A/N: Sasha: Hey, all. Most of you are probably wondering why I'm doing this, and not SilverIceAngel, right? Well--
            *in the background* AH-CHOO!!!

Sasha: -_- SIA has gone and caught a wonderful cold, and SOMEONE has to do it…

SIA: *snuffle* And SOMB by buses are being bean and wouldn't do it.

Spinout: Huh?

Sasha: Translation: 'And SOME of my muses are being mean and wouldn't do it.'

SIA: *nods* Thanks Sasha ^^

Sasha: No prob'. Just keep those lovely cold germs on the *other* side of the room.

SIA: *sulk*

Spinout: Well, let's go!

Disclaimer: I'm gonna stop saying this, because I hope by now it's obvious that I don't own TF: Armada. I do own Sasha, Saria, and Spinout. We all know this, right? Good..

Multicolored lights raced outside of Optimus's windows. Sasha felt lightheaded, her body all tingly, as if every muscle were asleep. Then, just as quickly as it started, everything slammed back into reality. Sasha shook her head.

"Whoa."

"You all right?" Optimus asked.

Sasha grinned. "Can we do that again?!" she laughed. Spinout shook his head and dragged her out of the Autobot leader's cab.

I haven't even known you a day, and I think I already know you too well.
            "What's that supposed to mean?" Sasha demanded, watching Sparkplug drag her bike out so his leader could transform.

Optimus, now in robot mode, shook his head, then turned to the rest of his team. "Red Alert, take our new friend here to the repair bay; that shoulder needs to be repaired."

"Yes sir," Red Alert replied, moving towards Spinout. Just then, a small clammer came from the door, and three kids ran out, followed by three minicons. Sasha estimated the kids to be a couple years younger than her.

"Hey guys! Did you get the minicon?" the brown skinned boy said. The minicon behind him beeped and waved to Spinout.

"Popular, aren't you?" Sasha said.

"Hey, who's that?" The boy in the blue shirt asked.
            "Uh, my name's Sasha. Sasha Vione."

"I'm Rad," the blue-shirt boy replied, "This is Carlos and Alexis." He indicated the other boy and a brown haired girl standing with him.

"How'd you get caught up in this?" Alexis wanted to know.

"I found Spinout, was attacked by a deranged helicopter, and got picked up by these guys. Not bad for a day's work, hmm?" Sasha said with a grin, "Definitely not something I expected to happen on a harmless dirt bike ride."

"Cool," Carlos said, "Hey, check it out." He pointed to where Spinout out and the other minicon's were beeping at making gestures at each other.

"The blue one with the white optics is Highwire, Rad's partner," Alexis explained, "the orange one is Sureshock, my partner and--"
            "And Grindor's my pal," Carlos finished.

Sasha grinned again, but her smile faded when she noticed Spinout's shoulder begin spark. The minicon gripped it with the opposite hand. Highwire looked at it and beeped.

"He says that looks pretty painful," Rad translated.

I could have told you THAT Spinout answered.

Red Alert moved forward and picked Spinout up. "Let's get you fixed up," he said, turning. The other Autobots moved off as well. Sasha looked at the humans.

"Uh, I'll see you later. I want to go with them. Besides, Red Alert said he'd look at my bike."

"That's what that is?" Carlos said, pointing to Sasha's bike, "I couldn't tell."

Sasha gave him a glare. "So everyone keeps pointing out," she muttered.
            "Sasha, I want to speak with you later, once Spinout's shoulder is repaired."

"Oh, okay." Sasha said.

Alexis put a hand on her shoulder. "C'mon, I'll show you where the Med bay is." She grinned. "It's nice to have another girl around," she added as they walked away.

Optimus watched them go, then looked down at Rad and Carlos. "How long have you been here?"

"Oh, we got here about an hour ago. We would've come right after school but," Rad rubbed the back of his head with one hand, "Carlos and I got detention. Alexis decided to wait for us, so we were a little late. When we got here, we found nobody around, saw the location on the screen, and figured you guys must've gone after a new minicon."

"What about the new girl, Sasha? Can she stay here?" Carlos asked.

"I don't know..." Optimus said. To be honest, he wanted to avoid getting any more humans involved in this war, but it seemed like it couldn't be helped. "We'll see after I talk with her." He left for the command center. Carlos left to find Billy and Fred. Rad hesitated for a moment, then headed off towards the repair bay.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sasha watched as Red Alert worked on Spinout's shoulder. For such a huge robot, he was gentle. Spinout never even flinched as Red Alert tweaked various wires and patched this or that.

"How did you run into the Autobots?" Alexis asked.
            Sasha looked over at her. "To be blunt? Spinout and I were about to become scrap, and Red Alert blasted Cyclonus off our tail. Lousy helicopter, "she muttered.

Red Alert put away the tool he'd been using. "Finished. Luckily he only hit your shoulder," he told the minicon, "The shot just missed your main circuits."

Sasha walked over to her friend. "How do you feel?"

Good as new. Red's an expert Spinout beeped.

A robot named Hot Shot, whom Sasha recognized as the one who had grinned at her before, had brought her bike to the bay a little while ago. "If you leave your bike here, I can have it repaired in no time, " Red Alert said.

Sasha grinned. "Thanks." She looked at Spinout again, and felt guilty.

"Thank you. You saved my life, Spinout, " she said, "I'm sorry. You got hit because you were weighted down by carrying me."

Don't worry about it. We made a pretty good team. That was a nice shot with the rock he added, You've got good aim

"Unfortunately for Cyclonus."

Spinout laughed, and held out a hand. Partners?

Sasha took it. "You bet."

Alexis grinned. "Hey, Optimus wanted to see you. His quarters are down the hall to your left. Once you're done, come back here. I'll show you around, " she offered.

Sasha gave her a thumbs up. "Coming, Spinout?"

Yup Spinout looked at the medic standing behind him. Thanks, Red Alert

"No problem."

Sasha beckoned to her minicon. "Let's go find Optimus."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Optimus was in his room, tapping away at a keyboard, when his audios picked up a timid tapping on the door.

"Enter."

The door slid aside to reveal Sasha and Spinout. Optimus closed whatever he was working on and turned to face them.

"How's the shoulder, Spinout?"

Better than before, thank you, Optimus sir.

"You wanted to speak to me?" Sasha said. Spinout elbowed her. Patience wasn't always her strong point.

"Yes." Optimus nodded, holding his hand down for her again. Both she and Spinout climbed on to it, and Optimus set them on the desk he'd been working at. Sasha sat down cross-legged.

"I've told you the story of our war with the Decepticons," Optimus began, "And you saw today how dangerous they can be. They will do anything to get the minicons. Because the minicon ship landed here, your planet has become a new battleground for us. If at all possible, I'd like to avoid getting humans tangled up in this at all, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen. The minicons were reawakened by the kids, and I'm grateful for their help," he added, "but it gets dangerous. You saw our battle today. The two of you were lucky."

Spinout beeped in agreement.

"I'd like you, Spinout, to stay with us, where it's safe. If you leave, I can promise you that the Decepticons will hunt you down. Sasha, what you do is up to you. If you go home, I'll have to ask you to promise not to reveal the fact that we're here or the location of the base to anyone. It would be too risky."

Sasha stood up. "I understand. Don't worry, Optimus, I won't say a word to anybody. Besides, who'd believe me if I did?" she said with a grin. "However," she added seriously, "I'd also like to stay and help you guys out. I heard what you said," Sasha spoke quickly, before Optimus could say anything, "It isn't the safest thing to do; maybe not the smartest either. I'm not known for doing the smart thing. But Spinout's my friend, and I don't want to leave him. And I think I like you guys, " she said, remembering Hotshot's grin when she'd first saw the 'Bots, Red Alert's gentle hands when fixing Spinout, and Optimus's calm voice. "I want to help. And you guys did save my life. Please, Optimus, can I help?"
            Optimus watched the young human. Her request was earnest, and he didn't want to separate her from her minicon friend if he could help it. It was obvious that Spinout had become attached to the girl. Still, there were too many humans involved already...

Spinout looked up at the Autobot leader. You don't have to worry about her safety, Optimus. I'll do everything I can to protect her Sasha looked at Spinout, rather touched. One of his optics flickered in what was unmistakably a wink. She looked at Optimus again.

"Alright," he said finally, "you can help us. Just be careful."

Sasha couldn't help it; she jumped up with a whoop. "Alright!! Thanks, Optimus!"

Optimus smiled behind his faceplate. Inwardly, he admitted he probably couldn't have said no if he'd wanted too. A willing volunteer was welcome.

Sasha smiled at Spinout. "Alexis said she'd show us around, and I'd like to meet the others. Let's go!" she said, taking a step forward, then remembered she was on a desk taller than a house. Spinout's hand zipped out and snagged her by the back of her jacket before she fell off.

Please, don't make him rethink his decision before you even get out of his office Spinout bleeped exasperatedly.

"Eh heh...oops," Sasha said. She waited till Optimus lowered them both to the ground, then waved to the Autobot Leader once more, and left the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alexis and Rad showed Sasha around the base. Spinout left them at some point to go see the other minicons, after sternly telling Sasha to stay out of trouble.

"What school do you go to?" Rad wanted to know.

"High Desert High School," Sasha answered, "Grade 10."

"That's where I've seen you!" he said, "You were in our school last year...the junior high."

"Yup," she said.

"...And this is the control room," Alexis was saying. Sasha looked at what Alexis was talking about and her mouth fell open a bit. It was huge; a room complied almost entirely of computers, most of which dwarfed her.

"Whenever a new minicon is found, the location is pinpointed from here."

"Nice," Sasha said, then looked up at the three bots in the room, "Hey."

"Sasha, this is Jetfire," Alexis said, indicating the white and red bot who'd spoken to her before, "Smokescreen," the orange bot with a crane over one shoulder, "and Sideswipe," a bot with optics that almost looked like sunglasses. "You already know Hot Shot."

"Hi," Sasha said, then looked over where a smaller, human sized terminal sat. "Hey, can I try that?" she asked, looking at the others.

Jetfire shrugged. "Go ahead, but there probably won't be much you can get into. We had a problem or two with viruses, and everything's pretty much encrypted..." He trailed off as Sasha made her way over to the computer and started tapping away. Moments later, numbers scrolled across the screen.

"Oh wow, I've never seen a system like this before," she said, looking at the screen, "The firewall is good...code is familiar…I could have fun with something like this." She turned and noticed everyone was staring at her. "What?"

Sideswipe spoke first. "How did you get into the system? Like Jetfire said, everything's locked down."

"Oh, that. Maybe I should've said this before, but I've got some skills for hacking into things." She shrugged, "I like a challenge, so I play around with codes and stuff, and I examine firewalls and viruses and stuff in my spare time." She turned back to the computer, clicked away some more and the screen went blank.

"So, you just hacked into our computers?" Smokescreen said pointedly.
            Sasha grinned. "Uh, yeah...sorry about that. I didn't touch anything. Not that you'd notice if I did. One of my specialties is hiding my tracks," she said confidently.

"It might have been better to point that out beforehand," Optimus added, coming into the room. Spinout was following him.

Sasha blushed. "I'm sorry. I won't touch it again."

"I was speaking to Red Alert, he said it would take no time at all to repair your bike."

"Woo hoo!" Sasha cheered, " Thank Red Alert for me."

You won't really need it, not with me around anyway Spinout told her.

Rad's watch sounded. Sasha glanced at him. "What time is it, anyway?"

The boy looked at his watch. "Nine o'clock"

Sasha looked horrified. "Nine o'clock?! Oh man, I'm dead meat! I told Mom I'd be home an hour and a half ago!" She looked up at her new friends, "Sorry, but I seriously gotta go. My mother's gonna kill me...she's probably wondering where the heck I am."

"What about your bike?" Hot Shot said, "Won't she notice you don't have it?"

Sasha thought for a minute. "I'll tell her I got a flat tire and left it at Saria's."

"Who's Saria?" Alexis wanted to know.

"My best friend. I was dirt biking with her today."

"You didn't mention you were with anyone else," Optimus said. He was reminding Sasha of a parent.

"I didn't think it was important. She left before I saw you guys or found Spinout," she explained, "If you're thinking what I think you're thinking, Optimus, then you don't have to worry. Saria didn't see anything. She wasn't even there."

"I see. You better get home, if your mother will be worried. You kids should go home as well," Optimus told Rad and Alexis.

"All right," Alexis said, "Hey, Sasha, come by the junior high after school. We can ride to the base together."

"Sure," Sasha agreed. "See you guys tomorrow, then."

Hot Shot stepped forward. "I can give you a lift home," he offered.

"Great! Thanks," she grinned. Sasha waved to the other humans and Autobots before following Hot Shot out of the room.

After the two had left, Jetfire turned to look at Optimus. "Do you think she's right about her friend? What if this Saria hung around afterwards and saw us?"

"Sasha sounded sure that she was alone. We'll have to trust her judgment," Optimus said.

           
            A/N: Sorry if this is moving slowly. I'll try to speed it up.

            Sasha: Why did I almost fall off a desk?

SIA: Because you're you, I'm the author, and I said so. Now get back in there *indicates Armada universe*

Sasha: Hmmph. *mumbles something about evil, insane authors*

Spinout: I don't think you should say that around somebody who kinda holds controls your existence...

Sasha: Her? Control me?

SIA: *glares at Sasha* *lightbulb* *types something into her laptop*

Sasha: *is suddenly suspended over a cage of ravenous wolves...and the rope is breaking* O_O

Spinout: *beeps nervously*

SIA: Don't worry...I'll write her out of there before the rope breaks. Can't kill off my own character you know...well, at least, not yet *evil grin*

Spinout: *slowly edges away from SIA *

Sasha: Heeeeelp!!! Alright, I'm sorry, already!

SIA: ^_^ Now, was that so hard? *starts to type something into her laptop*

*Power Outage*

SIA: O_o Uh oh...

Sasha: O_O

Spinout: O_O

*down in SIA 's basement*

Cyclonus: *holding a fuse from SilverIce's fusebox* HA! That's for hitting me in the nose with a rock, brat!   

Sasha: *is being chased around the cage by wolves* HEEEELP!!!

SIA: Right, well, I'll try to find a light so I can write Sasha away from the wolves, get Cyclonus the heck outta my basement, and start the next chapter of this fic.