"Hold on!? What about the refinery?" Asked Chrome.
Storm had clearly forgotten about that. While Studying the wrecks of the aircraft the Order used during the attack. Brenda determined that one of the ingredients of the fuel was Phoenix Ashes.
They asked around and it didn't take them long to find a flock near Callahan that had lost several members to Order attacks.
Phoenixes were a race of magical creatures closely tied to both fire and ice. When young, their feathers produced constant heat, and they had immense control over fire.
If slain, they are reborn as chicks from the ashes exactly once in their lives with purple feathers to mark the rebirth.
If they are slain again, they die a true death. Once they reach old age however, the fire in their heart grows cold and their bodies continue to radiate frost instead of fire.
They are no longer able to rebirth if they avoided death until that point and they lose their pyromancer abilities and instead become skilled Cryomancers that can freeze an enemy solid in moments.
As these elder phoenixes are a danger to their younger kin, all of them leave their birth flock and fly off to the Frozen Wasteland to eventually die by freezing into ice statues.
Or to go out in a blaze of glory fighting human cities.
They are also skilled shape shifters capable of taking human forms. Often traveling the world masquerading as Pyromancers when young or Cryomancers when elders.
Whenever you hear about a powerful pyromancer burning a village to the ground? Chances are it was a young male phoenix trying to impress a female.
Most magical creatures can't stand phoenixes. They are an exceptionally vain, flamboyant and overconfident race that considered anything not born a phoenix to be cursed by fate for not being fortunate enough to be one.
This naturally led to others disliking them. Dragons didn't like anything that considered themselves better than them. Griffins though of them as rude showoffs, while manticores considered them weak braggards.
"It's a time sensitive mission!! And we've already promised the Queen our support!! We can't back out now!!" Exclaimed Chrome.
"Can't we just explain to her that something else came up!?" Asked Grombrim.
"Clearly you've never dealt with phoenixes before!! Take the most arrogant royal you can think of and multiply that by 10 and you'll have a rough idea how arrogant they are!!" Grumbled Razor.
"You've dealt with this particular Queen before?" Asked Storm.
"Unfortunately, yes! And I felt like I really needed to hit something afterwards!! Her name is Scarlett and she's as vain and overconfident as any of her kind!!" Exclaimed Razor.
In preparation for the mission, scouts had cleared out and mapped out a route through the Underworld.
They would come up at a the Dwarven undercity located in the Mythril Mountains before making their way towards the Phoenix Aerie.
They would assault refinery together, destroy it, and free any phoenixes that are still alive.
Storm was torn between the 2 options, both were equally important, but he would only be able to respond to one.
"My brother and I could hit the refinery instead? That would leave you and mother free to attend that ball event?" Suggested Chrome.
"You two are much too inexperienced to lead an assault on such a highly fortified position!!" Exclaimed Storm.
"I've literally been training nonstop ever since I aged up and I took part in the battle against the Order when they attacked the city!" Exclaimed Chrome.
" 'Training' for battle, and actual combat experience are 2 different things, son." Stated Storm.
"Well how do you expect us to gain combat experience if you're going to keep sheltering us!!? You promised us a fair chance!! Isn't that right, brother!?" Asked Chrome.
Orian was so dazed and caught up in his own world that held barely heard a word that his brother had said.
So when he heard his name, he was left startled and uncertain of himself.
"Uhhhh..... yeah.... whatever he said..." stated Orian.
His brother frowned at him, this wasn't exactly the kind of backup he was expecting from him.
"Look, son. This is different, trust me! Commanding troops during a large scale attack is different to a regular battle.
Having other people's lives in your claws is a terrifying experience , if things go unexpectedly and people start dying, will your nerve hold? Or will you begin to panic.
I've seen many young commanders lose their nerve when faced with that problem, and when commanders panic, more lives are lost!" Exclaimed Storm.
"If that is your concern? Then why not send Augustus with us? You need cold calculating heads? I can't think of anyone with a cooler head than him?" Suggested Chrome.
Augustus sat up straight and looked at Storm for confirmation.
After a moment's thought, Storm nodded his head.
"All right, I suppose he would be able to take over if my fears were realized. " stated Storm.
"How many troops would we have at our disposal?" Asked Chrome.
"Not many I'm afraid!! Moving a large force through the underground tunnels would take too long."
You will only be able to bring a small squad of elite troops with you. For the rest of the army, you'll need to rely on whatever forces the phoenix Queen and Mithal clan dwarves can scrape together , plus any other forces you can convince to join the fighting. " stated Storm.
"What kind of opposition can we expect?" Asked Chrome.
"We don't know the specifics, you'd have to ask the Queen... but... we're expecting it to be heavily fortified based on how important it is to the Order's operations and the kind of creatures they're holding in captivity there!
I won't lie... i doubt you'd be able to take it with strength alone... this may require some unconventional thinking..." stated Storm.
Chrome nodded his head.
Storm turned to the leader of the Nogitsune clan currently serving him.
"Can you send a few agents to secure Torin's brother for us?! We're going to need The Crimson Tide's help before this is all over?"
The Nogitsune bowed his head. "It will be done."
As Storm ended the meeting and everyone left to prepare, Chrome confronted his brother.
"What exactly is wrong with you!!? You've been eagerly awaiting your first command, and yet you barely said anything in there?!" Asked Chrome.
"I'm sorry, brother... just have a lot on my mind right now." Stated Orian.
Realization appeared on Chrome's face.
"Lavender's death? I'm sorry, brother... I wasn't thinking!! Maybe you should sit this fight out then?" Suggested Chrome.
"No!! It's fine!! I'll clear my head by the time we reach the Phoenix Queen!... I promise...?" Stated Orian.
Orian only told half the truth, although Lavender was on his mind, it wasn't loss that was clouding his mind, it was guilt...