Ben set down our pulsar receiver on the chief of the Limpiadores' desk, making a loud and heavy thunk that made the air around his massive processing room convulse.

A good many of his followers were behind him to bear witness to our exchange, and their mouths fell agape when they saw what we brought their leader. One, who was drinking water from a glass, nearly dropped it in disbelief. They knew what this was and knew its exponential value, and nearly could not believe their bulgy eyes.

The chief too was also at a loss for words, but he showed to be much less impressed by our gift. In fact, he looked rather afraid of it as he rolled his chair back a couple of feet, almost like it were radioactive as small vents along the side of the boxy unit glowed a soft blue. Considering how ludicrous Combine technology often was in design, I wondered if there was merit to that fear.

"Here you have it," I announced, making sure all who were watching were also listening, "a fully intact pulsar receiver―picked fresh from the cannon of a dropship's transport."

Dejon was here close to me, looking between myself, Ben, and the prize we had for his befuddled boss with indulgence as I continued. "Now, I expect you keep to your end of the bargain," I recalled, leaning forward on his desk as the soft blue glow from the end of the receiver softly shone on my face. "Lift your hold on the supply routes so Red Bay can get its food."

Unlike his followers, who were showing adherence to my demands after what I and my friends had accomplished together, their chief, unfortunately, did not take to being shown up like this and frowned once his surprise went away. "Hah. Big whoop," he snorted. "Pulsar receivers are a dime a dozen anyway. I could have one of my engineers create one in-house by disassembling pulse rifle rounds or something."

I had anticipated a reluctance to uphold his end of our agreement once we got back given his prideful compulsions, but this ruffled me on the inside considerably as my sprawled fingers slowly began curling inward into fists. "We delivered what you asked for. You swore no takebacks."

"Yes, I did, if you alone had gotten it, need I remind you," he said with an insistence that was not genuine. "Seems like you had help in your assignment; a vort wishing to get in my good graces. A good effort by both, I mean it, I just don't think it holds up to the terms of our conditions."

There had been no established conditions for my mission. My friends looked to this dishevelled man with great irritation, and even most of the Chief's supports turned sour towards bearing witness to his insulting stubbornness. It was no secret to me that he had not been counting on me to come back with the retrieved item of desire, but having the gall to undermine me not only to my face but also in front of all who surrounded him as well, made me realise that I more than likely wasted my time in doing this pointless errand. Too many people had been put in danger because of me, and more had been indirectly killed. This man was angering me, and I was not willing to tolerate this petty game of his any longer.

"A deal is a deal, Chief," I declared, stepping away from the man's desk and crossing my arms. "I don't believe you have a ground to stand on here. You have your pulsar receiver. You are going to reopen the supply route."

The Chief's smug face drastically fell to a baffled grimace. "Excuse me?"

"Your followers heard you; having this valued piece of Combine hardware was the only insisted terms of condition in getting Red Bay their aid and leaving Doctor Mofuni alone. I would have hoped you would at least honour my demands just as much as I had honoured yours."

Flustered, the chief pointed his finger at me and said, "Now wait just a moment here, darlin', I―!" before I cut him off.

"No," I denied firmly, my ears folding backwards. "You stated no takebacks. This, to me, looks like a few takebacks. Do not tell me you are walking back on your promise as a prideful attempt to make yourself seem even less than the fool you are."

"Screw you!" the chief chided, red in the face. "I don't have to do anything for you! No prissy little, dog-faced wench is gonna tell me what to do! Men? Do me and everyone else a favour and open fire when ready on―"

The Chief was unable to finish his vulgar order to his armed subordinates when I quickly drew my staff and slammed the hilted end on the ground, commencing a powerful siphoning spell that drew from every outlet in the room―or throughout their whole headquartered mine for all I knew, but that didn't matter to me. The dramatic light show of electrical tendrils flashing around the room certainly made everyone inside fall over in total surprise, but were left in even more of a shock to see that the whole room was now pitch black, save for the sparking glow of my staff and the small ambient glow of the pulsar receiver.

Remarkably, the Chief didn't tumble out of his chair as he covered his face with his arms, slowly pulling them away to see me still standing before him with his headquarters' stolen power, looking upon me with a newfound terror. I had never found being the centre of someone's fear appealing or in line with what I stood for, but this wretched man was a special exception. He was the sort who required a greater demonstration that one should never underestimate their opposition.

"You're not making your men kill anyone," I shook my head, my staff buzzing and crackling from the great amount of voltage it was containing. Many of his armed guards shot to their feet and had their weapons aimed at me, but they did so more out of precautionary defence. I sensed that none of them were particularly interested in tipping me off any more than I already was. "There have been more deaths today than I can bear to stomach as an indirect result of your errand, all the while making me the unwitting initiator."

I took a single step close, and the frightened sunken eyes of the bearded man in front of me were wide enough to project two reflections of myself back to me. To the Chief's credit, I did look rather scary, even to myself, though it was necessary to make real progress on this matter. I hoped that my message was coming across as vividly to him as it was to everyone else in the room who did nothing but watch and see what I would do next.

"We will leave your mine, and we will leave it peacefully," I told the Chief temperedly. "But before we do, I want your word that you will lift the lock on Red Bay's supply line and lift the bounty over Doctor Mofuni's disturbed head. If you truly want the Combine gone, we all have to work together to make that happen. And should you attempt to disregard my wishes by making any sort of tactical assault on Red Bay, I will defend it, and I will come after you…"

I made sure to illustrate my point more clearly by tilting my staff's spearhead towards the Limpiadores's leader's face, opening up its ends just slightly to give him a better look as to what awaited him should he attempt to double-cross me in the future. His scared face flashed and flickered as he gazed into what was just barely contained, itching to be released and find the perfect outlet. "Do we have an understanding?" I asked, daring him to refute in some way.

The Chief's lower lip quivered a little, but he eventually closed his eyes and furrowed his brow in resignation. "Fine…" he muttered loud enough to be heard by those within his presence, not at all pleased with how sharply this meeting had turned away from his aim to dictate all things.

I nodded with acceptance and slammed the hilt end of my staff on the ground again, discharging all of my siphoned power back to their respective outlets, redistributing through the conduits that ignited the mine's generators again, making all the lights turn back on in the room. "Do I have your indissoluble word?" I asked again, straightening my jacket to present more punctually.

"Yes…" the chief growled with contempt, but he otherwise seemed to understand the risks should he decide to undermine me again going forward. While most of the humans behind him were now looking upon me with great awe and fear, quite a few, semi-surprisingly, began to smile with a sort of respect. They saw the power I had quite literally wielded and transmitted their acknowledgement to me.

With the help of some telepathic snooping, I discerned that they likely would not dare challenge me should their humiliated leader order them to now. If anything, they were now giving me the impression that they were more willing to follow me now than they were this petty old bloke. While I felt flattered, I was far too exhausted from this day to potentially toy with that kind of devotion, and instead give a silent gesture with my eyes to the others who were scared of me to tell them that I was inherently a compassionate soul (at least I tried to be) and would do all that I could to avoid conflict with them. That message thankfully seemed to resonate with the addled rebels in the group.

The chief was anything but willing to validate the prowess I had displayed. Although complacent enough to let me and Ben leave, his loud thoughts made his vengeance transparent. 'Oh yeah, this flea-ridden bitch just made an enemy for life…'

I looked back around at him the instant he thought that which startled him quite a bit. 'Don't try me, Gus,' I warned him through my mind. I knew he had received that message, because all the red in his face had vanished in a second, replaced by a snowy white complexion that conveyed a different kind of fear. It was not completely due to the reveal that I could read his mind and project my own thoughts onto his; there was also the fear of the knowledge I now held.

While limited in how much information I can scrounge up about someone without having memories accessible to me, at some point during our very first meeting the day prior, I was able to figure out that the chief of Limpiadores' real name was Gus. For some reason, he was keen to keep that a secret from those who followed him, and me having knowing it I believe actually did manage to make him soil his own trousers on the spot, though I did not stick around long enough to find out for sure.

Dejon walked me and Ben out of the mine, wearing a wide-closed smile on his face while giving me silent looks of approval. Ben also said nothing and just began looking at me in studious silence. It was most likely the result of the kind of day that I had, but sizing others up as the more aggressive counterpart was exhausting to me. All I wanted right now was some cold water on my face and an hour to meditate.