guard." she said shyly, Jazz looking up from his computer. Ironhide looked up at her, amazement clear in his blue optics.

"You trained where Optimus Prime and Sentinel Prime were trained!" Jazz said excitedly, coming up to her, kneeling. "Why didn't you enlist earlier in the war?"

Optimus Prime. She'd heard that name before. Many times, in fact. The leader and commander of the Autobot army. Holder of the Matrix of Leadership. Supposedly strikingly handsome and selflessly brave. She'd heard all the rumors from fellow comrades. Mainly from her close friend, Chromia and her former commander, Sentinel Prime. May he rest in the pits of Unicron, alone and-

"Elita?" She shook out of her thoughts and cleared her throat, rapidly blinking her azure blue optics.

"I was ordered to protect the youth centers in Iacon City and Kalis, but Kalis was attacked, as were the youth sectors, and I was put permanently with Iacon." Elita explained as Jazz nodded, looking up at Ironhide.

"We rescued a sparkling from Kalis. But I don't think he was in a youth center," Ironhide said. "Optimus and one of our medics found him in an abandoned building a few miles outside the city." he said, Elita grimacing.

"Yeah, I heard about Kalis. I was assigned to be in Iacon that day, thankfully."

Jazz stood up and leaned on Ironhide's desk. "So why enlist all of a sudden?"

"One of my friends, Chromia, told me that I should enlist, and I always listen to her." she said, laughing nervously as Ironhide chuckled. "I just want to help you guys win the war." The red mech smiled, typing into his computer.

"Okay, Jazz'll take you to the med bay for some tests and then we'll circle back here for to finish and finalize some things." Ironhide said as Elita nodded, standing up.

"This way, madam." Jazz lead her out of the office and into a vacant hallway, Elita noticing the lack of soldiers.

"Where is everyone?" she asked quietly as Jazz looked behind, noticing the emptiness of the hallway.

"Optimus and one of our officers, Prowl, are leading a mission right now. Some are with them, others are either recharging or training." he said as they rounded a corner, walking into a room with many berths and tables. "Ratchet." Jazz called out. "Ratchet!"

"What?!" An irritated voice yelled back. From his desk he emerged, dragging his feet against the floor as he faced Jazz and Elita. "What new, stupid task have you bestowed on me today?" The annoyed mech asked, his eyes suddenly widening. He looked at Elita, blinking his optics.

"H-Hi," The femme said quietly, Jazz snickering. "I'm supposed to get a check up."

"This is Elita, our new recruit." The silver mech said as Ratchet stepped forward, holding his hand out.

"I-I hope I'm not a burden or anything," Elita said, grabbing the mech's hand, shaking it. Ratchet shook his head and chuckled, leading her to an examination berth.

"Oh, not at all, my dear. I apologize, Jazz sometimes inflicts stupid and useless tasks for me." The Autobot explained as Elita hopped onto the berth, waiting for further instructions.

"Just doin' my job, Ratchet. My job to annoy you, my dear friend." Jazz said, leaning against one of the berths. Ratchet glared at him as he grabbed on of his scanners, facing back to the femme.

"I'm gonna do a quick scan of you," he said gently as Elita nodded, sitting up straightly. Ratchet tapped the buttons on his scanner and held it towards the femme, scanning her petite body. He pulled the scanner back, reviewing the results, logging them into a data pad. "Ironhide sent me your background info, you haven't had rust or any illness, correct?"

Elita shook her head. "T-That's correct. I've never had any type of illness or anything like that." she confirmed, Ratchet nodding his head. "Do you have to run any tests?"

"Not unless you have a disease, like rust, or are carrying a sparkling in your abdomen." he said, looking up at her. "Are you?" A blush crept to her cheeks.

"N-No, I don't even have a sparkmate." she said with a nervous laugh.

"Well, scans are clear. There's nothing wrong with them, so you are clear." he said as she hopped off the berth. "Oh, Primus! I completely forgot to introduce myself. I'm Ratchet, the medical officer. If you're ever feeling under the weather, I'm the mech you come to." Elita smiled and nodded.

"Thank you, Ratchet." Elita said as she walked over to Jazz, the two walking out of the med bay.

"See ya, Ratch." Jazz said before the two bots walked down the hall. The silver mech glanced at the femme, noticing how she looked down as she walked. "You're a very quiet femme." She looked up at him nervously.

"I'm not very good at communicating with other bots. I usually sat at posts alone when I stood outside youth centers. I-I'm sorry," she stammered as Jazz chuckled, placing his arm on her shoulder.

"Don't be sorry. I totally get it." She smiled at him as they both made their way back into the office. Elita sat back down on the chair in front of Ironhide's desk, waiting upon further instructions.

"Scans are being uploaded to your file, and you should be good to go in just a few klicks." Elita sat back in her chair, playing with her fingers as Jazz looked at her file from his data pad.

"What was your rank in the Elite Guard?" Jazz asked as Elita perked her head up.

"Uh, I was a second lieutenant to my commanding officer, Sentinel Prime." she said quietly as Ironhide looked up at her, completely and utterly shocked. "I guess I should have mentioned that earlier?" she said nervously as Ironhide chuckled.

"That would have been helpful, yes. I have you in the system as a cadet, unless you'd like to prove that you could be more than a soldier, perhaps an officer or a commander?" Elita looked at him and then to Jazz.

"What would I have to do to prove my worthiness?" Ironhide leaned back into his chair, crossing his arms. Jazz sighed heavily, tapping a finger on his chin.

"It would be a test, of course. Perhaps a combat and weapon skills test. To show and prove to our commander that you are worthy of an officer or commander title." Ironhide said, looking at Elita. "It's all your choice."

She thought for a moment. She liked being a second lieutenant in Sentinel's army. Army. Not Sentinel himself. He was an asshole to her, made her feel weaker than she actually was. She'd imagine that Optimus was the same, they were both Primes after all.

'Sentinel always treated me like I was a youngling, he thought I was stupid. What if Optimus is the same way? Mentor like student, right?' Thoughts swirled through her mind as she shook her head, bringing her back to reality.

"Uh, yeah. I could test my skills." she said after an astrosecond of silence. Ironhide stood up and grabbed her file from Jazz, looking at her.

"We'll keep this in standby until you've been tested. I'll have Chromia show you around base and your personal quarters. Although if and when you pass the test, you'll be given much bigger quarters as an official commander." he said as she stood up. "Chromia, could you come to the recruitment center for a moment?" he said into his comm link, Jazz going back to sit on his chair.

"Sure thing, sweetness."

Elita frowned. Sweetness? Since when did Chromia use pet names for anyone? The femme stood awkwardly as she heard light footsteps come closer and closer until a light blue femme stood in the doorway with her hand upon her waist.

"Well it's about damn time that you've enlisted! We could have used you decacycles ago!" Chromia said as she ran to her friend, engulfing her in a big hug, Elita yelping in surprise.

"Good to see you, Mia," Elita said quietly, wrapping her arms around her friend, squeezing her tightly.

"Can you show her base and her personal quarters?" Ironhide asked as he walked up to the blue femme, Elita pulling away from her friend. He placed a hand on her lower back, Elita looking through her sapphire blue optics.

"Sure thing," Chromia winked at the red mech, hooking her arm through Elita's, and the two femmes walked out of the office.

"So . . . sweetness?" Elita spoke after a few seconds of silence, looking at her friend. "You never told me that you were seeing someone." Chromia chuckled softly as she pulled her off to the side of the hallway.

"Yeah, I guess I failed to mention that, but nonetheless. You finally enlisted! Putting those Elite Guard and combat skills to good use," Chromia said, pulling Elita forward.

"So, are you an officer or something?" Elita asked as the two femmes walked further down the hall, stopping in front of a shooting range.

"Yeah, I'm a combat skills officer, Optimus promoted me after I had a one on one fight with one of Megatron's first commanders." Elita widened her optics, amazed. "The end result was extremely painful, but it was so worth it, I get to yell at new recruits now." Elita looked at her. "I'm surprised you're a recruit and not an officer."

"Uh, Ironhide said that he would test me, my combat and weapon skills." Chromia smiled as Elita looked down at her feet. "I'd like to be an officer, or a commander. To prove that I'm something in this war, not just looking for a mate."

"I can promise you Optimus is noting like Sentinel." The blue bot said, making Elita look up at her. "He's . . . not controlling or angry like Sentinel was, he's caring and humble. He'll actually listen to femmes rather then staring at them." Chromia said, laughing lightly.

"So, I assume this is the weapons center?" Elita asked, changing the subject. Chromia noticed her hunching position, but chose not to question her. She knew what could happen if she pushed Elita's boundaries, it could turn ugly in the matter of nanoklicks.

"Yes, ma'am. Our shooting and practicing range along where we keep our weapons." Chromia explained as they both entered the room, noticing a few soldiers cleaning their pistols. "Ironhide hold these practice sessions every fee cycles to make sure soldiers actually know what they're doing." Elita looked around, seeing a locked cabinet with lots of rifles and guns, along with a pin code near the lock. "And the room next is the rec room, where we have couches and hologram with old TV shows and sports games, mainly Cube."

Elita followed her friend out of the shooting range to the room, seeing a nice, calming environment. She noticed a stack of energon cubes and a row of cups that sat in the corner of the room, along alongside a bin of toys.

"We have a few rooms that are open to cadets, like the rec room, obviously, the shooting range, and then the combat skills, or gym, room. Soley used to train and help cadets who've just enlisted. That's also where you'll have your test, if you don't chicken out." Chromia said with a smile, Elita shaking her head playfully.

"Surely you know me better than that." she said quietly, continuing to follow Chromia up a flight of stairs, where rows and rows of rooms stood.

"So here are all the cadet recharging and personal quarters. When you do pass the test, there's a big ol' room next to mine." Elita followed het into a vacant room, seeing a desk, a chair and a recharging berth, as well as a small closet.

"Do you really think I'll be a good officer?" she asked, sitting down on the berth. Chromia snorted loudly, playfully pushing her friend.

"Lita, of course you'll be a good officer! You were second lieutenant to Glitch Head himself! You'd be a great officer, commander, captain whatever!" Chromia said as Elita straightened up. "You've got to get your self esteem up, or else you'll be stuck as a cadet for who knows how long. Believe in yourself, Lita!"

Alarms rang throughout the base as Eliat jolted forward, shocked at the loudness of the alarms. "Are we being attacked?" she asked, Chromia shaking her head.

"Nope, Optimus and his troops are returning from a mission. C'mon!" The blue femme grabbed her friend's arm, pulling her out of the recharging quarters and quickly down the stairs, seeing a large group of mechs, their armor tainted with dirt and mech fluid.

"All injured, report to the med bay with Ratchet and First Aide, all those uninjured, go to your recharging quarters. Get some rest." A powerful, but gentle voice said over the incoming troops. Elita peeped over Chromia's shoulder, gazing at the red and blue mech that stood alongside a white and blue mech, both of their optics focused on a data pad.

"That's Optimus and Prowl. Prowl's his first lieutenant and close friend. Maybe you'll meet him after your test." Chromia said quietly as Elita continued to look at Optimus, taking in all of his features.

He had broad shoulders and a broad chest, but gentle and caring optics. She studied his body posture, noticing how he stood up straight, completely opposite to her own posture. She saw him cross his arms and quietly speak to Prowl, she assumed it was about their previous mission.

"C'mon, let's get you settled in." Chromia pulled Elita away, the femme giving one last look at the mech before following her friend back into the office to finalize some things.