Things proceeded smoothly after I introduced myself, as the various leaders I was meeting with seemed to be more interested in understanding my interests rather than my choice of naming. Given that this was an event of massive political proportions, they likely found the oddities regarding my faction's name to be of trivial importance at the moment. A sentiment I was only too happy to share with them.

With a name to tack onto my forces now available, the assembled council wasted no time in attempting to learn exactly why I had arrived here, making my job quite a bit easier than expected.

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"So, Commander Flame," began Fielding, "am I correct to presume that you were the pilot of the colossal walker that arrived without warning onto this planet only slightly longer than a week ago?"

"Indeed, you are correct."

"Your walker arrived by means that were previously unknown to us accept in theoretical cases," remarked Vadim, "as it appeared that you reached our world by some form of teleportation. We have been making small steps into that field, but your people appear to have a much greater understanding of that area of study, given that they teleported you here within a three story high walker."

"We were lucky; we managed to find ruins belonging to an alien race that had mastered that field of research. When we managed to decipher their language, this was one of many boons we gained from their technology."

It wasn't a complete lie, and they'd probably buy it, at least for now.

'Nice job there,' responded Fide. 'You've allayed their fears without giving them too many other reasons to be suspicious of you.'

'I know, so what now?'

'Keep on answering their questions, and don't even questions that would compromise your cover story. If that happens, lie. We'll help you out as needed.'

Well, that was reassuring. Back to the conversation at hand.

"So, what was your homeworld like?" asked Moon. All things considered, he was likely trying to probe for intel on how my forces would act. The culture of a civilization was shaped by its home, which in turn shaped its armies; a desert world with few resources, for example, would produce people who value those resources to the best of their ability, which meant they'd have a small, but very powerful army.

"Not very different from this one in terms of environment," was my answer. This world had a variety of biomes on it, which helped ensure the cultural differences between the colonies did not break down, but instead grew and diverged even further. My comment indicated a varied culture, which meant a versatile and varied army.

"Interesting," replied Moon. "Garden worlds like this one are rare in the cosmos, so your seeding mission was exceptionally lucky to find one, just as ours were. "

"We were. Next question."

"My apologies for being blunt, senhor," began Reginaldo, "but I believe one question needs to be answered now."

"Well, what question is that?"

"This machine you arrived in, does it have any military capabilities?"

Well, leave it to the general to ask the most pressing question. Luckily, I'd prepared for this.

"Yes, it does. We did not want to send out an envoy here unarmed, so we did add weapon systems to the walker I arrived in. I assure you, though, that I have no intention of going to war with any of your colonies. We have decided not to interfere militarily with the running of your society."

Reginaldo relaxed at that statement. I doubted he was completely assured in regards to my intentions, but knowing that I preferred peace meant that he didn't have to worry about conflict in the immediate future. Hopefully, he wouldn't have to worry about it in the long term, either.

Next to speak was Hutama. "You said that you do not intend to interfere with the running of our society militarily, correct."

Wow, he noticed how suspiciously specific my answer to Reginaldo's query had been. No wonder he'd been chosen to lead Polystralia's Seeding Mission.

"Correct."

"Therefore, may we assume that you wish to seek more...benevolent paths when interacting with our colonies?"

"Indeed."

"I see. Are you interested in trade, then? Surely your superiors would send you out here unless they could expect something to gain from this venture?"

"You are, in your own words, spot-on."

'Nice,' responded Synais. 'Flatter him, it'll make him lower his guard, but don't try too hard, or he'll get suspicious.'

'Thanks for the advice.'

"You flatter me" was Hutama's response ,"but I believe that, for now, trade should not be our focus. There is so much more we'd like to know about your people first."

"Very well, what else would you like to know."

"Your superiors sent you here, knowing that there would be humans on the other side to interact with" began Kozlov.

"Yes, they did."

"That implies that they had a way to know that this world was inhabited. What was that?"

"The Progenitor ruins we encountered included designs for a scanner of sorts that could detect intelligent life, or at least communications sent by them. An advanced version of S.E.T.I., if you will. We ultimately owe much of our success to being lucky in regards to where our ship landed."

I knew that they still had information on S.E.T.I. from scanning their databases, so they wouldn't question me about that topic.

"So, can we presume that your people found us to be their closest neighbors in the cosmos and decided to pay us a visit?" asked Elodie.

"Not exactly."

"How so?" asked Hughes.

"Our reason for coming to this planet is that you have intact Progenitor ruins here. we determined this when one of your transmissions emitted a fragment of a signal we believe to have been made by that civilization."

"So, you came here to broaden your knowledge on the Progenitors?" asked Arshia.

"No."

"What do you mean by no?" asked Lena.

"The Progenitor ruins on our home-planet do not match the ones on this planet in terms of architectural design and other features. All evidence indicates that they belong to two distinct species."

"Are you saying that you are here to seek out the secrets of this new alien race?" asked Daoming.

"Correct. Helping your colonies advance, however, carries a higher level of priority."

"...Can we presume that you would be willing to offer some of your technology in exchange for the information you desire?" questioned Kavitha.

"...Correct."

"Well, then, I believe there are only a few more questions to ask," remarked Fielding. I was amazed no one seemed to take offense to her bluntness. Then again, it seemed as if everyone in this room had declared an unspoken truce to size up the unknown power using a Commander.

"And those would be?"

"What do you have to offer us?" asked Barre. "We are all interested in trying to work for our mutual benefits, Commander Flame, but you must realize that we will not make any agreements with you unless we are aware that we will not be cheated out of our greatest advancements for what would amount to pocket change."

'Be honest,' asked Kathikon. 'You should offer them the advanced engineering tech, plus some of the matter and energy creation technology you have. When you can break the laws of physics with ease, everyone is going to want your tech.'

"Very well. In exchange for knowledge about the Progenitors of this world, I am permitted to offer you advanced engineering technology. I'm sending the exact details on the technology I will offer now. Only after you have examined the specifications of my offer shall we continue our negotiations."

I probably should've mentioned this earlier, but everyone who had come to this summit had brought along a tablet with them, which I assumed was for examining presentations. Presumably, they expected me to offer one at some point during this summit. When the details of what I was offering them reached their screens, I was amused to see all of their faces light up in shock.

No surprise there, really. It was only natural to react this way when you found out that you were being given access to, let's see, nanolathes, reactors that could violate the law of conservation, and matter fabricators that could use said reactors to create an unlimited amount of mass. Access to these techs would eliminate the issue of scarcity form a society forever, which was every leader/economist's dream.

To be offered this in return for only a few research notes (or what amounted to them) was unbelievable, to say the least.

Eventually, the leaders managed to recover from their stupor and returned their thoughts (and attention) to me, after first having a (rather complex) conversation through facial expressions alone.

"We have examined your offer," remarked Barre, "and we have only one question."

"And that would be?"

"Do you have any other requests?"

'A favor would be nice,' noted Rory.

"Not at the moment, but could I Perhaps ask for a favor from all of you, to be invoked at a later date?"

The twelve people in front of me shared a glance, then nodded.

"We find those terms acceptable."

"Then we have accordance...I apologize, but I have no more to say at the moment."

"Understandable," responded Barre. "This meeting is now adjourned."

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Well, that went better than I expected. Way better than I expected.

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AN: Well, finally got this out. Just a heads up, I have college and a job to manage, so updates may be less frequent.

Senhor is, according to google translate, Portuguese for sir. Since Brazil was colonized by Portugal, I assume that he would speak Portuguese instead of Spanish, though in retrospect, I wouldn't be surprised if he spoke both.

Sorry for no Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Jokes!

Read and Review (seriously, criticism is needed to make this story better)! This is Flameal15k, signing off!