User blog:Bzero/Crosscut's Journal - 2017 November 22

Ambassador's Log, Earthdate 2017 November 22.

Spike suggested I keep a journal, so this is my first attempt. I feel I’ve been far too busy before now to start one, although if I’m honest with myself I might just have been procrastinating – I’m sure I can make a little time to record my thoughts, if for just my own use if not for posterity. For now I’ll record quick notes about what I’m currently thinking, and then I can embellish about individual topics later at greater length.

One subject weighing heavily on my mind is the situation in Antar. Their leader, Antarah Shibbadd, is a great warrior-poet who brought the entire insect population together under one rule. Now his peaceful governance is threatening to fall apart under the threat of civil war. Something or someone is fomenting dissent among his people and he’s asked the Autobots to step in under a peacekeeping mission. I want to help, but I’m not sure intervening is the right thing to do. I must think on it.

Another situation is our diminishing supply of lead sulfite crystals. An ample supply of them can be found on Femax, but their matriarchal leader will not deal with male delegates of any kind – and most of our leaders read as “male” to sexually dimorphic species. I need to speak to Elita One about sending a contingent of "Female Autobots" to barter with them. Maybe I could send our newest visitor Windblade with them to observe our negotiations first-hand.

A trickier subject is Nebulos. From what I’ve gathered, the planet is run by a malevolent group of telekinetic organics called “The Hive.” Their technology is advancing rapidly, and we’ve already met one member of their species off-world. My concern is that their leadership seems a natural fit for an alliance with the Decepticons, if they reach Nebulos before we do. I want to travel there on a fact-finding mission, which would require a team of diplomats, security, and spies.

One person I want on my team would be Spike. Spike has shown real potential as an ambassador – especially when thrown into situations where he can’t over-prepare and has to rely on his natural instincts. I greatly prefer emissaries pulled from other walks of life – our focused diplomatic corps seems overrun with slick PR types and mistrustful spies. I’ll take a mechanic with an honest outlook every time.

Lastly, there’s that new guest I’d mentioned – Windblade. She seems pleasant – I dragged Spike out of bed to help give her a warm welcome, and he did an excellent job giving her a positive first impression of Earth organics, as I intended. She claims to hail from a lost colony founded by Caminus. If this is true, there might be others like her out there, which is an exciting prospect. She also has a natural empathy for communicating directly with Metroplex, which has Red Alert at wit’s end. I’m trying not to be amused.

This is probably rumination enough for now. I’d show it to Spike, but I don’t want him to become too big for his britches, as the local vernacular goes. I try to dole out just the right amount of praise to provide assurance without promoting overconfidence. While he’s still learning I want him to continue trying his hardest, and not to simply fall into a routine based on past successes. His inherent goodness is his best asset – even more important than his skill at diplomacy and genius with repairs.