It didn't take me long to compile the items I was going to give to XCOM. All I had to do for the weapons was examine the designs used in my units, then produce the weapons separate from the platforms they were to be mounted on. Modifying an alloy foundry allowed me to create sheets of the stuff for usage by XCOM, which I eventually planned to spread to the rest of mankind. The aircraft data was easily fitted onto a tablet. The trickiest thing to package was the energy tech, as I had to mount a reactor onto a tank chassis in order to move it to the trade location. Still, it wasn't too hard to do, all things considered.

XCOM had designated a specific set of coastline be our trading site, and had arranged for the exchange to occur five hours after our meeting. I arrived with half an hour to spare.

Much to my surprise, XCOM was already there. Well, that was rather impressive.

Let the meeting begin.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ricardo Torres watched as the aircraft touched down. It resembled an Old Earth dropship, though far slimmer. External appearance of the area where the cockpit should be implied it was a drone of some sort. It deposited its cargo before immediately evacuating the area. Three more repeated this process, before a final craft landed. This one matched the design specifications of the ship that this Commander Flame had used to arrive at the Summit some time ago. Sure enough, the foreign commander emerged from the ship, accompanied by a cadre of marines. Oddly, he was wearing a black helmet, with white eyes and several lines on it, with the lines being red, blue, or yellow. It looked rather ridiculous in Torres' opinion.

"I'll admit I'm surprised to see you here so early."

"Best to make sure that we've had time to roll out the red carpet," came the response of his C.O., Jerome Davis.

And to make sure that you aren't laying any traps for us.

"Fair enough," replied Commander Flame. "I've numbered the crates 1-4. The first one has laser and ballistic weapons tech in it, the second torpedo technology, the third one of my energy generators, and the fourth contains the alloys I use to build my machines. As for the aircraft data-"

The foreign commander seemed to fumble around with his attire for a moment, before fishing out an electronic tablet and offering it to them.

"-it's all on here."

The team's ranger and designated point man - er, point woman, Louise DuPont, cautiously approached the Commander, not that Torres was complaining. Even if this Commander Flame had been nice, they weren't entirely sure that he was trustworthy. He might be hiding important facts from them.

Like, for example, thought Torres, How he knew about the Ethereals, Tasoths and Micronoids.

Now, normally, someone being left speechless when they learned mankind had been attacked by alien races three separate times (four, if the rumors about an invasion in the sixties taking place), the fact that their new acquaintance had stopped speaking for about ten seconds had been worrisome. Most of the staff back at base felt that their acquaintance had been silent for so long because he knew of those beings, which raised a whole new set of questions: How did he know about them. Was he an ally of one of those species? An enemy? Merely an acquaintance? Did he seek to conquer mankind? We're his intentions to help Chiron and man as a whole sincere?

All of these questions were worrisome, but for now, all they could do was wait and see what happened. Backing out now would be an insult to this new Commander and could push him to violence, if that wasn't his intention already. The last thing XCOM wanted to do was give an unknown enemy a pretext for war.

As soon as she was close enough, Louise took the tablet from the commander and began reading it.

"...Data checks out - it's on aircraft and the designs match up with what we've seen you use."

"Well, then, can we commence with the trade?

"I don't see why not."

With that, both the Commander and Torres' squad got to work: the commander had several robots move his weapons and equipment up to the dropships they'd assembled to make the trade, while SPARK units began moving XCOM's offer to the Commander's aircraft. As for the Firestorm and Manta, the Commander recalled two of his dropships and managed to hitch the sub and fighter up to them. Overall, the actual trade was a boring affair.

Before each container was loaded, the dropship crew and SPARKs examined them for an unauthorized equipment - namely, armed explosives. Better safe than sorry, regardless of how the Commander had acted toward them. Ultimately, everything did check out. Once the last container had been loaded, XCOM assisted the Commander with taking back his new toys, carefully loading their technology into the Commander's very spacious ship.

It took only half an hour to complete this process, ironically meaning that the meeting had ended when it had been set to begin.

"Well, it looks like our business here is finished," noted the Commander.

"Not yet," responded a new voice. Specifically, that of Hassan Al-Assad, the squad's sharpshooter. "We've still got one last thing to offer to you."

'Mostly just a goodwill gesture,' noted Torres, 'as it's doubtable you forces will need it.'

Carefully, a quartet of SPARKs pulled out a final equipment container and loaded it into the strange vessel, provoking a perplexed response from the Commander.

"May I examine this?" he questioned.

"You allowed us that courtesy, so we see no reason to deny it to you," was Torres response.

The Commander merely nodded curtly and, after opening the container, reached in and removed one of the items contained within. He eyes widened in shock at the sight.

It was a sword, of all things. A primitive one, but still undeniably effective as a weapon. A quick glance Inside revealed that the container carried several more swords, some with blades that could be superheated or ignited, as well as powerful drills. Archaic weapons for an adavanced age, but still able to perform admirably.

"...well, this is an unexpected, if welcomed, gift."

"You're welcome."

"Thank you. Now I must be going-"

Could you spare a moment? Command has one question they want answered," interrupted Torres."

"Of course. What is it?"

"Are you familiar with the Ethereals, Tasoths and/or Microphonoids?"

"...what?"

"You were silent for a long time after those names were mentioned, and XCOM would like to know why."

"...I've heard that they command armies of other aliens, but beyond that and the fact that they possess psychic powers or something similar, i cannot go into details on them."

'He's telling the truth,' noted Davis. 'That, or he's really good at controlling his thoughts. Pretty sure that he's honest, though?", because his first experience with psychic powers was a few days ago.'

Well, that did help to alleviate some of their fears.

"Well, I believe it is time I take my leave," remaked the Commander. This time, no one bothered to stop him. "Farewell."

"Safe travels."

Soon, the Commander had boarded his ship, which quickly ascended into the sky. XCOM followed suite, leaving the shoreline calm once more.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ugh. The psychic had been unexpected. My cover could've been smashed open if i hadn't taken advantage of the fact my brain was essentially a computer and forced my thoughts to conform to what I wanted the psychic to see.

Still, the rewards had been worth it: I now had guns and equipment from two different conflicts in my arsenal: the first from the First Alien War, and the second from the Second Alien War, which I assumed took place some time after that. Based on XCOM's remarks, the events of Apocalypse were taking place right now on Earth, though that begged the question of how XCOM maintained communication with Earth.

That, though, was a topic for later. For now, it was time to start integrating my gains into my arsenal.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

AN: Read, Review, and Leave Criticism for this story. Criticism is especially appreciated!

This is Flameal15k, signing off!