"Sir, we'll be arriving shortly." The pilots voice echoed through the speaker in the luxury cabin.
Alex silently acknowledged the announcement and continued to study the book in his hand.
He was currently on his private jet on route to America's most hated enemy, Russia.
A short while later the jet touched down smoothly under the gaze of the Russian delegation that eagerly awaited it's arrival.
'Five snipers just for me?' Alex immediately checked his surroundings as he stepped off his jet and moved towards a well dressed old man that was surrounded by armed soldiers.
"Your country has a beautiful way of welcoming guests." Alex spoke in perfect Russian to the old man as his eyes sharpened as if demanding an answer.
"Apologies, I'm sure you understand our situation with the United States," The man tried to ease the tensions while he led Alex towards an armoured car, " When we first got news of your visit to the motherland we couldn't be certain it wasnt some CIA ploy."
Nodding as he opened the car, Alex didn't press for answers and prepared to visit the Kremlin.
Soon they arrived Infront of a large building and the envoy wasted no time and led Alex through the decorated halls of the Kremlin towards the meeting room scheduled for him.
Alex was brought to a door as the envoy told Alex to enter and left. Alex however keenly noticed the two armed guards seemed to flinch the closer he got to them.
He payed them no mind however and swiftly opened the door and entered.
The room on the other side was quite spacious. A round table was positioned in it's centre while historical paintings and artwork displaying Russias history and fierce battles in war lined the walls in an expensive display of the countryside pride.
After observing for a moment, Alex turned his attention to the only other person in the room sitting by the table. Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia.
The two eyed eachover for a moment before Alex sat down opposite to Putin and smiled warmly.
"It's an honour to meet you, president Putin." Alex said with respect.
"Just Putin is fine, Mr Alexander." Hearing Alex's perfect Russian, Putin instantly gained a more favourable opinion of the American.
"Then Just call me Alex." He added.
Putin nodded and the smile on his face disappeared into a look of extreme focus.
"Alex then, I believe you know why we called you here?"
Alex nodded and Putin continued,"American global dominance has lasted for far to long, not only has it gained untold wealth it also has access to Vought and Compound V,"
The look in the presidents eyes showed his irritation ," This cannot continue!"
Russia was not alone in this sentiment, America was simply to Powerful with Vought as an ally. If any country wanted to face America in war they would need to constantly worry about the advanced medical prosthetics bring soldiers back from death and even the threat of superhuman soldiers joining the battle at any moment.
Other countries couldn't possibly compete without some sort of equaliser to level the playing field.
Of course, Alex already knew this and so had more leverage to use.
"I see, and you called me here to help solve this problem?", The smile on Alex's face widened considerably," That won't come cheap you know."
Putin looked at the man Infront of him with weariness, as he knew full well how greedy capitalists could be.
"Russia has many ways to pay, whatever you want is yours!"
While Vladimir may have sounded desperate, his worrys were valid, as at any point America could start expanding NATO and they would be powerless to stop it.
"Very well, although I hope you can keep this meeting confidential, after all I do love in America." Vladimir nodded as Alex stood up.
He took out a small all black orb and set it on the table Infront of Putin. The orb then activated and a holographic display of a blueprint appeared above it.
The blueprint showed some sort of exoskeleton.
"This is one of my favourites, the Omni directional exoskeleton, or ODE gear for short." As Alex finished the holographic display shifted to show a soldier running on walls and leaping two stories high.
"As you can see, it allows the average soldier enhanced strength and speed, giving low tier superhuman abilities while the soldier is using it." Alex quickly explained.
"This is revolutionary, Warfare will never be the same!" Putin looked at the design in awe. While it may not match up to superhumans as well as the Sandevistan, it could be a true nightmare for the average unpowered human.
"Glad you like it, however there's one more
I'm sure you'd appreciate." Alex switched the holographic display again.
The display showed some sort of small disk like device.
The display then shifted to a soldier entering an enemy infested building. He then activated the device showed in the previous image, causing an invisible pulse to spread through the building and highlight every single enemy soldier in red even through walls.
Alex smiled at the almost drooling face of the president as he begun explaining the functions of his invention.
"This is the visual display enhancer, it can feed sorrounding data straight back to your soldiers within a certain range even through visual obstructions like walls."
The bait had been set, now all that was left was for Putin to take the bait.
"What do you want in return?" The president asked, already willing to give anything for this groundbreaking technology.
Alex smiled and his finger instinctively begun tapping on the table, "You can have these blueprints under two conditions,"
His tapping spread up," One, the Russian government will secretly support Vought through financial and policy means."
"Done!" This was what the president had expected and prepared for," And the second?"
"Second...Russia must pressure the United States through any means necessary, even if it means war..."
Silence descended in the room.
Even with Alexander's tech, Putin was still hesitant to threaten America without enough time to restructure their military.
"Of course, you'll be given years to prepare and I'll even through in some of my other toys for the Russian army to play around with later." Alex noticed the presidents hesitation and quickly reassured him.
"Sigh .... You have a deal." The benefits were to immense for the president to ignore.He was already planning to invade Ukraine in the future and with Alex as a benefactor they would be crushed by superior weaponry.
However suspicion still hung in the air.
Why would an American want to work against his own country?
Putin didn't voice his thoughts though as whatever he said could affect his relationship with the man Infront of him.
"Care to stay for a drink?" The president was still keen on discussing other matters and was interested in Alex's opinion.
"If your offering then how can I refuse haha!"
Alex accepted.
Time soon passed as the two discussed upcoming plans and possibly other allies to bring into the fold. Putin even invited Alex to his home to meet his family, surprising Alex as his political charm was clearly much more than he expected.
Unfortunately for Putin who soon saw Alex as a great contributer to Russia, he didn't realise that Alex had no intention of leaving America and it's NATO counterparts defenders.
"I hope I can see you soon Alexander, it's been a great experience talking with you."
Putin said as Alex was preparing to leave.
"Heh, may our partnership last until the end of the Earth." Finishing his farewell, Alex soon left to journey back to New York.